Posted on 04/19/2005 6:30:20 PM PDT by Caravaggio
These words (from the great Archbishop Fulton Sheen) are for all those who say the new Pope is divisive, polarizing, exclusive.
"If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hates.
My reason for this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh.
If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world.
Look for the Church that is hated by the world, as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church which is accused of being behind the times, as Our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having learned.
Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being posessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils.
Look for the Church which, in season of bigotry, men say must be destroyed in the name of God as men crucified Christ and thought they had done a service to God.
Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because He called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which is rejected by the world as Our Lord was rejected by men.
Look for the Church which amid the confusion of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and respect it's Voice as the Voice of it's Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it is unworldly and if it is unworldly it is other-worldly..."
FULTON SHEEN
I'm having a great day today! This was excellent reading. I live in Rochester, NY and a few years back someone gave me 8x10 glossies of Bishop Sheen when he was Bishop of Rochester, back in '63, I believe. It goes without saying, what a mind! But his face, especially his eyes, told a lot too.
Thank you for posting this. I've bookmarked it so I can come back to it again as the dissent against this pope begins to swell. It'll help me in my unrelenting defense of the faith and our pope.
God bless Pope Benedict XVI.
Viva Il papa!!
The more the progressives moan and stomp their feet, the more I'll hold this pope dear.
That's how I feel!
who was the last german pope?
Fulton Sheen's words......
Now there's a Christian!!
Lots of pictures here of Bishop Fulton Sheen
http://www.elpaso.net/~unity/fjsheen
The last German Pope was Pope Victor II, died 1057. It's been almost a thousand years.
This is wonderful.
bttt
As one person put it Pope Benedict XVI has all the right enemies. We know he is good because of both those who love him and those who hate him, which seems to have been Fulton Sheen's point about the Church.
Excellent post
Where in the world did you come up with that idea?
Wonderful...I love and miss Bishop Sheen. I am thrilled with our new Pope!
Bishop Sheen had the most amazing ability to say such complex, profound Truths with the greatest simplicity and clarity. That's what I love about his writings. Wish there were more like him around.
I LOVE the new Pope also. Just can't believe the vitriol being spewed out against him though.
That is an excellent question!
I suspect that you are basing you knowledge of who is hatted most by you experience in the country that you live in. If the country in which you live in is mostly Protestant, then you will think that mostly Protestants are hatted.
However we must remember that His Eminence Archbishop Sheen was referring to the world an not a specific country. Additionally, Protestants did not exist until five hundred years ago, so the bulk of the Christian persecutions have always been directed toward Catholics.
Recently, my sister-in-law was considering converting from Buddhism to Christianity, I asked her to give the Catholic Church a try. She responded that all her Non-Denominational friends have told her that the Catholic Church is bad and full of superstition. So even among other Christians (but not all), the Catholic Church is hatted.
I will grant you this...
Our Lord Jesus does not state in the Gospels that ONLY His church will be hatted. But rather that it will be hatted, becaue the world hatted him, so that leaves the door open to other churches and organization to be equally or almost equally as hatted. Their is not claim to exclussivity on being hatted. But we do know that the Catholic church is hatted by the world.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.