Many Catholics have struggled to find a voice that has been nearly washed out of us by our training. We remember a time when it was unthinkable to criticize a priest; those who did were quickly rebuked, with little opportunity for explanation. Bishops and especially the Pope were not to be questioned let alone criticized. We have now seen the sometimes-horrifying toll of unhealthy deference, of setting a class of men apart from critique or accountability.
Respect surely has its place; we should not correct with unneeded harshness, personal attacks, or demeaning words. However, we must regain a healthy sense of the need to hold our clergy accountable and to insist on what is right. Canon law states the right, duty, and modality of this among God’s Faithful.
According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons (Canon 212.3).
God’s faithful are struggling to find their voice, long suppressed. We must find this voice, even regarding the Pope. He has said some alarming things, hurtful things, and has shown little concern for serious charges against Church officials at the highest levels. Even in this case we must find our voice. We must respectful but firm and clear that we expect a full investigation of the charges so that this does not happen again.
All of this feels awkward. It touches some of our oldest training against criticizing popes, bishops, and clergy.
In times like these, we need a Catherine Benincasa.
We know her as St. Catherine of Siena. Though renowned for her love, generosity, and humility, as well as her power to heal, console, and cast out demons, she was no shrinking violet. If she saw something in your soul that was unholy, you were going to hear about it, no matter who you were.
St. Catherine would meet with anyone, from the poorest beggars to kings, governors, bishops, and popes. None of them were denied her love and encouragement. Neither were they spared the hard truths that God gave her to say. Only God was to be pleased, not man. Spiritual truths were to be extolled over every temporal matter (e.g., safety, comfort, pleasing worldly powers).
She loved the Church but remained gravely concerned with the condition of the beloved Bride of Christ. Particularly egregious to her was the condition of so many clergy, right on up the ranks. Even the popes of her time, whom she acknowledged as the sweet Vicars of Christ and her beloved father could not escape her expressions of grave disappointment and her calls to conversion.
Of special significance for us today is her exchange of letters with Pope Gregory XI. Though he led an exemplary life in many respects, he was a weak, shy, even cowardly man. He was deeply compromised by his temporal ties to power, wealth, and protection, without which he feared that he and the papacy could not survive. Nepotism was also a terrible problem; his own family members kept him wound around their fingers.
Most of the early popes died as martyrs, but by the time of the Avignon Papacy, popes had become very tied to the world and had “too much to lose.” They had fled to Avignon and had been in residence there for decades, living behind fortified walls, protected by armies, and compromised by alliances with secular rulers. It had to stop.
Gregory XI was the last of the Avignon popes. He only returned to Rome at the prodding of this young woman, not yet thirty, who told him, in effect, to go back to Rome or risk Hell. In 1377, after much delay and fretting, Pope Gregory left for Rome.
Below are some excerpts from a letter she wrote to Gregory XI, just prior to 1377. I think her words speak loudly to the clergy of today. The specific issues that beset clergy today are somewhat different but not that different. The Church no longer commands extensive temporal power or rule, but too many clergy are still unwilling to maintain holy discipline or enforce canonical penalties on malefactors.
I have already said too much; I will let Saint Catherine speak for herself. (If you think my blogs are long, try reading St. Catherine’s letters!) I present here only excerpts of a much longer letter to Pope Gregory; she wrote several others as well. The translation I am using here is from Letters of Catherine Benincasa.
In the name of Jesus Christ crucified and of gentle Mary, mother of God’s Son.
Very loved and reverend father in Christ Jesus,
I Caterina, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ and your poor wretched unworthy daughter, am writing to you in his precious blood. I long to see you the sort of true gentle shepherd who takes an example from the shepherd Christ, whose place you hold. He laid down his life for his little sheep in spite of our ingratitude …
You know that the devil is not cast out by the devil, but by virtue. [Mt. 12, 26-27] … You hold the keys, and to whomever you open it is opened, and to whomever you close it is closed. This is what the good gentle Jesus said to Peter …
So take a lesson from the true Father and Shepherd. For you see that now is the time to give your life for the little sheep who have left the flock. You must seek and win them back by using patience and war—by war I mean by raising the standard of the sweet blazing cross and setting out against the unbelievers. So, you must sleep no longer, but wake up and raise that standard courageously. I am confident that by God’s measureless goodness you will win back the unbelievers and [at the same time] correct the wrongdoing of Christians, because everyone will come running to the fragrance of the cross …
By the fragrance of their virtue they would help eliminate the vice and sin, the pride and filth that are rampant among the Christian people—especially among the prelates, pastors, and administrators of holy Church who have turned to eating and devouring souls, not converting them but devouring them! And it all comes from their selfish love for themselves, from which pride is born, and greed and avarice and spiritual and bodily impurity. They see the infernal wolves carrying off their flock and it seems they don’t care. Their care has been absorbed in piling up worldly pleasures and enjoyment, approval and praise. And all this comes from their selfish love for themselves. For if they loved themselves for God instead of selfishly, they would be concerned only about God’s honor and not their own, for their neighbors’ good and not their own self-indulgence.
Ah, my dear Babbo (Father), see that you attend to these things! Look for good virtuous men and put them in charge of the little sheep. …
Up, father! Put into effect the resolution you have made concerning your return and this crusade. You can see that the unbelievers are challenging you to this by coming as close as they can to take what is yours. Up, to give your life for Christ! Isn’t our body the only thing we have? Why not give your life a thousand times, if necessary, for God’s honor and the salvation of his creatures? That is what he did, and you, his vicar, ought to be carrying on his work. It is to be expected that as long as you are his vicar you will follow your Lord’s ways and example.
So come, come! Delay no longer … Take courage, take courage, father! Stay away from the bitterness that cripples but take hold of the bitterness that strengthens—bitterness at seeing God’s name insulted, and strength in the trust that God will provide for your needs. I’ll say no more, for if I followed my inclination I wouldn’t stop as long as I had life in my body!
Forgive my presumption. Let my love and grief for God’s honor and the advancement of holy Church be my excuse in the presence of your kindness.
This is all I can do now. Have pity on the sweet loving desires being offered for you and holy Church in continual tears and prayers. Please don’t treat them with indifference, but act on them vigorously, for it seems that spring is ready to burst into bloom, and soon the fruit will come, because the flowers are beginning to blossom. … As for whatever I can do, I would gladly give my life if necessary for God’s honor and the salvation of souls. Gentle Jesus! Jesus!
(St. Catherine of Siena, Letter 74 to Gregory XI at Avignon)
Such words still ring true today! We must speak in love and with respect, but we must also speak insistently and with clarity. The very credibility and fruitfulness of the Church is at stake. We have a duty and a right to speak to him in this way—so do our bishops. In Catherine’s words, “This is all I can do now.” The Pope bishops and other clergy must decide whether to hear our heartfelt cry or ignore it, but we cannot stop. All we can do now is to cry out insistently for justice and for a purification of the Church.
Thank you, Mother Catherine. May you, who converted the heart of Pope Gregory XI and summoned him to courageous manhood, now imbue us, the clergy and people of today, with that same fortitude and determination to call for what really heals, even if the honesty hurts.
Monsignor, I appreciate your ministry and have loved reading so many of your past posts. Ive often felt like you’ve taken the words right out of my own mouth. Thank you so much for that.
I have to take (overall) issue with this one. There ARE times and places where you’re absolutely right. We need to have a much better grasp of the fact that faithful obedience does not equal being a doormat. There absolutely are times and proper places for us to speak the truth to power. Canon law blesses this.
That established…
Some years ago, there was an exorcism in which the demon boasted, “See how many problems I create for [Francis]?”
I do personally, absolutely. The media coverage of his remarks over his tenure has been particularly dismal. We should always expect that from secular media But the devil has weaved his way into Catholic media on this as well.
If I tried to hash it all out here, Catherine’s letters wouldnt have anything on MY work. 🙂 As you know, there’s a LOT of material to cover at this point. I would just direct people to Michael Lofton’s YouTube channel. He is a faithful Byzantine Catholic who has been formally trained in the faith and does an excellent job of parsing reality when it comes to the things Pope Francis has ACTUALLY said (and done).
And he doesn’t “opine”, he quotes directly. He shows the actual videos of Francis talking, he shows clips from articles that directly quote Francis and demonstrate the context in which he is saying the things he says, etc., etc.
Neither I nor Lofton make the claim that Francis can do no wrong. We both believe he has. (Specifically – Traditiones Custodes was a mess)…but WAY less than many traditional Catholics think.
Beyond the topic of misrepresentation of his positions and outright slander and lies, its necessary to grasp something about Francis – he has a much more mature mindset than most of the rest of us. Because of this, he is less bothered by “messiness” in the Church.
He is very aware that ALL of us are sinners and works in progress but, much like a good father who is not eager to send ANY of his kids out of the house, in the hopes that all can be made well by the end of the day, Francis is lesser eager to play “whack-a-mole” with the keys to the kingdom.
This does not play very well with less developed minds; those who are intellectually/spiritually younger and who, therefore, need much clearer boundaries for the time being. But the problem is that the Church is filled with people at all stages of development. And “teenaged” Catholics still need guidance too on how to become full adults. Both through verbal teaching and example.
How one viably balances the two “disparate” obligations at the same time, Im really not sure. Which is to say, “Holy cow! Can we not cut this man just LITTLE bit of slack for the impossible task he has to perform!?”
One further thought and then a wrap up before this becomes a paperback novel: There is a traditional belief among a number of Saints that if the Church’s leaders are bad, it’s vice versa – it’s because the laity are not living the lives that they should be and are being punished by God with bad leadership. Many of us would do well to meditate on that for a while.
In summation, I love your passion and zeal for the truth. But James 1:20 warns us that human anger does not bring about the righteousness of God. It’s not anger itself that’s the problem. Eph 4:26 says, “BE ANGRY. But do not sin.” It’s that so very very often that anger is either tainted with bitterness/hate or its excessive, or (as in this case) its simply misplaced.
All should heed carefully the words of the demon during the exorcism and not compound the problem. Instead of occupying our time throwing stones and straw men and things we dont necessarily actually understand, let’s turn inward and make sure we’re not mistakenly being eager to the splinter out of another’s eye while a log remains in our own.
The Lord bless and keep you.
Much more important to judge a man by what he does than what he says!
Apparently the pope had made a secret vow to move back to Rome, and this vow was revealed to Catherine. When she met the pope at Avignon, she didn’t hesitate to use that inspired bit of information to pressure him. “Keep the promise you have made,” she urged, to his great surprise. Not long after this encounter, Gregory XI returned the papacy to Rome.
Msgr. Pope — Your post packs all the more punch in light of Francis’s new motu proprio, Ad Theologiam Promovendam (issued today), in which he essentially seeks to remake the Church into his own image and likeness.
Unable to hear the narrator speak on St. Catherine because the background music was too loud.