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Distinctions
Posted November 26, 2007 , By Joshua LeBlanc
The first thing any young and budding philosopher has to learn is that Philosophy, by its very nature, is a language game. It is a study that depends upon words being used precisely and correctly. If you fail to do this, then you will inevitibly be left with confusion and miscommunication. Likewise, distinctions are very important for the philosopher and it also follows that disctinctions are also important for theologians, since Philosophy is the handmaid of Theology. Why do I ramble on about distinctions?
I often follow the blog of an individual who was Catholic for a time but then left the Church. Recently I came across a post he made concerning how he he was upset, I would even say angry, at various members of the Church because of what they did during the priest abuse scandal. He is angry because various people he met and worked within the Church have been in some way accused or convicted of heinous sexual acts. Now I don't want to put words in this individual's mouth, but from reading some of the things he has written I think it would be safe to assume that it was this issue of sexual abuse / cover-up by bishops that led to a distrust in the Church and in the end a great deal of animosity towards the Catholic Faith.
I can identify greatly with some of the sentiments of the individual above. I have never been betrayed as I have been by members of the Church. I have known a few priests who disappointed me with their actions but I have also known many good priests who have lived their vocations in an exemplary way. I think the only way an individual ends up hating the Church because of such things is because one fails to make a distinction between the Church as a group of sinful individuals and the Church as a visible institution. When we put our trust in individual priests or bishops and our faith goes no further then we are setting ourselves up for failure - we cannot trust in sinful individuals and not expect to be let down. Psalm 146 clearly tells us "Do not trust in Princes, in mortal man in whom there is no salvation." We see that scripture urges us not to put our trust in man, because that is not ultimately who our salvation comes from. Christ is very clear that it is the truth will set us free and the He is the "Via, Veritas, et Vita" - the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
If the Church is made up of frail individuals, then why continue to be Catholic? We are not Catholics because Cardinal so and so or Bishop so and so are such Godly individuals. We are Catholics because it is true that God has created a Church and has established that Church through Christ and that Church is the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. There can only be one Church. She has been the same yesterday, today, and will be forever. She is Holy because Christ established Her. The Church doesn't become any less holy because of the sinfullness of man - the Church is not dependent upon Man, She is dependent on Christ.
I have always told individuals that you cannot work for the Church and not expect to be hurt. Why? Because it is the very place that Satan works overtime because Satan hates the Church because She is the Bride of Christ and how better to anger an individual than to attack His bride. In the end, the Church has remained through all the sordid scandals in her time because from Her flows the grace of the sacraments - the saving power of Christ coming through her. Christ promised that the world would never prevail against her and the fact that the Catholic Church has survived when many other organizations have fallen is a testament to her divine institution.
It would be easy to leave the Church and convince myself that all of these sinful individuals cannot be where the Church is, but then we are left to the words of St. Peter "Lord, to whom shall we go..only you have the words of everlasting life." To where would we turn? Where in this world would we not find sin? Some would expect that the indelible mark provided through the sacrament of Holy Orders would in some way prevent individuals from committing these heinous acts? If this is the case, then why didn't Jesus making Judas one of His Apostles not prevent him from betraying Him? For grace to be efficaceous, we must cooperate with it. The sacraments provide us with opportunities for holiness, but yet if we ignore it then how could God force his grace upon us? He doesn't impose His will upon us! In the end if we expect that the sacraments necessitate action on our parts, and then when we don't see impeccable priests - at that point we also have to deny the working of the Holy Spirit. We must expect then that Christians who have received the gifts of the Holy Spirit in baptism but somehow be holier than the rest of the general population. One would be hard-pressed to find a scriptural or apostolic document teaching such. In the end, we have to make the distintion that while the Church is indeed those members, she is as well an Institution and it is only when we gather together and assent to the Truth that this visible, Christ instituted Institution presents to us that we grow towards the fullness of Truth. We should love Christ, put our Faith in Christ and His Church, His Bride.
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November 28th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Excellent post! I know a people personally who have left the church because of the abuse scandal, and I have had this same conversation with them, although not nearly as eloquently as you have put it. Disgruntled Catholics do not have a monopoly on this phenomenon. I have evangelical friends who have put their faith in their pastor’s literal interpretations of Genesis. The more that science piles up evidence against his interpretation, the more they have to concoct theories to keep it alive. I get the feeling that if they ever come to the conclusion their pastor is wrong, their faith will crumble.
Your faith is only a strong as the object of your faith. That is why faith as small as a mustard seed can be powerful if it is faith in the one true God. It saddens me that people will abandon God because of the acts of a man.