A Sad Day for the Church
Traditional Catholicism, professed by millions across the globe – including the Catholic Wise Guy – suffered a blow to the heart recently. Our leader, Pope Francis, endorsed gay civil unions. This is a seismic change in Catholic teaching. Further muddying the waters, the Holy Father’s pronouncement was not clothed in the royal robes of an official Church statement, such as an encylical, but was presented in peasant pajamas in informal comments by Francis during a movie about him. Regardless of context, it will be perceived as Gospel by those inside and outside the Church. The Catholic Wise Guy feels desolate, devastated; dark thoughts about the ramifications of this decision course through his brain.
When I first learned of the Pope’s pronouncement from a woman in my office, I reacted in disbelief. It sounded crazy, like another Internet scam or smear. Perhaps it’s part of foreign disinformation campaign – Russia? China? Remember how the KGB worked for years to discredit the Vatican and the Catholic Church. Are they at it again? Sensing my disbelief, she said, “I’ll read it to you.” As I heard the words I – like doubting Thomas – began to believe. Yes, the Holy Father had endorsed gay civil unions. The Holy Father had failed in one of the primary tasks of his office – defending the Faith.
The Wise Guy sees three consequences of the Pope’s action.
1. The faith of the faithful will be undermined.
2. Catholics will ramp up their sexual sins.
3. A hot lava flow of lawsuits will hit the American Church.
Faith of the Faithful. Pope Francis has excelled in searching for the lost sheep in the dark corners of the world. He deserves an “A” for effort. Whether he will succeed in bringing new sheep into the flock or in retrieving those who have gone astray remains to be seen. But the Wise Guy thinks he has focused too much on the one lost sheep and not enough on the 99 already in the fold. He has taken them for granted and ignored their concerns. In welcoming the unfaithful he has often alienated the faithful. And he will drive some away. Others will remain in the fold but cut back their giving to the Church and find other worthy causes.
The Holy Father has developed quite a talent for offending the American faithful, He has waded into our politics and offered ill-informed advice. He has been lukewarm in addressing the devastation of the sex abuse crisis. And now he has created new problems.
Ramping up of sexual sins. The Vicar of Christ, has provided the faithful, already awash in sexual sin, new justification for pursuing their disordered sexual appetites. The Church corrals (or tries to corral) the faithful in an austere, tolerable barn of sexual propriety. It proclaims this is for the good of the faithful in this life and in the next. Adjacent to the barn is a beautiful lush green small pasture. This is the place for the faithful to engage in the sexual activity permitted – encouraged – by God. Just what is that activity? Sexual intercourse between a married man and woman open to the gift of life.
The faithful look forward to their time in the sweet green pasture. Anxious to get out, they often kick at the doors and walls of the barn and make a mess inside. Let’s face it: there’s a lot of horsing around going on inside the barn. The endorsement of homosexual acts by the Holy Father causes the penned-up ponies to conclude that their currently prohibited sexual sins are really not that bad. Never underestimate the human ability for self-justification. When the door of the barn is thrown open for one group of sexual transgressors, many of the other ponies, mares, and young and old stallions will gallop out to commit their own brand of sexual sin. We no longer must hold our horses.
More lawsuits. For years, the American Catholic Church has been under legal attack, primarily from sex abuse cases. Some dioceses have gone bankrupt. New lines of attack have been developed. Lawsuits attacking our religious liberty and freedom of conscience have proliferated. Must Catholic schools accommodate gay married teachers on their staff? Do Catholic institutions, such as the Little Sisters of the Poor, have to provide abortifacients and contraceptives in their health care programs? Must Catholic hospitals provide abortions and gender transition therapies and surgeries? The Wise Guy believes Francis’ endorsement of gay civil unions will lead to a flood of lawsuits arguing that church institutions must accommodate the LBGT community as workers and customers. How can these Catholics claim their religious freedom is being infringed and their conscience sullied when their leader supports gay civil union?
Catholic organizations will be constrained in just how Catholic they can be.
This will not end well.
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