Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Anchoress

Home
Catholic
The Church is not a Democracy – UPDATED

The Church is not a Democracy – UPDATED

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 5:39 pm by Elizabeth Scalia

The Church is not a Democracy – UPDATED 2015-03-13T17:39:36+00:00 Elizabeth Scalia

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

As Holy Week approaches we can always count on provocative headlines, like Time Magazine’s Is Hell Dead? which looks at the latest book by Evangelical preacher Rob Bell. In October, it wouldn’t warrant a cover, I’m sure.

This entire Lent, however, the Catholic church in America has been roiling with Cult of Personality issues. The scandals of recent years have shaken the faithful; Rome seems distant to many and in our media-obsessed society a passionate orator proclaiming “the truth” as-you-want-to-hear-it can seem like the prophetic lone voice that will save the church from all her failings and foibles — or at least the ones that have you stewing in your pew, week after week.

Currently there are two very distinct stories playing out in our Catholic Theater of Hysteria. Both involve rabble-rousers playing to their respective crowds; both of them are eagerly tugging on the outflung arms of Christ — now to the left, now to the right — and rocking the upraised cross that saves. Pronouncing a wish to save the church from hierarchs or heretics, they both seem to be looking for excuses to split the Body of Christ by ripping their respective arm from the cross and toodling off with it, in schism.

In Chicago, Fr. Michael Pfleger (who you may remember as the Hillary-Clinton-imitating-priest who came to national prominence during the Obama presidential campaign) is making some noise about leaving the church because Cardinal Francis George wishes to transfer him to a new apostolate, away from the parish he has served for 30 years. What that apostolate is, is unclear at the moment; in an interview Pfleger said:

“I want to try to stay in the Catholic Church,” he said. “If they say, ‘You either take this principalship of [Leo High School] or pastorship there or leave,’ then I’ll have to look outside the Church.”

Well, what is it that Cardinal George wants Pfleger to take over, a “principalship” or a “pastorship”? Does he want Pfleger to become the school’s chaplain? I put a call in to the Cardinal’s office, for clarification. I am not sure why a priest with no background in education would be named a school principal, but then again, Pfleger’s made his reputation as a community-builder, and perhaps that’s what the school needs? Or perhaps the cardinal feels the humility of a chaplainship might feed his priest’s perspective? We don’t know. That’s all unclear.

What is not unclear, however, is Pfleger’s disdain for his own vow of obedience. It is unthinkable that any priest should be in the same parish for 30 years. Priests are moved around with some regularity precisely to prevent attachments from forming that can develop into ego-gratifying little fiefdoms or, personal possessions.

So, Fr. Pfleger, unhappy to consider that he made a vow, or that, in the Lord’s manifestly mysterious ways, it may simply be time for him to serve in another way (or reacquaint himself with the notion of obedience — which is, let’s face it, a discipline in humility) essentially says that if he does not get his own way, he will leave the church. Implicit in the threat, of course, is that he’ll take his followers with him.

Tugging on the right arm of the cross is a layman, Michael Voris, the founder of “REAL” Catholic TV, the one-man-arbiter of what is “real” Catholicism, and what is not. Increasingly, Voris seems to think the Pope is okay, but beyond that, he’s not too sure. He’s all hopped up, today about some stupid Earth Day memo that’s been sent to all Catholic parishes by the likes of Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio and which suggests that parishes use Good Friday, Easter Sunday or Divine Mercy Sunday to talk about cleaning parks and using crappy lightbulbs.

Most parishes will probably throw the thing into the circular filing cabinet without a second look, but Voris — quick to assume the worst (which seems un-Christlike to me) — uses the memo to fling a bunch of red meat to his followers, and encourage them in anticipating the worst, as well. With barely contained hysteria he tells his viewers that if any priest so much as “breathes a word” about the environment, the faithful should by-pass the collection plate and later resign from the parish.

Got that? Not “talk to the priest of your concerns,” not “meet with the pastor,” just hold on to your dimes and resign.

If you watch the video which, like the Pfleger video I find too grotesque to post here, you’ll see why some are wondering whether Voris is actually saying to leave the Catholic church, itself. I don’t think he meant to say that, but if he didn’t mean to, he should have redone his little spiel, because that is how it comes off.

Voris strikes me as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He says just enough that’s “right” to completely hook people who are already concerned, particularly if they’re politically angry, and then adds a layer of negativity and some seeds of cynicism — which is the easiest thing in the world to grow. Then, he recommends methods that smack more of Wisconsin Public Union tactics than Christian responses. “Resign from your parish” is like saying “have a teachers sick-out.”

Newsflash, Mr. Voris and Fr. Pfleger: the church is not a democracy and cannot respond to those tactics — which foment greater measures of doubt and confusion — without ultimately bringing destruction to the whole. But you both already know that; Voris dislikes democracy and is the one advocating for a “noble” Catholic monarchy to rule governments in a “benevolent dictatorship,” and Pfleger developed his little barony thanks to an overlong tenure encouraging entrenched and absolute power.

Both of these men are extremists, tugging at the Body of Christ. But if we look at the Crucifix, we see Jesus is neither right nor left. Jesus is Balance.

Mark Shea has a few things to say about putting too much trust in Catholic gasbaggery, and I concur:

Don’t put a mitre on the head of any loudmouth in the blogosphere or Catholic media, especially me. A gaggle of apologists and bigmouths like me is not the Magisterium!

Mark is a little more rough-n-tumble than I am, but I do agree. Though I get some pretty juicy hate mail from time-to-time, the really terrifying stuff is the “you might be a saint” email. Um, no, just ask the kids about the time I threw the chair. I know who I am, and all my darkest ways. “It is better to put your trust in the Lord…”

And if you’re a Catholic and you believe in the One, Holy, Apostolic church — the Eucharistic church and that whole bit about Jesus and Peter and the Keys to the Kingdom, and the gates of hell not prevailing, then just look at history — understand with clarity that the church has never been perfect, not from day one, when its Keymaster lied three times and all its priests but one ran away. Remember that in 2000 years, unrest and reform, scandal and more unrest have been the norm, and that those cozy nostalgic glory days of the mid-20th century were quite the aberration.

And then have a little charity for your imperfectly-administered church; she is hobbled by that humanity in which we all have a share — broken, faulty and sinful — but she is divinely ordained, and chugs along by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

And we know that with certainty, thanks to how imperfectly-run she is. Without the Holy Spirit, we’d never have lasted this long.

UPDATE: Another salient quote from Shea A “Shea-lient” point?

Previous Post

April 14, 2011

Nightmarish effect of ESC/Fetal research on patients UPDATED

Next Post

April 15, 2011 How Pilgrim Monks are to be Received

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Remaking" Ourselves 'Remaking' America 9/10 Mindset 9/11 trials Abortion ACORN Adoration Advent Advent 2008 Advent 2009 Advent 2010 Alternative Energy Alternative Media America American Catholic Church American Church American Genius Ameridolatry ANCHORESS BOOKSHELF Anglican-Roman Reconciliation Answers & Questions Anti_Semitism Archbishop Hilarion Ayn Rand Bad Mass Barack Obama Baseball Benedict Benedict & Islam Benedict in UK Benedict XVI Benedictine Bill Whittle Birth Control Blogs and Blogging Blogs and Blogging Bloodless Coup Bobby Jindal Bookchat Breitbart Bride at every wedding... Bride at every wedding... Buckley Bullies Bush Bad? Bush Good Buster Capitalism Catholic Fiction Catholic Vocations Catholicism Celibacy Chaput Charitable Stuff Chesterton Chile Chris Christie Christians in Exile Christine O' Donnell Christmas Christmas Gift Ideas Church Hates Science? Church hates women Communion of Saints Compline Conclave 2013 Confession Constitutional Stuff Conversion Crisis & Opportunity Critical Thinking Crooks and Liars Crucible of Faith Cuba Culture of Life Culture of Life/Death Culture of Treason? Dancing Death Dialogue re Islam Dick Meyer Divorce and Remarriage DOJ Domestic Terrorism Dominican Order Don't try me too high Dowd Dumb Democrat moves Dumb GOP moves Economic woe Education Egregious Harry Reid Elder Son Elder Son's Sweet Girlfriend Elderly Election '10 Election '12 Election '16 Election 2004 Election 2006 Election 2008 Election 2010 Election 2016 Elena Kagan Elitism Embryonic Stem Cell Research End Times? English language Enhanced Interrogation Erosion of Rights Eucharist Euthanasia Exorcism Extraordinary Synod Facebook Faith Faith and Reason Faith Friday Faith Perspective Faithful Friday Fascism Again Fascism in America Fatima FCC Feminism Film First Things Forgiveness Fr. James Martin Francis and Islam Francis in America Frassati Fred Thompson Free Speech? Freedom of Worship FutureChurch Global Pandemic GOP Congress Haiti Head Covering Health Care Here and Queer Hermits Heroes Hitchens Holy Spirit Holy Week '09 Holy Week '10 Hoo-Hah & BS Hoo-Hah & BS Icons Illegal Immigration In The Arena Interviews Interwebz Iran Uprising Iraqi Christians ISIL ISIS Islamic State Islamification/Islamofascism Islamification/Islamofascism Isra-El It's all about me! Me! ME! James Burke Jerry Lewis Jesus Christ Joblessness John Boehner John McCain John Paul II John XXIII Juan Williams Just Words Katrina/Rita King is a Fink Latin Mass Leadership Lectio Divina Lent Lent '08 Lent '09 Lent 2010 Lent 2011 Limbaugh Listen to Lizzie Litigious Society Liturgy Liturgy of the Hours Mainstream Media Manliness Marriage Mary Media Excess Medical Merton Michelle Obama Mighty John O' Connor Misc. Miss Ella Missionaries Mitt Romney Monasticism My brother S My Irish Aunties Mystic Monks Nanny Statism Nature NEA Neri New Media Newman Noonan Notre Dame NPR Stuff Nun News Obama Bad? Obama Good? Obama White House Oil Spill Online Retreat '08 Online Retreat Days Oratory Orthodoxy Our Hillary! Parenting Passionists Patheos Patheos Book Club Patrons Paul Ryan Penance Penn Jillette Philosophy PJTV Podcasts Poetry Politics-free zone Pop Culture Pope Emeritus Pope Francis Prayer Predictions Priesthood Pro-Life Public Sector Unions Purgatory Questions about Catholicism Quotes of the Day Quoting the News Race in America rants Recipes Remarried Catholics Reposts by request Retreat thoughts Rome Rudy Giuliani Russia Saints Sarah Palin Scandal Scott Brown SCOTUS Scriptural stuff Secularism Send in the clowns Serving up hot links Sexuality Sherrod Shroud of Turin Sisters and Nuns Social Entrepreneurship Social Media Social Security Socialism doesn't work Sports and Faith Stem Cells Strange Gods Suffering Synod Tea Parties Tea Party Terri Schiavo The 9/11 Commission The Catholic Answer The Constitution The Desert The Fourth Estate The Pelosi The Perpetual Adolescents The Rosary Third Party? Timothy Dolan Touch of evil TSA Tsunami TV/Pop Culture/Music TV/Pop Culture/Music Twitter Uncategorized Unemployment Unintended Consequences US Military Vaginal Musings Vatican Vespers video faves Vile Joe Biden Voter Fraud War by Litigation War on Terror War, What it good for? Why can't weeee be ... World Youth Days Year of Faith Year of the Priest

Select a Month August 2016 July 2016 April 2016 March 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which New Testament book has the "Hall of Faith" listing heroes like Abraham and Moses?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Hebrews James 1 Peter Galatians