DRAFT OF A CHAPTER

ALIENATED CATHOLICS

Charles P. Poole, Jr.

September 30, 2005; rev. June 16, 2006

CONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. Reaching Out to the Alienated

3. The View from Inside

4. The View from Outside

5. A Personal Observation

6. Divorced Catholics

7. Practicing Homosexuals

8. Selective Observants

9. Selective Believers

10. Public Personages

11. Antiquity of the Problem

12. Hope for the Future.

1. INTRODUCTION

For the purpose of this chapter, an alienated Catholic is defined as one who has adopted a lifestyle which is at variance with what is permitted by Church teachings, but who is not antagonistic against the Church in general. By lifestyle I mean a way of living, or in some cases a way of believing. Many of these Catholics are privately alienated in the sense that the unchristian or unethical aspects of their lifestyle are not made public, whereas others are publicly alienated. Common examples of privately alienated Catholics are married couples who practice contraception, individuals who habitually succumb to sexual temptations without taking steps to remove the occasions of sin, or individuals who treat certain classes of people as inferior or lacking in dignity. Some examples of public alienation are divorced people who remarry without having their previous marriage annulled, heterosexual couples living together out of wedlock, individuals with homosexual partnerships, and politicians publicly supporting pro-abortion groups. Many people in these categories would like very much to be accepted by their pastors and fellow Catholics as full fledged members of their Church, with no requirement for a change of lifestyle or belief.

2. REACHING OUT TO THE ALIENATED

The question arises as to how should the Church react to these classes of people who desire to be active members of their parishes. In previous generations they were much less numerous, and they would have been seldom encountered by faithful Catholics in everyday life. They themselves would have felt unwelcome in devout Catholic environments. We now live in a new cultural setting in which the presence of alienated Catholics is so widespread that most of us encounter them on a regular basis as colleagues, as neighbors, as coworkers, sharing a pew with us in Church, etc. How do we treat them? How do we teach our children to treat them? How do we help them overcome their alienation?

The Catholic code of moral behavior based on the Ten Commandments or Decalogue has not changed, of course. The lifestyles that produce alienation involve setting aside certain particular commandments and living as if they are no longer applicable. The Church has the mission to proclaim the Commandments, and to urge all to obey them. She also has the calling to reach out to the alienated and try to bring them back. This was the mission of the prophets in the Old Testament, and a continuing concern of Jesus Himself. We cannot approve or condone the sin in the world, but we can and must be kind and considerate toward the transgressors.

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3. THE VIEW FROM INSIDE

It is interesting to examine the perspective of a person who belongs to an alienated group. Consider, for example, a young man and woman who are living together in what they call a trial marriage, a temporary association that they expect to make permanent sometime later. They were brought up Catholics and want to live their lives as such, but they prefer to postpone living up to their faith. They say prayers, and perhaps an occasional rosary, but perhaps never go to confession. They attend Mass from time to time, and when they do so they are likely go to Communion since everyone in the Church does so row by row, and it would be too embarrassing for them not to communicate. On the negative side they are living in a state of sin, and are compounding their sin by the sacrilegious Communions. On the positive side they are maintaining some minimum of a spiritual life, and are keeping the door open for an eventual return to grace. Their situation is not too atypical of alienated Catholics. We should probably be glad of the positive aspects and lament the negative ones. Should they live a long time their overall lifetime Catholicism might be praiseworthy. Their concerned Catholic friends who urge them to give up the life style need a balance between too much urging which might drive them away from the Church forever, and too little urging which might be construed as acceptance so there is no motivation to reform. Their friends should, of course, offer up many prayers for their return.

4. THE VIEW FROM OUTSIDE

The view from the perspective of their Catholic community is much different. The faithful of this community teach their children that everyone should obey the Commandments, that the people who do so should be praised, and those who do not should be criticized or shunned. High moral standards cannot be maintained in a community when the offenders are treated like the faithful. We have just finished the Year of the Eucharist, and sacrilegious Communions should be especially condemned. The clergy and lay leadership must strenuously oppose occasions of scandal.

Faithful members of the Catholic Community tend to feel that alienated Catholics who seek some type of Church affiliation should be prohibited from participating in certain ministries that are available to the Faithful. Examples of these are Eucharistic ministers, lectors, altar servers, ushers, CCD or RCIA teachers or team members, parish or financial council members, etc. On the other hand they should be welcome to attend Mass, other Church services such as Stations of the Cross or Benediction, parish lectures, bible discussion groups, etc. Organizations such as the Legion of Mary, the Knights of Columbus, Third Orders, etc., customarily restrict their membership to Catholics in good standing.

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5. A PERSONAL OBSERVATION

I can sympathize with both points of view, and I feel that the Church and its leadership should strive for a balance between them. The situations are similar to making judgments in what canon lawyers call the internal forum and the external forum. We must somehow minister to the spiritual life of the alienated, and at the same time avoid disheartening them and giving scandal to the faithful. Their souls and our souls are of equal value before the Lord. Unfortunately, I cannot think of a possible overall plan to suggest for resolving the alienated Catholic situation.

6. DIVORCED CATHOLICS

In recent years the Church has reached out compassionately to invalidly married Catholics. Many parishes have organizations and support groups which respond to their needs, and the procedures for obtaining annulments have been simplified. These are individuals who have children to care for, and sometimes longstanding marital relationships which are not readily terminated to comply with canon law. Officially spouses with invalid marriages are denied Communion, but are otherwise welcomed in the Church. A particularly sad case is that of a mixed and invalid marriage in which one spouse is a cradle Catholic and the other is a non-Catholic who would now very much like to join the Church, but cannot do so because of the marriage impediment. Does such a person have a moral right, or perhaps even a moral duty, to break up their marriage in order to join the Church? Perhaps they send their children to parochial school. How should they, and how do they, live their lives? What reasonable options do they have?

7. PRACTICING HOMOSEXUALS

The status of being a homosexual is, of course, not a sin. The Church teaches that there should be no discrimination against them. The problem of alienation only arises when a homosexual wishes to live with a same-sex partner, or wishes to habitually take part in premeditated homosexual actions. In this sense his situation is very similar to that of an unmarried heterosexual person who is not living a chaste life. The heterosexual person has the advantage that marriage is an option for releasing sexual energy, whereas the homosexual does not have a morally acceptable option. The Church only sanctions abstinence as being morally acceptable. There are support groups such a Courage to assist them.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) makes use of the terminology “intrinsically disordered” to describe homosexual acts (#2357), and the phrase “objectively disordered” to characterize a homosexual inclination (#2358). I do not question the accuracy of this terminology, but I do question the prudence of adapting it, and I am disturbed by the alienation that results from it. We used to call Orthodox Christians “schismatics” and Protestants “heretics,” and now we refer to both as “our separated brethren.” Fortunately we have forsaken an insulting accuracy, and in its stead we have opted for an attitude of prudence and reconciliation. We have not compromised our principles in any manner, but we have dramatically improved the atmosphere. In my judgment a change of this type is needed in our theological posture toward the community of homosexuals.

Section #2357 of the CCC has the same wording in the first and second editions. In the first edition (1994) Sect. #2358 reads “The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. They do not choose their homosexual condition; for most of them it is a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s cross the difficulties that they may encounter from their condition.” In my opinion this is a well worded paragraph which is very understanding and sympathetic toward those with homosexual tendencies. The wording is the same in the second edition of the CCC, except for the italicized part which was changed to “This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial.” The word “disordered” has been introduced a second time! In my judgment many of our homosexual brothers and sisters would feel less alienated and more likely to accept the Church’s teachings if the original version of Sect. #2358 were readopted, and if the phrases “grave depravity” and “intrinsically disordered” were removed from Sect. #2357. The remaining text, which asserts that homosexual acts “are contrary to the natural law” and “under no circumstances can they be approved,” is very clear by itself, and has no need of support from potentially alienating phraseology.

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8. SELECTIVE OBSERVANTS

A selected observant is someone who is willing to follow all the rules of the Church with one or two selected exceptions. An example is a married couple which practices birth control, but obeys all other commandments. Another example is a business person who treats customers or colleagues unfairly, but is faithful otherwise. A third category involves someone who harbors prejudices against a group of people. Individuals of this type are sometimes called cafeteria Catholics. They accept everything else about the Church, and firmly support it.

9. SELECTIVE BELIEVERS

There are individuals who find themselves unable to accept certain doctrines of the Church. For example they may not believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, or in the infallibility of the pope. They constitute another variety of cafeteria Catholics. They accept all other beliefs of the Church, and are very loyal to it.

10. PUBLIC PERSONAGES

In recent times there have been Catholic politicians who support the Pro-Choice position on abortion, and the question is how to react to it. Should such individuals be denied Communion, or be denied the right to call themselves Catholic? More pointedly, should they be excommunicated? Since this is a problem for the episcopacy to address I will refrain from commenting further, except to say that many strongly conservative Catholics are scandalized that stronger measures have not been taken against these individuals. Liberal Catholics tend to be much less concerned.

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11. ANTIQUITY OF THE PROBLEM

The present widespread existence of alienated Catholics is relatively new in the Church from the perspective of the United States during the twentieth century, since before the Second Vatican Council the problem was not very prevalent. However, from a much broader historical perspective, there have been previous generations in this and other cultural settings in which a similar situation existted. In the far distant past, such as during the fourth and fifth centuries when St. Augustine (354-430) lived, many of the individuals inhabiting various communities were ex-Catholics who subscribed to the Arian or Donatist heresies. Throughout Europe after the rise of Protestantism those Catholics who lived in predominately Protestant regions found themselves in an environment in which most of their neighbors were ex-Catholics. The same was true in France after the French Revolution when anticlericalism was dominant. In the last century it was very difficult to live a faithful Catholic life in Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, or Communist Russia. At the present time in the United States and Europe, we must cope with a milieu in which one of the largest congregations of Church goers is the congregation of ex-Catholics. Although this seems to represent a new situation with which presently living Catholics must cope, from a broader perspective it is nothing more than a re-enactment of the past. We must do what we can to heal the wounds that drove these people away from Holy Mother Church, and we must encourage them to come back.

12. HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

The Second Vatican Council brought about many changes in the Church, and this had a traumatic influence on large numbers of the faithful. The strong polarization between the liberals and conservatives that set in after the Council had a bad overall effect. The numbers of priests and nuns diminished, Mass attendance and confessions declined, and revenues were down. The clerical sex abuse scandal and its cover up alienated many. It seems to me that we are now well past the peak of the trauma, and the atmosphere is one of settling down and moderation. We have a revitalized Church which is moving forward. The future, in my judgment, looks very promising.

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