Last week, Ralph Martin, with two esteemed colleagues Peters and Echeverria, was abruptly fired from Sacred Heart Seminary by newly appointed Detroit Archbishop Weisenburger. When Ralph asked for the reason, Weisenburger responded vaguely: "concerns about your theology."
Surely, a bishop has the right and responsibility to choose as seminary professors those whose theological vision he values. The problem is not that they were fired; but the way and especially the timing. At the end of July; they are surely done with or deep into class preparations for the Fall; their personal financial projections surely assume the salary they were promised when they pledged to teach in the following year.
Not to mention the blow to the seminary which must now hustle to cover these courses, by unprepared teachers!
The three are accomplished scholars, impeccable in their fidelity to the Magisterium. Indeed this is the problem as Martin has been respectfully critical of the ambiguity that covered Vatican teaching during the Francis papacy.
I hesitate to speak bad about an Archbishop, but it must be asked: Where is your decency? Common courtesy? Sense of justice? Respect for brothers-in-Christ, even if you differ on some matters?
A strength of the Catholic Church is a tolerance for theological diversity. We see it in the parish: priests come and go, some more conservative and some more liberal. It is simply the flow of life. We naturally tolerate a degree of differences, within an overall orthodoxy. We see it in the differences among bishops and cardinals. Liberal critics of John Paul and Benedict have credited them with installing a fair range of bishops rather than favoring only those in agreement with their views. This was unhappily not the practice of Francis who blatantly favored progressives and shunned conservatives.
Contributions of Ralph Martin to the Church
Without hesitation, I make a bold evaluation: no living American Catholic has advanced the Gospel and the holiness of the Church as much as Ralph Martin. Let's consider three dimensions of his work.
1. Charismatic Renewal. Unlike most of our lay movements, charismatic renewal had no single, or even group founder. It surged organically as a populist revival, beginning in 1967j, especially on key college campuses including Duquesne, Notre Dame, and University of Michigan. It benefited immediately from a rooster of outstanding Catholic theologians: Killian McDonough, George Montague, Francis Martin, Edward O'Connor, Alan Schreck, Mary Healy, Raniero Cantalamessa, Cardinal Suenens, and others. Even more crucially, it was guided by a pact of talented, practical, intellectual but not primarily academic leaders. Without doubt, first among equals in this charismatic (non-elected, non-appointed) elite was Ralph and his then-friend-and-collaborator Steve Clark. They developed a remarkable body of thought and practice, under Pentecostal-Evangelical influence and yet loyal to Catholicism, which was broadly and powerfully spread across the country and globe by a sophisticated network of publications, conferences, prayer groups, communities and institutions. (Contrast this literary abundance with the oral culture of the Neocatechumenate and the specific focus of Communion and Liberation on a handful of works by founder Giussani.) This renewal was fiercely ecumenical in alliance with Pentecostalism/Evangelicalism even as it contrasted with the pervasive progressive trajectory of American Catholicism in the 1970s in the wake of the Council. Ralph Martin was the single most decisive, significant player in this Church-and-World changing drama!
2. Move Deeper into Catholicism. Moving into the 80s, Ralph Martin returned from years serving the global movement in Europe to see his extraordinary partnership with Clark fracture and the renewal split into two directions. Clark led the "Sword of the Spirit," an umbrella network of covenant communities, in a radically counter-cultural, less Catholic direction: stress on ecumenical Evangelical/Pentecostalism, extreme practices of authority/obedience, strong gender roles, dystopian view of society and troubled relationships with the Catholic bishops. In contrast, Ralph turned more deeply, traditionally into his Catholic Church: he aligned fiercely with the New Evangelism of John Paul, he threw himself into study of the classic Catholic spiritual masters, and launched Renewal Ministries as a evangelization crusade of charismatic-flavored Catholicism. He used his fine intellect to plumb the saints and mystics and share in clear, accessible catechesis his findings in books (spectacularly in The Fulfillment of all Desire), talks, and conferences. He continues to work diligently on EWTN, conferences, writings, and (to now) at Sacred Heart Seminary. With similarly gifted, passionate evangelizers (Mary Healy, Peter Herbeck) he continues to be a powerful advocate of the gospel within the Church.
3. Catechesis of Hell. More recently, late in life, he took time to do a doctoral dissertation at the Angelicum in Rome on the topic of a populated hell. (Published as Who Will be Saved?). True to form, this was not an abstract, academic exercise, but a fierce assault on a pressing pastoral crisis: the pervasive presumption that God's mercy assures us that all (with maybe rare exceptions) go to heaven, that hell is unpopulated. He took aim especially at Rahner and Balthasar. His attack on the later was especially fierce, probably because his influence in stronger in conservative Catholic circles. He favorably quoted Balthasar on the dual Scriptural streams: God's overwhelming mercy and the freedom of the human to sin and reject God. But then faulted him on allowing the first to overcome the second. My reading of Balthasar is more positive, but Martin does have a valid point within the broader Church culture.
On this immense, significant debate, it is my view that Martin properly rebalanced our catechesis, even as his attack on Balthasar was heavy-handed. Such theological speculation on "dare we hope" brings catechetical difficulties. Within the broader atmosphere of presumption and "easy mercy" Martin is indeed a prophetic voice. The teachings of John Paul and Benedict achieve a happy balance: both asserted the existence of a populated hell but spoke of the topic very rarely, preferring to emphasize the Mercy of Christ. Both shared, of course, passionate awareness of the realities of hell and sin here on earth.
I more strongly differ with Martin on his evaluation of the unusual relationship of Balthasar with his mystic-collaborator Adrienne von Speyr. With many, I view her as an extraordinary, holy mystic and their relationship as sacred and fruitful. Martin sees it as pathological in a hidden manner; as tending to universalism; and possibly even demonic. It is reasonable to raise questions about their teaching, but his personal evaluation verges on slander. I suspect that Martin has dealt with so much camouflaged abuse, of sex and authority, in the Renewal that he is understandably prone to suspicion. This is the single problem I have with Ralph Martin.
Conclusion
For over 50 years, Ralph Martin has been for me personally a mentor, a coach, a guide, if from a distance. I met him once. He thanked me for financial support to his work over the years. I have followed his itinerary with interest as my own has paralleled it. At a charismatic prayer meeting in Jersey City in 1974, the leader asked that the group pray over me as she saw me as a local "Ralph Martin." I was complimented and still thrill to recall it. I have nothing of his influence, fame and accomplishments. But I aspire that I may, in my own so-much-smaller-world, similarly echo the truth of the Gospel!
Ralph refrained from a comment after he lost his job to avoid intensifying the polarization in the Church. He is a man of Truth; also a man in love with the Church. At 82 years old, he continues to work with zeal and will now have more energy for other projects. This will not slow him down.
I do not grieve for Martin, Peters and Echeverria. They will bounce back, continue to serve the Church and glorify the Lord with their marvelous gifts. I grieve for Sacred Heart Seminary and the Church in Detroit. The energies among young people in today's Church are largely with the conservative-yet-fresh lay renewal movements and the Latin Mass communities. This work of the Holy Spirit will not be suppressed by petty, narrow-minded, progressive tyrants in the episcopate.
We hope and pray that Pope Leo will make better choices for bishops. We hope and pray that our Lord continue to bless the work of Martin, Peters and Echeverria and give us many more like them!
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