When people doubt whether the church really loves them, they do not listen to her teachings.
This was part of a message delivered by Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, the senior Vatican official for the global Pontifical Council for Social Communications. In two separate talks given June 4 at the Catholic Media Convention in New Orleans, he urged Catholic reporters, editors and other communicators to help create a space where the world can encounter the truths of the church without feeling condemned or denounced.
The church need not abandon the authentic truths entrusted to her and handed down through the millennia, Archbishop Celli explained, but she must find ways to show that she respects and loves those who disagree with her and live contrary to her teachings.
One way to imagine this relationship is to think of a mother and her children, Archbishop Celli proposed.
To summarize his point, a child does not always agree with his mother — sometimes he disobeys her. In a healthy relationship, however, the child will never doubt that his mother loves him and sacrifices for him.
I would add that when a child disagrees with his mother or rejects her advice, a loving mother does not banish or disown her child. Instead, she prays for the child, welcomes him back with open arms and forgives as often as is needed.
This must be the church’s approach — especially when it comes to difficult moral teachings that are often rejected by the world and even by many Catholics. It is not enough to denounce, decry and condemn those who live contrary to the truth. This rarely changes hearts and minds.
The reality is that many people are searching for meaning and a dignified calling for their life. Our increasingly secular world does not offer a high and noble call for one’s life — a call that requires everything but which culminates in an eternal journey into the very heart of God.
Many would be open to the proposals of the church, but they must be wooed and courted. This is especially true when it comes to the moral teachings about human sexuality and the structure and role of the family.
In his message for the May 16 World Communications Day, Pope Benedict XVI touched on effective ways the church can speak to the world.
“With the Gospels in our hands and in our hearts, we must reaffirm the need to continue preparing ways that lead to the Word of God, while being at the same time constantly attentive to those who continue to seek; indeed, we should encourage their seeking as a first step of evangelization,” the pope said.
In addressing how the church should engage the world through digital communications, the pope said it “requires sensitivity to those who do not believe, the disheartened and those who have a deep, unarticulated desire for enduring truth and the absolute.”
The pope concluded his remarks by reminding priests that “the ultimate fruitfulness of their ministry comes from Christ himself, encountered and listened to in prayer; proclaimed in preaching and lived witness; and known, loved and celebrated in the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist and Reconciliation.”
Much of the world does not attend Mass, Bible studies or Catechism classes. It is not that these forums do not proclaim the liberating truth of Christ, but the world cannot (or does not) see this and so they do not come.
So, the hope of Christ must first be evident in the way that we speak, how we listen and in the charity and aid we generously offer. When people experience love, they will be far more likely to consider (or reconsider) the truths that the church has faithfully articulated since the time of Christ.
As Archbishop Celli said, even if people disagree with the church, they should still find that they like to be near her because they know they are loved — unconditionally.
