My latest article in La Jornada Maya "Saving Catholicism"
My latest article in La Jornada Maya
Saving Catholicism
in your own language
Eduardo del Buey
Photo: Reuters
La Jornada Maya
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
On December 21st, 2019, Pope Francis was quoted by AP saying that “rigidity in living out the Christian faith is creating a minefield of hatred and misunderstanding in a world where Christianity is increasingly irrelevant”. He went on to note that “today we are no longer the only ones that produce culture, no longer the first nor the most listened to. The faith in Europe and in much of the West is no longer an obvious presumption but is often denied, marginalized and ridiculed”.
Catholics around the world should be asking themselves three basic questions: what happened, what is happening and what can they do about it?
What happened is that over fifteen hundred years ago the Catholic Church started on the path from being the voice of Jesus Christ to becoming more of a political organization. Indeed, the history of the Church in the Middle Ages and Renaissance is a sad reflection of the disconnect between the Church’s diminishing path towards spirituality and its increasing pursuit of temporal power.
One recalls that Jesus’s main messages were to love God and to love our fellow human beings.
These are two core messages that remain especially pertinent in our complex and highly polarized world.
Yet, over time, these messages have been overtaken by a complicated, man-made theological matrix of church laws that have little to do with what Jesus taught.
The humble carpenter who entered Jerusalem riding a donkey was replaced by absolute and oftentimes cruel rulers dressed in fine robes, often living in palaces, concerned with Vatican intrigues and enjoying lives far removed from that of their founder and from the everyday realities of common folk.
The Church became a major global political power culminating in its control over the Papal States and its major influence in all European monarchies. Rather than represent a simple yet godly man, Popes and Cardinals became the princes of the Church, incarnations of the very moneylenders and Pharisees that Jesus threw out of the temple.
Fear and punishment, banishment and silent obedience became the leitmotifs of the Church. These remain the basis of the thinking that governs its most conservative elements. Elements that deny women any meaningful role in its governance. Elements that prevent priests from marrying although they are tasked with counselling the faithful on such issues as marital love, sex, procreation and the raising of children. Elements that refuse the basic sacraments to divorced individuals. Elements more concerned with maintaining the Church’s vast real estate holdings, financial position, and significant artistic treasures rather than using these assets to generate the income that could address poverty and suffering.
Over the centuries the Church has often appeared to have lost contact with its primary message and messenger. Consequently, as more of its followers had access to education, and developed personal critical judgment, the Church appeared to become increasingly disconnected from its faithful and therefore irrelevant to their needs.
This was true during the Reformation, when millions of Catholics left the Church to create newer and more modern religious movements. It is happening once again thanks to social enlightenment and global communications in areas in which the Church was once a strong spiritual and political force.
The second question is: what is happening?
As someone who has lived in Latin America for many years, I am amazed at the way that evangelical Christian churches have reduced the Catholic Church’s importance and relevance in this region.
I have seen the building of huge evangelical megachurches in Guatemala where ten thousand people can worship at any given time. I have seen how leaders such as Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and Guatemala’s Jimmy Morales have risen to their respective country’s Presidencies as evangelicals themselves and thanks to the growing political power of evangelists. I have seen how tens of millions of Catholics have abandoned their former religion and adhered to this new way of worshipping. Indeed, one might say that evangelists are displacing the Catholic Church as major power brokers in the region.
Indeed, the Catholic Church is seen by many in Latin America as a manifestation of the feudal political and social system imposed by the Spaniards and Portuguese in the 16th century. It is perceived to have been a means of controlling indigenous and mestizo populations under the thumb of their European masters, allowing the latter to plunder the continent for the past six centuries.
And the Church hierarchy has more often than not been allied with the cruel military regimes that governed the region for much of its history.
One recalls that a number of Catholic priests and bishops tried to make their Church relevant to Latin America′s disenfranchised through their espousal of liberation theology. Their aim was to bring social justice to millions of Latin Americans and ensure respect for fundamental human rights – providing dignity and hope in the face of rampant racism and class divisions.
They were dismissed as communists by military regimes and their backers. Many in the Vatican worked to eradicate liberation theology and thus contribute further to a disconnect between Church and flock.
This brings me to my third question: what can be done about it?
Enter Pope Francis.
A breath of fresh air, he was elected by the College of Cardinals with a two thirds majority of both progressive and conservative electors. This was a major step forward in recognizing the need for fundamental transformation in a Church that has remained fundamentally static in a world under constant and rapid change.
This first Latin American Pope has lived through the brutal Argentinian military dictatorship and knows Catholicism’s role in the colonization of Latin America and in the imposition of rigid social and political structures. He has seen the effects of the racial and economic inequities present in the hemisphere and understands the frustrations of millions of disenfranchised Latin Americans.
He understands the counterproductive impact of the Church’s ongoing rigidity in trying to govern daily life through increasingly irrelevant diktats that do not address the realities of its followers who seek to improve their lives or at least to survive in a world of injustice and inequity.
From my reading of Pope Francis’s statements, he appears to have concluded that rigidity never works. Like the oak, it breaks with a strong wind. Flexibility, like that of a willow, bends rather than breaks, and survives to adapt and grow.
The teachings of Christ were inclusive.
His message of love was meant for all.
He dialogued with all who would speak with him, and spoke with them in simple eloquence far from the complex theological language of today’s Vatican.
The complexity of the Church’s theological teachings makes relevance to the present difficult, especially when science has advanced so far and people are more educated than ever before.
Today, the fear of eternal damnation that used to be the Church’s big stick is disappearing, and new approaches are needed to remain relevant and to compete for the hearts and minds of followers.
As well, millions of former Catholics have opted for a religious construct without the overbearing bureaucracy of the Vatican, the Church’s complex man-made theology, the pomp and circumstance of the Roman Church, and the Church’s history that represents to many a language of captivity rather than one of liberation.
Evangelical ministers make the most of modern communications, techniques and technology and this is reflected by many television services in which millions around the world participate actively.
What is lacking in colorful dogma and ritual is rich in entertainment.
Among evangelicals, their ministers are the equivalent of religious rock stars. They are on television and radio daily or at large rallies or services promoting their religious vision in language that relates to all. US evangelists broadcast world-wide using television as a medium and having their sermons dubbed into local languages. Local evangelists supported often by international evangelical organizations are enjoying a growing following. This use of modern communications technology makes their message appear to be everywhere and reaches tens of millions in their homes or on their smart phones.
The contrast between rigid dogma and ritual on the one hand and ubiquitous messaging on the other is palpable.
The Catholic priest sets himself apart from the flock through the special vestments that he wears and special prayers that he recites. He stands in stark contrast to evangelical preachers who dress and speak like their congregations, rely on their power of persuasion and the Bible rather than rigid theology to communicate their messages to the congregants, are usually married, have children, and are thus far more familiar with the every-day challenges of modern life.
Both are theater.
But today one is connecting far more effectively than the other. The Catholic version appears as turgid ritual, while the evangelical version appears fresh and contemporary by successfully using state of the art communication techniques and the vernacular of congregants.
From the way Catholics are leaving the Church and joining evangelical movements, one must conclude that evangelists are doing a better job in communicating their messages and meeting the needs of their congregants.
Indeed, in Pope Francis’s own words, “tradition is not static, it’s dynamic”.
His message: it is time to get back to basics and back to the future.
Indeed, a few weeks ago an Asian woman accosted the Pope by grabbing and twisting his arm in public. He swatted her hand away as would any normal person caught off guard in a similar situation.
But the Pope demonstrated that, while he can react negatively as can any person, he can also act quickly and nobly as few leaders, if any, ever do. He immediately apologized in public for this action and spoke at length about violence against women and learning the virtues of patience and self-control.
He taught leaders that no one is above accountability and demonstrated the same humility and wisdom as Jesus demonstrated in his day.
An example for all to emulate.
While the Ten Commandments are the “don’ts” of the religious beliefs of Christianity and Judaism, the Sermon on the Mount and The Beatitudes are the positive messages and direct instructions of Jesus to his followers. These must be promoted strongly by the Church in these times of extreme polarization around the globe, and should be at the foundations of the Church’s teachings both in sermons and by example.
And the Catholic Church must make better use of modern communications techniques to disseminate these relevant messages.
For many, religion goes to the essence of their being. But, while it may seem crass to say, religion is a product like many others, and marketing that product requires professional management and a strong commitment to modern communications strategies.
So, the Church is at a major decision point.
First the Church must acknowledge that it has a problem and focus on how it can re-shape its messages, policies and communications strategies to best address it. The Church should focus more on Jesus’s core messages to communicate with Catholics. It must transform itself from a bureaucracy of men to a community of God.
Pope Francis appears to have achieved this through his simplicity and humility.
The Church needs to address, reform and possibly set aside many of the rituals and theological premises have little relevance for many and that don’t reflect Jesus’s teachings. It must downplay theatrics and exalt the spiritual. As Jonathan Pryce said in the film “The Two Popes” when he was playing Pope Francis rejecting the ermine robe, “the carnival is over”.
Jesus used simple stories and parables in order to share his messages. He conversed with his followers in their vernacular and, unlike the Vatican, did not use complicated Papal encyclicals and deep theological proclamations to share his messages.
The Church must adapt its messages to the messages of Jesus and delivery to reflect current realities. Today’s stories and parables are shared through social media, television, film, and radio. They remain simple and, in this era of permanent attention deficit disorder, must be short, to the point and repeated frequently.
And, finally, if it aims at stemming the tide of defections and retaining the faithful, the Catholic Church must understand and accept that change does not mean casting aside its main messages or beliefs but, rather, concentrate on its core values and messages and communicating them effectively.
Consequently, it would be well served to invite all Catholics, not just members of the Church’s ecclesiastical hierarchy, to engage in a meaningful dialogue about the faith that binds its followers to its founnder.
It should encourage participation from all and listen carefully to all.
Its parishes within communities are the most connected to the cultural realities of their environment and are best suited to bringing fresh thought to the disconnected Vatican. And the Vatican must be prepared to listen closely and react creatively and positively.
Pope Francis has a simple message to deliver. We are all human beings, and each of us deserves love, respect, and hope for a better future. We are all our brother’s and sister’s keeper.
A simple message of love, yet a complex message in a world governed by power and mass consumerism.
Hence the Pope’s call for renewal.
The success of this dialogue will not be up to Pope Francis alone.
It is up to all Catholics who believe in their Church to participate fully.
To renew their connection with each other in order to enrich this dialogue.
And to create and sustain the momentum required to achieve the necessary changes.