Forum: The Catholic and the American Traditions

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American Catholics possess two principal traditions; the Catholic and the American. The Catholic tradition affords the individual the opportunity to develop a profound appreciation of the meaning of God and God’s action in human history based on the understanding and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Christ. It also affords him or her the opportunity to develop a profound appreciation of the direction of his life and her own worth based on those same teachings. And, the Catholic tradition affords its adherents the opportunity to deal with death, mankind’s oldest and most intractable enemy, in a positive way.

Now, the individual adherent of the Catholic tradition clearly focuses on the person and teachings of Jesus Christ. And, thanks to Vatican Council II the Church has up-dated its principal resources; the Creeds, the Scriptures, the Sacraments and its social organization, to make access to Jesus Christ easier than ever. Consequently, the individual adherent of the Catholic tradition has a clearer sense of who he is and what he should be about.

In summary, then, the average Catholic now has access to Jesus Christ as the center of his religion, and better access to the person and teachings of Jesus Christ through the updating by Vatican Council II of the principal resources of his Church. With the use of these resources the individual person is better able to adopt the positive mentality of Jesus and adjust his Way of Life to that of Jesus by embracing and building his life on such virtues as humility, gratitude, trust, forgiveness, detachment, and compassion.

The main drawback in this scenario is the fact that most bishops and priests in the Church fai to appreciate these changes, which amount to a largely new Church, and regard the Church as it used to be and not the Church as it is today. They, thus, are failing to appreciate the opportunities that are available to the Catholic Church today and are actually setting the Church backwards.

This failure is not entirely their fault. If the Church has really changed to the extent that this writer believes it has then the claims advanced by the papacy for itself no longer hold true. That also undermines the claims of the episcopacy for its privileged status. In other words, with the creation of a world fit for human beings that understanding it is no wonder that the papacy and many of the bishops and priests would deny anything substantial took place during Vatican Council II.

But, we believe, Vatican Council II was a major event in the history of the Church and changed that institution considerably. As a matter of fact, Vatican Council II brought into being an entirely new Church, one much more attuned to the needs of today,

There is another problem that has yet to be faced and that concerns the ends or aims‘s of Jesus, What were they? And, how are they dealt with today.

It appears that his aims or goals were summed up; in the phrase “the Kingdom of God.” That is, they were the same as the Father’s, and that is the welfare of human beings. In other words, the creation of a world fit for human beings.

That presents a difficulty in the distinction of the proper roles of the Church and the State. Since economic matters are concerned here almost inevitably which agency should one follow? The Church, in the past, generally conceded this ground to the State, but was that the proper thing to do?

In the beginning of this article we stated that the American Catholic is the possessor of two traditions, the Catholic and the American He is proud of his faith and his country, His faith gives his life true meaning and his country provides him with real security, including boundless opportunities. He, most generally, associates economic opportunity with the State.

I believe this is an area that calls for direction from both the State and the Church. The problem here is due more to the Church than the State. In the past. the Church allowed the State complete access here for it wanted no part of it. The Church, for the most part, confined itself to governing individual behavior outside of the economic realm.

That changed somewhat in the period following the great depression and the appearance of Catholic Social Activists, who were never allowed much of a role in Church affairs. The official Church has remained confined to the realm of individual behavior.

Today, in the United States and perhaps in the rest of the world, we have a serious economic crisis. People expect the political arm of the United States to solve the problem, and, in this, they might be expecting the impossible. Moral values are involved here, and moral values are the business of the Church. This complicates the matter immeasurably, but we live in a complicated world. The simplistic separation of areas between the State and the Church may be over.

What do you think?

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