Challenging Times for the Catholic
Church Gerry
OShea
Historians
see the revolutions in America (1776) and France (1789) as ushering in the
modern era. The 19th century in Europe can be understood as an
ongoing struggle between the old order driven by men holding on to their lands
and privileges against powerless rebels who were denigrated as mere rabble.
The Catholic
Church looked very favorably on hierarchical structures and strongly opposed
the new Enlightenment thinking that was spreading throughout Europe. For
example, the pastoral leaders in Rome, all-powerful potentates, viewed
themselves as part of the status quo, fiercely opposing the growing calls for democratization.
Pius 1X,
better known as Pio Nono, called together the First Vatican Council in December
1869 and in a carefully orchestrated vote successfully convinced the assembled
bishops – with only a few exceptions – that pronouncements issued from the
papal chair about faith and morals could not be erroneous, a questionable
assertion considering that he was embarrassingly wrong about slavery, widely
regarded as the most important moral issue of the millennium.
Unlike Pio
Nono’s assembly of bishops, the Second Vatican Council was set up in 1962 by
John XX111, the saintliest and most perceptive church leader of the last
century. He saw that the Catholic Church had descended into a closed shop continuing
to trot out teaching from the 400-year-old Council of Trent whose declarations
were designed to counter the Protestant Reformation.
The sainted John
called for opening the ecclesiastical windows to the modern world. He strongly
supported the call for religious freedom and started serious dialogue with
other religions, especially Jews and Muslims. The tribal platitude regarding no
salvation outside of church membership was discarded in favor of preaching that
the heavenly gates are open to people of goodwill from all backgrounds.
Still, a
strong traditional reaction developed among some priests and bishops who longed
for the old doctrinal and moral certainties. They also resented the changing of
rituals, particularly the abandonment of Latin during mass in favor of people
praying in their own language.
Addressing God, the Council declared, should
never be reduced to mumbo-jumbo utterances in a foreign tongue but should
always be graced by the meaning provided in the people’s vernacular.
These
internal church divisions were ventilated when in the summer of 1968 Pope Paul
V1 published his encyclical Humanae Vitae which declared that marital sexual
activity must always be open to pregnancy. In this pronouncement, the pope
disregarded the contrary counsel given by his special team of advisors, lay and
clerical, who, by a clear majority, urged him to allow couples to use
contraceptives to limit or space their number of children.
The
traditionalists, a minority of church members, stood by the pope’s
understanding of natural law as set down in the encyclical. However, most young
people demurred, and many left the church in disgust at what they perceived as
myopic moral reasoning about a crucial human issue impacting intimate
relationships.
Early in his
papacy, Francis refused to condemn loving same-sex partnerships. Who am I to
judge? he wondered when asked about the moral dimension of the gay lifestyle. His
refusal to censure behavior that Rome had always named as unnatural and
therefore sinful drew loud condemnation from traditionalists.
There are
two Catholic approaches to decision-making about what is morally acceptable and
what must be condemned from the rooftop. One model relies on traditional moral
reasoning based on logic and what proponents call the Natural law. So, for
instance, if we accept that God created male and female for the sole purpose of
procreation, any behavior that fails to meet that criterion must be condemned.
The second
approach focuses on the human predicament faced by people involved in loving
behavior deemed sinful by the Vatican. Today, for instance, while gay marriage
is condemned as a serious breach of church teaching it is legal in most Western
countries. Furthermore, Catholics in the pews nearly all adopt a live-and-let-live
philosophy and believe that this accords with the spirit of the New Testament.
Should priests
be allowed to provide a blessing for a gay couple on their wedding day? In any
American diocese, the answer remains a categorical no, but many bishops and
priests in Germany and adjoining countries feel that a refusal would contradict
their understanding of the Christian spirit and church benedictions in these
situations are common in many European dioceses.
Divorced and
remarried parishioners also create a dilemma for the priests celebrating mass. The
traditionalists are convinced that such people are objectively living in sin
and so, logically speaking, they should be turned away from the communion rails.
A similar prohibition is used in some dioceses
against elected representatives who support a woman’s right to choose abortion.
The church leaders in America have made opposition to this procedure their
number one issue, so President Biden, a devout Catholic, has to choose
carefully where he goes to Sunday mass.
Pope Francis
has taken the liberal side in dealing with this issue. He has explained that sinners
need the sacraments most and he has never refused communion or any of the
sacraments to anyone.
The place
and importance of women in the church remain the major challenge facing the
Vatican because relegating females to minor roles in the governance of the
organization is no longer acceptable. Western societies have changed dramatically
in opening the door of opportunity for women who no longer accept second-class status
in their church where all the power resides with robed clerics, all male.
The Synod on
Synodality is considering allowing women deacons and opening up senior
positions in the powerful bureaucracy to females. Progress is slow but various
studies reveal a majority of Catholics favor women qualifying for every office
in their church communities including the priesthood at all levels of service
and authority.
Gerry
OShea blogs at wemustbetalking.com
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