The
attitude people have toward the Church can and does vary tremendously.
Those who are not Catholics often enough judge the Church from the
impressions that they have formed of individual Catholics. This will be
especially true if the individuals in question are priests or religious.
Such reactions are perfectly normal. While the theologian may rightly urge
us to distinguish between the Church as such and its members, to the
average person who is not a Catholic the Church is, first of all, the
Catholics they have come to know, be they clerical or lay. If one sees
that Catholicism is an influence for good in their lives; they will,
normally, respect and even revere the Church. If not, they will probably
have little use for it. They may even be positively hostile to it.
In the case of an educated person,
particularly if they know something of history, additional factors may
come to shape their attitude toward the Church. Reading and study have
shown them that the Church has mightily influenced the course and shape of
Western civilization as we know it. They may realize, too, that the Church
has inspired and encouraged human culture in all its forms throughout the
centuries. If the record of such beneficent activity impresses them
favorably, they may well have sentiments of deep respect and admiration
for the Church. But they doubtless also know the other side of the
picture.
The human element in the Church is no
secret to us, and we are aware of the burning shame that this element has
not infrequently brought upon the Church. Again, many may be particularly
sensitive to the Church�s authoritarian claims and attitude
and to the very real abuses of authority that have at times characterized
the Church in action.
For some, the Catholic Church is a
threat to a free and decent way of life. If
one concentrates exclusively on this admittedly dark side of the picture,
they may well concur with the judgment of some that the Catholic Church,
for all its record of cultural and charitable endeavor, is nonetheless a
threat to a free and decent way of life every bit as much as is Marxist
Communism.
Catholics, too, may have differing attitudes toward the Church. For some
the Church is an institution receiving their allegiance largely because of
family traditions and pressures. They could not possibly imagine being
anything else--so they remain Catholics.
Others see the Church in a more spiritual light but as something distinct
from themselves personally. Church and clergy for them are
practically synonymous terms. They thus consider the Church as a
means they must use--a source to which they must go--in order to obtain
eternal life. As they view it, they belong to the
Church, but they hardly are the Church.
The attitudes we have listed are
certainly not exhaustive, but they do represent the feelings of a good
number of men and women within and without the Church. Nor does any one of
them totally lack an objective foundation.
The Church has contributed positively
and beneficently to Western civilization. It does, on the other hand, make
what appears to some as extravagant claims. And there have been all too
real instances of tyrannical behavior on the part of those who should have
commended their authority in love and humility. Again, the Church is a
very real binding force in a family or social group. And it is, finally, a
means all should use in order to obtain salvation.
All these things are true. Yet they paint a lamentably incomplete picture
of the Church. For the Church is essentially and before all else a mystery
of love and holiness, a mystery in which God himself invites us to enter,
as a family, into unheard-of and undreamed-of intimacy with Him. In
particular, the Church here on earth, even when seen in all its fullness,
is not the whole picture. It is a part of something, part of a total
divine plan for man�s salvation. Failure to realize this all-important
truth is readily understandable on the part of those who are not
Catholics. It is tragic, however, when such misunderstanding is shared by
Catholics as well.
Condensed from God�s
Own People by Frank B. Norris, S.S., � 1962 . Garamond press,
Baltimore, Maryland
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