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He was never one of us anyway

The Pontificator comments on Rob Dreher in When a Catholic leaves the Catholic Church and says the following:

In light of Dreher’s departure from the Catholic Church, I only have only one question: Was he in fact a Catholic?

…and

I regret that he has left the Catholic Church, and I grieve the sins of the Church that led him to renounce the divine authority of the Vicar of Christ. I pray that I may never be so tested.

So it appears that Catholicism is solely defined by ones’ belief in “the divine authority of the Vicar of Christ” i.e., the Pope, and of course holding up John Henry Newman as an icon of all that is good and holy.

I guess that Fr. Stephen Freeman of Pontifications fame is in grave error, un-catholic, or at best misguided.

PNCC,

Thank you for your prayer, but…

Ben Johnson of Western Orthodoxy offered up a prayer on behalf of the PNCC Synod which concluded today. To read the whole post visit: A General Convention Prayer.

Along with the prayer he offered a few observations and criticisms ending with a statement that the PNCC is in a —deathspin— and that it will —end with a whimper of bewilderment, isolation, and indifference.— I would like to address those points.

I have three general comments.

My first general comment relates to statements made as a result of observations. Such statements can be completely false, partially false, absolutely true, or any range in-between. What Mr. Johnson stated falls all along that continuum. I think a little bit of research and a few questions to members of the PNCC would have avoided certain inaccuracies.

My second general comment relates to criticism and its purpose. Prior to the Synod I openly asked for prayers. Any endeavor involving humans certainly is helped by prayer – and needs prayer. As the Synod prayers I posted stated:

We do not know what we should pray for,
nor how we should pray,
but Scripture tells us that
the Spirit Himself asks for us.

We’re not very good at asking because we see only dimly, but God accepts our prayers in relation to our need and sincerity. That said, why the tie-in between prayer and criticism?

My third comment relates to researching the PNCC. The PNCC bookstore has a plethora of books which would aid in serious research on the history of the PNCC, many written by academics doing independent research. I urge people looking to do a serious analysis of the history, faith, and beliefs of the PNCC to contact the PNCC Bookstore (570-346-9131). Our parish website has a list of a few (very few) of the items available.

I would highly recommend The Polish National Catholic Church: Minutes of the First Eleven General Synods 1904-1963 by Grotnik and Polish National Catholic Church of America: Minutes of the Supreme Council 1904-1969 also by Grotnik, as a starting point. The PNCC has a long history of debate on every issue, and as a Church founded upon democratic ideals, democratic debate was (and is) a big part of every decision.

A lot of what is said about the PNCC is something someone learned from somewhere, or from someone they knew who was once a PNCC member, or had a debate with a PNCC clergyman, or … These types of things are conjecture at best and are often offered up unsupported. It ends up like a game of telephone where the last person in line ends up with a message quite different from the original.

I offered some comments in Mr. Johnson’s com-box on his site, but it looks like my fumbled typing may have deleted them before they were sent. I’ll try to recap them here.

Theologically, the PNCC (as envisioned by Bp. Franciszek Hodur) was intended to present a non-Roman catholicism. Founded near the turn of the 20th century, the new denomination rejected the idea of “original guilt,” expunged the Filioque from the Nicene Creed, prayed in a language “understanded of the people,”

All true.

…and allowed priests to marry.

After the Synod of 1921.

The PNCC also retained the traditional Roman Mass and another liturgy of Bp. Hodur’s editing, which I’m told reflected the old Mass.

Mr. Johnson asked for a copy of The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass —“ Compiled by Bishop Francis Hodur. It is available in the pew missal in most PNCC parishes and from the bookstore which just released an updated copy of the pew missal ($3 which includes shipping and handling). It does reflect the ‘old’ Mass but with added scriptural references that enhance the text. It’s quite beautiful. We do it in our parish on the Solemnity of the Institution of the PNCC.

Other changes were not so in keeping with tradition: many believed in universal salvation

Never a Church belief.

…general confession largely replaced private confession among adults

True. Bishop Hodur delivered a treatise on this issue at the Synod of 1921

once-vernacular “Polish became the new Holy Latin”

I think the PNCC faced the same struggles the Orthodox faced in deciding whether to go English as their generational members aged and their children mastered English. Is Old Church Slavonic = Holy Latin? Both beautiful yes, both traditional, as is Polish (my perspective). The Holy Mass in the English language was approved at the X General Synod in 1958. A binding Synodal resolution stated in part:

—It shall be lawful for a parish to celebrate one entire Mass on Sunday in the English language, provided, that the parish shall first adopt a resolution setting forth the need for such a service, which resolution shall be adopted by two-thirds (2/3) vote of the active members of the parish present at the meeting when such a resolution is to be acted upon and shall receive the approval of the Prime Bishop of the PNCC…

Mr. Johnson goes on to say:

…they early replaced the altar with a table; and bishops were allowed to marry.

True, but I wouldn’t say ‘table’. Some parishes have them, some don’t.

Not so many years ago, the PNCC (then the only genuine “Old Catholic” body in North America**) became a partner to the Orthodox-Old Catholic theological dialogue. From these discussions, a remarkably hopeful document would be crafted: The Road to Unity (still available from the PNCC, at last I knew, for $5). The rapprochement envisioned by Dr. J.J. Overbeck a century earlier seemed imminent. Discussions also began between the PNCC and the Western Rite, which in time fizzled. The PNCC adopted a number of reservations to the Orthodox-Old Catholic dialogue, though none appeared insurmountable.

However, the PNCC also remained in dialogue with the Papacy, ascribing to those talks a higher priority. …whatever the truth, the PNCC has ultimately reunited with neither church and indeed, because of the European churches’ growing modernism, broke communion with the Union of Utrecht.

I think I said it better in my original response but, dialog has nothing to do with priority. In my estimation dialog is about prayer first and foremost. It is the fervent prayer of all catholic Churches to be reunited, and it is our duty to engage in dialog.

Dialog is only effective when it is founded upon respect. That’s the first bridge.

Will Rome treat all PNCC clergy with respect as to their orders (including former R.C. priests)? They have, at least on one occasion, re-ordained a PNCC ordained priest who went over to the R.C. Church (and without checking his background with the PNCC). Will they continually deny the Eucharist to PNCC members regardless of what’s written in the back of their missals?

That’s the mundane stuff that requires dialog and good faith from all. If you can’t get beyond respect then how do you address bringing about a change in Rome’s view on universal Papal jurisdiction? We pray, but I think not while I’m alive.

Under Bp. Hodur’s most recent successors, former Romans almost to a man, the church increasingly reflects the Roman take on everything, including the development and increasing use of its “Contemporary Mass,” modeled closely on the Novus Ordo.

Um, I live there and I think not. I think there is a range of views among the clergy in minor things, but we’ll never have to have a reform of the reform because we never lost the concept of sacredness. All the foolishness of the N.O. (for all vs. many, not genuflecting during the Creed, the effective loss of the Introit and other antiphons, etc., etc.) never entered into the PNCC in The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass —“ Contemporary.

I grew up in a rather traditional R.C. parish where I thought the Mass (N.O. style) was celebrated with great pomp and solemnity. Not even close to the PNCC. The PNCC doesn’t need pomp to cover for a lack of the sacred.

As I understand it, Western Rite Orthodoxy is home to those attached to the Tridentine Rite or Anglican Rite I. How do you speak to those whose only frame of reference is N.O. or Rite II?

I think the PNCC is rightly proud of its liturgies and the coordination between the needs of the people and their right to a dignified, sacred, Holy Mass.

As to the Bishops, being former Romans has no bearing. Unless you have plumbed their hearts your statement falls upon itself. Are Western Rite priests (Romans or Episcopalians to borrow a phrase ‘almost to a man’) unfaithful to the home they have found. It’s a fallacious argument.

And I’m told in terms of numbers, it is dying from attrition: former members no longer sensing any difference between itself and the PNCC [sic] (and expressly invited by the front of the RCC missalette) simply go Roman; if they move, they often go with their pastor’s approval, though Rome seems not to reciprocate.

I’m told in terms of numbers the [pick one: Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican…] Church is dying…

I think every Church can find parishes that are dying from younger members gripped by the same immoral malaise that grips secular society, locations in dying coal and steel towns (demographics), and indifferentism as to faith and teaching. You can be R.C., Orthodox, Protestant, or even Jewish and run across the same phenomena.

I wouldn’t say the PNCC is immune from that. At the same time we keep small parishes open —“ because we are a democratic Church whose members make those decisions —“ and those decisions are honored. Some parishes combine —“ without the same screaming you hear from R.C. Church members, because again, the PNCC is democratic, parishes decide for themselves in union with the Church. Those parishes become re-energized and grow. Population booms in the South and West result in calls for new PNCC parishes rather consistently. I could go on, but it’s a mix, and the PNCC is definitely not dying as a Church.

And yes, Rome does not reciprocate, but few Roman Catholics care. They come to us when their few remaining parishes turn into mega-parishes, when they become frustrated by a lack of the sacred, when their clergy scare them, etc. Their not caring relates to poor catechesis and the pervasive liberalism that (probably) existed where they grew-up.

The recent reception of a former Roman priest in Toledo, Ohio, has apparently strained relations with the U.S. Roman Catholic church.

To the best of my knowledge the PNCC has not accepted a R.C. Priest from the Toledo R.C. Diocese.

There is a dynamic group of former R.C. parishioners who left the Roman Church after going through the closing of three parishes in a row. They were shifted from one parish to the next and in short order each closed. They are now being served by a PNCC priest from Hamtramck, Michigan, at their request. Bishop Blair of the R.C. diocese is allegedly deeply aggrieved at this but…so what. That’s why an emphasis on respect is necessary. Those people came in faith knocking. The PNCC will not leave them in the dark, Bishop Blair notwithstanding.

However, it seems tragic for a church that once blazed a courageous path toward becoming a Western expression of the Orthodox faith to end with a whimper of bewilderment, isolation, and indifference.

May God so bless these good Christian people with bishops who will gently lead them to the fulness of the Truth so ardently sought after by Bp. Hodur and embrace the unity of the Orthodox faith.

That’s the key to my difference with Mr. Johnson. He may see the PNCC as something to be absorbed into Orthodoxy. Rome sees us as something that can be absorbed into, well Rome. We see ourselves as the PNCC, certainly praying for and longing for unity, all the while focused on unity in essentials – not absorption. BTW – I like the Russian take on this from 1935 (see Achieving Orthodoxy).

I think the PNCC is alive and vital, and carries the message of Jesus Christ, a message that is orthodox, catholic, and democratic (small ‘o’, ‘c’, and ‘d’) —“ go ahead make OCD jokes… and yes I am a little.

In the footnotes Mr. Johnson states:

The Anglican Church in America also enjoys a cozy relationship with (and part of its “line of apostolic succession” from) the PNCC; that one, however, results in mutual referrals.

Not at all. To wit a binding Synodal resolution from the XV General Synod, 1978:

TERMINATION OF INTERCOMMUNION
The XV General Synod of the Polish National Catholic Church by majority vote 312 to 106 ratified the position of its Prime Bishop and adopted a resolution stating that the Polish National Catholic Church regretfully acknowledges and confirms the fact that by their unilateral action, the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America and the Anglican Church of Canada have effectively terminated sacramental intercommunion with the Polish National Catholic Church.

If Mr. Johnson means the actual Anglican Church in America body, yet another spin-off from somewhere, continuing Anglican, High Church, who knows, I’d never heard of them until I was researching this.

Christian Witness, Saints and Martyrs,

The other side of St. Vincent of Lerins

St. Vincent of Lerins’ quote regarding the consistency and continuity of catholic belief (basically the belief expressed in the first 1,000 years of Christianity) is often quoted in responding to some of the weirdness (things human) that creeps into the Church. I’ve often quoted him in this regard myself.

“Id teneamus, quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est; hoc est etenim vere proprieque catholicum.” [Such teaching is truly Catholic as has been believed in all places, at all times, and by all the faithful.]

Today’s Office of Readings offers us St. Vincent’s take on the development of doctrine; sort of the other side of the St. Vincent coin.

In the quest for unity we see the difficulty in reconciling developments vehemently clung to with the fullness of Christian faith. Maybe St. Vincent will help.

St. Vincent of Lerins ora pro nobis.

Is there to be no development of religion in the Church of Christ? Certainly, there is to be development and on the largest scale.

Who can be so grudging to men, so full of hate for God, as to try to prevent it? But it must truly be development of the faith, not alteration of the faith. Development means that each thing expands to be itself, while alteration means that a thing is changed from one thing into another.

The understanding, knowledge and wisdom of one and all, of individuals as well as of the whole Church, ought then to make great and vigorous progress with the passing of the ages and the centuries, but only along its own line of development, that is, with the same doctrine, the same meaning and the same import.

The religion of souls should follow the law of development of bodies. Though bodies develop and unfold their component parts with the passing of the years, they always remain what they were. There is a great difference between the flower of childhood and the maturity of age, but those who become old are the very same people who were once young. Though the condition and appearance of one and the same individual may change, it is one and the same nature, one and the same person.

The tiny members of unweaned children and the grown members of young men are still the same members. Men have the same number of limbs as children. Whatever develops at a later age was already present in seminal form; there is nothing new in old age that was not already latent in childhood.

There is no doubt, then, that the legitimate and correct rule of development, the established and wonderful order of growth, is this: in older people the fullness of years always brings to completion those members and forms that the wisdom of the Creator fashioned beforehand in their earlier years.

If, however, the human form were to turn into some shape that did not belong to its own nature, or even if something were added to the sum of its members or subtracted from it, the whole body would necessarily perish or become grotesque or at least be enfeebled. In the same way, the doctrine of the Christian religion should properly follow these laws of development, that is, by becoming firmer over the years, more ample in the course of time, more exalted as it advances in age.

In ancient times our ancestors sowed the good seed in the harvest field of the Church. It would be very wrong and unfitting if we, their descendants, were to reap, not the genuine wheat of truth but the intrusive growth of error.

On the contrary, what is right and fitting is this: there should be no inconsistency between first and last, but we should reap true doctrine from the growth of true teaching, so that when, in the course of time, those first sowings yield an increase it may flourish and be tended in our day also.

Christian Witness, Perspective, Saints and Martyrs

True then… true now

From today’s Office of Readings:

Be deaf therefore when anyone preaches to you without mentioning Jesus Christ, who was of the family of David, who was truly born of Mary, who truly ate and drank, was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate, was truly crucified and died in the sight of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth; who was also truly raised from the dead, when his Father raised him up —” just as his Father will raise us up, believers in Christ Jesus without whom we have no true life.

from St Ignatius of Antioch’s letter to the Trallians

PNCC,

First Day of the Octave —“ For the Gift of the Fear of the Lord

+ Come Holy Spirit, come!
And from Your celestial home,
shed a ray of light divine!

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Light,
of Strength, and of Love. With His
sevenfold gifts He enlightens the mind,
strengthens the will, and inflames the
heart with the love of God. We should
invoke the Holy Spirit daily, for the Spirit
aids us in our infirmity. We do not know
what we should pray for, nor how we
should pray, but Scripture tells us that
the Spirit Himself asks for us.

Prayer

Almighty and eternal God, You have
regenerated us by water and the Holy
Spirit, and have given us forgiveness for
all our sins. From Heaven send forth
upon our Holy Synod Your sevenfold
Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom and
Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and
Fortitude, the Spirit of Knowledge and
Piety, and fill us with the Spirit of the
Fear of the Lord. Amen.

Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine!

The Gift of the Fear of the Lord

The gift of the Fear of the Lord fills us with a sovereign respect for God, and makes us dread nothing so much as to offend Him by sin. It is a fear that arises from feelings of reverence and child-like submission to our heavenly Father. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, detaching us from worldly pleasures that could separate us from God. “Those who fear the Lord seek to please Him, those who love Him are filled with His law. Those who fear the Lord prepare their hearts and humble themselves before Him.— (Sirach 2:16-17)

Prayer

Come, O blessed Spirit of Fear of the Lord, penetrate our inmost hearts, that we may set You, our Lord and God, before our faces forever. Help all those attending Holy Synod to shun all things that can offend You, and make them worthy to appear before the pure eyes of Your Divine Majesty in Heaven, where You live and reign in the unity of the ever Blessed Trinity, God, world without end. Amen.

Our Father … Hail Mary … Glory be to the Father …

Act of Consecration to the Holy Spirit

On my knees, before the great
multitude of heavenly witnesses, I offer
myself, soul and body, to You, Eternal
Spirit of God. I adore the brightness of
Your purity, the unerring keenness of
Your justice, and the might of Your love.
You are the Strength and Light of my
soul. In You I live and move and am. I
desire never to grieve You by
unfaithfulness to grace and I pray with
all my heart to be kept from the smallest
sin against You. Mercifully guard my
every thought and grant that I may
always watch for Your light, listen to Your
voice, and follow Your gracious
inspirations. I cling to You and give
myself to You and ask You, by Your
compassion, to watch over me in my
weakness. Holding the pierced Feet of
Jesus and looking at His five Wounds,
and trusting in His Precious Blood and
adoring His opened Side and Stricken
Heart, I implore You, Adorable Spirit,
Helper of my infirmity, to keep me in
Your grace that I may never sin against
You. Give me grace, O Holy Spirit, to
say to You always and everywhere,
“Speak for Your servant is listening.” (1
Sam. 3:10b)

Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who, before
ascending into heaven, did promise to
send the Holy Spirit to finish Your work
in the souls of the Apostles and Disciples,
grant the same Holy Spirit to our Polish
National Catholic Church that it may be
made perfect in the work of Your grace
and Your love. Grant us the Spirit of
Wisdom that we may despise the
perishable things of this world and aspire
only after the things that are eternal; the
Spirit of Understanding to enlighten our
minds with the light of Your divine truth;
the Spirit of Counsel that we may ever
choose the surest way of pleasing God
and gaining heaven; the Spirit of Fortitude
that we may bear our crosses with You
and that we may overcome with courage
all the obstacles that oppose our
salvation; the Spirit of Knowledge that
we may know God and know ourselves
and grow perfect in the knowledge of
the Saints; the Spirit of Piety that we
may find the service of God sweet and
amiable, and the Spirit of the Fear of the
Lord, that we may be filled with a loving
reverence towards God and may dread
in anyway to displease Him. Dear Lord,
mark our Polish National Catholic
Church with the sign of discipleship and
enliven our Holy Synod in all its dealings
with Your Spirit. Amen. +

PNCC

An Octave of Prayer and Fasting

In anticipation of the Twenty-Second General Synod of the Polish National Catholic Church, the Church calls on and enjoins all the faithful to undertake an octave of prayer and fasting.

Prayer and fasting are to be offered so that the Church may be one in prayerful spirit before our God, and that the work of the Holy Synod may truly represent the Will of God for the Holy Church.

I will be posting the recommended series of prayers to the Holy Spirit from Sunday, October 1st through Sunday, October 8th.

I ask all my readers and all brothers and sisters in faith to pray with and for us.

Current Events, Perspective, ,

The priesthood, women, and a lost shepherd

Father Chandler Holder Jones at Philorthodox had a post on Roman Catholic Acceptance of ‘Womenpriests’.

Quite a few bloggers have been posting on this issue since the alleged ordination of a group of women outside Pittsburgh.

A caveat, Father Jones is a Continuing Anglican priest in the Episcopal Church so his post may be is colored by his watching experience of the headlong slide into wherever it is the Episcopalians are going.

What struck me about the post was not the issue itself, but the way the conclusion was drawn. The conclusion over-reached the facts as they were stated. This is one of the primary problems in the blogosphere. It is a problem I have – so this hits home with me.

On to dissecting the content:

The first issue that needs to be addressed on this whole woman as priests issue is the whole concept of the priesthood.

All sacraments require proper matter and form as well as a proper minister. It’s all very well and good that these women thought they were being made priests, but you can’t make a priest out of a material that cannot become a priest (i.e., a woman). It’s like trying to make the Precious Blood out of water. It’s kind of wet like wine, it goes in a chalice like wine, you can consume it like wine, but it is not wine… It cannot be made into the Precious Blood. The same for women, they are human beings like men, they can wear clerical garb like men, but they are not men… They cannot be made into priests. If there were a valid Bishop presiding at the ordination (I doubt it), in seventy-five layers of the most traditional vestments, the ordination would still be invalid. No Holy Spirit, nothing happening.

Calling oneself a priest, and actually being a priest, outside of the Faith and Tradition of the Church, are two different things.

OK, so these women aren’t priests, and any properly catechized Catholic would know that anyway (and as such making a big deal out of it is basically a lot of smoke and no fire – see the Young Fogey’s comment on the issue and on the posting).

The post goes on to infer that a Roman Catholic parish in the Diocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is going to sponsor a ‘mass’ by one of these women. Thus the Roman Catholic stance against this sort of nonsense is crumbling and the R.C. Church is on the same greasy slide as the Episcopalians.

Fr. Jones states (emphasis mine):

Saint Joan of Arc parish of Minneapolis Minnesota, a parish ostensibly in full communion with Pope Benedict XVI, is sponsoring a ‘Eucharistic Celebration’ offered by Ms. Regina Nicolosi

and he concludes by saying:

Is this the beginning of a new revolution in the American branch of the Roman Communion? The echoes of the simulacrum which transpired in the Church of the Advocate Philadelphia on 29 July 1974, and subsequent events in the Episcopal Church leading up to 1976 and 2003, are ominously unmistakable.

Now, checking out the website for St. Joan of Arc (which the diocese does not link to) reveals the parish to be on the far outer edges of Catholicism. They wallow in some kind of sci-fi weird flower power religion that vaguely resembles Catholicism. However, nowhere in last week’s bulletin did it state that the ‘mass’ would be in their church or that they were sponsoring the event. They were advertising an event at which one of their parishioners was to speak (maybe they thought it was going to be a bratwurst dinner – yeah, right).

In this week’s bulletin Fr. Jim DeBruycker, the Pastor (do a Google on this fellow – you will be incredulous), quasi-apologizes for the bulletin insert. From what I’ve read, in two weeks of checking out their stuff, the good Father has a real problem with being patriarchal – perhaps he’s a father that doesn’t want to be a father?

The funniest line in last week’s bulletin (beside the phony mass thing – and I don’t mean ha-ha funny) was this from the good Father:

In another e-mail someone suggested I was returning St. Joan’s to archaic times. I’m pretty sure that is the controversy over the ‘lord I am not worthy’ phrase before communion. I know to some people that sounds like a surrender to power based on a fear of abusive dominance. I admit if it was me saying this to the church governance I would be reticent to say it, but to me it is admitting am not perfect before God. I can be the abuser, the breaker of the community. I need the help of God. It heartens me to know the pope, the cardinals and the archbishops have to say it too.

It’s almost good catechesis for his lost flock, if only he would have focused on sin and being a “breaker of community.” Instead, he took a teaching moment and used it to denigrate others. Shame shame, patriarchal and judgmental in sheep’s clothing.

Father, be a good patriarch, a good shepherd, and take a positive stand for something. Being against everything, except what you like, makes the Church of Christ into the church of me, myself, and I…

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Everything Else,

From the City of God

St. Augustine of Hippo - Fresco by Botticelli

Of the Nature of the Two Cities, the Earthly and the Heavenly.

Accordingly, two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself, the latter in the Lord. For the one seeks glory from men; but the greatest glory of the other is God, the witness of conscience. The one lifts up its head in its own glory; the other says to its God, “Thou art my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.” In the one, the princes and the nations it subdues are ruled by the love of ruling; in the other, the princes and the subjects serve one another in love, the latter obeying, while the former take thought for all. The one delights in its own strength, represented in the persons of its rulers; the other says to its God, “I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength.” And therefore the wise men of the one city, living according to man, have sought for profit to their own bodies or souls, or both, and those who have known God “glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened; professing themselves to be wise,”-that is, glorying in their own wisdom, and being possessed by pride,-“they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.” For they were either leaders or followers of the people in adoring images, “and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.” But in the other city there is no human wisdom, but only godliness, which offers due worship to the true God, and looks for its reward in the society of the saints, of holy angels as well as holy men, “that God may be all in all.” — St. Augustine of Hippo, City of God, Book 14, Chapter 28

Everything Else

I’m wrong, but the Church is always right

Ben Johnson at Western Orthodoxy recently wrote a posting called So’s Yer Mama.

While he focuses on the tragedy of people taken-in by a non-canonical quasi-religious group that claimed to be Orthodox, his points serve as a good primer on why the Church is different.

What sets the Church apart? Why do the sins and human failings of the Church’s members not degrade its mission or its truth?

People very quickly point to someone like me, a cleric, and say: ‘I remember when you were younger you did such and so.’ ‘You once did such and so.’ You have a track record of [name the sin]. They also say things like: ‘Well the Church is just a bunch of men who…’ or ‘I follow God, not the rulings of men.’

You get the point.

What those people are trying to do is state that my personal history and current sins (or that of any believer, the Pope, a bishop, or priests) negate the truth of the Church.

What people on the outside do not see or realize is that the Church does contain the truth.

Her teaching and directives are not of human estate, but are from God. They also fail to differentiate between the sins of an individual (or many individuals) and the reality of what the Church is. They judge the whole, stating that the entirety of the Church must be sick, because all its members are sick.

Mr. Johnson states:

However, the intent of this blame-shifting sleight-of-hand is to place all the focus upon the Church’s human nature and obscure Her divine nature. The Church, as the Body of Christ, is united with Her Head. The divine mysteries are imparted by men at various levels of rebellion and interior brokenness, so the Church in its human expression has never been without scandal and will never be. However, what sets the Church apart from such as the “monks” of Blanco is the divine pledge of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence. St. Augustine of Hippo’s triumph over Donatism affirmed that whatever the human failings of the Church’s representatives, the sacraments still usher the Orthodox faithful into the life of the Trinity (energies). It is only in the holy condescension of Jesus Christ to the flesh, of the His Flesh imparted at the Last Supper, of the perpetual institution of the Eucharist in the Church, and of the sacerdotal ministry’s commission until His “second and glorious advent” that the Orthodox Church may claim preeminence. Not coincidentally, all were gifts of divine grace. “What do you have that you did not receive?”

… The question converts face is not whether they wish to join a church exempt from the possibility of sin, even grave sins. Unfortunately, that option is not open to us … The question each Christian must ask is whether he wishes to remain with sinners in his own denomination — who do not teach what he believes — or join with fallen men in the true Church that affirms his beliefs, has a promise of divine protection, and dispenses the medicine of immortality in the sacraments.

…

The difference between Orthodox and Pseudodox is not that only one groups sins. Orthodox priests are blessed with the charism of the Spirit, and it is only because they are “endued with the grace of the priesthood” that they are able “to stand before this Thy Holy Table, and perform the sacred Mystery of Thy holy and immaculate Body and precious Blood.” God has empowered Orthodoxy to overcome all sin — clerical and lay — with His sacraments, His Spirit, and the pledge that He will ever preserve His Body from the ravages of the world, the flesh, and the devil. We know of no such promise to the “monks” of Blanco, Texas.

I remember reading, some time ago, about some traditional Catholics’ who objected to John Paul II’s continued apologies on behalf of the Church. ‘We’re sorry because the Church did this or that.’

John Paul was not incorrect in apologizing. He just apologized on behalf of the wrong entity. His apology should have been on behalf of members of the Church who engaged in sinful behavior, not on behalf of the Church.

The Church cannot be sinful, wrong, or in any way incorrect. Only the men and women in the Church are sinful.

That’s what we’re all trying to work out, the avoidance of sin through the sacramental (sanctifying) grace and actual grace given to us by God through His Church.

Membership in the Church does not make me (or anyone) perfect. It simply works to bring us to perfection.

That is why people can point and say I am a sinner and that I do (and did) wrong things. That simply does not change the argument. My personal wrongness in no way affects or subtracts from the rightness of the Church.

Everything Else

Whose ecclesiology is it?

This week’s issue of the Evangelist (the Albany R.C. Diocese weekly) has a very nice interview with a Polish priest that visits the area every summer. See: Polish priest has adopted Albany Diocese.

Fr. Krzysztof Podstawka is the rector of a parish in the Lublin Archdiocese and is editor of the Archdiocesan weekly newspaper.

My pastor met Fr. Podstawka after the funeral of Albany’s former bishop. Fr. Podstawka remembered giving a retreat in Poland at which my pastor was a participant. I was impressed when I learned of his sharp memory for such details.

The interview, in Q&A format, was put together fairly well. The most interesting sections were on the differences between the ‘American’ Church and the Church in Poland.

Fr. Podstawka spoke of a priest’s normal duties in Poland, daily confessions (at least forty minutes), three wedding per week (more in the spring and summer), teaching religion in the parish, daily mass, devotions, and seven masses every weekend (with a homily for each).

The funniest question was as follows (emphasis mine):

Q. The Albany Diocese has some guidelines for foreign priests who want to become part of the Diocese, such as a minimum three-year stay, the ability to speak English understandably, and the necessity of understanding American culture and ecclesiological differences. What do you think of those guidelines?

A. They are good guidelines. When a priest comes here from another country, there is a lot to learn. The priest must be able to speak the language of the people. Even if he knows the language, it might be difficult for him in the beginning to fluently speak English.

If we speak about ecclesiological differences, we must be careful. We are one Church; our faith is the same everywhere. But small things about the Mass and other celebrations are different from what they are in Poland. [For example,] the power of the laity [here] is much bigger than in Poland.

Fr. Podstawka gets in right, small cultural differences, no ecclesiological differences.

That is a strong statement. Having been in the Albany Diocese over eight summers, and being as sharp as he is, he knows the glaring ecclesiological differences. This was his moment to teach —“ and he didn’t waste it.

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