St. Catherine not only lived during a time that was tumultuous for the Church, she was active in the effort toward healing. She worked tirelessly to reunite the factions of the Church in Europe and to bring peace for everyone. At a young age, Catherine was devoted to Jesus, and that devotion carried over into a love of His Church.
In St. Catherine’s lifetime, there was such a fracturing of the Church that there were three different men who claimed to be the pope, each with his own following. Today the Catholic Church still has just one pope and stands mostly united, but there are a lot of versions of Christianity in the world. So how much unity do we have among Christians? Is there a strong core of essential beliefs that ties us all together?
Certainly we are united in our belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the son of God, who was promised and came to save the world by his crucifixion, death, and resurrection. So the biggest focus of Christianity unites us all. But how much do we really know about our brothers and sisters who follow different Christian traditions?
What prayers do we have in common? Do we share liturgical music? How do our celebrations of holidays compare to one another? Do we all have sacramental traditions, and are they similar? And how much do the answers to these questions really matter?
But imagine being around in the early 16th century (correct me if I have the wrong century; unfortunately I’m not a great history student) when some Christians decided to leave the Catholic Church. That had to be a fairly emotional decision for people on both sides of the division. And it seemed that the bad feelings for one another lasted for a very long time, centuries even.
In fact, I would be willing to believe that there is still some animosity out there, but it seems that criticism between Christians of different churches has softened quite a bit, even in my lifetime. Of course, every Christian must believe that his or her church does it right. If not, why continue in that faith? But that doesn’t mean there has to be hard feelings toward Christians with other church traditions.
For me, as the name of my blog suggests, I am devoted to the Roman Catholic faith. I have a lot of respect and admiration for all of my friends at other Christian churches (and all people of faith), but my beliefs and traditions are with the Roman Catholic Church. For example, I love our celebration of the mass and Holy Eucharist, and I enjoy our many prayer traditions, like the rosary. Additionally, I am always comforted and enriched by participation in the sacrament of Reconciliation, and I appreciate the lasting effects on my life from the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and marriage.
So when I think about St. Catherine and her love for the Church, I feel like I have a little bit of an idea how she felt. Although we aren’t dealing with complete separation, like she saw in her time, we are facing a crisis right now. I’m hesitant to write much about it because I don’t feel that I am well-informed enough to speak with authority. So I will avoid placing blame or making excuses for members of my church. That would really be presumptuous of me.
But I will say this. No matter who is at fault, this scandal is inexcusable. No matter how rare it is to find a member of clergy who is abusive, any number greater than zero in unacceptable. At the same time, no matter how many church leaders might have known about things and tried to keep them quiet, the existence of even one is horrifying. I can appreciate the dilemma as a teacher of forgiveness and a protector of the faith, but it seems so obvious what should have been done. Again, it is easy to judge from my safely removed position, with no direct experience in the situation.
However, the bottom line is this. I don’t love my church because I think its leaders are perfect. I recognize that, just as is true in any group, religious or otherwise, the Church is led by human beings. For the most part, they are human beings who devoted incredible amounts of time to studying the inspired Word of God, the history and development of Church Tradition, and the important practices of the Faith. And they spend the largest part of their lives in service to others. I admire all of those things, but I have to accept that they are human and have human faults, just like the rest of us.
When a leader of our Church lets us down this badly, of course we are hurt and even angry. We might rightfully demand answers to questions of systemic failures that can and should be corrected. We might resent the fact that the actions of the few have put the Faith that we love in a bad light. Let’s face it, Catholicism has always been a bit of a target for criticism from people who don’t agree, or maybe just don’t understand, things like our devotion to Mary and the saints or the fact that priests can’t be married or our beliefs surrounding the Holy Eucharist. So this most recent crisis just makes it that much more difficult for all of us who love the Church.
I suppose it took me a long time to get here, but here’s the point. What are we going to do about it? For those of us who believe in this Roman Catholic tradition of faith, how will we respond? Do we have the kind of devotion that St. Catherine showed? I know that would be asking a lot, after all, she is Saint Catherine. But is there anything we can learn from her? Can we take any comfort in the fact that she was able to make a difference in such a time of crisis?
Lord God, we come to you today with another prayer for healing, but this time for spiritual healing, for religious healing, and for strength. Please guide those who are entrusted with upholding our Faith that they will know how to correct such terrible wrongs. Please help all of us to remain ever faithful, even in the face of such crisis. And above all else, please send healing and comfort to all those who were victims of abuse, in recent times or any time. Let us eradicate this terrible breakdown of trust and go forward in faith and love.