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The Apostle Paul was an imperialist. Father Matteo
Ricci sought to oppress the Chinese people in his attempts to convert them.
Father Junipero Serra and other missionaries to the New World promoted an
unjust, racist ideology.
Don’t agree with those statements? Unfortunately, they are the sort
of claims being made more and more often, even in Catholic circles. They
bubble up to the surface of an ideological stew consisting of a heady mix
of "isms": Marxism, multiculturalism, radical feminism, relativism,
deconstructionism, and liberal "Catholicism." They result from
the conviction that the Catholic Church is imperialistic, Catholic teaching
about the unique salvific work of Jesus Christ arrogant and insensitive,
and evangelization and missionary work should be relegated to past and rejected
by enlightened Christians
An example of this perspective are the recent remarks of feminist Catholic
theologian Mary E. Hunt, founder of Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics
and Ritual (WATER). In an article titled "A
kyriarchal church unmasked" (New Catholic Times, Dec. 15,
2002) she rails against the "kyriarchy" of the Catholic Church.
Not familiar with the term? It "literally means ‘structures of
lordship’," Hunt explains, "with the interlocking modes of
oppression that include sexism, racism, clericalism, heterosexism and imperialism,
which give shape to the institutional Roman Catholic Church as we know it."
Her next remark takes us to the heart of the matter:
"Imperialism, along with its close cousin,
colonialism, is yet one more dimension of kyriarchy. It is based on
the presumption that some people and ideas are meant to rule and triumph
over others. It is founded on the notion that there is one way, the
right way, my way, to do things and anything else is suspect and inferior.
The pyramid model of church that excludes, as one climbs the ecclesial
ladder, is a remnant of imperialism. . . . Perhaps the most imperialistic
and colonializing dimension of kyriarchal Catholicism is its theological
teaching about those who are not Catholic."
Implicit here is the denial of objective truth. If
there is no truth, then no religion or culture has the right to say that
it is more rational, moral, or truthful. Which means that all attempts
to share the Gospel and evangelize are inherently imperialistic, that
is, unjust, racist, sexist, chauvinist, and, ultimately, evil. Which means
that the great missionaries and evangelists are not heroes and saints,
but wicked oppressors.
Our culture has been hoodwinked by a politically correct, revisionist
history that portrays the Church as a bloodthirsty and unjust institution,
and evangelization as a nice word for cultural genocide. This pseudo-history
is often touted as being "multi-cultural," as though it properly
respects differences between cultures and ethnic groups. In fact, it doesn’t;
instead it creates a mythology that undermines true history and the very
notion of objective truth.
Dr. Bruce S. Thornton, in his devastating critique Plagues
of the Mind: The New Epidemic of False Knowledge (ISI, 1999),
writes that multiculturalism is a "melodramatic tale of the wickedness
of the West and its role in destroying the peaceful paradises in which
other peoples (usually of ‘color’) lived before Europeans and
then Americans came along to inflict on them racism, sexism, slavery,
colonialism, imperialism, homophobia, technology, and ecological degradation."
This ideological perspective is obsessed with power and victim hood; it
despises all that is "Western." And Christianity, in this mythology,
is the epitome of "Western." Thus, evangelization is portrayed
as religious bigotry.
If so, it means Vatican II was a firm proponent of that bigotry. Lost
in the endless talk of "the spirit of Vatican II" is the fact
that the Council produced a serious and substantial body of work about
the importance of missions and evangelization. Avery Cardinal Dulles,
S.J., has noted that the first Vatican Council used the term "gospel"
once (referring to the written Gospels, not to the gospel message) and
never used the terms "evangelize" or "evangelization."
Vatican II mentions "gospel" 157 times, the verb "evangelize"
18 times, and the noun "evangelization" 31 times. ("John
Paul II and the New Evangelization–What Does It Mean?", Pope
John Paul II and the New Evangelization [San Francisco: Ignatius Press,
1995] 25-39).
He writes, "The evangelical shift brought about by Vatican II, Paul
VI, and the present pope is one of the most dramatic developments in modern
Catholicism." Then, in what is a serious understatement, he adds,
"Partly for that reason, it encounters incomprehension and resistance
among some Catholics, who seem deaf to the new summons." This new
summons is what John Paul II calls the "new evangelization,"
which is a renewal of the evangelistic endeavor and vision that has existed
for the entire history of the Church.
RELATED BOOKS
AND RESOURCES FROM IGNATIUS PRESS
 
 
Ad Gentes, the Decree on the Church’s
Missionary Activity, makes these key points.
First, the Church is necessarily missionary by her very nature: "The
pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the
mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her
origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father" (AG, 2)
Secondly, Church is missionary because all peoples need the fullness of
Christ. "The mission of the Church, therefore, is fulfilled by that
activity which makes her . . . fully present to all men or nations, in
order that, by the example of her life and by her preaching, by the sacraments
and other means of grace, she may lead them to the faith, the freedom
and the peace of Christ; that thus there may lie open before them a firm
and free road to full participation in the mystery of Christ" (AG,
5).
Thirdly, mission is not "cultural imperialism": "In order
that they may be able to bear more fruitful witness to Christ, let them
be joined to those men by esteem and love; let them acknowledge themselves
to be members of the group of men among whom they live; let them share
in cultural and social life by the various. undertakings and enterprises
of human living; let them be familiar with their national and religious
traditions; let them gladly and reverently lay bare the seeds of the Word
which lie hidden among their fellow" (AG, 11).
A glance at the three great missionaries mentioned earlier indicate how
well those men lived the vision of Ad Gentes.
Saint Paul, the former student of Gamaliel and persecutor of Christians,
was relentless in his proclamation of the gospel. His approach was simple:
"To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become
all things to all men, that I may by all means save some" (1 Cor.
9:22).
Upon entering a new city Paul would first preach in the synagogue (cf.,
Acts 13:16-43). Then he would take his message to the streets or to the
homes of Gentiles curious to hear him out. He proved equally adept at
discussing the Torah with Jews and addressing philosophical questions
with "the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers" at the Areopagus
in Athens (Acts 17:18-33). There is much about Paul that is striking and
worth emulating. Perhaps most impressive was his singular, passionate
vision. It was a vision that was at once theologically sophisticated and
very practical, just what we might expect from a great rabbinical student
who was also a tent maker.
Father Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) went to the far reaches of the world with
the gospel message. A Jesuit missionary who studied mathematics, astronomy,
and Chinese, he led the first successful mission in China in the late
sixteenth-century. Having carefully studied Chinese culture and religion,
he concluded that while Buddhism and Taoism were not compatible with Catholic
teaching, Confucian philosophy was. As part of his goal to convert the
Emperor and the entire nation of China, Ricci wrote a number of tracts
in Chinese, notably The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, a dialogue
between a Western scholar and Chinese scholar.
Often held up as an example of inculturation, Ricci’s entire work
was oriented toward the communication of the gospel. Sadly, that work
was largely undone by other missionaries who did not agree with his methods
and had all rites of homage to Confucius condemned. In 1939 Ricci’s
approach was vindicated when Pope Pius XII revoked the ban on the veneration
of ancestors and of Confucius.
The Franciscan priest Father Junipero Serra (1713-1784) was a brilliant
scholar who left the comfort of Spain in 1750 and volunteered to serve
in the Franciscan missions in the New World. At age fifty-six he founded
the first California mission in San Diego. He founded nine missions, with
twenty-one missions finally being established from San Diego to Sonoma.
His beatification in 1987 drew protests from Native American activists
who claimed Serra and the Franciscans treated the indigenous people cruelly.
Yet it was Serra who fought for rights for the Native Americans, defended
them against Spanish soldiers, and improved their lives by introducing
better agricultural and ranching practices. All of this because he believed
that the natives were deserving of respect and dignity, as well as a chance
to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The men were not imperialists, nor is the Church imperialistic. An imperialist
comes to control your life; an evangelist comes to transform your life.
An imperialist might take your life; an evangelist offers you life. An
imperialist seeks to own you; an evangelist seeks to serve you. Saint
Paul wrote, "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel" (1 Cor.
9:16). Woe to us if we do not preach the Gospel to each other, our culture,
and our world, no matter the slander and persecution involved.
This article originally appeared in the November/December
2004 issue of Lay Witness,
published by Catholics United
for the Faith (CUF).
Carl Olson is the editor of IgnatiusInsight.com.
He is the co-author of The
Da Vinci Hoax: Exposing the Errors in The Da Vinci Code and author
of Will
Catholics Be "Left Behind"? He resides with his wife and
daughter in a top secret location in the Northwest somewhere between Portland,
Oregon and Sacramento, California.
More of his articles and columns can be found on his personal website, www.carl-olson.com.
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G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was one of the finest Christian authors and apologists
of the past two hundred years. Raised as an agnostic, he embraced Christianity as a young man, ultimately entering the Catholic Church
in 1922. He wrote hundreds of essays, as well as novels, short stories, poetry, apologetics, literary
criticism, and nearly everything else imaginable. Dale Ahlquist, president and co-founder of the American
Chesterton Society and author of
G.K Chesterton: Apostle of Common Sense, writes, "Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism,
history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology. His style is unmistakable, always marked
by humility, consistency, paradox, wit, and wonder. His writing remains as timely and as timeless
today as when it first appeared, even though much of it was published in throw away paper." Read more
about the life and work of this remarkable thinker, author, and apologist.
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Nothing To Hide: Secrecy, Communication and Communion in the Catholic Church
by Russell Shaw
Shaw, the former communications director for the U.S. Bishops, discusses the abuse of secrecy in the Church, the scandals it has caused and the serious
problem of mistrust that exists in the credibility of the Church. He is not concerned with the legitimate secrecy that is necessary to protect confidentiality and people's reputations, but
with the stifling, deadening misuse of secrecy that has done immense harm to communion and community in the Church in America. Shaw raises such questions as: What kind of Church do we want our Church to be, open or closed? What kind of Church should it be? And how much secrecy is compatible with having
such a Church? As Pope Benedict XVI has stated, "The consequence is clear: we cannot communicate with the Lord if we do not communicate with one another." The Church is a communion, not a political
democracy, and thus openness and accountability are even more crucial for the life of the Church than they are in a democracy. In a talk he gave many years before he became the current Pope,
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had this to say about the reality of ecclesial communion: "Fellowship in the Body of Christ and receiving the Body of Christ means fellowship with one another. This
of its very nature includes mutual acceptance, giving and receiving on both sides, and readiness to share one's goods ... In this sense, the social question is given quite a central place
in the theological heart of the concept of communion." This is a beautiful vision of the Church. Shaw's aim in his book is to make a contribution to realizing this vision in the concrete circumstances
of the present day, by helping to end the culture of secrecy, especially within American Catholicism, and replacing the destructive culture with an open, accountable community of faith.
Read more about Nothing to Hide.
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