The Church today is very much alive and since it is alive, it is moving and since it is such a diverse entity, it is moving in several directions at once. As Catholics across the world continue to increase, the largest factor causing that increase is simply births in Africa, South America and Asia. The birthrates in Europe and North America continue to decline.
The number of Catholics is increasing but in those last two continents they are dropping principally caused by the enormous number of people that no longer are active in the living of their faith. The ordained and vowed personnel structure of the Church is also undergoing a contraction that is really ominous. The number of religious women, religious priests and religious brothers has dropped dramatically over the last few decades. For religious women, the figures are astounding – 180,000 in 1965 and about 55,000 today.
Some very thoughtful people are saying, however, that while the number of religious is contracting, it is also changing. I think to myself that in my own personal experience that this is true. When I was a kid there were lots of sisters and virtually 100% involved either with education or health care. Today, the religious women in the Catholic Church, while few in number, are everywhere and doing truly great work. Beyond those important ministries, they are no longer just fitting into large established organizational entities. They show great initiative and diversity. Some of our best theologians are religious women. They are committed to helping the poor, have entered law and are doing extraordinary work among people with special needs. For example, I know religious women who are friends of mine working in the field of ecumenical relations, Christian-Jewish relations, nutrition and the environment. Throw in prison ministry and you get a glimpse of what this extraordinary group of women are accomplishing in and through the Church. It is wonderful to see that some communities are organizing associates who will keep alive the spirit of their communities and enable that spirit to be expanded that in a way that was not true in the past, namely lay involvement.
May God bless them all.
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Every country on earth develops laws and statutes to govern the inner life of that country and the country’s relationships with other nations. We are all very used to this obvious fact but we should also stop and think about the reality that cultures, organizations and associations also develop policies to govern the internal life of its members. They may not use the word “law” but they have the effect of law inside the organized entity. This is true of business associations, labor unions, fraternal organizations and it is certainly true of the Catholic Church.
I mentioned recently that because of the scrambled situation we have today, in terms of marriage and divorce, the Catholic Church has over the last hundred years or so developed a rather detailed system of law governing marriage, divorce, annulments, etc. To effective promulgate these laws and see that they are committed fairly and justly, the universal law of the Church calls for every diocese to have a Tribunal. These Tribunals are set up to handle other complex issues within the Church but for the vast majority of them their agenda is primarily marriage cases.
The universal law of the Church teaches that when a Christian man and a Christian woman enter into marriage for the first time, intending to bind themselves until death and open to the possibility of children, then the Sacrament of Matrimony has been celebrated and that sacrament generates a bond that will last until death. However, what if one of those conditions for matrimony is missing? After the tragic break-up of a marriage, spouses frequently contend that one or another was missing. In order to respond to that, these Matrimonial Tribunals, with trained Church lawyers and judges, will hear a case, study it and give a verdict. This is not a pleasant work area. The Tribunals are dealing with a marriage that has failed, the charges and counter-charges have a great deal of pain and disappointment and I am sure that those serving on the court wish that the issue would go away. However, the fact is that people do have a right to attempt to prove that a failed marriage was not sacramental and therefore that they are not bound to it. This is all fairly straightforward if everyone involved is a Catholic. It can really get difficult when mixed religious backgrounds are involved. While the Church teaches that marriage is a sacrament and therefore the Church has jurisdiction over sacraments, the fact is that marriages are public events in civil society and the state has some jurisdiction as well!
This is far too complicated to deal with in a one day session so I am going to take up different cases where the Church, after thorough investigation, will declare a marriage to be null and void from the beginning. Remember, the Church teaches that a sacramental marriage binds until death so the general use of the term divorce does not exist. However, if an essential component of the Sacrament of Matrimony was missing from the beginning, then the Church will issue a declaration of nullity or an annulment.
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While campaigning for the presidency, Abraham Lincoln was challenged by some religious leaders for not being affiliated with any particular church. Abe admitted that he was not formally associated with a church. When asked why, he replied that he was somewhat confused by the many conflicting demands of the various denominations. He then went on to say that he would be proud to belong to any church that taught and practiced the quote from the tenth chapter of St. Luke: “Jesus asks what is written in the law? How do you read it?” The questioner replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.” He could have answered correctly, “Do this and you shall live.”
I have read several biographies of Abraham Lincoln and in my opinion he lived by that and could well be considered a saint.
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In the last six weeks, millions of words have been written about a new state law that is being installed in the State of Arizona. The law is controversial and will have diverse effects. One of those effects might be that it motivates the United States Congress to enact a comprehensive immigration policy. However, for my purposes today I want to look past the Arizona law itself, past the very real problem in Arizona, the other Border States and, for that matter, the entire nation – that is the desire of so many citizens of Mexico to re-establish themselves in the United States. We have, of course, the anomaly of the world’s wealthiest nation sitting beside a developing but still poor nation with a 1,700-mile border. It is a big problem but the ultimate solution is in Mexico, not on the Arizona border or Chicago for that matter. American citizens ought to take seriously the issue of Mexico. It will be our neighbor 100 years from now and 200 years from now. Can we make those decades less painful? Less conflicted? More economically productive? More just? Safer?
The last 40 years have seen a great deal of progress in Mexico in terms of economic and social welfare but the present internal war, produced by drug lords, is threatening to undo that progress. We must not let that happen. We Americans need a healthy, safe, productive, friendly Mexico and need to support those who are trying to bring this about.
Viva Mexico!
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The Church today is very much alive and since it is alive, it is moving and since it is such a diverse entity, it is moving in several directions at once. As Catholics across the world continue to increase, the largest factor causing that increase is simply births in Africa, South America and Asia. The birthrates in Europe and North America continue to decline.
Themocracy