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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.