Reality facing friends of ‘cafeteria Catholicism’
Recognising the powerful and fast changes of society and culture, the effects linked to the introduction of divorce and the suffering and humiliation caused by the case of abuse of minors by some priests, the bishops’ latest pastoral letter seeks to drive home the message that a situation has developed where each member of the Church “must make an important decision: to live as a Christian in these circumstances”.
Now, of course, such a decision is far from easy and the bishops acknowledge this. It involves a challenge that, over and above the three realities identified by the pastoral letter, is further fuelled by an ever-growing tendency for one to believe what is convenient and to reject what is difficult or tough.
There are believers who are reluctant to accept that, for Catholics, the obedience of faith obliges them to do what the Church expects them to do in all situations of life, even on matters and in instances when doing so means going against the grain. These individuals claim to hold “personally” to the truth of the faith. As The Times has already said editorially, given today’s way of life, a member of the Church can easily fall into “cafeteria Catholicism”, that is a practice of faith that picks and chooses what part of the deposit of faith to believe and practise.
For such members of the Church, the latest pastoral letter proposes a moment of truth: it calls on them to decide for themselves whether their faith in Christ, their commitment for Him and the Church are stronger than the circumstances around them.
The bishops have no illusions. They know that “there will be persons who decide to stay away from, or leave, the Church”. They hasten to add, though, that one should not judge such persons. Indeed, if a person freely decides to separate him/herself from the Church, so be it. That is his/her choice and there should be neither room for tirades of condemnations or, on the other hand, uncalled for and pointless exhibitions.
The direction and spirit of the pastoral letter by Archbishop Paul Cremona and Gozo Bishop Mario Grech aim to prove that the Church is not trying to impose itself on anybody and neither is it basing its “success” on numbers.
While referring to past centuries when the history of the Church in Malta “was endowed with cultural backing and large numbers of her members”, the pastoral letter argues that it would be a mistake if one were to think that these conditions are of central importance. “When we recognise that the cultural and political support is only the crust of the Church and of our faith, we must look to unite ourselves to that which is central to our faith, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and build a new reality in the circumstances of today. It is the challenge of a new evangelisation that the Church is looking for today,” the bishops declare.
The faith is living. According to Catholic teaching, it is, first of all, the “personal adherence of man to God”. Therefore, the choice is much deeper than that which tradition and culture may push believers to do to remain fully united with the Church. For the Catholic it is a choice which, in the bishops’ words, “means whether we are ready to be part of the Church that wants to portray Christ”.
Some decisions are difficult to make but make them we must.
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M Sciberras
Oct 9th 2011, 11:38
If 'cafeteria catholicism' means observing the bits and pieces of our faith that one chooses, then we are all cafe Catholics, and to sine extent or other have always been such. How many of us remain celibate until our wedding nights? How many of hundreds of separated couples out there sternly tell themselves that sex is now a thing of the past as long as they remain separated from their lifelong partner? But also.... How many of us see nothing wrong in dumping toxic waste in our environment, in overfishing or illegally extracting water from boreholes, in driving without concern for others, and not the least regard for others in our daily lives in general? This is the fundamental truth that this editorial misses by a mile and more, and it is that christianity has always been about living, rather a specific belief in a rigid faith. And the former can in no way be described as cafeteria catholicism or choosing from a pick and choose menu. In many other other countries less catholic than catholic malta, it is immediately apparent that what is right and wrong is far more clearly understood than here, as in driving responsibly, respecting the world and the environment that God gave us, paying our taxes, obeying our country's laws, respecting the liberty of people to live lives that they choose. The church both here and elsewhere has failed to convey the message that how we choose to live defines our Christianity, not dogma. Not unless you fall in the trap of hypocrisy. For example, by arguing so vehemently against the introduction of divorce when catholics remain free not to choose to divorce, one of the tenets of the pastoral letter, that we respect the choices of those who choose to break away from the church, was completely ignored by the very same bishops who wrote this pastoral letter. What, in a way, scares me about malta is that the church is losing its moral influence in society, but there is not a public faith in our civil institutions or even in ourselves to replace it. By choosing not to recognize that Christianity is far far more than ritual or dogma, by denigrating any attempt to do so as New Ageism when in fact this philosophy has a long history in both Christianity and Judaism, the leaders of the Church are failing in their vocation.
Maryann Borg
Oct 9th 2011, 07:17
Read the Tablet article on the call for Church reform in full: http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/161828
The church is not a club.... 'either obey the rules or get out'......it is a living, breathing organism always open to the whispers of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit does not only whisper to the those in power in the Church....Thank God!
Maryann Borg
Oct 9th 2011, 07:05
And meanwhile in Austria Hundreds of top priests call for reform of the church:
"Members of the Austrian Priests’ Initiative, led by Vienna’s former vicar general Mgr Helmut Schüller, have said they cannot revoke the “Call to Disobedience” that they issued on 19 June. In their latest newsletter (which you can find on www.thetablet.co.uk), the 407 priests and deacons say: “We have been asked to revoke our ‘Call to Disobedience’ but cannot do so in good conscience as we continue to stand by its contents.”
The priests are demanding reform or dialogue on the issues of priestly celibacy, women Communion for the divorced and remarried. They also want an enhanced role for the laity in the Church.
“Disobeying certain valid and strict church rulings and laws has for years been part of our life and work as priests. If we were to profess publicly that we did not think or act in this way that would only further exacerbate the discord in the Church and its pastoral work,” they said in their letter. They were fully aware that the word “disobedience” could be inflammatory, but insisted: “We do not mean general disobedience for contradiction’s sake, but that graduated obedience which we first owe to God, then to our consciences and in the final instance to church law.”
So much for Fortress Church!
Ramon Casha
Oct 8th 2011, 19:02
I think that these so-called "Cafeteria Catholics" for the most part are actually people who have a strong confidence in their own sense of right and wrong, and rely on this more than they rely on pronouncements from on high. If so, more power to them.
As for the "uncalled for and pointless exhibitions" of those trying to leave the church, it is the church itself, or specifically the chancellor of the curia, who is causing all the fuss. In every other organisation, if you tell them to remove you from the list of members they do so without undue resistance. If the church were to simply accept that some people no longer wish to remain members and agree to remove these individuals from their data, there would be no need for "exhibitions".
Mr Alfred Hili
Oct 8th 2011, 15:58
"There's the need of a Christianity of personal decision and a Christianity of conviction over the culture bound version of Christianity". Quote
In future there is no place for cradle-catholics believing what is convenient for them and rejecting what they don't like. There's no place for believers whose life of faith is routine. The christian of the future would either be a mystic or no christian at all.
Roger Tirazona
Oct 8th 2011, 12:52
"each member of the Church “must make an important decision: to live as a Christian in these circumstances” -
The bishops should have added: and to allow others to live according to their belief (or the lack of it) without imposing his belief on them.
"it calls on them to decide for themselves whether their faith in Christ, their commitment for Him and the Church are stronger than the circumstances around them." - This is a call for fundamentalism. There are many circumstances around us where faith is not a requirement. or where it could even be a hinderance, as it was a hinderance to human progress in the past when religion was mixed in affairs it should not have mixed in.
If people like Mr Paul Xuereb would like to live by scripture and ONLY by scriptures then I invite him to join the Born again Christians and start believing that the world is only 6000 years old and that we all came from a caucasian male and female wearing fig leaves living in a garden with a talking snake. If we followed the bible and the gospels to the letter, we would still have slavery since Jesus spoke no ill of it and actually prescribes how a slave should be treated in one of his parables and in one of the letters to Timotius.
Mr Paul Xuereb
Oct 8th 2011, 10:47
As the Bishops very rightly say, we all completely at liberty to choose. Christianity, as the name implies, is based on Christ's teachings in the Gospels. One cannot call himself/herself christian if one tears those pages from the Gospels which are not to one's liking. The Gospels, in their entirety, offer to all of us the serenity and happiness that the world can never offer us.
Gerry Cowie
Oct 8th 2011, 09:50
Long Live Catholic Malta! May she resist the tide of secularism and humanism and continue to respect life from conception until natural death!
David Caruana
Oct 8th 2011, 12:51
Your comment is obsolete. 'Catholic Malta' does not exist. It might exist in the wishes of some and on other obsolete documents such as Article 2 of the constitution. I am Maltese, born and bred here and thus probably much more Maltese than your are, Gerry. I am NOT Catholic and therefore, logically, 'Catholic Malta' is false as it would entail that ALL Malta is Catholic. Besides, I am not the only one and I can promise you that soon, a Secular Malta will be the only way in which you can describe our Republic.
Francis Saliba M.D.
Oct 9th 2011, 20:17
@David Caruana.
"I am NOT Catholic and therefore, logically, 'Catholic Malta' is false ....." (David Caruana)
You have a grossly inflated opinion of your importance if you pretend that, even if boosted by an unknown number of others, Malta has lost the constitutional right to pride itself on being a Catholic republic. You guess as much by your reference to our Constitution that, beg your pardon, is not obsolete. simply because you wish it to be so. It is still the highest law of the land whether you like it or not.