Church's failures of two millennia include repression, Crusades, Inquisition

Foremost among those failures, according to a panel of scholars, is repression of others in general and anti-Semitism in particular.

The panel, made up of theologians and Church historians, was assembled by The Evangelist to examine several aspects of the first two millennia of the Church. In previous installments of this monthly series, they have chosen the most outstanding non-Catholic Christian (Martin Luther), the greatest popes (John XXIII and Gregory the Great), the most significant era (the first centuries after Christ), the artwork which best interprets Jesus' message (Michelangelo's "Pieta") and the most influential non-Christian religious leaders (Mohammed and Gandhi).

This month, they were asked: What is the worst mistake the Church has committed over the past two millennia -- and how can the Church make up for it?

Freedom of conscience

"Instead of naming one single mistake that could be located at a particular point in space and time," he said, "I would single out a disrespect for the freedom of an individual's conscience that has led to what, from the 20/20 vision of hindsight, can only appear as crimes.

"I mean such things as having burned at the stake persons judged to be guilty of heresy (such as Giordano Bruno and Marguerite Porete), the condemnation of Galileo (who actually had a much sounder understanding of scriptural interpretation than the theologians and Churchmen who tried him), and the expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290 (leaving Jews unable to return there until the 17th century). Such actions have caused tremendous harm not only to the victims of such practices but to the Church itself.

"The only way to 'make up for this' is to be genuinely converted to the principles laid down in the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on Religious Liberty."

Spirit ignored

"In particular," she continued, "one might pinpoint the inability of the Church to hear the warnings of prophetic figures within the Church in the 1400s who called for the reform of the Church. In the 1500s, confusing particular traditional practices or particular prejudices with the voice of God caused Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans and Calvinists to break with each other and to provide enduring scandal to both Christians and non-Christians."

Apologies

"Perhaps we might revive periodic individual and institutional examination of conscience," she suggested. "But the real challenge is to make a serious commitment to learning how to discriminate the voice of the Spirit from our own institutional and individual prejudices. This requires a serious examination of the tradition, the careful study of Church history and daily effort aided by grace."

Crusades

"In political and religious terms, the Crusades were a disaster. They constituted a complete reversal of the attitude of the early Christians towards war, which was predominantly one of condemnation," he explained. "They intensified the hatred and the scorn between Muslims and Christians; they widened the bridge between the western and eastern Churches; they made use of force and violence as a means of Christian missionary activity quite acceptable in the eyes of Western Europeans. Many of these outcomes of the Crusades have had an impact up to the present day."

As for repenting of the Crusades, Prof. Cesareo recommended that the Church make efforts to "forge better relations with the Muslim world, attempting to arrive at some common understanding between Christianity and Islam. The Church can also work toward unification with the Eastern Churches, attempting to arrive at mutual understanding theologically.

"Pope John Paul II has made significant efforts to reach out to these communities through dialogue. These efforts must be continued so that the effects of the Crusades can be reversed and some mutual understanding be arrived at in the next millennium."

Inquisition

He added that "the effects of the Inquisition reach far beyond fear-induced conformity and intellectual stagnation (although those are certainly two effects). Any sort of torturous, secretive investigation that punishes without fear of reprisal or that forces its will on others is described as an 'inquisition.'

"Within the Church (Teilhard de Chardin, Hans Kung and liberation theologians come to mind) or outside it (McCarthyism), it seems that one of Catholicism's legacies is the label for any secretive and personally injurious 'witchhunt.' Granted, that reputation is not always deserved, but it is a part of the Church's history. The presence of similar practices in other religious communities (Elizabethan England, for example) demonstrates how well the lesson has been learned."

It is not easy to make up for the Inquisition, Dr. Marlett said, but he suggested "strict observance of two Gospel mandates from the Sermon on the Mount: 'Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy' (Matthew 5:7) and 'Do not judge, so that you may not be judged' (Matthew 7:1-2)."

Missionaries

The result of that prohibition was to solidify "the europeanization of Roman Catholicism," he said. "The Gothic church architecture in Africa and China, and the seminary theology in Latin America, which starts from a European philosophical outlook, are just a few symptoms of the mistake as it persists to today."

What is wrong with that approach is that "the true universality of the Church as the people of God is held back from full expression," Father Fiore explained. "The faith and practices of non-Europeans are given second-class status in the Church. This results in the identification of the Catholic Church as a western institution that is alien to many cultures."

To correct that mistake, he continued, "the Church would do well to follow the direction of Vatican II and be enthusiastic in its embrace of the variety of manifestations of Catholic faith and practice in non-European contexts. The circles of influence in decision-making in the Vatican would also do well to continue to expand, as it has under recent popes, to include representatives of the Church throughout the world. This would enable the Church to be more authentically Catholic, and it would also give the Church its authentic identity as a worldwide society, at home in all cultures."

Triumphalism

"A form of triumphalism contributes to a patriarchal domination. Triumphalism is a major obstacle to ecumenism. And local triumphalism leads many to a disaffection with the Church."

Father Skok noted that "we as Church are called to be humble servants of the reign of God, preached and exemplified by Jesus Christ. A domineering attitude has no place in the search for truth in doctrine, fidelity in morals and holiness in living. I Peter 5:1-4 should always set the tone."

Demonizing others

A simple apology would begin to make up for that attitude, he said.

"The Church should apologize to Jews and Muslims," he recommended, "and, in a general way, to all those good and sincere Christians who were labelled heretics simply because they disagreed with the current teaching of the Church."

Slavery

"From the New Testament period on, the Church generally accepted slavery as a 'natural' part of socio-economic reality, or spoke of it as a 'necessary' evil," he explained. "As a Jesuit, I am morally embarrassed by the fact that certain Jesuit provinces owned slaves into the 18th and even the 19th centuries. It is a classic -- and particularly chilling -- example of the fact that the Church has often not been at the forefront of moral crusades to end unjust social realities that were too often taken for granted, or not deeply questioned and challenged."

He suggested that "a forthright statement in this regard could be an important part of a process of forgiveness and healing."

(Dr. Doris Donnelly, professor of theology at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio, believes that "the worst mistake may be in apologizing for sins it did not commit. The history of the Church is a splendid chronicle in spite of the foibles of some Churchmen. The Church is both a human and a divine institution. St. John Chrysostom, when he looked for an argument for the existence of God, found it in the splendor of the Church. Only God could have created such an institution that has had such a good effect on the lives of individuals and nations.")

(06-03-99) [[In-content Ad]]