Ever since I've started blogging, I've become more deeply aware of the many issues and topics in the Catholic world. My Reading List is filled with numerous Better Bloggers and I've found myself slightly...addicted, you could say, to logging on and reading the latest piece of Catholic news.
Ever since I've started blogging, I've also become more deeply aware of just how many problems are plaguing the Catholic Church, both externally and internally. You see, it's troubling enough when the faith is attacked from outside sources: atheists, Protestants, secularism, politics, ignorance, etc. But, and I want to emphasize this, it is absolutely
horrifying and deeply
disturbing when the faith is
undermined and
subverted from the inside by supposedly Catholic individuals, organizations, and institutions. Take a look at my Better Bloggers list in the sidebar and pretty much every title has something to do with the latest Catholic scandal: the HHS mandate; Sebelius and Georgetown and a whole host of other "Catholic" universities inviting very non-Catholic individuals as "inspiring" commencement speakers; priests and religious (both men and women) teaching issues that counter the doctrine and dogma, essentially bordering on heresy; bishops, priests, religious, and lay faithful bringing scandal upon scandal; liturgical abuses; modernism, humanism, pluralism, and borderline schismatic traditionalism; and a whole bunch of other
crap (sorry =/) that is literally tearing the [American] Church apart.
Ever since I've started blogging, I have become more and more...depressed...upset...troubled...angry. Take your pick. But I think at the heart of it all, honestly, is that I'm just really confused. Not necessarily confused about outside attack, that just comes with the faith, although I am slightly confused as to how people can still be so ignorant in this day and age. What I'm really confused about is subversion from the inside. I know, I'm using really loaded words, but that's a college student for you I guess. You see, in my opinion, our Catholic faith is both simultaneously extremely difficult and extremely easy. Difficult because a lot of our teachings and tenants are difficult to accept or follow, particularly in today's society...at least some would say. Easy because all our beliefs, all our doctrines and dogmas, are right there, plain and simple. It's called the
Catechism. We know what makes us Catholic and we know what doesn't. See? Easy.
Now I know that most likely, a majority of the lay faithful, probably don't know some of the more deeply theological and spiritual tenants of Catholicism. But every Catholic, especially given recent news, knows the major moral stuff: abortion, death penalty, homosexuality, poverty, euthanasia, basic Ten Commandment type issues. In the Catholic faith, there isn't any really moral ambiguity. That's not to say the act of sinning and a person's reason is completely black and white. There's always a chance of grey area when it comes to personal reasons for sin. It does not change the fact that sin is sin, just our level of understanding when it comes to the sinner.
So here's where the confusion comes in: why, if the Catechism spells out for us, plain and simple, what is right, do supposed Catholics insist on teaching everything that is wrong? It's one thing for an individual Catholic to hold wrong teaching and keep it to themselves. They are just ignorant or misguided unto themselves, not really doing much harm to anyone else. But its a completely different thing when those individuals are in the public sphere, influential at multiple levels, and insist on spreading their...misguided-ness...to others. Pseudo-Catholics like Sebelius, Biden, and Pelosi who call themselves Catholic, but act completely opposite to it. Or the small number of women religious leaders of the LCWR who have significant doctrinal issues. Or the priests in Austria openly dissenting on priestly celibacy and women priests (or better yet, the Australian priest who has outright come out and said he was married!). I can post and rant for a million more blog posts on these topics and barely scratch the surface. So the question becomes: how can they call themselves Catholic?
I came across this saying: "I'd rather have a good atheist than a bad Christian". I know that it might be crazy for me to say so, but I really like this statement. I don't know who to attribute it to, but there seems to be a small amount of truth in it, don't you think. For the purposes of this post, I want to alter this statement just a bit: I'd rather have a non-Catholic than a subversive Catholic. That is to say, I'd rather all these supposed Catholics convert to anything else, instead of spewing non-Catholic trash under the Catholic umbrella. Some of you may say, that its a good thing to have a lot of Catholics. Candidly and respectfully, you would be wrong, especially if we have Catholics who are anything but. Because in the end, it will be those Catholics, and not outside forces, that will destroy the Church.
I know I've said some really loaded things. But given all the latest news, it needed to be addressed. Of course, many of the Better Bloggers are saying and arguing things more eloquently, but I think it is important for people to know that these issues aren't just affecting the adult Catholic world. Young adults such as myself, and even the youth, know what's going on. Our voices are smaller and less experienced, but that doesn't mean we don't know that there is a significant problem, and it will take a united Church, with the intercession of St. Michael, and God's holy help, to combat it.
I'll talk more of my reasons in a later post, but for right now, I need to be studying for World Religions.
Pax vobiscum.
