Friday, September 30, 2011

Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Dissent, Conversion, and Knowledge

'Converting the converted'1 may sound redundant, but it's the way Catholics live. Or the way we should live. We're all 'works in progress' at this point, a handful of saints possibly notwithstanding: and they probably don't see it that way. Which is another topic.

Pope Benedict XVI talked about this sort of 'redundant' conversion while he was in Germany. He talked about other things too, but those are also other topics.

My take on what Pope Benedict XVI told folks in Germany would have been an overly-long post, even by my standards, which is why it's coming in installments. This is the fifth of seven posts:
  1. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Hope, Confidence, and Looking Forward"
    (September 27, 2011)
  2. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Liberation, Transformation, and Getting Personal"
    (September 27, 2011)
  3. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Scandal, Abuse, and the Cross"
    (September 28, 2011)
  4. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Harlots and Pharisees, Agnostics and Routine Believers"
    (September 29, 2011)
  5. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Dissent, Conversion, and Knowledge"
    (September 30, 2011)
  6. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: We're Not About 'Joyless Saints' "
    (October 1, 2011)
  7. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: 'Where God is, There is a Future' "
    (October 3, 2011)
Now, about the Pope, dissent, truth, and getting a grip:

Dissent, Conversion, and Knowledge

(If this excerpt looks familiar, it should. I quoted the last paragraph yesterday, under the Destination: Kingdom of God heading.)
"...Predicted anti-papal protests have largely failed to materialize during the four-day visit, but the Pope still seemed acutely aware of those Catholic voices in Germany who dissent from Church teaching.

" 'The Church in Germany will overcome the great challenges of the present and future, and it will remain a leaven in society, if the priests, consecrated men and women, and the lay faithful, in fidelity to their respective vocations, work together in unity,' he said. He added that 'the baptized and confirmed, in union with their bishop,' should 'lift high the torch of untarnished faith and allow it to enlighten their abundant knowledge and skills.'

"This renewal of the Church in Germany will 'only come about through openness to conversion and through renewed faith,' said Pope Benedict. Jesus Christ 'is always close to us, especially in times of danger and radical change, his heart aches for us and he reaches out to us,' he added...."
(CNA (September 25, 2011))

Dissent, 'Vox Populi,' and the Catholic Church

Dissent isn't anything new. Gnosticism, with a new name and added features, has been coming back for about 18 centuries now.2 It's one of the heresies, dissenting opinions, and assorted daft notions that folks occasionally prefer to what the Catholic Church got from my Lord. Like the idea that public opinion alters reality. And I've mentioned "vox populi, vox dei" before.3

The flip side of 'popularity reality' is thinking that if 'the Masses' like something, it can't be worthwhile. I'm on the same page as G. K. Chesterton there.4

The 'we're not like the Masses' mindset may be part of the reason that the expected "anti-papal protests" didn't happen. My guess is that the dedicated dissenters form a rather small group: who tend to be highly vocal. Or maybe a conspiracy is involved. And that's another topic.5

Then there's this set of quaint assumptions:
  1. Ideas that have outlasted civilizations
    • Are probably wrong
  2. An idea imagined by one person
    • If contrary to #1
      • Is probably true
Boiled down to essentials as I did, maybe that sounds daft. Padded with several thousand words of turgidly erudite blandishment? Maybe not so much.

A remarkable number of folks have bought into the notion that 'new' ideas are, necessarily, preferable to ones that have endured for thousands of years. That can be a problem:
"...The Magisterium has drawn attention several times to the serious harm done to the community of the Church by attitudes of general opposition to Church teaching which even come to expression in organized groups. In his apostolic exhortation Paterna cum benevolentia, Paul VI offered a diagnosis of this problem which is still apropos....

"...Here arises the tendency to regard a judgment as having all the more validity to the extent that it proceeds from the individual relying upon his own powers. In such a way freedom of thought comes to oppose the authority of tradition which is considered a cause of servitude. A teaching handed on and generally received is a priori suspect and its truth contested...."
("Instruction | Donum Veritatis | On the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian," Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (May 24, 1990))
What could possibly go wrong, just because folks start believing that something's true because they imagined it? This means that the Church is against freedom and wants to enslave everybody, right?

I'll get back to natural law and consequences. As for 'freedom:' I have to support freedom of religion, because I'm a practicing Catholic. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2104-2109) For everybody. (Catechism, 2106) It's in the rules.

'Freedom' is important. But I think truth is important, too:
"...Ultimately, freedom of judgment understood in this way is more important than the truth itself. We are dealing then here with something quite different from the legitimate demand for freedom in the sense of absence of constraint as a necessary condition for the loyal inquiry into truth. In virtue of this exigency, the Church has always held that 'nobody is to be forced to embrace the faith against his will' ...."
("Instruction | Donum Veritatis | On the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian," Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (May 24, 1990))
"Nobody is forced...?" Maybe you've heard of a Catholic who tried to ram Catholicism down someone's throat. Maybe you knew one. There are around 1,100,000,000 Catholics alive today, we've been around for two millennia, and some of us are jerks.

Natural law is the annoying way the universe has, of not conforming to the preferences of whoever's currently on top of the cultural heap. It's why laissez faire capitalism didn't work; and why Tea Party people enrage establishment types.6 Don't take my word for it, though:
"...The natural law expresses the original moral sense which enables man to discern by reason the good and the evil, the truth and the lie..."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1954)

"In Union With Their Bishop:" Like We Got a Choice

The Pope said that Catholics in Germany should stay "in union with their bishop," which I think is pretty good advice.

As I implied earlier, I don't think popular opinion alters reality. 'If three hundred million people really believe in a stupid idea, it's still a stupid idea.' The trick is knowing the difference between a stupid idea that's also unpopular: and an unpopular idea that's true. Getting prompted by God helps, I think.

Folks didn't always agree with what's true two millennia back, any more than they do today. For example, many of His disciples quit after Jesus said, in effect, 'eat me:'7
"'...Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him....'"
(John 6:56)
Then we read this exchange:
"Jesus then said to the Twelve, 'Do you also want to leave?' Simon Peter answered him, 'Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.' "
(John 6:67-69) [emphasis mine]
About two thousand years later, I learned that the authority Jesus had given Peter had been passed along in unbroken succession to the current Pope. That was when I somewhat grudgingly decided that, like it or not, I'd better sign up with the outfit that my Lord had established.

I'd already decided that Jesus:
The source of Papal authority explained why, through the rise and fall of empires, and occasionally-appalling management, the Catholic Church was still here. They had help. Or, now, we had help. I still think becoming a Catholic was possibly the smartest thing I've done.

In my case, conversion wasn't the sort of ethereal 'spiritual experience' I've heard about. It was a more matter-of-fact evaluation of what happened to the 'keys of the Kingdom' authority that Jesus gave Peter: and where I'd prefer spending eternity.

Keys of the Kingdom, and the 'Bark of Peter'


Coat of Arms of the Holy See and of the State of Vatican City, used w/o permission

That's Holy See's and Vatican City's coats of arms: distinctive, easily-recognized emblems. Sort of like the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals we started using recently. Since the late 1970s, which is "recent" for me. The Holy See's two crossed keys didn't become an official insignia until the 14th century. Which is "recent," too, on another time scale.

In common with most 'decoration' used by the Church, there's symbolism involved:
"...The symbolism is drawn from the Gospel and is represented by the keys given to the Apostle Peter by Christ...."
(Coat of Arms of the Holy See and of the State of Vatican City (March 15, 2006))
And that's almost another topic.

Here's where Jesus gave Peter a whacking great set of responsibilities called "the keys to the kingdom of heaven:"
"8 When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi 9 he asked his disciples, 'Who do people say that the Son of Man is?' They replied, 'Some say John the Baptist, 10 others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' 11 Simon Peter said in reply, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.' Jesus said to him in reply, 'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood 12 has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, 13 and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. 14 Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.' "
(Matthew 16:13-19) [emphasis mine]
The man who holds that authority now? Yeah: I'd say joining that fellow's outfit makes sense.

Another symbol - metaphor, actually, for the Catholic Church is "Bark of Peter," which doesn't have all that much to do with trees. Although trees were vital to the sort of "bark" involved.

The "Bark of Peter" refers to a three-masted sailing ship. (Princeton's WordNet) I like the imagery: the Bark of Peter sailing across time; destination, Kingdom of God.

And I'm definitely wandering off-topic.

Back to what the Pope said.

"Openness to Conversion and Through Renewed Faith?!"

I've already said that we're 'works in progress.' Conversion is an ongoing process.1 I'm a convert to Catholicism, so I experienced "conversion" as an adult. I've had quite a few more "conversions" since then: every time I participated in the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1422-1424) Americans, myself included, generally call it "confession." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1422-1424)

I'm not bothered by the idea that I need to keep working at my 'conversion.' Unlike the fellow in Robert Burns' "Holy Willie's Prayer," I'm all to aware of my imperfections. Which gets me into ideas like faith and works. That's and works, not "or."8 More topics.

Knowledge isn't a Four-Letter Word

It wasn't hard, at least in my part of the country, to get the impression that memorizing Bible verses was about as much knowledge as a Christian should have. I still run into folks who seem determined to prove that Christians live in a tiny, old-fashioned, and imaginary world: one in which the universe is a few thousand years old.

I think I understand why folks, Catholics included, feel that rejecting much of what's been learned since about 1850 is a virtue. But I'm not bothered by the idea that God thinks and acts on a scale that's vast - both in time and space. And I'm certainly not bothered by the thought that:
  • We still have a great deal to learn about God's creation
  • Much of what we thought we knew falls far short of the grandeur we're discovering
I've posted about assumptions, reality, and faith before. Bottom line? I do not think that God made a world that we weren't supposed to study.10 Refusing to learn about God's creation doesn't make sense to me.

Neglecting to learn about God seems even less advisable.

The Pope gave Catholics in Germany a goal, and outlined ways they could work at achieving it. I think we can all learn from what Benedict XVI said:
"...'We need to open ourselves to him so that the power of his mercy can touch our hearts. We have to be ready to abandon evil, to raise ourselves from indifference and make room for his word,' he said.
(CNA (September 25, 2011))
Come to think of it, I went over this yesterday.

"We Need Have No Fear. God is Good"

"...'As we pray the Angelus, we may join Mary in her 'yes,' we may adhere trustingly to the beauty of God's plan and to the providence that he has assigned to us in his grace,' said the Pope.

" 'Then God's love will also, as it were, take flesh in our lives, becoming ever more tangible. In all our cares we need have no fear. God is good.'"
(CNA (September 25, 2011))
Someone could be a 'good Catholic' and not get involved in a single Marian devotion. On the other hand, many of us involve the mother of our Lord in our lives. I think that's a good idea, because for the last two millennia she's been telling us pretty much what she told the servers at Cana: "Do whatever he tells you." (John 2:5)9

As for that last sentence in the CNA article?
"...In all our cares we need have no fear. God is good.'"
(CNA
I couldn't have put it better myself.

More posts in this series:Other related posts:
In the news:
1 Conversion is an ongoing process:
2 Gnosticism has a definite appeal: particularly for folks who want to be part of an 'in' crowd, and think biology is icky. More about this attractive heresy:
Bearing in mind that I've got the (limited) authority of "some guy with a blog," here's more about gnosticism, from the Catholic Church:
And see:
3 "Vox populi, vox dei," Latin phrase, and attributed to Thomas Hobbes: who seems to have argued against "voice of the people - voice of God." I've been over this before, very briefly:
4 Actually, I agree with Chesterton on quite a few points, including this observation:
"By a curious confusion, many modern critics have passed from the proposition that a masterpiece may be unpopular to the other proposition that unless it is unpopular it cannot be a masterpiece."
"On Detective Novels," Generally Speaking: a Book of Essays, London: Methuen (1928) via "Quotations of G. K. Chesterton," The American Chesterton Society
(and see National Library of Australia Catalog)
I've use that quotation before:
5 I've enjoyed stories about vast conspiracies: fictional stories. When 'conspiracy theory' assumptions get taken seriously, the results aren't so entertaining:
6 I think natural law sounds cooler when it's wrapped up in an engagingly non-Western term like karma: and is necessarily involved in any system of belief that lasts more than a few decades. Natural moral law often takes longer than, say, the law of gravity to deliver consequences: but it's just as real:
"Man participates in the wisdom and goodness of the Creator who gives him mastery over his acts and the ability to govern himself with a view to the true and the good. The natural law expresses the original moral sense which enables man to discern by reason the good and the evil, the truth and the lie:
The natural law is written and engraved in the soul of each and every man, because it is human reason ordaining him to do good and forbidding him to sin . . . But this command of human reason would not have the force of law if it were not the voice and interpreter of a higher reason to which our spirit and our freedom must be submitted.5"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1954)
There's a whole lot more to say about natural law, including 1954-1960 in the Catechism.

I've given my opinion about natural law and the wisdom of jumping off reality without a parachute before:It's not just Americans who have trouble dealing with reality:7 Given what we know about the classical Greek verb used in this part of John 6, I've wondered why the NAB doesn't read "...Whoever gnaws my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life...." This footnote clears up why so many of my Lord's disciples walked away. Cannibalism was as distasteful for them, as it is for Americans today:
"[54-58] Eats: the verb used in these verses is not the classical Greek verb used of human eating, but that of animal eating: 'munch,' 'gnaw.' This may be part of John's emphasis on the reality of the flesh and blood of Jesus (cf ⇒ John 6:55), but the same verb eventually became the ordinary verb in Greek meaning "eat.""
(Footnote 19, John 6, New American Bible)
8 I'm a practicing Catholic, so I know I can't 'work my way into heaven.' I've been over this before:9 Even before my conversion, I had a soft spot in my heart for Mary. Partly, I think, because I understood the kind of guts it took to say 'yes.' And what she said at Cana:More, about:10 Religion, Reason, and Reality:
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Thursday, September 29, 2011

Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Harlots and Pharisees, Agnostics and Routine Believers

An agnostic is not, oddly enough, a person who rejects Gnosticism.1 "Agnostic" has a few related meanings:
  • Noun
    • Someone who is doubtful or noncommittal about something
    • A person who claims that they cannot have true knowledge about the existence of God (but does not deny that God might exist)
  • Adjective
    • Of or pertaining to an agnostic or agnosticism
    • Uncertain of all claims to knowledge
    (Princeton's WordNet)
I've been "agnostic," at least in the sense of being "doubtful or noncommittal" when it came to details about God, His creation, and what happened after the first century. Sorting out conventional attitudes, lurid tales, and historical facts ended with my conversion to Catholicism. Turns out, the Pope says it's okay to wonder about God.

By the way, this is the fourth of seven posts about what Benedict XVI said during his trip to Germany:
  1. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Hope, Confidence, and Looking Forward"
    (September 27, 2011)
  2. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Liberation, Transformation, and Getting Personal"
    (September 27, 2011)
  3. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Scandal, Abuse, and the Cross"
    (September 28, 2011)
  4. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Harlots and Pharisees, Agnostics and Routine Believers"
    (September 29, 2011)
  5. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Dissent, Conversion, and Knowledge"
    (September 30, 2011)
  6. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: We're Not About 'Joyless Saints' "
    (October 1, 2011)
  7. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: 'Where God is, There is a Future' "
    (October 3, 2011)
Now, about the Pope, Pharisees, harlots, agnostics, and folks with a 'whatever' faith:

Harlots and Pharisees, Agnostics and Routine Believers

"Pope Benedict XVI has encouraged German Catholics to remain faithful to the unity of the Church. He warned that those Catholics who view the Church as a mere institution are often further from God than agnostics.

" 'The Church in Germany will continue to be a blessing for the entire Catholic world: if she remains faithfully united with the Successors of St. Peter and the Apostles,' the Pope said at an open-air Sept. 25 Mass in the German city of Freiburg.

"Pope Benedict updated the warning of Christ that 'tax collectors and harlots' were closer to God than the Pharisees, offering a version 'translated into the language of our time.'

" 'Agnostics, who are constantly exercised by the question of God, those who long for a pure heart but suffer on account of our sin, are closer to the Kingdom of God than believers whose life of faith is 'routine' and who regard the Church merely as an institution, without letting their hearts be touched by faith,' said the Pope...."
(CNA (September 25, 2011))

More Than having My Name in the Parish Directory

What?! Nice, decent folks whose name is in the parish directory and show up for Mass when they can, aren't as close to the Kingdom of God as agnostics? That seems to be what the Pope said, and I think he's right.

Blind (Deaf, and Dumb) Faith?

Rabid Bible-thumpers and atheist zealots are like-minded in some ways. They often assume that faith is:
  • Believing what's 'in the Bible' according to
    • Their pastor
    • Themselves
    • Their friends
  • Faith must be
    • Blind
    • Unquestioning
    • Unthinking
    • Unwavering
That sort of faith can have odd results:


(Non Sequitur, Wiley Miller, used w/o permission)

Folks who never question the faith they learned at their mother's knee won't necessarily get crazy ideas. I think folks who live out their lives with love for God and neighbor, without learning much beyond 'Jesus loves me, this I know,' are blessed.

But I'm not like that. Happily, we're not all supposed to be alike.2

There's more about gnosticism, thinking, and the Catholic Church, near the end of this post.3 Moving on.

The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God apparently isn't a place: It's a condition. The Catechism's Glossary says that the The Kingdom of God is "reign or rule of God,"4 "not a matter of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirit." (Romans 14:17)

Which doesn't mean that Catholics are supposed to stop eating, and that's another topic.

Destination: Kingdom of God

I can't travel to the Kingdom of God, not literally. My 'going' there is a matter of working on me: my heart. Again, not literally. Back to what the Pope said:
"...This renewal of the Church in Germany will 'only come about through openness to conversion and through renewed faith,' said Pope Benedict. Jesus Christ 'is always close to us, especially in times of danger and radical change, his heart aches for us and he reaches out to us,' he added.

" 'We need to open ourselves to him so that the power of his mercy can touch our hearts. We have to be ready to abandon evil, to raise ourselves from indifference and make room for his word,' he said.

"In practical terms, the Pope suggested that each person ask themselves some basic questions about their personal relationship with God in prayer, in participation at Mass, in exploring his or her faith through mediation on Sacred Scripture and through study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church...."
(CNA (September 25, 2011))
Looks like it's back to asking questions:
  • How's my relationship with God going?
    • Prayer is indicated
  • What about my faith?
    • Meditation?! That's right
      • On Sacred Scripture
      • Through study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
I'm using this blog as a way to make sure that I get into the Bible and the Catechism pretty much every day. Maybe that's not as 'pure' as doing nearly the same thing without the discipline of trying to organize ideas for a post. For now, I'm not going to worry about that.

Tax Collectors, Harlots, Pharisees: And, God Willing, Me

I don't "know" that I'm "saved." In principle, I could decide that I didn't want to spend eternity with my Lord. That'd be a daft decision, but it could happen. Which gets me into free will.5 And other topics.

I hope that I'm more like the tax collector than the Pharisee in this story:
""Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity - greedy, dishonest, adulterous - or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.' But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.' I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.' "
(Luke 18:10-14)
Jesus told wonderfully concise, densely-packed stories. That one phrase shows the Pharisee's attitude, "The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself...." Then there's the contrasting " 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.' "

Apart from tending to have self-esteem issues, I don't think there was anything basically wrong with being a Pharisee. Hey, Saint Paul is a pharisee. (Acts 23:6) Granted, my Lord had to get Paul's attention first. (Acts 9:1-6)

So being a Pharisee doesn't seem to be an insurmountable obstacle for someone headed for the Kingdom of God. Neither, apparently, is being a tax collector or a harlot. What seems to matter is what a person does after spotting the goal:Then there's Nicodemus, who seems to have had a rather steep learning curve. (John 3:1-15) And that's another topic.

More posts in this series:Vaguely-related posts:
In the news:
1 Gnosticism has been define as "a religious orientation advocating gnosis as the way to release a person's spiritual element; considered heresy by Christian churches:" which isn't all that helpful unless you know that "gnosis" means "intuitive knowledge of spiritual truths; said to have been possessed by ancient Gnostics." Sort of like "Luke, trust your feelings!" Only not quite. Gnosticism was a big hit, back in the 2nd century:
"...The second-century Church was threatened by the so-called Gnosis, a doctrine which affirmed that the faith taught in the Church was merely a symbolism for the simple who were unable to grasp difficult concepts; instead, the initiates, the intellectuals - Gnostics, they were called - claimed to understand what was behind these symbols and thus formed an elitist and intellectualist Christianity...." ("General Audience" Benedict XVI (March 28, 2007))
Gnosticism has been back since then, with a new name and updated accessories. It's still a bad idea:
"Since the beginning the Christian faith has been challenged by responses to the question of origins that differ from its own. Ancient religions and cultures produced many myths concerning origins. Some philosophers have said that everything is God, that the world is God, or that the development of the world is the development of God (Pantheism). Others have said that the world is a necessary emanation arising from God and returning to him. Still others have affirmed the existence of two eternal principles, Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, locked in permanent conflict (Dualism, Manichaeism). According to some of these conceptions, the world (at least the physical world) is evil, the product of a fall, and is thus to be rejected or left behind (Gnosticism). Some admit that the world was made by God, but as by a watchmaker who, once he has made a watch, abandons it to itself (Deism). Finally, others reject any transcendent origin for the world, but see it as merely the interplay of matter that has always existed (Materialism). All these attempts bear witness to the permanence and universality of the question of origins. This inquiry is distinctively human...."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 285)
About gnosticism, including what's above:
And see:
2 Catholics aren't supposed to be all alike. Sure,we're one body - but like I said before, "what good would a body be that was all gallbladder?" More:3 Gnosticism is a heresy: something the Catholic Church emphatically doesn't approve of. Pope Benedict XVI said that gnostics "formed an elitist and intellectualist Christianity." That doesn't mean that the Catholic Church is 'anti-intellectual.' Which may seem counter-intuitive to folks who are more familiar with America's goofier Protestant groups.

I became a Catholic in part because I didn't have to check my brain at the door. Not that the Catholic Church is the religious equivalent of Mensa. We're all sorts of people, which suits me fine. (August 26, 2010)

I've posted about gnosticism, the Catholic Church, and getting a grip, before:4 From the Catechism's Glossary:
KINGDOM OF GOD (OF HEAVEN): The reign or rule of God: 'the kingdom of God is . . . righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit' (Rom 14:17). The Kingdom of God draws near in the coming of the Incarnate Word; it is announced in the Gospel; it is the messianic Kingdom, present in the person of Jesus, the Messiah; it remains in our midst in the Eucharist. Christ gave to his Apostles the work of proclaiming the Kingdom, and through the Holy Spirit forms his people into a priestly kingdom, the Church, in which the Kingdom of God is mysteriously present, for she is the seed and beginning of the Kingdom on earth. In the Lord's Prayer ('Thy Kingdom come') we pray for its final glorious appearance, when Christ will hand over the Kingdom to his Father (541-554, 709, 763, 2816, 2819).
(Glossary, Catechism of the Catholic Church) [links to text citations added]
This is a good spot for my usual disclaimer: I've got the teaching authority of "some guy with a blog."

5 God could have made me, everybody, with hardwired responses: so that I couldn't sin. Or practice virtue. Risky as it is, I'm rather glad He made free will part of the package. More of my take on free will:What about "predestination?" It's compatible with free will - from God's point of view:
"To God, all moments of time are present in their immediacy. When therefore he establishes his eternal plan of 'predestination,' he includes in it each person's free response to his grace: 'In this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.'395 For the sake of accomplishing his plan of salvation, God permitted the acts that flowed from their blindness.396"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 600)
Do I fully understand how God perceives the whole of creation? No. He's God, I'm not. Enough said.
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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Scandal, Abuse, and the Cross

Before getting back to my take on what the Pope said: Yes, I know about the pedophile priests. Moving on.

Pope Benedict XVI is back from his trip to Germany. He talked about what's been going on, and what's coming, while visiting his homeland.

I was going to write a post about what the Pope said, and my reactions: and noticed that it was overly-long. Even by my standards. Cutting it into manageable chunks, I got the start of seven posts. This is the third, the rest aren't finished yet:
  1. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Hope, Confidence, and Looking Forward"
    (September 27, 2011)
  2. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Liberation, Transformation, and Getting Personal"
    (September 27, 2011)
  3. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Scandal, Abuse, and the Cross"
    (September 28, 2011)
  4. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Harlots and Pharisees, Agnostics and Routine Believers"
    (September 29, 2011)
  5. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: Dissent, Conversion, and Knowledge"
    (September 30, 2011)
  6. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: We're Not About 'Joyless Saints' "
    (October 1, 2011)
  7. "Benedict XVI in Germany, My Take: 'Where God is, There is a Future' "
    (October 3, 2011)
Now, Pope Benedict XVI, the Cross, and getting a grip:

Scandal, Abuse, and the Cross

"...He recognized that the scandal of clerical abuse was often obscuring the Church's preaching of the 'scandal of the cross.'

" 'A dangerous situation arises when these scandals take the place of the primary scandal of the Cross and in so doing they put it beyond reach, concealing the true demands of the Christian Gospel behind the unworthiness of those who proclaim it.'..."
(CNA (September 25, 2011))

"Scandal of the Cross:" It's Not Crazy Talk

The "scandal of the Cross" isn't the sort of thing folks are likely to hear in everyday conversation. It's pretty obvious that the Pope was talking about the Cross that Jesus died on. He's not saying that it's "scandalous," in the supermarket-tabloid sense of the word. I think this is a pretty good discussion of what "scandal of the Cross"1 means:
"...In Biblical language, scandal signifies a trap, that which causes a fall, therefore something which causes one to falter, which endangers faith. But we would point out that depending on its origin and depending on the capacity and disposition of the one scandalised, the significance of the scandal differs entirely. For the believer the scandal of the Cross is to be adored. This scandal is not a counter-witness, on the contrary it is the source of the greatest witness. ..."
("Counter-Witness and Scandal," Georges Cottier, Jubilee 2000 Magazine (June-September 1996))

Latin, Language, and Communication

This isn't a criticism of Pope Benedict XVI, or the Vatican: but I think some folks who understand Latin, a dialect of contemporary English, and several other languages, sometimes forget that the rest of us aren't quite as savvy. There's what "secret" and "invention" mean, for example.2 And that's another topic.

The Cross: It's a Big Deal

As a practicing Catholic, I take Jesus and the Cross very seriously. When my Lord died on Golgotha, and didn't stay dead, He cleared accounts for me and every other human being who ever lived, or will live. There's quite a bit in the Catechism of the Catholic Church about the Cross and:
Remember:
  • That set of links isn't a complete index
  • I've got the teaching authority of "some guy with a blog"
Next, what I think about the scandal of clerical abuse, news, and getting a grip.

Evil is Not Nice

In my considered opinion:
  • Sexual abuse is
    • Not good
    • Bad
    • Wrong
Abuse, mistreatment of any kind, is particularly bad when committed by someone in a position of trust or authority.3

Since I'm going to express counter-cultural opinions about recent events, that declaration of belief seemed advisable.

Another point: emotion and reason don't play well together. It has to do with the way our brains are wired.4 Which brings me to:

Reality and the News
- or -

PEDOPHILEPRIESTS!!!!!!

Remember last year, when it felt like pedophile priests were everywhere? In the news, at least? And that Thomas Nast, Maria Monk, and Chick Publications were right about the Catholic Church?5


(From Thomas Nast Portfolio, Ohio State University, used without permission.)
Look out! Here come the Catholics!

For those who may have been off the planet during the last year or so, a quick review, in Q & A format:
  • Reality
    • Q. Was there a problem involving priests and sexual abuse?
      A. Yes
      • Q. Was this a bad thing?
        A. Yes
    • Q. Did some bishops shield abusers?
      A. Yes
      • Q. Was this a bad thing?
        A. Yes
  • Imagination
    • Q. Were all Catholic priests abusing every underage boy?
      A. No
      • Q. Is this an excuse for even one case of abuse?
        A. No
    • Q. Were all Catholic bishops covering up every scandal?
      A. No
      • Q. Is this an excuse for even one case of abuse?
        A. No
      • Q. Is this an excuse for any evasion of responsibility?
        A. No
    • Q. Did the Pope run this vile conspiracy?
      A. No
      • Q. Is this an excuse for even one case of abuse?
        A. No
      • Q. Is this an excuse for any evasion of responsibility?
        A. No
      • Q. Does saying a conspiracy exists mean there really is one?
        A. No
The reality of clerical abuse was a bad thing. One case of a priest abusing one of his flock would be a bad thing.

But reality doesn't seem good enough to sell papers. The actual number of priests accused of abuse was notoriously absent from most coverage. As for what investigations into abuse revealed, that may have been insufficiently dramatic.

Again: one case of abuse would have been one too many. Clerical abuse is not good. It is bad.

Sex, Conspiracy, and Lizard Men

Sex!

Then there's the 'age and sex' angle to the story. A number of the abuse cases did not involve preteen boys. Again, I am not trying to excuse abuse.

'Pedophile priests' and abuse of impressionable young boys was the theme of the day. It wasn't the whole picture, though. The Church was also dealing with priests who had indulged in a more traditional 'professor and the coed' sort of misconduct.

Do I think it's okay for an older man, particularly one in a position of trust and authority, to sexually abuse a younger woman? No: certainly not. There's a fancy word for the 'old lech' scenario, by the way. Not that having a five-dollar word for some behavior is an excuse. I've discussed ephebophilia before.6

Do I think it's 'normal' for a man to notice women? Yes.

Feeling physical attraction toward a healthy young woman is one thing. Acting on it is something else, and the Church sets a higher standard: Matthew 5:27-28.

Conspiracy!

There might be a vast conspiracy: one involving everyone in the Catholic Church from the Pope, all the way down to some apparently-harmless janitor who is not who he seems to be. That could make a whacking good story.7

Sadly, some priests and bishops really were involved in "a secret agreement between two or more people to perform an unlawful act." (Princeton's WordNet) As I've noted before, that's bad. Very bad.

The idea that the entire Catholic Church was - and is - involved in a vast conspiracy to hide the truth? I suppose it's possible.

Lizard Men!

It's also possible that the "Jesuit priests of Baal" actually exist: and that they're really shape-shifting, space-alien lizard men. Possible, barely. Likely? No.8

Assumptions, the Vatican, and Statistics: Prepare to be Bored

In some circles, 'everybody knows' that the Vatican is the headquarters of a global network: teeming with myriad myrmidons; an illimitable labyrinth of corridors, archives, crypts, vaults, and ancient locked doors.

There's a little truth to that assumption. The area around Saint Peter's tomb has seen a lot of construction and remodeling in the 17 centuries since Emperor Constantine turned it over to the Pope. As a result, the area we call Vatican City is a complex of buildings, parks, and walkways housing everything from Saint Peter's tomb to the Holy See's Web servers.9

It's an impressive place. But it's not very big. The Vatican City State covers 0.44 square kilometers: about 7/10 the area of the National Mall in Washington DC.10. The folks who live and work there aren't terribly crowded: the population is about 1/5 that of Sauk Centre, the small central Minnesota town where I live. They enjoy a milder climate: and that's yet another topic.

Getting back to the deplorable matter of clerical abuse, and assumptions about the vast hordes of bureaucratic functionaries at the Vatican: The Holy See simply doesn't have a very big staff. Not for an outfit that spans the globe.

For example, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDC) is a sort of watchdog agency. Their job is "to promote and safeguard the doctrine on the faith and morals throughout the Catholic world." Among other things, they're the ones who go through reports of clerical abuse.

They've got a staff of nearly four dozen.

Let's put that number in perspective:

Catholicsapprox. 1,100,000,000
Priestsapprox. 400,000
Vatican City State832
CDF staff45
Sources: "World," The World Factbook, CIA (last updated August 31, 2011); "Holy See (Vatican City)," The World Factbook,CIA (last updated August 31, 2011); "Should I stay or should I go?," Timothy Radcliffe, The Tablet (April 10, 2010)
(And see "Frequently requested Church Statistics," CARA Services, Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown University)

Again, I'm not making excuses. But with 1,100,000,000 Catholics, 400,000 priests, and 45 folks back at headquarters shoveling through paperwork about all of the above - maybe it's not so surprising that abuse allegations didn't always get handled in time for the evening news.

Particularly allegations from a country that's been churning out anti-Catholic screed from day one.

"It's the Things We Know That Just Ain't So"

Two quotes, and I'm done for the day:
"It ain't so much the things we don't know that get us into trouble. It's the things we know that just ain't so." (attr. humorists Mark Twain,11 Artemus Ward, Kin Hubbard, and Will Rogers; inventor Charles Kettering; pianist Eubie Blake; baseball player Yogi Berra (once, by Al Gore))
And a quote I've used quite a bit recently:
"There are not a hundred people in America who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions of people who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church - which is, of course, quite a different thing."
(Bishop Fulton Sheen,12 Foreword to Radio Replies Vol. 1, (1938) page ix, via Wikiquote)
More posts in this series:
Other related posts:
In the news:
1 As I've said before, I've got the authority of "some guy with a blog." The Holy See's website has background on the scandal of the Cross, including:
2 The words "secret" and "invention" come from Latin. What they mean has shifted a bit in the last couple thousand years:
3 Despite what America's dominant culture assumes, the Catholic Church disapproves of:
4 Not too long ago, researchers discovered that when a person experiences strong emotions, most of the frontal cortex goes offline.

That seems to explain why folks who can think clearly under stress are criticized for being 'cold' or 'uncaring.' It's also why I'm cautious about making decisions when my emotions are engaged:
5 In a way, anti-Catholicism is as American as apple pie. But not as healthy.

I've looked at this dark facet of our culture, and getting a grip, before:
6 You're not likely to run into the words "ephebophilia," or "chronophilia," unless you're involved in psychiatry or psychology:
"...It is one of a number of sexual preferences across age groups subsumed under the technical term 'chronophilia'. Ephebophilia strictly denotes the preference for mid-to-late adolescent sexual partners, not the mere presence of some level of sexual attraction. In sexual ethics, it may be defined as a sexual preference for girls generally 14–16 years old, and boys generally 14–19 years old...."
("Ephebophilia," Wikipedia)
Wikipedia?? This is one of the articles that cites its sources.

Again, I think abuse by someone in a position of trust and authority is particularly egregious. When the abuser is a Catholic priest, the offense is - in my view - even more rank.

I think, however, it's a good idea to know what the facts are, even in emotion-drenched situations :
7 I like some tales of vast conspiracies: as long as the author realizes that it's fiction. When 'conspiracy theory' beliefs mix with public policy, the results aren't quite so entertaining:
8 There's a huge difference between "possible" and "likely."

For example, "Jesuit priests of Baal" might really exist: Jesuits are real; Baal, or Baʿal, or בעל, for example, really existed: as a Semitic word for "master," and part of the name of a king of Edom (Genesis 36:38). "Baal" is also how we spell the name/title of an alleged deity whose worshipers caused quite a lot of trouble. (Judges 6:24-32, 1 Kings 18:18-40, 2 Kings 10:18-28)

But renegade Jesuits, who decided to dust off some long-defunct ersatz deity? Not at all likely, I think.

Even less likely are space aliens of the Star Trek variety. My opinion. They're too human: necessarily, given the limits of budget and technology.

On the other hand, we're discovering that life on planets other than Earth is possible. As for how likely it is that 'we are not alone?' We're not even close to having enough data for a reasonable guess, again in my opinion.

My take on extraterrestrial life and conspiracies, in part:
9 The Vatican City State is less than a century old. "The Vatican" is the English version of Ager Vaticanus, a marshy area on the right bank of the Tiber River. That was thousands of years back. Quite a lot has happened since Republican Rome. More:
10 Source:
11Here's the Mark Twain quote that apparently grew into the longer saying:
"It isn't so astonishing the things that I can remember, as the number of things I can remember that aren't so."
("The Oxford Dictionary Of American Quotations," Hugh Rawson, Margaret Miner (2006), page 415, no longer available online (June 6, 2012))
According to an Amazon.com excerpt from "The Quote Verifier: Who Said What, Where, and When" (Ralph Keyes (2006)), Twain biographer Albert Bigelow Paine said that Twain was paraphrasing a remark by humorist Josh Billings. (June 6, 2012)

12 I think the Fulton Sheen quote is spot-on accurate, and used it in three recent posts:
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Marian Apparition: Champion, Wisconsin

Background:Posts in this blog: In the news:

What's That Doing in a Nice Catholic Blog?

From time to time, a service that I use will display links to - odd - services and retailers.

I block a few of the more obvious dubious advertisers.

For example: psychic anything, numerology, mediums, and related practices are on the no-no list for Catholics. It has to do with the Church's stand on divination. I try to block those ads.

Sometime regrettable advertisements get through, anyway.

Bottom line? What that service displays reflects the local culture's norms, - not Catholic teaching.