Catholic Church Prepares for Cold War With Evangelists

Pacific News Service ^ | 05/31/05 | Paolo Pontoniere

[murphE]

Editor's Note: Statements by Pope Benedict XVI and the appointment of San Francisco Archbishop William Levada signal a Holy See ready to counteract the expansion of evangelical groups worldwide.

SAN FRANCISCO--On the day before the conclave to choose a new pope began, future pontiff Joseph Ratzinger led a liturgy that reassured the church's believers that the Holy See was not giving up on them and was prepared to fight for the salvation of their souls. He surely meant to allude to the fight against moral relativism, but he also had his sights set on evangelicalism.

Indeed, during the first mass held by Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI, he strongly implied that the Catholic church is the rightful House of Christ, and said that his first commitment was toward "the full and visible unity of Christ's followers."

Today, to regain ground in the first world and continue to expand in the Third World, the Roman Catholic Church, more than fighting secularism, must counteract the expansion of evangelical groups. It is a silent clash that could be compared to the protracted, mostly slow-burning feud between capitalism and communism during the Cold War.

According to some researchers, evangelical Christianity is expanding three times faster than the world population and is the only existing religious group showing a significant growth through conversion. By contrast, the Roman Catholic Church is expanding at a slower pace than the population, which will mean an overall decrease in the number of Catholics worldwide.

In addition, the dissolution of the Berlin Wall not only reinvigorated the Orthodox church, but also saw huge numbers of believers from the former Socialist bloc -- where the church had been persecuted -- move into evangelical groups.

There are currently more evangelicals in Asia than in North America. Singapore's churches are among the most active in the world, sending one missionary abroad per every 1,000 members. Seven of the world's 10 largest evangelical churches can be found in Seoul alone, a city in which 110 years ago there was none.

In Latin America, a mostly Catholic region for the past 500 years, the number of evangelicals has grown from under 250,000 in 1900 to over 60 million in 2000. Critics of the Vatican say the vacuum left by Pope John Paul II's disavowal of the "basic Christian communities" movement has been filled by the evangelicals.

In 1960, the number of evangelicals living in the developing countries were one-half of those in the West; in the year 2000 they were four times more and in 2010 they will be seven times as numerous.

In America, where even Protestant groups have lost 5.4 million members over the last decade, evangelicals have enjoyed a growth rate of 40 percent. They have become the largest religious force in the United States, with 26 percent of all believers -- and they wield undeniable political clout.

"The current pope is a renovator. But there cannot be renovation without tradition," says Father Joseph Fazio, founder of St. Ignatius Press and Chancellor of Ave Maria University in Florida. "I don't have any doubt that he'll realize the full spirit of Vatican II, of unifying all of Christ's believers under the benevolent care of the Holy See.

"He has already laid the doctrinal ground for the renaissance of the church -- he did it when he was at the helm of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. Under Benedict XVI the world will know that the Roman Catholic Church has Christ's message at its core and follows his teachings closely," adds Fr. Fazio.

The battle for the soul of believers in developed countries, particularly the United States, is also critical -- most of the funds used by alternative evangelical churches to send missionaries and proselytize in the poorer countries come from there.

The appointment of San Francisco Archbishop William Levada to the previous position held by Pope Benedict XVI himself can be better appreciated in this light.

Levada's appointment sends the message that the church entrusts its doctrines to a prelate who had led a diocese in America's most secular humanist and morally relativistic city. Levada has dealt firsthand with the legacies of free love, feminism, the gay movement and the evangelical juggernaut.

"Benedict XVI has chosen Levada specifically because he knows how to face these challenges," says Father Labib Kobti, pastor at St. Thomas More in San Francisco and U.S. Representative for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

"When Levada expressed his surprise at his appointment, the Pope responded that he was in fact the right man for the task because he came from a world where evangelical groups were a challenge, where the message of Christ was being distorted, and that he had provided a compassionate but firm rebuttal to the many assaults that the church of San Francisco had faced during his years as head of the diocese."

Under Levada's almost decade-long tenure, San Francisco's Catholic church regained a religious presence that had been faltered under the more politically adaptable administration of Archbishop John Quinn.

Father Kobti, however, dismisses suggestions that the Vatican is more than alarmed at the growing influence of evangelicalism. "In the past the church has been given for dead more than once," he says. "Take for example the rise of the Baptists and of the Lutherans."

[mercy]

****The purpose of any church is to teach members to live by Biblical truths***

Hardly.

The ONLY job of the church is to teach Jesus Christ and encourage faith in Him. Often when Jesus would perform a healing miracle he would first ask the afflicted, "Do you believe that the Son of Man has power to heal you?". Or words to that affect. Christ was emphasizing that faith in Himself was the single needed ingredient. The Christian life flows from that faith.

First things first.

[Protagoras]

By contrast, the Roman Catholic Church is expanding at a slower pace than the population, which will mean an overall decrease in the number of Catholics worldwide.

Huh?

[k2blader]

What with all that anti-birth control stuff, I have wondered why the world hasn't been taken over by Catholics yet. :-)

[Onelifetogive]

It's just that EVERY single Catholic (including the Pope) has his own version of what it is

Wasn't always the case...

Sounds like you miss the "good ole Inquisition days..."

[siunevada]

No, let them wave anti-death penalty placards every time a execution is taking place. That is tantamount and equivalent to saying the death penalty is wrong, the weasel wording not withstanding.

Strongly disagree. Pretending that placard wavers are authoritative teachers of Catholic doctrine is incorrect.

Support for a prompt application of the death penalty is not outside Catholic teaching. They never say the penalty is wrong.

[Dominick]

what else are John Wayne Gacyee and Jeffrey Dahamer, or the two snipers who terroirsed Washing DC by taking random fatal shots from the trunk of a car.. or ted bundy, the BKT, the Green River,,, etc etc arent scum, then what the hell are they ???

I don't know if they are in Hell, and neither do you. Suppose that they came to Christ, and were baptized, and earnestly rejoined Christ? Would you deny them Heaven? Suppose that in another year, they would come to God, but didn't because they were killed? Are you the arbiter of Eternal Life and Death?

You missed something in the Gospel, Jesus showed us the authorities did not have any real authority except that was given by God, as they worst they could do, crucifixion, was impotent.

Vengeance is Mine, says the Lord. If they committed those crimes then they should pay, but I would prefer they change, they come to find God, and rejoin the human race in Heaven where we all belong. None of us deserve Heaven, we all merit Hell, through the Mercy of God, we can enjoy Heaven. Man was not made for Hell.

Childs of God?

Yes they are children of God, were they not born of Mothers that could love them, and are they not loved by God? If God loves Gacy, who did horrible crimes on other people, they shouldn't I? Shall I hate God because God loves these murderers? Shall I prefer Hell, because Dahmer may have been admitted to Heaven? What should I do if I come across Hitler who could have made a secret and honest conversion 15 minutes before his death? I admit that seeing those men in heaven is a amazingly huge long shot, but this is the stuff of miracles of God, and is not impossible.

The Church teaches the preference that governments should have, but also tells them in some cases that Death as a Penal institution can be applied in a correct manner. My speculations aside, your contention about the Church's teaching is based on a fallacy.

[aspiring.hillbilly]

Its not hate, its a sincere desire to reform the Church, which is in denial that it needs a drastic dose of reform. You cannot fix what you don't acknowledge, and you and a million others like you are in denial that the institution has severely gone astray and needs to be put back on the path of righteousness and Biblical adherence. The teachings of the Bible are for eternity and not intended to be overruled by the trendy whims of the age. The watershed undoing was the notorious Vatican II, the aftermath of that sowed the seeds of the many scandals. What the Church needs is a wholesale return to its pre Vatican II roots. If the calling for the return to the ways of righteous as defined in the word of the Bible is what you interpret as hate, you need to examine your conscience..

[murphE]

Sounds like you miss the "good ole Inquisition days..."

Sounds like you just want to pick a fight.

Read. Learn.

The Real Inquisition

[murphE]

I didn't write it.

[redgolum]

There is tension between Roman Catholics and non in many parts of the world. For instance, my Lutheran synod often sends missionaries to South and Central American countries. This has not been viewed very kindly at times by the local Catholic clergy.

What has stopped the bad feelings somewhat is that the missionaries make no attempt to convert other Christians, but mainly focus on those who are unchurched. One priest in an interview stated he didn't mind it, since after they went back to Christ he figured he could lead them back to the Roman Catholic Church.

In places like S. Korea, Lutherans, Catholics, and Proletarians work so much together that they tend to blend in. My old church had a pastor from Seoul come one Sunday, and he often talked about working with the local Catholics, something which was pretty verboten in Nebraska.

[Protagoras]

I know, I was just commenting to the person who put the article up.

The person who did write that is a worse mathematician than me.

[Onelifetogive]

— Thomas F. Madden is professor and chair of the department of history at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. He is the author most recently of Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice and editor of the forthcoming Crusades: Dude, where's my Chariot?

Wow...A Catholic Professor "discovering" that the Inquisition wasn't so bad after all???? Who'd have ever guessed???

[Pyro7480]

He would have no credibility as a professor and departmental chair if he did a whitewash. Give me a break.

[Onelifetogive]

What with all that anti-birth control stuff, I have wondered why the world hasn't been taken over by Catholics yet. :-)

Cause "church teaching" and "actual practice" are entirely different things.....

[aspiring.hillbilly]

Thank God your not running the legal system, we would be awash in rampaging criminals running the streets, who are incidentally "childs of God" lol

The fallacy you operate under is putting human life before eternal life. A belief in an immortal soul does not make putting to death a scumbag such a bad outcome for the innocents behind.. i.e. the advocation against the death penalty is in dire conflict with the belief that the soul is immortal.

[murphE]

Uh, he refers to and quotes protestant authors.

[Dominick]

The fallacy you operate under is putting human life before eternal life.

Excuse me? I am afraid you are simply talking in circles, here to troll and here to play games. Eternal life is Human life, and two wrongs never can make a right.

I think this is pretty pointless and off topic now. You understand the position perfectly, but, discussing the actual position would ruin the fun of your trolling this thread.

[aspiring.hillbilly]

The difference you describe is hair splitting and equivocating, they are trying to have it both ways so as to offend nobody. This is not the spiritual way to present bedrock beliefs. Contrast this to how the Bible sanctions the death penalty in many passages and without apology or ambiguity; i.e. ..stoned to death. A wavering belief in the hereafter and judgment day is foundation of the anti-death penalty zealots, because they see death as a finality.

Notice the difference?