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."

[P-Marlowe]

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.

So the Catholic Church has declared war on those who are seeking to bring people to Christ and abandoning the war against those who would seek to destroy Christianity altogether.

So much for ecumenicism.

The reason why evangelical churches are growing is because they are actually doing what the lord commanded. They are preaching the gospel of Christ. They are going into all the world with the gospel. Apparently this is anathema to the current RC leadership.

[Onelifetogive]

Perhaps, OLTG, we can both pray an Our Father, and ask the Lord to grant that any competition between Christians be waged in truth, charity, love and fidelity to Jesus Christ, and that it may only serve to build up the Kingdom of God.

Agreed....

And that he will give us both (all) the conviction and courage to drop any false beliefs we have come to hold...

[Mark in the Old South]

Re: "Notice the difference?"

Sure I do but the next logical question I would have is this:

Does this mean a person who does not believe in the death penalty is outside the Kingdom of God? (and they say Catholics are tough on Dogma) Because if a person can believe in death penalty and get in Heaven and the person who does not believe in the death penalty can get in Heaven, we are right back where I started and you have taken us around our elbow to get to our thumb.

[HKMk23]

"Such beautifully crafted strawmen! And you destroy them with such graceful aplomb!"

I hope you noted that I was adopting the outrageous extremism of the article's author before summarily blowing it to bits.

I also hope that you noticed my own affirmation of the Body of Christ in my ensuing recognition of a broad unity that spans Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical lines. To wit: we all affirm the Nicene Creed as seminal Truth, and strive ever to advance the work of the gospel in fulfillment of the Great Commission.

[aspiring.hillbilly]

Whereas the Bible is the inspired word of God; whereas the same God rules in both the Old and New Testament eras; whereas the Bible clearly prescribes the death penalty for crimes in numerous passages; whereas the will the Divine is not vague on this command by any stretch....Therefore any advocation of the elimination of the death penalty is a serious breech of faith and morals and places one squarely outside the ranks of Godly believers. If this punches your ticket to Hell,,,,, we shall leave that up to God Almighty.

This old boy is taking no such chances!!

[aspiring.hillbilly]

Compared to eternity, this life is a but fleeting moment, so prudence demands putting the priorities of eternal life above our mortal existences. Such not being lulled into the fallacy that a human intuition can supersede the Bible...

"Eternal life is human life..." (there are vast differences in the durations....) LOL

[Dominick]

Re: aspiring.hillbilly

Don't feed the troll.



(Apologies to netmilsmom)

[Mark in the Old South]

Re: "If this punches your ticket to Hell,,,,, we shall leave that up to God Almighty."

Well I am all for this but you imply an obligation on the Faithful. And they say Catholics are Dogma intensive. You don't leave any room for personal interpretation do you? So this puts you .....? Well I don't know, It isn't Baptist, and Catholic has already been eliminated, I doubt Eastern Orthodox?

By the way do you advocate a celibate lifestyle?
Do you believe in Transubstiation of the Bread and Wine into the real presence of Christ?
Does your Church have Bishops?
Is it the common practice in your Church to kneel during prayer?
Do you acknowledge the primacy of Saint Peter and his successors?

All supportable by Scripture but most rejected by millions all claiming to follow Scripture.

By the way, I think the death penalty is called for. I think the Pope JPII was wrong on this and the Catholic church permits this. Betcha didn't know that did ya?

[netmilsmom]

No apologies needed!
Welcome to the Association of Anti-Catholic troll hunters.
Good catch!!!!

[netmilsmom]

I love your Gatto quote on your homepage.
I know that you are not exactly a newbie but Welcome!
You are very wise.

[aspiring.hillbilly]

#1 No, because the apostles were married and Timothy writes about married (only once married) bishops. Fast forward to the present day, celibacy has been at the root of the child molestation scandal, whereas protestants don't have a widespread problem like this.

#2 This is a belief that it is impossible to verify. A rigorous reading states that when Christ said, "This is my Body" it referred then to the bread in His hands, not a wafer in a priests hands 2000 years in the future.

#3 A community that needs bishops will surely acquire them, no impediments to the contrary. A nondenominational community is the closest thing to the early church before all the corruption set in and is the most pure form of spiritualism in todays world...

4# Peter was the first in a lineage, and since there were times when there were two popes one in France and one in Italy each claiming to be the one, plus the bad popes, A Alexander VI,,,that turned the Vatican into a den of sin in the middle ages,,,the issue of primacy is best placed on the shoulders of the apostle that walked with Christ and then denied him before the crucification...

[aspiring.hillbilly]

What about this bit of history?

"Pope Joan," who supposedly served from 855 to 858, was said to be an Englishwoman who disguised herself as a monk to be with her cleric boyfriend. She went to Rome, where she so impressed others with her learning that she was elected pope. Her secret was discovered when she gave birth during a procession, whereupon she was slain.

{Papal horror stories are entirely legit. In many cases, in fact, weaknesses of the flesh were the least of the popes' sins. In the Middle Ages many popes were elevated to office following the murder of their predecessors. During one particularly grim period from 882 to 1046, there were 37 popes, some of whom served only a few weeks.

Leo V (903), for instance, had been pope for only a month before being imprisoned and tortured by one Christophorus, who then enthroned himself. Both men were killed in 904 on the orders of Pope Sergius III (904-911). Sergius later had a son by his teenaged mistress Marozia who became Pope John XI (931-935). In 914, according to one chronicler, Marozia's mother Theodora installed her lover on the papal throne as John X (914-928). (Theodora and Marozia effectively controlled the papacy through their menfolk and may be the source of the Pope Joan legend.) John XII (955-963), who ascended to the papacy at 19, was accused, perhaps falsely, of sleeping with his father's mistress, committing incest with his niece, and castrating a deacon.

Murder gave way to bribery as a route to the papacy in later centuries; some 40 popes are believed to have bought their jobs. But the lax attitude toward celibacy remained unchanged. In large part this was because the Church was an important route to wealth and power. Sons of influential families were pushed into Church careers much as we might send a kid to MBA school, apparently with similar expectations regarding morals. Noblemen with mistresses saw no reason to adjust their life-styles just because they had taken vows.

The spectacle of cardinals and popes putting their "nephews" into cushy jobs was a standing joke in Rome for centuries. Innocent VIII (1484-1492) had a son and daughter who lived with him in the Vatican. The notorious Alexander VI (1492-1503), born Rodrigo Borgia, had at least four illegitimate children while still a cardinal, among them the cutthroat Cesare Borgia and the reputed poisoner Lucrezia Borgia (actually, she probably never poisoned anybody). Clement VII (1523-1534), himself illegitimate, had a son whom he attempted to make duke of Florence. Paul III (1534-1539) had four kids; two teen grandsons he made cardinals. Pius IV (1559-1565) had three children, and the list goes on.

This is the legacy of the "one true Church?"

[Mark in the Old South]

=^]

Let us start with the first one shall we. :^D
Celibicy is recommended (not required)

Matthew 19:12

If you differ with my position (and you have already gone on record as having done so...) then please offer an alternative non-Catholic and Protestant explaination for that passage.

For those without a Bible handy
Matthew 19:12
For there are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take it.

[Aleighanne]

That chick seriously freaks me out...she looks so plastic and soooooo fake.

[HKMk23]

"I don't think evangelicals are evil or despicable."

I didn't assert that YOU did, but that such was the implication (thinly veiled) of the article's author.


[Protestants and Evangelicals] "cannot lead souls to salvation apart from the One True Church which Christ established, nor do they have the authority to do so apart from the authority which Christ established on earth, his Church."

That people are coming into bona fide relationship with the risen Christ through the preaching of the gospel by both groups is indisputable. Multiplied millions have entered the Kingdom of God by that one True and Living Way, Faith in Jesus Christ, because of Protestand and Evangelical ministers and laymen bearing witness to the saving power of the gospel.


"Evangelicals teach doctrine contrary to the Church,"

Yes, but so what? The real question is, "Are they contrary to the Bible?"
See, I can simply stand your point on it's head and argue thus:
Catholics teach doctrine contrary to Evnagelical and Protestant teaching.
This is also true but, again, so what? The real question remains, "Are they contrary to the Bible?"

The point is that just because I say different than you say does not make one of us right and the other wrong; that might be the case, but it might also be the case that we may each be partially corrrect or we may both be in error. In any event, the standard is the Bible, regardless of what any given denomination teaches.


"As long as they teach doctrine contrary to the doctrine taught by the authority on earth established by Christ, His Church, they are leading souls astray."

Excellent point, though you will doubtless vehemently protest the manner in which I agree with it: "His Church" does not equal "Catholic" exclusively. "His Church" is not limited to those united under the name "Catholic," "His Church" includes all who are united by faith under the Name "Jesus." The unity of his body is not dependent upon the cohesiveness of one group with a certain name and history, but upon belief in him.

The United States has one Army, but within that Army is great diversity: infantry, artillery, cavalry and more. All of these teach and practice differing tactics and strategies using different tools. But when sent to the theater of battle, they fight with common purpose against a common foe. We readily recognize that it is ludicrous to say that only the infantryman is REALLY in the Army. We see that, as a whole, the entire Army is ONE Army united in a common bond. Infantrymen and artillerynmen may have their arguments about who's better or more important but, out on the battlefield, they work together for victory.

If, however, all of this is too much for you; if you cannot bear that we should be in the same spiritual Army, serving the same risen LORD, then, I bid you, at least have the grace of St. Paul in speaking of some of his adversaries and rejoice that, in all, Christ is preached.

15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: 16 The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: 17 But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. 18 What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
Phiilippians 1:15-18

[Quester]

The Noble Bereans set the example for us ... of checking the message of those which would speak for God ... against the already established scriptures.

[Dominick]

Pope Joan is a hoax:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08407a.htm

Whats the point, except trolling? Shall I start telling tales of Oliver Cromwell and his genocide against the Irish?

Does this have any bearing on the topic?

[HKMk23]

Thank you, you are most gracious.

FWIW: I try to be wise without being too much the wiseguy.

That is more easily said than done on these threads where the debate coalesces into "Cathoilc" v. "non-Catholic" Christians.

I am for a more Godly ecumenism based in the reality that, in Heaven we will all be, at last, in agreement. The important aspects of that agreement being these:
-- we will all agree with God,
-- that agreement will not involve a concurrent act of our will,
-- the resulting agreement between each of us will be incidental.

Since, then, this is the eternal reality, it is ridiculous to persist with (or worse, insist upon) continued division in the here and now.

[murphE]

I hope that this article is just a poor attempt by the secular, leftist, anti-Christian MSM to exacerbate divisions amongst Christians.

I think it is. However, the prayer of Our Lord, " that we "all may be one", as the Father and Son are one, "that the world may believe" (Jn 17:20-21)" that you mentioned, has been fulfilled in His Church.