The Church has ‘gone’ long ago!

Often we are regaled with correspondence touching the desired future of the Church. Writers often manifest preoccupations concerning the future of the Church and sometimes fail to suggest new paths it should follow.

Usually, these writers present us with the question “Whither the Church in Malta?” At times, going beyond local mentalities and customs, these friends of ours also fail to introduce the figure of “Rome”. Nor is it seldom that they take as beacons of light one or two local ecclesiastics who are well known for their facility of pontificating in order to “modernise” the local Church, writers perhaps also paid for their contributions.

I am afraid quite a few of them are not very much inclined to have recourse to the teachings the Magisterium of the Church has abundantly given us through the ages. Perhaps one or two would also qualify those teachings as out of tune with our times and, to attract and please the world, well in need of being brought up-to-date!

Although I would not classify these writers as “modernists” in that sense of modernism condemned by such pontiffs as St Pius X, I hesitate not to manifest fear that one cannot exclude doubts as to their loyalty to such official teachings of the Church that involve dogmas.

A clear example sustaining this fear of mine would be some pronouncements by so-called “theologians” on the occasion of the recent campaign of the divorce referendum. Perhaps some went so far as to condemn speaking of “sin” on that occasion, little minding the possibility of our fellow countrymen voting against what was defined as dogma ex iure divino in an Ecumenical Council and also falling into an excommunication pronounced in an Apostolic Constitution.

I would not go that far as to say that such pronouncements by these ecclesiastics have helped very much the adverse movement to sing victory. But, unfortunately, nor would I condemn those manifesting such beliefs and fears! Yes, I am one of those who are inclined to preach that the lack of eye-opening on the part of the Church in Malta was very much instrumental in our suffering the defeat blow.

Perhaps some of us do not reflect very much on the fact that the Church has been built on the divine injunctions of Our Lord and that those injunctions cannot be erased to follow the inclinations of a world that would exclude God and His law completely from its behaviour! Divine teachings, particularly those involving dogmas, change not. It is silly to look people in the face rather than God and thus abandon the path God Himself would have us follow. That is what one would be tempted to say some of our wise ecclesiastics appear to be trying to have us do by some suggestions in writings on “Whither the Church?”.

Christ and the Magisterium have clearly told us where the Church should go. What we need is loyalty to their teachings. And it is exactly here where we have failed! The West has failed, giving us hundreds of millions of pagans. Will we in Malta emulate? Unfailingly we shall be faced with the very same destiny!

In the days preceding the referendum, it was our ecclesiastical duty to open eyes very wide and never fear accusations of “crusading”. It is not a truly Christian spirit when we shut our eyes before preaching against God and His law out of fear of being accused of “crusading”. And God will punish us for that! It is He who said it! There was a heresy at play and, yet, our wise pastors have failed to point that out to the people of God!

As I had imagined what the outcome of the referendum could be, far back on February 25, 2011, that is well three months before the actual date of the referendum, I even ventured to write to the Cardinal Secretary of State suggesting that the Holy See help the Maltese Church by guidelines. But, apparently, my efforts have miserably failed! Obviously I am happy to say that, in the event of such failures, the good God looks not at the outcome of our efforts but at the efforts themselves! And that is a real consolation!

“Whither goeth the Church” some are asking. The Church has nowhere to go but follow the path delineated by Christ and the Magisterium. At all costs, we have to show loyalty to these teachings, which change not with the times.

It is the Christian spirit which, victim to the world, could change with the times. But, in such cases, the Church has always shown us what the part of her true pastors should be. Definitely not that of going against the same teachings of Christ and the Magisterium! For no imaginable reason whatsoever!

After Christ, Benedict XVI himself has pointed out to the picture of the so-called pusillus grex! Rather than “Whither goes the Church?” we should perhaps write, as the Bishop of Gozo did in his recent pastoral letter, about “Whither go the people without God?”