Posted on 05/06/2005 1:07:06 PM PDT by Caleb1411
Spain used to be one of the most culturally conservative, devoutly Roman Catholic countries in Europe. Now Spain is about to pass a law legalizing homosexual marriage and adoption.
When equally Catholic Belgium legalized gay marriage and adoptions, the Vatican, under Pope John Paul II, opposed the action with words. But Pope Benedict XVI, in the first policy test of his papacy, is going much further.
A Vatican official told Spaniards that if the measure passes, they must defy it. Officials should refuse to marry same-sex couples or even process the paperwork if they try to adopt a child. Bureaucrats and others who find themselves complicit in gay marriage or adoption should refuse to obey the law, even if it means losing their jobs.
"A law as deeply inequitable as this one is not an obligation," said Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo of Colombia, the head of the Pontifical Council on the Family. "One cannot say that a law is right simply because it is a law." To tell citizens that they should not obey the laws of their country is a very unusual and aggressive action. Said a history professor at a Spanish university, "I had never heard of such a direct call to civil disobedience."
American evangelicals, for all of their political activism, have not gone so far as to tell file clerks in Massachusetts to misplace the marriage records of gay couples, or a worker in an adoption agency to lose the application of homosexuals. And it is not clear that they should. It is a tough call on where to draw the line between Romans 13 ("be subject to the governing authorities") and Acts 5 ("we must obey God rather than men"). It may be easier under Roman Catholicism, with its ancient—and unbiblical—teaching that the church has temporal authority over the state.
Still, if the new pope is going to be this assertive on cultural issues, evangelicals should pay attention. Evangelicals and Catholics have huge—and important—theological differences, but when it comes to pro-life issues, sexual morality, and resistance to militant secularism, they find themselves on the same side of the culture wars.
Some critics say that a hard line from the pope will only increase the secularization of Europe. Eighty percent of Spaniards are Catholic, but only a third of them go to church and follow its teachings. Won't threatening the file clerks just drive them away? If the file clerks disobey and process the marriage licenses and adoption forms despite what the pope tells them to do, will the church excommunicate them? Whether the hard line makes the nominal Catholics quit or if the church expels them, either way the result will be fewer Catholics.
But this brings up the other part of the pope's strategy, one that is even more radical. Before he became pope, Cardinal Ratzinger argued that the church needs to get smaller so that it can become purer.
Some observers are interpreting this in institutional forms. "If it's true Pope Benedict XVI prefers a leaner, smaller, purer church as he has spoken of before," said Notre Dame professor R. Scott Appleby, "we could see a withering of certain Catholic institutions because they're not considered fully Catholic. This might include Catholic colleges, hospitals, and other Catholic institutions."
But surely it is precisely the nominal Catholics—those who claim membership but hardly ever go to church and ignore its teachings—that the new pope would be glad to be rid of.
The problem of secularism is not just with the outside culture thinking it can do without God. The deeper problem is that the church itself has become secularized. A smaller but purer church may well have more impact than the diffuse cultural Christianity that has lost its saltiness and its savor.
This is a challenge that evangelicals need to consider. With our megachurch, church-growth mindset, we often assume that bigger is better, and a church with lots of members is a strong church. Is this always true? In our efforts to reach the secular culture, is the secular culture instead sometimes reaching us?
The ideal would be to have both size and purity. But might there come a time when American evangelicalism too will need to be winnowed? —•
This is a challenge that evangelicals need to consider. With our megachurch, church-growth mindset, we often assume that bigger is better, and a church with lots of members is a strong church. Is this always true? In our efforts to reach the secular culture, is the secular culture instead sometimes reaching us?
The ideal would be to have both size and purity. But might there come a time when American evangelicalism too will need to be winnowed? —•
Good! A twist on "liberation theology" - this time the Vatican will use theology to liberate people from the socialists.
I wish this guy was 25 yrs younger. God bless Pope Benedict XVI.
"Eighty percent of Spaniards are Catholic, but only a third of them go to church and follow its teachings."
Well then - hate to be too logical here- then only a third of the 80% ARE Catholics.....duh.
>>"If it's true Pope Benedict XVI prefers a leaner, smaller, purer church as he has spoken of before," said Notre Dame professor R. Scott Appleby, "we could see a withering of certain Catholic institutions because they're not considered fully Catholic. This might include Catholic colleges, hospitals, and other Catholic institutions."
The more I read about our Holy Father, the more I LOVE him!
No, the result will be fewer "Catholics." Get 'er done, Pope Benedict!
Yes, absolutely. I'm am thrilled to see the question being asked. This is, in my opinion, at the heart of the problems in the church today. We need a biblical church, not a big secularized one. The size is up to God. Obedience to God should be our concern.
The Church has spiritual authority over the state, not temporal authority. If this gentleman seriously thinks that is unBiblical, he needs to explain away Samuel, Nathan, and Elijah ... just for starters.
Our new Pope is a very clever man. He used the liberal's separation of church and state demand against them in dealing with rouge priests working with Marxist governments in Central America. He won't be easily outwitted by liberals, no matter how intellectually superior they think they are.
Well then - hate to be too logical here- then only a third of the 80% ARE Catholics.....duh.
Eighty percent of Americans are Millionaires, but only a small fraction of them actually have a million dollars.
if catholicism is to have any meaning, it is going to have to put it's foot down every now and again.
The Body of Christ will always be few (narrow is the way, and few who find it). Hence, even large evangelical churches, the RC church, and even mainline protestant churches only contain a small subset of those in the Body. The rest have conformed to the world, but like to call themselves Christians. But, the Bride of Christ (universal, not exclusive to one denomination, and being called out by God) will be presented spotless to Her Bridegroom - redeemed by His own blood. Maranatha!
AHA!
So there is to be a TEST for membership in the
Roman Catholic church.
Whodabelievedit?
There are a few more institutions that require a TEST of membership.
Membership in the Judicial Branch of government needs a TEST based on swearing allegiance to the Constitution AS WRITTEN.
Employment in this country needs a TEST of legal residence.
On the matter of civil disobedience:
Jesus did not admonish us to obey un-Godly laws. He taught that money belongs to the government. Life belongs to God.
When the government takes a life, whenter by court order or legalizing abortion it is playing God. The government can take all the money it prints. It can not take the life that it does not give.
There must be a TEST for the law, any law. The test must be administered in the heart of the believer. Does obedience to the Law require separation from the Will of God? If it does it must not be obeyed.
Thank you Pope Benedict.
Bump.
Okay, I'll tell them right now.
The man who Should have been Pope.
From a nun in Fort Dodge...
What you probably don't know about the recent conclave to select the new pope is that there is one particularly qualified and distinguished man who could not be selected.
Bishop Hans Grapje was raised in a Catholic school in The Hague. As a young man, he aspired to become a priest, but was drafted into the army during WWII. He spent two years flying aboard B17s as a co-pilot until, in 1943, his aircraft was shot down and he lost his left arm.
While a POW, Hans spent the remainder of the war as a chaplain, giving spiritual advice and last rites to dying soldiers, allied and enemy. He was renowned for his ecumenical tenderness and compassion.
After the war, Grapje became a priest and served as a missionary throughout Africa. In spite of his handicap, he was noted for piloting his own bush plane into the deepest, most primitive villages to spread the church's message and charity to the impoverished.
In 1997, then Archbishop Grapje was serving at an outpost in Zimbabwe when an explosion in one of the country's vast silver mines caused a catastrophic cave-in. The archbishop, in spite of his age and infirmity, went down into several of the shafts to administer last rites to those who would never escape.
He was in one of these shafts when it partially caved in, trapping him and several rescuers. Although he was rescued three days later, he suffered several painful injuries, including one that cost him his right eye. Additionally, the silver content in the shaft's air supply had poisoned him, causing his skin to take an indigo hue - a condition known as argyriasis - that persists to this day. Although the Cardinal has devoted, and indeed risked, his life in the service of God for nearly 70 years, as a scholar, a mentor, and the epitome of a holy man, church politics preclude his ascension to the Papacy.
Church leaders have made it clear they don't want a one-eyed, one armed, flying purple, Papal leader.
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