Christ's teachings not reflected in modern culture - bishops
Faith and Christ’s teachings are no longer reflected in culture, the bishops said in a pastoral letter being read during this evening’s and tomorrow’s masses.
Archbishop Paul Cremona and Gozo bishop Mario Grech said that in order to live faith, one had to seek and find this in his heart through his choice of following Jesus.
“Only then we can call ourselves Christians in today’s culture”.
The bishops addressed their letter to all, but especially “those who are truly committed to be full active members within the Catholic Church in our country”.
This, they said, was not being done out of disrespect or to exclude anybody.
“Our intention is to encourage every person to realise what God’s call for him or her is, which will then help the individual to find the proper place within God’s church.
“Nonbelievers should see that there is a particular faith and attitude taught and shown by our Lord Jesus Christ in the church community.
“If then this nurtures a spiritual sentiment in their minds and hearts, this should lead them to actively join the Church.”
The Lord, they said, came to this world to bring temporary division to shed light on his message.
This division instilled a wish within believers to see others joining them in faith.
The right of freedom of opinion within the Church was not the same as within the State. “The rights reserved to the state’s members lie on the fact that they are citizens of a democratic state through birth or a requested and given citizenship by the state.”
One, however, joined the Catholic Church through baptism.
In the case of the newborn, the parents accepted to baptise their children because they want to pass on to their children their faith in Christ within the Church.
When a person matured, there should be a confirmation of the previous decision in total freedom. These decisions implied that one adhered to Christ’s life and teachings.
The bishops said that most faithful received their faith within a culture that passed on the Christian religion and faith.
"But “today’s culture embraces different ideas that sometimes distance us from God.
“This means that there are some individuals who do not make a conscious choice, as adults, to follow Christ, but still call themselves Christians.
“They are so driven by the culture of these times that they reflect more this culture than Christ.”
Some people felt comfortable choosing elements within the Catholic faith to accomodate their culture the bishops said adding that others called themselves Catholic even if they did not accept the “collective consciousness” of the Church.
“We wish to encourage these people to decide where to place their fundemental decisions.
“We know that this is not easy!
“We believe that when these individuals internally feel uncomfortable, torn between faith and culture, they should realise that this is already a positive sign that should help them take a decision.”
The bishops said others took the fundemental choice that confirmed the faith they recieved in baptism.
Jesus made the choice clear when he said that one could not serve both God and money.
“With the term money, Jesus referred to anything that hindered humans from serving God. He doesn’t want us to cheat ourselves. Whoever choses to serve money is quite clear in his thoughts: he can someday choose otherwise. Whoever chooses to serve Jesus is likewise clear: he wants to get closer to Jesus.”
The greatest tragedy was that there were people who did not take a decision and still called themselves “christians” because they were baptised, but who served modern culture, which no longer reflected Christ’s teachings, they said.
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g.portelli
Nov 30th 2009, 19:49
@ Theresa Calleja Re- evangelisation does not mean exclusion. There seems to be one permissible expression of love for the Church and that seems to absolute silence. Collusion is morally wrong. Yes there are paedophile teachers and lawyers and stone masons, fathers , mothers and grandfathers etc. but none of these present themselves as moral arbiters or representatives of Christ. Faith is harmed when a wrong is not put right. and and passive acquiescent Catholics resort to equivocation in defense of the indefensible. Why on earth wouldn't the Church want to put its house in order? What is unacceptable is that for the sake of the 'few' immoral apples the Church loses the moral high ground because it chooses the path of inaction. What is unacceptable is that the redemption of the perpetrator comes at the expense of the victim. Where is the universality in that? This is not a question of sensationalism it is a question of morality, of right and wrong. The Church in Malta requires courage not equivocation.
Franco Farrugia
Nov 30th 2009, 17:30
@ GaleaL: Perhaps because the Roman Catholic Church is One and Universal?
Theresa Calleja
Nov 30th 2009, 14:52
Jesus: ‘But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, not hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth. ' The Bishops are encouraging people to take a stand, make a choice, and live by it... in or out, hot or cold. Also, though Jesus had no problems conversing with Pilot, He did not breathe a word to Herod. There’s a distinction between the 'Herods' and 'Pilots', prostitutes or Samaritans. Decontextualising and warping instances from the Bible as an instrument to harm the Faith, is pathetic.
Re: Paedophilia, as a crime it is up to the state to take action. Also, innocent until proved guilty, or? Lastly, you may want to discredit the Educational system or even parenthood, as there are cases of paedophile teachers and fathers, both of whom have great responsibilities towards their victims. Moreover, when choosing to pick on an ultra-absolute minority of accused (not proven) clerics, you may, for the sake of objectivity and justice, mention the thousands of priests & nuns who sacrifice themselves in e.g. old people's homes, prisons, hospitals, orphanages etc. in Malta and abroad , but I guess that's not sensationalist enough and/or in line with certain agendas.
g.portelli
Nov 30th 2009, 13:16
It looks like the shepherds are going for a more exclusive flock. When and where does Christ shun the sinner be it prostitute, doubter, corrupt judge or tax collector? It seems the pastoral zeal that marked Archbishop Cremona 's investiture has evaporated. The Church in Malta has to ask itself whether it is fulfilling its mission with regards to one of its basic tenets , Social Justice e.g. re child abuse cases and local priests? How does working for the redemption of the perpetrator at the expense of the victim reflect Christ's teaching or social justice? Yes the Bishops' letter is a disappointment it reflects the views of those who have decided to give up and merely want to focus on retaining the status quo.
@ Theresa Calleja
Do you not find the local Church's silence and non action on the issue of child abuse and Maltese clerics disturbing? How can the local Catholic community not question that? I wonder what sort of 'peace of heart and mind' those who unquestioningly support non action by the bishops acquire. Faith requires the courage to question too
Theresa calleja
Nov 30th 2009, 08:49
Thumbs up to the Archbishop & Bishop... as for comments made by most below, your aggression is symptomatic of your lack of peace and your fallacious reasoning of an irrational and uneducated line of thought. I truly wish you find your way and serenity.
M Grima
Nov 29th 2009, 11:16
@Galea.L
Because what happened in Ireland with those children has also happened here,and as far as I know no one has been charged.Investigations,if any,have been kept secret and the culprits have gotten away scott free. Malta has behaved exactly like Ireland. The abusers are still running around, safe in the knowledge that neither the church nor it seems the police will take any action against them. Those damaged will have to fend for themselves!.
Giljan Agius
Nov 29th 2009, 10:33
Christ's teachings are not reflected in modern culture, say the bishops, from their humble residence in some girna in the wilderness, with humble clothing, conditions and always striving to maintain their poverty vow to the utmost..
Kenneth Cassar
Nov 29th 2009, 09:15
@ Joe Xuereb:
Mussolini was an atheist, but then again, Augusto Pinochet was Roman Catholic and Hitler, although perhaps he renounced the Catholicism he was raised in, still believed in God.
Joseph A Borg
Nov 29th 2009, 03:02
dear bishops, very nice words. Now let us have a secular state, without divine meddling, a state that represents citizen equally, including catholics, a state that doesn't impose one life style on everybody, a state that respects free will. We don't need a nanny state.
After all the new testament says something to the effect: render unto Caesar what is of Caesar and to God what is of God. So start practicing his advice…
If there's no compunction in religion why force your brand of morality on those who choose by their free will not to adhere?
You don't encourage people by forcing religion down their throat and censoring public discourse. You want people to respect the sanctity of religious feasts and then monopolize all the other public feasts, including New Year, Halloween and Carnival… Leave us some space, we are adults and would like to take responsibility and ownership of our lives.
Morality is not the sole province of religion and leading a spiritual life is a personal journey that's best nurtured with humility not forced.
Jesmond Micallef
Nov 29th 2009, 01:47
The Teachings of the Church are today more relevant as never before !!! The blindness is the problem here. This social blindness to monetary value is becoming increasingly predominant. The more I reflect and think about what is going on around me, the more I feel that the Teachings of Jesus Christ are actually Right and full of Truth, really. I feel the need to cling onto this hope, humans have achieved so much but again I do question where has this led to. I notice Indifference to other human beings, I notice the price tag on each and everyone of us, I notice that even Love between humans has a price tag too. The People in poor countries, the parents and their children !!! I mention the Environmental damage : Who has contributed to this, those poor souls or the so called rich industrial nations of the world ??? People might say, overpopulation is of a concern !! I ask why should I drive a big car or have a big house ?? To impress others, to feel good about myself knowing that I have earned it, earned it at what expense ??
William P Flynn
Nov 29th 2009, 01:39
Au contraire, there is much more of Christ's teaching that is reflected in modern culture than is reflected by the church or theVatican.
They claim to represent Christ and dangle the keys to heaven's door. If there is a heaven, and if it has a door, god, if there is one, would have changed the locks centuries ago.
JOSEPH ZAMMIT
Nov 28th 2009, 23:29
Christ's teachings not reflected in modern culture—well, Christ’s teachings were never reflected in the Church teachings either!
God’s Church? Which God? Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jain?
“Nonbelievers should see that there is a particular faith and attitude taught and shown by our Lord Jesus Christ in the church community---Objection! When the Church had absolute power, we had inquisitions, witch hunts and abuses. Freedom of the individual materialized when the State became secular and no longer under religious (Church) law.
“One, however, joined the Catholic Church through baptism”.--Objection! Baptism was never a choice of the individual.
"But “today’s culture embraces different ideas that sometimes distance us from God.” I would rather say that many distance themselves not from GOD but from the Church, which IS NOT THE SAME!
Jesus made the choice clear when he said that one could not serve both God and money. AH, Church please take note!!!
Many people are searching for a meaning, to find love and compassion and they know that the church does not and cannot satisfy them. People are opening up and becoming more aware. People are searching to be born again of Fire—the Fire of Cosmic Consciousness.
So much to write---but little space!
William P Flynn
Nov 28th 2009, 22:22
The last words by the Irish justice Minister in this video,(No one is above and beyond the law) shows he is unaware of the cover-ups that occurred even in the last couple of years in Malta.
http://news.google.com/news?q=ireland+catholic+church+scandal&rls=com.microsoft:en-au:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7SKPB_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&ei=9IcRS-DdK4qosgODnaDmAQ&sa=X&oi=news_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CBgQsQQwAw
He may not know about "Crimen Sollictationis", a law concocted by Ratzinger when he was Cardinal and which is still law. Under pain of excommunication, bishops are not allowed to report sexual crimes by the clergy to the local police or authorities. They are to deal with them internally and report them only to the Vatican.
Perhaps someone should ask the Pope when he visits Malta or the Maltese bishops next time they call a news conference what Jesus might think of such a law. We know what the law and the world think of it - it's a fraud and a criminal conspiracy after the fact.
The bishops must stop blaming modernity for the collapse of the credibility of the church.
When Christ last visited we had crucifixions, slavery, no rights, life expectancy of 25 years, papyrus; the sick only had "miracles".
The power-jealous church, always bemoaned, interdicted and frustrated human progress in every field of endeavour. Today, nothing's changed.
H galea
Nov 28th 2009, 21:28
Christ said ''Those who belive,baptise them'' How a baby should belive. Perhaps we aught to be baptised again or else relised.
Etienne Vella
Nov 28th 2009, 20:55
To L.Galea
we are all Christians; whether in Ireland or in Malta. The Pope is in Italy (vatican), but we still refer to him even though he's not in Malta. Each diocese has a very big responsibility towards society (including non-Christians) WORLDWIDE.
Laura Brincat
Nov 28th 2009, 20:48
Were christ's teachings reflected in the old culture of burning 'heretics' at the stake? I prefer today's culture than you very much... at least everyone is accepted, just like Jesus accepted lepers, non-Israelites, prostitutes, tax men, Roman generals, fishermen...
Galea. L
Nov 28th 2009, 20:45
Franco Farrugia
While what happened in Ireland is despicable, we have nothing to do with Ireland. It is a separate diocese. So how do you expect the local Bishops to refer to something that happened in another country and another diocese?
Marylu Alosia d'Agostino
Nov 28th 2009, 20:33
More like the words of a beleagured fatalist clutching at straws, if you ask me . . . Very poor excuse for recent happenings.
Franco Farrugia
Nov 28th 2009, 19:57
I thought the Bishops would at least make a passing reference to what is happening within the CChurch in Ireland.
renald williams
Nov 28th 2009, 19:42
Christ is the real author of the New Testament. Let us read His Book to improve our faith and produce more fruits. www.tecmalta.org
Joe Xuereb
Nov 28th 2009, 19:29
If my memory serves me, I was confirmed a year after my first communion. So I was aged seven years. This was hardly a free choice, any more than my baptism was. .......there should be a confirmation of the previous decision in total freedom. These decisions implied that one adhered to Christ’s life and teachings. 'of the previous decision' referring to baptism. The parents' decision, not the newborn's surely. And Confirmation leading one's decision to remain in the Church, be one of millions of soldiers for God, hardly something to be resisted by a seven year old boy who'd already been indoctrinated, at six years of age, to accept death and martyrdom rather than succumb to the pressures of a Communist to reject Christ in favour of THAT filth. And please no red herrings about Stalin being an atheist and evil personifiedd. Stalin was a bad atheist. Mussolini too (I'm unaware of his belief- system). If a Catholic, he was a rotten one. Exactly like his friend further north and one who was the most evil of Catholics. Likely, there are others. As the bishops rightly say, many, too many Christians call themselves so when in fact, they're anything but.
John Micallef
Nov 28th 2009, 19:07
If Christ's teachings not reflected in modern culture, Christ's way of life was never practiced by church dear bishops.