George Weigel recently posted an Opinion piece to the Washington Post. Is the Catholic Church at a crossroads, he wonders? I would agree with Weigel, yes, the Church is at a Crossroads.
As I read the Weigle article, I perceive him asking the question “is the future of Europe more important than the social issues the Church faces?” As another posting to this list states, the Church is under much criticism. Whether it is traditional anti-Catholic bashing from our American media, or the ranting of neo-separatist, traditionalist Bishop Bernard Fellay, the Church today is under criticism. I think that Pope John Paul has opened up the Church to more people, and has initiated many ecumenical reforms that have tried to incorporate the teaching that Christians are of one body. John Paul’s efforts have revitalized the Church and made it possible for many to look anew at the Church as a welcoming home for many who left it previously, or who are searching for a religious home. When I toured the recent exhibit in Houston, “Saint Peter and the Vatican: The Legacy of the Popes,” I was struck by the design of St. Peter’s in Rome. In the architect’s drawings (I believe they were Michelangelo’s), the wings of the basilica’s courtyard were to by symbolic of two gigantic, outstretched, embracing arms. I think our present Pope, John Paul II, has done the same, opened the arms of the Church to greater numbers. I do not want to reduce the criticism to the circular logic that states when you’re doing something right people will be against you, but the empirical evidence shows that more people are coming to the Church, and that does pose a threat to many.
In Guy Coq’s article in the January 30, 2004, New York Times, “Scarves and Symbols,” he states, “More and more, European democracies are multireligious. They no longer have a base of common religious tradition. Instead, they are constructing social guidelines built around ethical, universal values like justice and liberty of conscience.” Compare that with new figures released by the Vatican that full Catholics made up 1.07 billion of the world's 6.2 billion population. That's 17.2%. And half of the Catholics are in the Americas compared to just over 26% in Europe. In fact, the Catholic population in the Americas constitute over 62 % of the population as opposed to only 40% in Europe.
The Church is at a crossroads much as it was after the Protestant Reformation. Catholicism is growing in the Americas while it is declining in Europe, a trend that began in 1531 when the vision of the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared outside Mexico City; as millions joined the Church in the Americas, millions were leaving in Europe. I think that by looking at the numbers of declining Catholics in Europe, maybe Roberto Pazzi’s article in the January 11, 2004, edition of the New York Times, “Why the Next Pope Needs to Be Italian,” is a reaction to what is perceived, and rightly so, of a decline in European Catholicism.
