Diversity, unity, and faith among Catholics

When 28 years ago I became a member of the Catholic Church, my decision was in large part based on my recognition that the Church’s tradition provided a vision for modern life that was compelling and intellectually defensible. This was especially helpful because the secular educational institutions with which I was familiar did nothing to provide an understanding of life as ultimately meaningful. For them life was a meaningless material process, ultimate authority derived from the state, and the spiritual dimension of life was no more than private fantasy.

While the Catholic tradition provided access to thinkers as diverse as St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Christopher Dawson, who offered broader horizons than the secular orthodoxy of modern society, yet it often appeared that the Catholic Church in America was hardly cognizant of all it had to offer. Too often it appeared to foppishly imitate the secular world – trying to “get with it” as someone once told me -- with little comprehension of the contempt that the modern world has for religion. I was reminded of a precocious child of good family so lacking in self esteem that he chooses to hang out with hooligans to be “cool.”

All of this came to mind during the 2009 controversy regarding the University of Notre Dame’s having Barack Obama present the commencement address and awarding him an honorary degree. Commencement addresses and honorary degrees are laden with symbolism, providing tacit approval and prestige--in this case—to an implacable foe of the anti-abortion stance of the Catholic Church.

Notre Dame’s action was in opposition to the US Conference of Catholic Bishop’s document “Catholics in Public Life” which states: “The Catholic community and
Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”

Furthermore, Notre Dame’s action was personally opposed by many American bishops, including our own Bishop Joseph Latino of Jackson, Mississippi, among others. Yet it was justified by the university’s president, Fr. John Jenkins, on the basis of the need for dialogue. However, dialogue is one thing; accolades are another.

It is not the first time similar accolades have been showered on those who do not support Catholic values including Catholic politicians who for the sake of political expediency do not support the right to life. In fact, such events seem to have the same general purpose as most secular institutions, namely to fawn over the rich, the powerful, and the famous.

This has not always been the case. In line with the Old Testament prophets who called the kings of Israel and Judah to task, the Church has historically seen itself as a counter-society within “the city of man” pointing toward the “city of God.” For this reason --because it did not conform to the status quo -- Christians have been persecuted through the ages.

Now it seems that in the name of “dialogue” Catholics go along with anything that is deemed “progressive.” This is not so much dialogue as quiet capitulation to the “powers and principalities” of the secular world whose primary interest in religion is to control it through state churches or through political marginalization. As Church leaders schmooze with the secular they often seem oblivious to the fact that Catholic educational institutions are becoming increasingly as the secular world wants: devoid of anything that might challenge its hegemony. This path, followed often by other Christian colleges, has usually led to their complete secularization. How many now recall that Harvard was founded as a religious college?

In terms of maintaining independence from the domination of the secular, we would do well to recall the words of Pope Benedict XVI addressing the role of Catholic educational institutions:

“Teachers and administrators, whether in universities or schools, have the duty and privilege to ensure that students receive instruction in Catholic doctrine and practice. This requires that public witness to the way of Christ, as found in the Gospel and upheld by the Church’s teaching authority, shapes all aspects of an institution’s life, both inside and outside the classroom. Divergence from this vision weakens Catholic identity and, far from advancing freedom, inevitably leads to confusion, whether moral, intellectual or spiritual.”

Jack D. Elliott Jr. is a historial archaeologist with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.