Catholicism: The Story of Catholic Christianity

447 Pages·2015·4.41 MB·English

CATHOLICISM

Catholicism
The Story of Catholic Christianity
SecondEdition
’
GERALD O COLLINS, S.J.
AND
MARIO FARRUGIA, S.J.
1
3
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Preface to the New Edition (2014)
AfterCatholicism:TheStoryofCatholicChristianityfirstappearedin
English (2003) and, subsequently, in Bulgarian, Italian, and Spanish
translations, various reviewers (listed below) have presented and
evaluated our work. For our new, revised edition we want to take
up dialogue with them and respond to their main suggestions and
criticisms. This new preface will then recall some major develop-
ments that have taken place in the world and the Church since we
completed the text of this book in 2002. We will end by indicating
changesintroducedintoourwork.
The reviewers came up with some encouraging judgements: ‘an
unusual and very useful book’ (Ker); ‘yields many nuggets of pure
gold’ (McBrien); ‘can be read with great profit...extremely well-
informed and very up-to-date in its research’ (MacCulloch); ‘each
chapter reads like a mini-masterpiece’ (Pereira); an ‘insightful vol-
ume’ (Vinten); ‘a book unusual in its sympathetic depth and critical
sensibility’(Zalar).
Inevitablysomereviewersmentionedtopicsthatourbookdidnot
introduce: limbo, Pope Pius X’s anti-modernist crusade, Pope John
Paul II’s rejection of moral ‘proportionalism’, ‘the Vatican’s resist-
ance’toa‘moreopenapproachtootherreligions’,and,inparticular,
the ‘censuring’ of Jacques Dupuis (McBrien); the condemnation of
Origen(inancientChristianity);thecontributioninmoderntimesof
liberationtheology(MacCulloch);andindulgences(Pereira).
LongbeforeMcBrienpublishedhisreviewon21February2004,one
ofus(O’Collins)hadpublishedarticlesindefenceofDupuis,appeared
forhimattheCongregationfortheDoctrineoftheFaith,andco-edited
a book honouring him on his eightieth birthday (3 December 2003).
WedidnotthinkitnecessarytobangonabouttheDupuiscaseinour
bookonCatholicism.Aproposofliberationtheology,wementionedit
approvingly(p.95)andoneofus(O’Collins)hasrepeatedlyevaluated
itwithappreciation:forinstance,inRetrievingFundamentalTheology:
The Three Styles of Contemporary Theology (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist
Press, 1993) and in Rethinking Fundamental Theology: Toward a
NewFundamentalTheology(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2011).
As regards indulgences, we mentioned them briefly in the context of
vi PrefacetotheNewEdition(2014)
Luther’sprotestandleftitatthat(p.84).Vintensurprisinglyclaimed
that‘thebooklacksrelevantstatistics’.Butrelevantstatisticsturnedup
constantly(e.g.pp.4,18,52,78,79,81,and92).Perhapsheexpected
even more statistics, and should have stated: ‘for me the book lacks
sufficientstatistics’.Aproposof‘limbo’,itappearedonp.189.
Vinten and MacCulloch rightly wanted some account of ‘recent
catastrophic revelations about clerical child abuse’ (MacCulloch).
Vinten called this ‘the most compelling contemporary example of
grace being defeated by sin’. ‘Cover-up and denial’ did ‘nothing to
assistthevictims.Therewasareluctancetoactinhighquarters,and
it seems that it was media persistence that won through rather than
internal channels within the Church.’ This new edition will discuss
childabuseinChapters2and11.
Recentlandmarksinworldhistory,whichhaveaffectedthelivesof
Christiansandothersalike,includeBarackObamabeingsworninas
forty-fourth president of the United States in January 2009 and
VladimirPutin,whohadbeenpresidentofRussia2000–2008,return-
ingaspresidentinMay2012.InEurope,theUnitedStates,andmany
other countries innumerable human beings of various faiths and of
noreligiousfaithfelttheimpactofthe2007–8globalfinancialcrisis.
They have experienced also the effects of recent economic growth
inChina(themostpopulouscountryintheworld)andinBrazil(the
largestCatholiccountryintheworld).
InAfricaandAsia,wars—oratleastinsurgency—havecontinued:
inAfghanistan(whichsince1979hassufferedfrommorethanthree
decadesofwarandbecometheworld’slargestsourceofrefugees),the
Central African Republic (which has been plunged into anarchy),
theDemocraticRepublicoftheCongo(wheretheSecondCongoWar
anditsaftermathhavecausedwellover5milliondeathssince1998),
and in Syria (where since 2011 armed conflict has resulted in over
190,000deathsandmillionsofrefugees).
The 2003 invasion (firmly opposed by Pope John Paul II) ravaged
Iraq,andthecountrystilldoesnotenjoyinternalpeace.Thesameholds
trueofLibyaafterthefallofColonelMuammarGaddafiin2011.After
twodecadesof civilwar,SouthSudan gained independencethe same
year, but like neighbouring Somalia does not yet have a stable peace.
Aftertwenty-sevenyearsofcivilwar,thedefeatoftheTamilTigersin
May2009,andsomemassacres,SriLankaisfreeofarmedconflict.
These wars have their impact on the current story of Catholic
Christianity: for instance, in the Middle East, where many members
PrefacetotheNewEdition(2014) vii
of ancient Catholic and other Christian communities have fled their
countriesforsafety.CatholicsandChristiansingeneralremainwidely
involved in caring for refugees and displaced persons through such
organizationsasCaritasInternational,theJesuitRefugeeService,and
Malteser International.In Egypt, Pakistan, andother countries, mili-
tantMuslimscontinuetoattackChristiansanddestroytheirchurches
andotherbuildings.
Whenwefirst wrotethisbook,theworldpopulationhadrecently
passed the 6,000 million mark. By mid-2013 it had risen to 7,149
million. Not only in Africa and Asia but also in Europe followers of
Islam continue to grow and are moving towards the 2,000 million
mark—still less than the total number of Christians but more than
Catholics, who in 2011 with over 1,200 million made up more than
halfofallChristians.
IntheNorth-Atlanticworldand,particularly,inEuropetheforces
ofsecularindividualismcontinuetoerodetreasuredChristianvalues
bypromotingabortion,same-sexmarriages,andthe‘right’tosuicide.
In 2014 Belgium offered a spectacular example of this trend by
legalising euthanasia for teenagers, and even children. Such ‘liberal’
secularism in countries where the birth rate will not replace the
current population stands in sharp contrast with the religious and
ethicalcommitmentsoffast-growingIslam.
EveniftheHIV/AIDSpandemichasbeenpartiallycheckedaround
the world, Sub-Saharan Africa remains a most affected region. In
Uganda and elsewhere, Catholics and other Christians stand tall in
workingagainstthepandemicandassistingthosealreadyaffected.
Within the Catholic Church, the death of John Paul II in April
2005,thesubsequentelectionofBenedictXVI,hisdramaticresigna-
tioninFebruary2013,andtheelectionofPopeFrancis,thefirstLatin
American pope in Catholic history, have proved major landmarks
overthepastdecade.TheseeventswillconcerntheendofChapter2
andsomeitemsinChapter11.
This new edition has corrected errata and silently changed a few
itemsinourtext:forinstance,bybringingstatisticsuptodate.Alittle
bibliographyhasbeenaddedaftereachchapter,andthebibliography
attheendofthebookupdated.Thuswehopetoservebetterteachers,
students, and interested readers. We wish to thank Louis Caruana
(forsomesuggestions)andMilandJoshi(forsomecorrections).
G.O’C.andM.F.
31July2014
viii PrefacetotheNewEdition(2014)
ReviewsofCatholicism
M.G.Boyer,ThePriest61/11(Nov.2005),53.
B.Clarot,NouvelleRevueThéologique,131(2009),142.
E.P.Costello,TheCatholicWeekly,27November2005.
W.C.Heiser,TheologyDigest,51(2004),180.
I.Ker,TimesLiterarySupplement,12March2004,28.
R.P.McBrien,TheTablet,21February2004,22–3.
D.MacCulloch,EnglishHistoricalReview,120(2005),569–70.
S.Mazzolini,CiviltàCattolica,157/3752(21October2006),204–5.
S.Morandini,StudiEcumenici,25(2007),311–14.
L.Pereira,NewBlackfriars,85(2004),471–4.
G.J.Russello,NationalCatholicRegister,80/32(15–21August2004),14.
T.Surlis,TheFurrow,55(2004),708–9.
J.Sullivan,HeythropJournal,47(2006),291–2.
A.Vanneste,EphemeridestheologicaeLovanienses,83(2007),524–5.
G.Vinten,ReviewsinReligionandTheology,12(2005),53–6.
G.Uríbarri,Estudioseclesiásticos,80(2005),193–4.
J.T.Zalar,JournalofEcclesiasticalHistory,56(2005),749–53.
Preface
Theworld’soldestandlargestinstitution,theCatholicChurch,isnot
limitedto any particular class, race, or nation. With its geographical
and cultural spread, it reaches out to all humanity. It lives up to its
attribute, ‘catholic’: that is to say, it is worldwide and universal. It
embraces all nations. A Catholic can join St Augustine of Hippo
(354–430) in saying: ‘I exist in all languages: my language is Greek,
mylanguageisSyrian,mylanguageisHebrew.Mylanguageisthatof
all peoples, for I exist in the unity of all peoples’ (Enarrationes in
Psalmos,147.19).
‘Catholicity’ belongs, of course, among the characteristics of the
ChurchconfessedbyallChristiansintheNicene-Constantinopolitan
Creed, which is derived in its full form from the First Council of
Constantinople (ad 381). Used at least sometimes every year by all
Christians when they celebrate the Eucharist, this Creed declares a
commonfaithinthe‘one,holy,catholic,andapostolicChurch’.That
is the confession of many Protestants when they profess the Creed
each Sunday, whether or not they meet for the Eucharist. Some
peoplewouldpreferustogivethisbookthetitleof‘RomanCatholi-
cism’. After all, ‘Catholics’ are those Christians who are in commu-
nionwiththeBishopofRome;theyaccepttheauthorityofthePope
wholivesinRomeandpresidesoverthedioceseofRome.Neverthe-
less,whenonespeaksorwritesof‘Catholics’or‘Catholicism’,people
almost invariably understand a reference to Roman Catholics. That
surelywasthepresumptionbehindtherequestthatweshouldwritea
book on ‘Catholicism’, and not one on ‘Roman Catholicism’. At the
same time, we appreciate the motives of some readers (e.g. some
Anglican readers) who will add ‘Roman’ whenever we write of the
Catholic Church and Catholicism, and who object to the Roman
Catholic Church calling itself or being called ‘Catholic’ tout court.
Inanycase,manyelementsofCatholicChristianityarefoundbeyond
theCatholicChurch—apointtowhichwewillreturnbelow.Whatis
characteristic of Catholicism need not always be uniquely Catholic.
Greek, Russian, and other Orthodox Christians share, for instance,
thesamerangeofsevensacraments.