The Vatican vs. The Church

On July 31, 2003 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued another salvo in its war on homosexuals. This one seeks to “provide arguments … which could be used by Bishops in preparing more specific interventions, appropriate to the different situations throughout the world, aimed at protecting and promoting the dignity of marriage, the foundation of the family, and the stability of society, of which this institution is a constitutive element.”  And “to give direction to Catholic politicians by indicating the approaches to proposed legislation in this area which would be consistent with Christian conscience.”

So we can expect that bishops (who owe their bishopric to Rome and who can be easily removed if they disagree with the party line) will be more vocal in their condemnation of homosexuality and gay relationships, and that Catholic politicians who feel more committed to their bishop than their constituents, will do whatever their bishop tells them they must do to prevent gay marriages. Until, of course, the constituents realize that if they want to have a real voice in their own government, they’d best not elect a Catholic!

The Vatican’s arguments are based, they tell us, on “natural moral law.” Now that’s the same as saying, “what we all know to be morally true.” In other words, “because we have said it is true for so many years and so many people believe us – it is true.” This is the same mentality that insisted even against physical proof to the contrary that the sun revolves around the earth.

What our bishops and cardinals just don’t seem to understand is that God is teaching us about ourselves all the time. Common sense (“natural law”?) suggests that you don’t tell a child everything he will ever need know in one sitting. The child learns as he grows – and grows as he learns.  The child-becoming-an-adult interacts with others and learns to respect and value others. As a moral person, the child-becoming-an-adult seeks justice and truth. As a citizen of this world who believes in Jesus Christ and, because of that belief, is seeking justice and peace for all, the adult knows in his heart what is just and what is not.  As Catholics, we believe that the Holy Spirit (GOD) works within us “to make all things new.”

The problem with the Vatican is that it really does not believe God might allow us to learn more about God as we mature as a human race. They think they have the Holy Spirit all locked up tightly within the confines of the Vatican; that anything we need to know will be made known in Vatican City and passed on to the rest of the world. If it didn’t start here, they imagine, it can’t be of God because we know what God wants. Besides, why would God want to speak from Ontario? or Amsterdamn? or Vermont? or Massachusetts?

The Vatican bureaucrats are not in touch with the Church, which is speaking loudly and clearly as Christians united with “all persons committed to promoting and defending the common good of society.” We are acting in a way that allows that to happen – not through the structure the Vatican has given us, but through our governments, where we actually have a voice.

While the Vatican pines for the good old days when the sun revolved around the earth and clerics busied themselves with protecting “the stability of society”, the rest of us have moved into the Twenty-First Century.  Faithful to our baptism, we are listening to God and attempting to build a society that is at peace because it is just.

We are the Church.

                                                                                                     --- Jerry Betz