EDITORIAL Dominus Iesus hits the heartland
Editors note: We are taking the unusual step of printing
a readers opinion piece in the space normally reserved for NCR
editorials. This is our way of saying we believe that Paige Byrne
Shortals experience speaks more eloquently than anything we could write
about the effect of a Vatican document on those who minister daily in the real
world of Catholic parishes in the United States.
On Monday evening I read my Sept. 15 issue of NCR, cringing
as I read the cover story about the recent Vatican document Dominus
Iesus.
On Tuesday morning our pastor received a letter from a man, raised
Baptist, whose wife and daughter are members of the parish. I wonder if
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger realizes that when the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith publishes something from Rome one week, by the following week a
pastor of a relatively insignificant parish in rural Missouri receives a letter
like this:
Recently I considered the opportunity of joining the RCIA
program to build a greater understanding of Catholicism. However, I am deeply
hurt by what your church considers deficiencies in my faith and beliefs. It is
unfortunate that, in your eyes, my nonbelief in the primacy of a man, elected
by men, to lead your church places me in such a gravely deficient
situation that I fail to receive the fullness of the means of
salvation. I believe that Jesus death and resurrection offers me
salvation, not the pope or your church. I welcome a response to this letter
and the opportunity to discuss it in more detail. I do not mean to sound
disrespectful, but the words delivered in this article are offensive to me and
conflict with my deepest personal convictions. As such, I will no longer attend
Mass with my family and hope that someday every Christian can unite around our
faith in Jesus Christ and what he has offered us in salvation.
Our pastor brought the letter to our Tuesday morning staff meeting
and asked for advice. We all agreed he should call the letter-writer and ask to
meet and pray with him.
On Wednesday, I met with a group of young mothers who have asked
me to lead them in a monthly scripture study. These bright, committed,
stay-at-home moms are hungry for more knowledge of their faith. One of them
said she feels embarrassed that her Christian friends of other denominations
seem to know so much more about the Bible, and when they ask her questions she
cant answer.
In the course of our discussion, one of the women asked, I
know its off the subject, but can you talk a little about this document
that came from Rome? She said that her husband is not Catholic and a bit
hostile about the church and often points out inconsistencies to her. As they
listened to the report on the evening news, she didnt know how to respond
to his I told you so stare.
I assured her that many Catholics would be as disturbed as other
Christians, and that we should pray together. All the while, I kept thinking
about the passage in Corinthians where St. Paul cautions: Through your
knowledge, the weak person is brought to destruction, the brother or sister for
whom Christ died. When you sin in this way against your brothers and sisters
and wound their consciences you are sinning against Christ (1 Corinthians
8:11-12). The issue in Corinth was food offered to idols, but the lesson seems
applicable today.
On Thursday I got a call from a parishioner, a woman who was in
tears. She is married outside the church, and Ive been
working with her husband to prepare a case for the annulment of his former
marriage, which ended over 20 years ago. Her husband is a faithful member of
another Christian denomination and is already suspicious of the process, but
willing to go through it for her because she longs for the sacraments.
Its a clear-enough case, but laborious for a not-so-self-reflective man
who finds it difficult to write.
This woman was upset because her husband saw the story of the
Vatican document on the Internet and was furious. He doesnt want to
continue working on the annulment. Shes wondering if she should just go
to his church, but thats not comfortable either. We talked for a while
and made an appointment for next week. Shes going to try to get her
husband to come with her.
On Friday I participated in an interdenominational gathering of
women, an annual event in our town and this year hosted for the first time by a
Catholic church. I direct the Combined Christian Choirs, formed three years ago
and composed of singers from most of the Christian communities in our small
town. Weve grown to over 100 singers and offer two concerts a year to
standing-room-only crowds, as well as appearing at a number of civic
events.
After our first concert I had talked with a man from our parish --
middle 60s, hardworking, regulation crew cut -- not your typical softie. His
eyes filled with tears as he told me how moved he was to watch his Lutheran
wife and his Catholic daughter singing side-by-side in the alto section. Never
before had they sung together in a church choir.
This time, however, I was afraid that folks might not show up to
sing, that their pastors might forbid their participation. But they did come
and they sang their hearts out. One piece we sing is Robert Rays rousing
gospel version of the Apostles Creed. Before I introduced it, I asked all
the church representatives if there was any conflict for them. They all
responded, Its the Apostles Creed -- of course not! And
when they sing We Believe! over and over again with full-throated
conviction, unity seems not only possible but inevitable.
On Saturday, a friend sent me a column by Martin Marty of the
University of Chicago Divinity School. His observations resonated with my
experience Friday night. He wrote: Do your own poll taking and you will
find that however exclusivist and absolutist Catholics or members of other
communions are, most clergy and lay people think something bigger is also going
on in, through, around, and beyond each. No statement from the headquarters of
any group will tidy up such contradictions, which are so close to the center of
American public religion. And private, too. They will work together, as
before.
Yes!
Sunday arrives, and its the beginning of a new week. Our
church was filled four times this morning. And at all the Masses we prayed:
For Christian communities gathered all over the world on this day; for
the healing of the wound of division among the churches and for respectful
dialogue among those who disagree; for those charged with the responsibility of
leadership; and for those who long for the day when all may meet at the table
of the Lord
we pray. Lord, hear our prayer!
Paige Byrne Shortal is a pastoral associate in a parish in
rural Missouri. Her e-mail address is pbs@fidnet.com
National Catholic Reporter, September 29,
2000
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