It happened during my wonderful years as a parish priest. Immacolata Parish had a first-rate school and an excellent program of religious education for our children and young people. I was in charge of the Monday evening classes for our high school students who were not in a Catholic school, and, if I do say so myself, we had an effective program.
Here’s the Real Question
The catechist for our dozen or so seniors, a Franciscan brother, invited me to attend his class on the virtue of chastity. It was splendid. The discussion among the young people after his teaching was equally stimulating, and came down to an animated debate between two rather articulate girls. “Amy” insisted the Church’s teaching on chastity was dated, irrelevant, impractical, and widely disregarded. “Laura,” with equal vigor, held that the Church’s expectations were healthy, wholesome, tough-but-do-able, and led to happy, healthy lives.
“Amy” concluded by observing, “The real question is whether or not the Church is going to get with it and change its outmoded, old teaching to conform with the needs of our modern generation!” To which Laura replied, “No. The real question today is whether we are going to change our behavior and values to conform with the teachings of Jesus and His Church.”
Thank you, Laura. I remember you to this day. I especially thought of you two weeks ago when I read Fr. Richard McBrien’s column in our Catholic Herald [diocesan paper of Milwaukee].
Fr. McBrien is a popular, perceptive theological journalist. In his column of July 8, 2004, he verbalized a genuine problem in contemporary Catholic life: there is a gap between what the Church teaches and what many people in our culture, our society, and even within our Church believe or do not believe. Unending polls — probably accurate — tell us a good chunk of our Catholic people no longer agree with the Church on a number of doctrinal and moral issues, such as war and peace, the intrinsic immorality of abortion and euthanasia, economic justice, marital fidelity, capital punishment, the perpetuity of marriage, the Real Presence, and chastity, just to name a few.
Fr. McBrien’s solution seems to be that of Amy: the only answer is to change the teaching! Must be something wrong with the doctrine, with the moral expectations, the reasoning goes, so we had better tailor our teaching to fit this new era of enlightened disciples.
How Do We Stop the Bleeding?
Sorry, but I’m sticking with Laura. When I read the Bible, I ask how I can change my life to conform to the teaching of God’s Word, not how I can revise the message to make me more comfortable. When I read the Catechism, I try to refine my beliefs to make sure they are in obedience to the timeless truths of the Church, not critique the doctrine to see how it fails to soothe my modern ears. When I examine my conscience at night, I attempt to assess my conduct in light of the Commandments, the Beatitudes, and the moral tradition of the Church, not to alter those expectations to justify my own behavior.
In the same issue of the Catholic Herald a thoughtful letter to the editor weighed in on the Amy side. Peter Geniesse tells us many Catholics have tragically left the Church over the last couple of decades. He’s right, I’m afraid. Why have they left? His explanation is that the Church has been too demanding, too rigorous, too strict, too exclusive. We’ll lose more, he warns, unless we bishops and pastors “let up, get with it” and change some of our teachings. “Amy” once again…
While I share our correspondent’s laudable pastoral solicitude for those who have left the Church, I ask where they usually go when they leave. Do they go to the more “liberal” churches where teaching is less “black and white,” and faith and morals presented with more nuance and less clarity and cogency?
Nope! They usually go to the evangelicals and fundamentalists, whose preaching of biblical doctrine and morality is so strong and unwavering that they usually make us look like wimps. Almost weekly I get a tear-stained letter from a parent telling me about his/her young adult child who has left the Church. But guess where they go? The Unitarians? Not quite. Assembly of God? Usually.
I think Fr. McBrien, Mr. Geniesse, and I all agree that the Church we love has a serious pastoral challenge: many of our people have a tough time accepting the teachings of the Church. Yes, there is a “gap” between what the Church teaches and how it is accepted and believed by our people.
Here’s a Radical Idea: Listen to Jesus
Where we would differ is how to respond. We can take our cue from the data supplied by the polls, and alter our doctrine to be more current; we can amend our moral expectations to be more palatable to contemporary taste. That’s the approach of “Amy” — Church teaching is dated, irrelevant, impractical, and widely disregarded, and thus has to be changed.
Or, we can listen to Jesus who always urges us to conversion of heart and interior reform. We can change our lives and our attitudes to bring them into conformity with those of Jesus and His Church. You bet, the Church especially we pastors — needs to ask hard questions as to how we can teach the timeless message of truth with more color, creativity, cogency, and compassion. That’s what Blessed John XXIII urged us to do when he opened the Second Vatican Council. Change the teaching? No way. Change the way we teach? Sure!
That same Blessed John XXIII called the Church Mater et Magistra (Mother and Teacher). We love it when the Church is “mother” — warm, inviting, affirming, compassionate, embracing. We tend to bristle when she is “teacher” — presenting the truth with clarity, correcting error, even at times flunking us if we fail to live up to what is expected. “Amy” had no trouble with the Church as mother; she rejected the Church as teacher.
But a good mother is a good teacher as well. Thanks, “Laura,” wherever you are! Do we ever need you!
Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan is the bishop of the Milwaukee Archdiocese .
(This article provided courtesy of the Catholic Herald the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and the Catholic community newspaper for southeastern Wisconsin.)
