Catholicism in
Decline
In the agonizing battle for the soul of the Catholic Church
taking place daily in our midst—a phenomenon many ardent Catholics characterize
as the “culture wars”—we see a steady stream of articles, news reports and
commentary on how the Catholic Church is losing its hold on, and influence
over, our society and even its own members, to the alarming
detriment
of Western civilization itself. The numbers and statistics certainly seem to
back up such a view.
Yet I have a feeling a good number of high and well placed
Catholics, especially media types, academics, and even many clergy, would take
issue with the above assessment, claiming there is no real crisis to fuss
about, only an ongoing challenge for the Church to remain relevant to our
modern age, and a challenge for which we have every hope of overcoming,
especially with our new Pope who is winning over interest and hearts in grand
fashion.
But if there be no worrying crisis in the Church today
methinks I must be struck with madness. One of my busiest blog tags is
Catholic
Church crisis.
What then is the precise nature and origin of this waning
power or collapse of the Church of Jesus Christ in our society and time? Again,
there will be disagreement in answering this question. A quick glance at the
news reports however would reveal a preponderance of stories and incidents
arising from a failure to teach, implement and enforce Catholic doctrine. In
many cases we discover a blatant
denial
or disrespect of Church teaching. Such failures are always urgent matters
demanding address by the local Bishop but, even so, many times we see Bishops
ignoring the problems or even contributing to them.
Some traditional minded Catholics point to the
dumbing
down of the liturgy since the late 1960’s following Vatican II as the fatal
flaw precipitating the self-destruction of the Church. They contend that a
disrespect and irreverence has crept into the practice of the faith due to a
rupture with the sacred liturgy of the ages. Those who argue with such a
premise can hardly argue, however, against the indicators of wholesale apostasy
of the faith since the Novus Ordo has ruled the Catholic day.
Knocking On The
Bishops’ Door
So it all comes back to the doorstep of the Bishops? Yes, regardless
of root causes of our current predicament, too many Catholic Bishops are
failing in their duties as shepherds of God’s people. None of the kinds of symptoms
outlined above take place in a vacuum but always reflect back to the oversight
of the Bishop, a successor of the Apostles. If there’s one tag and theme on my
blog postings busier than Catholic Church Crisis, it would be
Catholic
Bishops. Likewise my Twitterfeed often suffers from indigestion due to the
hashtag
#WakeUpBishops.
But how do we know they are they failing in their
duties?
Because, as I’ve pointed out above, practically every troubling indicator
originates from or points to a breakdown or neglect of teaching, or its
practice or its enforcement. The Bishop is the
governor
and chief
teacher
of his diocese, reporting to the Pope every five years but accountable only to
Christ as His Successor in his
See.
Do not imagine that Bishops act in the name of the Pope; rather, they exercise
their ministry
"personally
in the name of Christ." How much less are they required to
kowtow
to a
Bishops’
Conference!
Is the Bishop then responsible for how the souls under his
care actually behave as Catholics? In a clear and dramatic fashion, YES. The
whole point is that the Bishop guides and helps the faithful understand their
Christian faith and how to
concretely
translate it into action. Clear enough?
Bishops Must Obey
God, Not Man
27 When they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. The
high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We gave you strict orders not to
continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your
teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the
apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. Acts
5:29
The first Bishop, Peter, along with his fellow Bishops,
declared: “We must obey God rather than men.” Can any sane person doubt that
for the preaching of Christ and His Gospel to be effective, men must obey God
more than they obey man; and more especially so, the hand-picked preachers of
Christ?
Surely our Lord Jesus Christ is greatly wounded and offended
when His Apostles prove they fear man more than they do God, and as a result His
sheep are scattered. But is it correct to say that the Bishops of our day, His
Apostles, do not fear God?
Of course they fear God, some of them greatly, but when push
comes to shove, too many of them fear man more than God. When a course of
action is predicted to upset or anger people, regardless even if it be a matter
of Catholic doctrine—which is nothing less than the mind of Christ—too many
Bishops fold and take alternate action, to the point of disrespecting or
altogether denying Catholic truth. Thus, for too many Bishops, the only
teachings “in fashion” are the pleasant and non-controversial ones.
Why would a Bishop betray Christ so? Many factors could be
cited but since my focus in this article is not on that particular question, I
will suggest a few of the more obvious factors: the discerning of a priestly vocation
but with mixed motives; a weak and compromised spiritual formation, especially
at the seminary level and weakened further by the laxity of our times; living
out a vocation with little or no value placed on asceticism and self-denial; a
rebellious and proud spirit; an inordinate number of rebellious clergy feeding
on and fueling other rebels; rebels blackmailing one another; a compromised
spirituality lacking in both moral courage and also power to confront evil,
even when recognized. In short, the leaven of evil has corrupted the loaf and
priestly standards have crumbled.
When Bishops Fear Men
It’s not rocket science; Bishops prove they fear men more
than God when they fail to properly expound or defend the timeless truth of
Catholic doctrine. Again, I repeat: “practically every troubling indicator
originates from or points to a breakdown or neglect of teaching, or its
practice or its enforcement.”
Accordingly, when Bishops:
- fail to teach and inform the faithful on the
most urgent and dangerous evils of the day, including guidance for the faithful
on current events which might corrupt morals or otherwise publicly challenge
Church teaching,
- intentionally omit the hard teachings of the Gospel,
the very same teachings often criticized and openly attacked by unbelievers and
worldly powers,
- face controversy, unpopularity, criticism,
alienation and even persecution if they stand with Christ and His Church on a
particular subject, yet choose to remain silent or to dilute the message of
Christ accordingly to minimize opposition,
- fail to undertake and safeguard in their See a
program of education that will bolster the faithful in the whole counsel of God
so they can stand against the errors of the day,
- in the face of known dissent or heresy or public
controversy or scandal by an individual or group, fail to make a precise,
appropriate and adequate statement of correction based on Catholic doctrine,
- discipline or chasten their own priests for
taking traditional stances on doctrine or practice of the Catholic faith,
…they fear men more than God.
Shouldn’t Bishops
Focus On Love And Compassion?
Some foolish Christians imagine that Church doctrine and laws
spoil the “spontaneous” work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and we should
instead focus on love and compassion. Unfortunately many Bishops seem to
believe the same thing, judging by their day to day actions and disregard for
Church law.
Again, this should not be rocket science. Consider what is
termed “the supreme law of the Church.” A grade school student could tell you that
a “supreme law” sounds like a mighty important law, the one law above every
other law, one that you never break. Is it even remotely possible that Bishops
don’t know about it or can escape scrutiny when they fail to uphold it?
Historically, canon law is the oldest continuously functioning legal
system in the western world. Fortunately, throughout Church history some of the
world's finest legal, theological, and pastoral minds have contributed to the
formation of canon law, all trying to serve one goal, that expressed in the
final norm of the Code, Canon 1752: "...having before one's eyes the
salvation of souls, which is always the supreme law of the Church." [Source]
So the
supreme
law of the Church is the salvation of souls. Holy Moly, that sounds like good
old fashioned missionary work! So, guess what the pre-eminent goal of the
Bishop is? You got it, it’s saving souls. It’s missionary work. And missionary
work is just what our Lord Jesus had in mind for His Apostles, the Bishops,
when He pronounced
The Great Commission:
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been
given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all
the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with
you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
851 Missionary motivation. It is from
God's love for all men that the Church in every age receives both the
obligation and the vigor of her missionary dynamism, "for the love of
Christ urges us on."343 Indeed, God "desires all men to be
saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth";344 that is,
God wills the salvation of everyone through the knowledge of the truth.
Salvation is found in the truth. Those who obey the prompting of the Spirit of
truth are already on the way of salvation. But the Church, to whom this truth
has been entrusted, must go out to meet their desire, so as to bring them the
truth. Because she believes in God's universal plan of salvation, the Church
must be missionary.
Viewing the teaching ministry of the Church through the lens
of the salvation of souls renders each and every teaching failure as a
detrimental event impacting the eternal destiny of possibly every soul under
the care of a Bishop, whether Catholic or not.
When you think of your Bishop what image springs immediately
to mind? Is it obvious to you and to the whole world that he’s the point man
for Jesus Christ and for salvation for EVERY soul in his diocese? Is he seen as
the city’s top missionary? Such would be the traditional, perennial view in
Church history. Or is he known simply as another social justice preacher in
town, a good guy Bishop, an organizer, an administrator, even a top gun
administrator?
Jesus Christ proclaimed:
Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. John 8:28
Since love for God and for Jesus Christ necessarily involves
obedience to his commands (If ye love me, keep my commandments.
John 14:15) we must of necessity
know His teaching. His teaching is the doctrine and laws of His Bride, the
Church. When the Apostle Paul instructed Timothy on his
duties as
Bishop take note of what he was also saying to EVERY Bishop to follow:
1 I charge thee, before God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living
and the dead, by his coming, and his kingdom: 2 Preach the word: be instant in
season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine. 3
For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but,
according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having
itching ears: 4 And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but
will be turned unto fables. 5 But be thou vigilant, labour in all things, do
the work of an evangelist, fulfil thy ministry. Be sober. 2 Tim
4:1-5
So, to summarize once again: Preaching, teaching, evangelizing
with the truth of Christ is the trademark of the Bishop. Is there constant and
tireless teaching? reproving (taking to task, criticizing, correcting)?
entreating (asking earnestly, beseeching)? and rebuking (sharply criticizing,
reprimanding)? The salvation of souls demands all this and more.
The idea that a Bishop could carry out his calling without a
constant and sometimes deathly fight against error and evil—everything opposed
to the truth—was unheard of, even unimaginable, throughout the history of the
Church. In fact, it would run counter to the very Word of God. For example, Jude's
sole intention was to caution against depraved teaching and to exhort the
faithful to maintain the teaching of the Apostles.
Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common
salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend
earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. Jude 1:3
Teach The Faithful Or
Watch Them Lose their Souls
We have seen that the salvation of souls demands that a
Bishop, an Apostle of Christ, place a very high emphasis indeed on teaching.
The clear alternative leaves souls in their ignorance and sin, heading for a
Christ-less eternity. Bishops, like true shepherds, must protect their flocks
from any and all
sin—particularly
the grave, mortal kinds—which would shut them out of heaven. The supreme law of
the Church now hinges on this all important duty: identifying and warning against
sin and teaching/preaching on the remedy for sin, i.e. obedience to Christ and
His Gospel.
What now comes into focus is the eternal struggle between
good and evil, between heaven and hell, between the devil and God—and souls
hang in the balance. And this is precisely where the pressure comes upon
Bishops. Those who are faithful to Christ and His Gospel will protect their
flocks at all costs, presenting the truth of Christ and His Church in all its
fullness, without compromise, regardless of the opposition from the world, the
flesh and the devil. And we may be certain as well that such worthy Bishops
make it crystal clear to their Priests that they expect of them the very same
standard. They understand what is at stake. Because when it comes right down to
the personal level, a Bishop who fails in this most primary duty can be quite
certain that the Lake of Fire is his portion for eternity.
A worthy Bishop fears for the souls of his flock, watching
constantly for “
certain persons”
who “have crept in unnoticed” and perverted Christ’s teaching. Ungodly persons
and influences are constantly seeking to erode the faith of believers and remove
them from the friendship of God. Nothing is more fatal to the faith than sins
labelled as deathly, i.e.
mortal
sins. The Bishop is especially alert to warn his people to avoid at all
costs any actions or behaviour that might lead to grave or mortal sin, because
these cut the believer off in his/her relationship with God. A true Bishop
would no more remain silent or restrained while the evil of mortal sin
threatened to overtake one of his flock than would a mother look the other way
when a stranger was about to snatch her only child.
Still less would a worthy Bishop fail to act should he
realize that, because of his silence or restraint, any of his sheep risked the
loss of their eternal salvation through confusion, misunderstanding or
misrepresentation of the Catholic faith. Immediately every possible precaution
would be taken to clarify the truth and preserve that soul from sin, whether by
means of a personal conversation or by general communique issued throughout the
diocese. If a soul were found to be persisting in actions or behaviour known to
be dangerous to his/her spiritual condition, likewise a Bishop—or his Priest—would
feel compelled to correct the sinner and instruct in the pathway back to God.
Every soul is under the Bishop’s care. To lose one soul to the devil through
his negligence, hesitation, timidity or fear would endanger his own eternal
destiny. Such is the seriousness of sin and of salvation to a worthy Bishop.
This is no fabricated notion of spiritual oversight. Hardly:
this is simply the Catholic faith at work at its highest levels and most basic calling,
saving men and making them holy. Holiness and sin are mutually exclusive of one
another.
And this is no “severe” standard. Not unless the Catechism
asks more than Christ Himself asked. No, salvation in Christ has not changed,
nor has salvation from sin.
Recall the
promises
made at a Bishop’s ordination ceremony:
After the homily, the Bishop-elect is asked to make a number of
promises that he will commit his whole life to love and serve the Church. The
promises recall the three "tasks" of the bishop:
• to teach and preach;
• to be a true shepherd and guide to those in his care; and
• to help them grow in holiness (through celebration of the
sacraments, through prayer and in other ways).
A Fuller Appreciation
of Evil Is Urgent
Much of the conversation about the role of Bishops
necessarily centres on error, sin and evil because, quite simply,
There is a way which
seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
Therefore every
evil is to be exposed and avoided.
True shepherds will do everything possible, including at
times the proper discipline, to prevent the flock going astray. In the real
world of nature going astray meant almost certain death for a sheep and thus
the need for both
rod and staff.
It was no accident our Lord used the symbol so often of sheep and shepherd to
describe His relationship to us.
All sin is
evil
but mortal sin is considered especially so since it involves a known choice to
commit a grave violation against the Creator. Furthermore, some actions qualify
as particularly insidious forms of evil, regardless of the intention of the
individual involved, and are termed
intrinsic evils.
In other words, these actions are so contrary to God’s will in their essence
that whether or not the person is aware of the evil of his/her action, God has
been gravely offended. A list of such evils would include, among many others
and in no particular order, direct willed abortion, euthanasia, same sex
marriage, contraception, rape, self-abuse, embryonic stem cell research (ESCR),
human cloning, slavery, human trafficking, polygamy, lying, prostitution, homosexual
acts, and use of pornography.
Could we imagine a worthy successor of the Apostles as
anyone other than a man entirely consumed with keeping his flock free of sin and
every kind of evil, more especially the subtle and insidious kind that might
gravely offend—possibly without even their knowledge—the God and Saviour whose
Blood purchased their salvation? Impossible. After all, the Chief Shepherd whom
he loves and serves and after whom he models his ministry longs to accomplish exactly
the same for every sheep in his flock.
Now to him who is able to
preserve you without sin, and to present you spotless before the presence of
his glory with exceeding joy, in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jude
1:24
Yet now he hath reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to
present you holy and unspotted, and blameless before him… Colossians 1:22
For I am jealous of you with the jealousy of God. For I have espoused
you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:2
Clearly, the reality of intrinsic evils cannot be avoided in
any consideration of practical holiness. A little more should be said about
this often subtle defilement and the following street-wise definition makes the
point:
Intrinsic evil…an act that is always bad, always sinful, always always always.
Never good, never appropriate, never useful, never, never, never. It is an act
that is ALWAYS SINFUL in every time, every epoch, every era, every age, every
place, every situation, every every every. There is NO GREY AREA! No doubt, no
question that these acts (acts that are intrinsically evil) are always and
everywhere and for everybody and for every situation, SINFUL and NEVER
ACCEPTABLE. [Source]
The Bishop Is Accountable
as Chief Help to Holiness
The follower of Christ is taught by the Chief Shepherd (by
means of the Holy Spirit) and His Vicar, the Bishop, to shun all sin and evil not
only because these offend God our Creator and Redeemer but also because the
wounds of Christ our Saviour were a direct consequence of our sinful, evil
ways. The lifelong pursuit of holiness, of separation onto the Lord, demands an
ever-vigilant and continual spiritual battle by the believer to defeat the
power of sin and evil while travelling “this vale of tears”. The Bishop will
ultimately answer to God for his role in shepherding and assisting the believer
to victory in this task. If he fails to “preach
the word: (to) be instant in season, out of season: (to) reprove, entreat, rebuke
in all patience and doctrine” the Catholic will likely be overcome by the
world, the flesh and the devil and could very well lose his/her soul.
In regard to evils, it must be emphasized again that
Catholic doctrine demands a dual approach by the Bishop. He must not only educate
and train the believer to always choose the good and reject the sin, but he
must also warn and teach of those insidious, intrinsic forms of evil which are
so gravely opposed to God yet may be committed irrespective of the intentions
of that believer, who is perhaps aided and overcome somewhat by cultural norms.
Where success is lacking, God is sorely grieved and offended, the believer
encounters a serious obstacle to holiness, worse evils—perhaps even sacrilege
and blasphemy—appear on the horizon, and the Holy Name of God, as well as the
Christian Church, is exposed to scandal and ridicule.
The solemn—and frightful—responsibilities of the office of
Bishop can be glimpsed in a short portion of a
conversation
between the future Pope Pius X and his mother upon his appointment to this
office:
But Don Guiseppe was
weighed down by the thought of the heavy responsibilities of a bishop’s office.
He tried to tell his mother of his feelings. “Mama,” he said one day, “do you
realize what it means to be a Bishop—to have in my care the salvation of so
many souls? Think of the responsibility! Pray for me Mama. For if I neglect my
duty I shall lose my soul!”
But Evil Is Winning
the Day in the Church of Christ
Referring back to my introduction:
What then is the precise nature and origin of this waning power or
collapse of the Church of Jesus Christ in our society and time?
…as I’ve pointed out above, practically every troubling indicator
originates from or points to a breakdown or neglect of teaching, or its
practice or its enforcement.
No such breakdown has been more pervasive and catastrophic
to Catholicism in the West than that resulting from a
denial
of the Catholic teaching on the evil of contraceptive acts. As many as 90% of
today’s practicing Catholics at some point in time have “legitimized”, by
direct actions or silence, the intrinsically evil and mortally sinful practice
of artificial contraception. In short, Catholics live with and accept the practice
of contraception in similar fashion to the practice of brushing their teeth. Perhaps
no other serious evil has ever been so successfully portrayed as innocuous and
normal among Catholics as has this evil.
One can hardly be blamed for thinking there has been, in
fact, a concerted effort—nigh unto a conspiracy—to withhold the truth and
deceive the people of God on the subject of contraception; that it is grave matter,
that it is an intrinsic evil, and furthermore that it is
intimately connected to abortion, another grave evil which it fuels.
And wonder we must, whether such a grave evil which has gone
viral in a society for more than a generation can persist without a likewise
grave
consequence to that society? Can a sin be called mortal if it is not truly
deadly in its outcome and consequences, regardless of the spurious claim that almost
nobody knows that it’s evil nor that they are a part of the evil, nor that
their actions comprise and/or feed that evil? Instead, look at the very real
consequences: a demographic nightmare faced by our aging society and the
emptying of pew and church.
Thus, every hour of every day of every year, evil is having
the last word in our parishes; and through various strategies as well as
outright silence, Bishops throughout the land—with shockingly few exceptions—are
failing to expose this evil. It is being ignored in every practical sense, to
the detriment and collapse of our civilization. Accordingly, we witness daily
the wholesale commission of objectively evil acts by a vast majority of the
baptized on a global scale: a staggering level and intensity of evil activity
amongst God’s people that must quite literally provoke outrage in Heaven and
offend Almighty God grievously.
The failure of too many of our shepherds in this regard is so profound, so
flagrant, so reprehensible as to be monstrous, even diabolical. The shepherds commissioned
to watch over our souls have been silent, those called to be accountable as our
chief help to holiness have instead risked our very souls and help to sustain
countless outrages against the holy Person of God Himself. The supreme law of
the Church has been violated and the constant teaching of Holy Mother Church
has been treated with utmost contempt.
Apart from contraception, one wonders: To what other secret
evils are we succumbing under the leadership of such men?
What Unworthy Bishops Fear
Most
What accounts then for such treacherous actions? Can such
Bishops be true shepherds? Can they be worthy successors of the Apostles?
How is it possible? They have not continued in the Word of Christ,
no longer are they true disciples; they know not the truth and now live as
slaves of sin,
out of fellowship with
God; they do not the deeds of Christ for they are not the children of Christ;
if God were their father, they would listen to the words of Christ; they are of
their father the devil. No true shepherd of Christ could do anything but loudly
and constantly proclaim from the housetops
every
instance of evil and danger to the souls of Christ’s sheep.
The greatest and most secret fear of an unworthy Bishop is
that some day, maybe even this day, a light will be shone on his ministry such that he will be exposed as a fraud and a coward, something in his heart of hearts he knows may be true but something he has never been willing to settle with God because the price to pay was too great.
If indeed the unworthy Bishop yet knows the voice of the Holy Spirit, he himself knows there can be no other conclusion.
"When He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He shall guide you into
all truth...`
