Back to New Perspectives
Main Page
These are EXCERPTS ONLY. To
get the full story every three months,
please
subscribe to New
Perspectives for only $14 per year!
Spring 2000
Deus
Caritas
A message from the Presiding Bishop
of the Old Roman Catholic Church in North America,
the Most Reverend Francis P. Facione, Ph.D.
While there are many issues that the Church must
address in this third millennium of Christianity,
one that merits careful attention as well as a
vigorous reasoned response is the question of
anti-Catholic bigotry. The problem is, of course,
not a new one but rather, in varying degrees and
intensities, has been a sad fact in American life
since colonial times. Most recently under the aegis
of so-called "Christian" fundamentalists, bias
against any and all things Catholic has with
renewed vigor reared its self-righteous head.
On the March 22 broadcast of CNN's "Larry King
Live! ", the president of the Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, with
unmitigated arrogance, condemned the Roman Catholic
Church. Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., commenting on
Pope John Paul's recent pilgrimage to Israel,
seized the opportunity of the international
audience accorded him to call the Roman Catholic
Church "a false church that teaches a false
gospel." Further, Dr. Mohler said, "And indeed, I
believe that the pope himself holds a false and
unbiblical office." While indeed regrettable and
lacking any semblance of the Christian charity
mandated by sacred Scripture, it would appear that
the comments of the president of a leading center
of Protestant learning reflect the general
sentiments of the vociferous fundamentalist faction
within America's Protestant Churches. So much for
the spirit of ecumenism!
The saddest part of the incident is that a
Jesuit priest appearing on the same program failed
to respond to Dr. Mohler. Father William Byron,
Director of the Jesuit community at Georgetown
University said, "Yes, I am offended, but not to
the point of wanting to get into an argument about
it." Father Byron's non-response is very
curious&emdash;and disturbing&emdash;given the
Jesuit commitment to defense of the papacy and the
Roman Catholic Church. It prompts one to ask, "In
the face of bigotry, why silence?" Even given the
fact that it is impossible to reason with a
fundamentalist, it seems clear that an appropriate
Catholic response should have been given to counter
Dr. Mohler's inflammatory remarks. Has priestly
zeal for the care of souls and the Catholic faith
taken second place to a distorted understanding of
ecumenism? Can someone enlighten this writer? Where
in the Decree on Ecumenism do the Fathers of
Vatican Council II mandate compromising the faith
for the sake of ecumenical relationships?
Silence may be golden. However, in the matter of
anti-Catholic bias, silence can be interpreted as
tacit approbation of that bias. On the other hand,
a reasoned response can produce results. For
example, a group of Catholic laypersons under the
leadership of Mr. Karl Keating and called Catholic
Answers plans to counter the purveyors of
anti-Catholic bias who are preparing to launch yet
another assault upon Catholic young people in Rome
this August. Several anti-Catholic organizations,
including "Christians Evangelizing Catholics" and
"Mission to Catholics International" plan to
disrupt World Youth Day with their slick propaganda
as they have every year since 1993. The clear
intent of this "evangelization" effort is, of
course, to lure young Catholics into abandoning the
Catholic faith. Happily, Catholic Answers will
resist this assault by distributing Catholic
literature that anticipates and refutes
anti-Catholic propaganda point by point. We commend
this dedicated contingent of the faithful for their
courageous outreach.
Make no mistake about it. Old Roman Catholics,
in fact all Old Catholics, must also take an active
part in combating anti-Catholic propaganda. While
we are not under papal jurisdiction, we are
Catholics and assaults upon Catholicism affect all
Catholics. Erasmus once wrote, "There is nothing
more arrogant than ignorance." Surely, the
challenges presented by anti-Catholic distortions
of the faith present an excellent opportunity for a
cooperative evangelization project to overcome that
arrogance.
|
