For just over half a century the Church has been in a de facto, but not declared theological schism: two Churches, one of Tradition and one Progressive or Liberal. We have not divided because of the powerful centripetal dynamics of the Catholic Church. The German Church is now in genuine schism but Pope Francis lacks the clarity of intellect and strength of purpose to acknowledge the reality. Nevertheless, it is worth pondering the fierce spiritual/moral forces that keep our Church in unity, despite the conflict and tensions.
The Catholic Instinct is an urgency to stay in union and communication, even in contradiction and conflict. It is like a mother who is determined to keep her family together, whatever the cost. So we saw, for example, that the rebellion against Humanae Vitae by theologians and even bishops was not crushed, but was tolerated, for the sake of unity and peace, by the Vatican. Even John Paul and Benedict, always clear in their magisterial teaching, allowed a wide range for freedom and dissent. We Catholics, like our mother's milk and the air we breathe, interiorize a strong identity as part of something greater than ourselves, something global, trans-generational, historical but eternal, present in this life and the next.
Papacy, Episcopacy, Priesthood are stable, abiding structures which keep us in unity, regardless of the particular personalities. Whether you love or hate Benedict and Francis, as a Catholic you give your loyalty. Already, right after the death of the Apostles, St.Ignatius of Antioch was exhorting the communities to preserve their unity around the bishop/priest/deacon. That abides in the Church forever.
Confession of Sin fiercely keeps us together: the ground is level at the foot of the cross. We confess at mass, in Penance, in our exam of conscience. It is at the heart of our faith. When we confess our own sins, we are disinclined to judge, to demonize, to impute evil to the brother and sister.
Sacramental Economy holds us together even as we differ in our views, theological or political. When we gather for Sunday Eucharist we suspend our differences and arguments and open ourselves to graces from heaven. In Confession we own our own sins, and cease from accusing the other. In baptism, confirmation and ordination our soul receives a permanent seal, which can NEVER be removed, and joins us together eternally, even if we renounce it our ignore it.
Catholic Culture is a dense, deep, rich tapestry of life that binds us together and relativizes our disputes: music, liturgical seasons, artwork, Churches, pilgrimages, feast days, sabbath, funerals, weddings, baptisms. All of the above and so much more glues our corporate life and allows us to battle each other and resolve conflict with some serenity and mutual respect.
Body of Christ, literally, is how we understand ourselves as Church: as the hand and eye are part of the body, so we are joined to each other, organically, in Christ. If a part of the body is sick, wounded or weak, we care for it, protect it. Only in the extreme case, when the infection threatens to kill the entire body, do we consider amputation.
A schism is an amputation. It is part of the body breaking off to its own. It is like a branch cut off from the vine. Oftentimes, a sector of the Church will separate, as in the Protestant Reformation. It is possible that the German Church, in large part, will do so in the foreseeable future. Sometimes, Church authority has to declare a group in schism. Pope Francis, given his pronounced proclivities, could conceivably renounce the Latin Mass community, but not the German "synodality."
The dark side of Catholic craving for unity is that Truth gets compromised. The reluctance to judge, to draw clear boundaries, to clarify identity...allows widespread confusion, vagueness, weakness to undermine our faith.
In a helpful newsletter recently, Ralph Martin recalled the Arian heresy of the 4th century. This view denied that Christ was fully God; it saw him as a creature, although a heavenly one. Many progressives today actually share this view. Most of the Church, especially the episcopacy, was under the control of this heresy for much of the century. There were always strong voices for the truth, notably St. Athanasius. A small band of clever, forceful Arians gained control as many bishops and others were confused or indifferent. Orthodox belief endured, however, even in the darkest times in the quiet, humble faith of the laity. Martin sees that today's Church is nowhere as bad as that during the Arian heresy. However, things could get worse for us.
In a classic essay, ("Satan Unbound" First Things, Dec. 1, 2022) Patricia Snow notes the abandonment by the Church, after the Council, of the network of exorcisms in the liturgy. She recalls the vision of Pope Leo and his creation of the prayer to St. Michael which was prayed at every mass and has made a spontaneous, unofficial resurgence over recent years. The story is that Pope Leo heard, in a dream, Satan brag to God about his devastation of the Church and that he could do far more. God allegedly told him he had 50 to 70 years. It did not specify when. The historicity of the story is tentative. Even if he did have that exact dream, it is private revelation and nonbinding. However, it makes sense! We are now just over 50 years since the Church largely abandoned martial vigilance and rigor for a happy-go-lucky, go-along-to-go-get-along, rosy secularism.
In the late 1960s Lucifer launched his greatest initiative since the Garden of Eden. He found in the USA and the West the most prosperous, affluent, powerful, comfortable, secure, and arrogant bourgeois society in human history. He released a legion of demons upon us: materialism, consumerism, techno-scientism, relativism, sexual liberation, neo-antiracist-racism, careerism, hedonism, progressivism as utopian optimism and contempt for the past, individualism, pantheism, sentimental romanticism, Jungian subjectivism, capitalistic neoliberalism, Marxism, and the Crown Prince, indignant-histrionic-homosexualism. This demonic assault was entirely successful: it is currently in control of all the power centers, the elite institutions of the West.
Especially within the Church a spiritual/cultural war rages: between our Catholic faith as received and the demons of modernity that push to accommodate to the now dominant culture.
I am hopeful. I see, dispersed across the globe, many communities of faith...clear, deep, orthodox, passionate, generous, expansive faith. There are parishes, families, associations, renewal movements Latin Mass groups...often small, numerically not impressive, but fierce in conviction and certainty. These groups, working with likeminded priests and bishops, keep the light of faith, in all its warmth and illumination, alive. By a certain spiritual "chiaroscuro," the light of Christ shines the more strongly as the dark descends. These abide within the Church, even in times of chaos, showing forth the Truth. In the gentle power of the Holy Spirit, they will prevail over the darkness of error, as did the church of St. Athanasius.
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