Pope Benedict is in Austria now on a papal visit. The New York Times story is pretty by the numbers -- including this pretty significant mistake:
[Benedict] also repeated his contentious belief that Catholicism is the only true church, a statement many in the church’s left and middle worry will hurt ties with other denominations.
It is not "his" belief alone; it is the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, and always has been. The uninformed reader would naturally assume that this is an opinion held by a conservative cleric who happens to be the Supreme Pontiff. I know, I know, it's a small thing, but it's pretty basic, and it shows once again why it's so hard to get good religion coverage.
The Catholic church is ailing in Austria in part because John Paul ignored a serious sex-abuse scandal having to do with the late Cardinal Groer -- even when Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn was urging him to take action. But even without the scandal, the Austrian church has big problems. And yet, I found this part of the story interesting:
Many liberal Catholics generally complain that the pope barely acknowledges them, and that their vision of the church could also help revive it.
Well, they would say that, wouldn't they, although there's not a shred of evidence that liberalizing Catholicism has ever done that. But there's a liberal Austrian Catholic who can see things more clearly:
If in fact it is the pope’s strategy to ignore the liberal wing, not everyone is certain he is mistaken, either on doctrine or strategy. Like Cardinal Ratzinger, many conservative Catholics argue that some liberals stand against church doctrine and deserve isolation. Some liberals worry not about their orthodoxy but whether their time may be passing.The Rev. Paul M. Zulehner, director of the Institute of Pastoral Theology in Vienna, noted that a recent survey showed the most excitement about the pope’s visit among Catholics under 20. He said the young were more conservative, and were not joining groups like We Are Church.
“Liberals are decreasing in numbers,” he said. “They are elderly people. They are people like me. They were involved and very hopeful that the church could make changes. But the church is not now a church of changes.”
Benedict has said before that the Church in Europe is destined to shrink. He's banking on it becoming a "creative minority" of Catholics who truly know what the faith is, and who are dedicated to the real thing. These will be the "Benedictine monastics" who will preserve the faith joyfully through the Dark Age. Benedict knows exactly what he's doing.
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Red Dirt,
I am a Catholic, and some of the responses here by Catholics do get under my skin, especially the sneering at some of the filth that went on in the Austrian church as if it were just a media stunt.
However, you really should not be angry at this blog for criticizing megachurches. Rod is not even Catholic, and I think you'll find that the criticism doled out to various churches here is fairly equal.
But I think the important part of that criticism is that it be "measured". That does not mean that making strong statements is out of the question, because heavens knows I have, but I try to dole it out in proportion to the measure of the outrage.
Red Dirt, Amy Welborn is a Catholic who often criticizes her own church. I wonder if you actually followed the link I provided to her site. I think sometimes I erroneously and unconsciously assume that everyone who reads CC also reads the sites I read, and would have known that about Amy. Sorry for the confusion.
Heifer, re-read what I said about Benedict and the "one true church": I only pointed out that what Benedict said is actually official and longstanding Catholic teaching, and not just his personal view. It is no longer my personal view.
Rod,
I'm kind of new to your blog. No worries. As you say, if I intend to comment in the future, I definitely need to take my tendency for rhetorical excess and "bring it down" at least a notch or two.
I read your book -- TWICE in one year whilst I was also undergoing my conversion from nominal theism to Christianity, and found it resonated deeply with my wife and I; she didn't read it but she read your manifesto and had me read passages out loud to her, sparking many productive conversations.
Anyway, I have only visited your blog a few times over the past year. I intend to keep coming back, probably not to comment for awhile, until I get better control of my keyboard "tongue."
Regardless, good stuff. Keep up the good work.
I appreciate that, Red Dirt, and you are certainly welcome to comment here anytime. We try to follow the "beer and pizza" rule: if one can't say something as if you were in conversation over beer and pizza, either don't say it, or phrase it in a "beer and pizza" way. Cheers!
I wonder if you actually followed the link I provided to her site.
Rod, are you going to update the link so it leads to Amy's new blog, "Charlotte was Both"? She stopped writing "open book" over the summer, though she keeps the site up.
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