"And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand." - Mark 3:25
It's no surprise that there is division within the Catholic Church. A quick scroll through the Catholic social media world will reveal as much. On blogs, forums, and social media posts, there are regular arguments among Catholics. This is the world of "church politics", which is not unlike the secular politics of which we are all accustomed. There are many different flavors and factions in the spectrum of church politics. Allow me to use the Orthodoxy Spectrum analogy (not to be confused with Eastern Orthodoxy) to show what I'm talking about.
In the middle of the spectrum, you have simple and pure Catholic orthodoxy. Catholics who fall into the middle of the spectrum believe and accept 100% of the Church's teachings, and they live joyful and positive Christian lives. They receive the Sacraments regularly, have many prayer devotions, have a healthy appreciation for liturgical traditions, spend time evangelizing and spreading the Gospel, perform works of mercy, etc. They're the Catholic ideal.
When one goes towards either end of the Orthodoxy Spectrum, things begin to stray from this ideal image. Move towards the left of the spectrum, and you'll begin to see Catholics who aren't in line with the Church. You'll see watered-down catechesis, a disdain for our Church's traditions, and general heterodoxy. At the far left, you'll end up with a group of people who hold outright heretical beliefs and think they can change Catholic teaching to suit their progressive agenda. These are people such as the modernists, etc. This side of the spectrum gave birth to things like "Catholics for Choice" (a pro-abortion group), "gay pride" Masses, New Age spirituality in the Church, people who want female priests, etc. In my opinion, the left side of the spectrum is not in line with authentic Catholic teaching.
Those not in allegiance with the Left may begin to drift towards the Right. The right side of the spectrum belongs to Traditionalist Catholics. Traditionalists are mainly orthodox Latin-rite Catholics who have a preference for traditional devotions, liturgy, etc. There is nothing wrong with this flavor of Traditionalism. I myself am a fan of many traditional Catholic things. After all, they're Catholic!
However, just as things begin to go south when one ventures too far left on the spectrum, the same can be said when one goes too far to the right. If you go too far right, you'll end up with the stereotypical "Rad Trads" who are Radical Traditionalist Catholics. They are fanatically obsessed with tradition to the point of hostility towards things which they deem not in line with their traditional preferences. They criticize clergy whom they dislike, and instead of merely attacking the ideas and beliefs held by these clergy, they can fall into spewing ad hominem attacks against them.
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for Rad Trads to join schismatic groups and parishes which are not in union with Rome. They can view these groups they belong to as the "true" Church, and may say that the mainstream establishment Church is "in apostasy from the True Faith." Some Rad Trads go so far as to completely reject the validity of the Pope. These people are called sedevacantists, and sedevacantism is the belief that the Chair of St. Peter is vacant, meaning that there is currently no Pope. Sedevacantists argue that since the Pope is a "heretic", he is automatically excommunicated from the Catholic Church and has lost his office and authority as the successor of St. Peter. There are other Rad Trad conspiracy theorists who might claim that there is a secret Pope we don't know about. This shows us that the farther to the right of the spectrum you go, the more radical things get.
When I was first immersed into the world of church politics, I quickly ventured to the right of the spectrum. I accepted 100% of the Church's teachings, so I couldn't be on the Left. I was angry at the heterodoxy I was seeing within the Church, and I found myself agreeing with the Traditionalists (not the schismatic ones!). I spent hours reading Traditionalist websites, blogs, and social media pages. In fact, I pretty much lived on the Catholic side of the internet (and I still do!). Although I did not regularly attend the Traditional Latin Mass, I felt I wanted to be a part of the Traditionalist world.
However, things have slowly changed over the years as I've tried to figure out where I stand on the Orthodoxy Spectrum. I am now distraught with the whole notion of church politics. As I've demonstrated from the Orthodoxy Spectrum, you can't go far Left or Right and still be solidly Catholic. When it comes down to it, you're either Catholic or you're not. You can't accept the Church's teachings and reject them at the same time.
The constant negativity I felt from church politics also robbed me of authentic joy as I practiced my faith. I saw the negativity of Rad Trads on the internet, and I didn't like it, but felt I had to join their side because of their apparent doctrinal orthodoxy. After all, not joining the clearly conservative side of the debate would make me one of those heretical liberals, right?
Because of my current feelings towards church politics, I have stopped associating myself with the labels "Traditionalist Catholic" or "Conservative Catholic". I believe I shouldn't have to use a label to show my orthodoxy. The word "Catholic" should be sufficient to show that I am a Catholic! No other adjectives should be needed.
Instead of spending my time being angry and negative like the Rad Trads, I have decided to be a joyful Catholic. Instead of focusing on church politics and allowing it to negatively affect my relationship with Jesus, I have decided to focus on actual spirituality and growing closer to Him. Instead of letting myself get worked up about the current state of the Church, I have made the decision to not allow my peace to be disturbed. Instead of being pessimistic, I have made the decision to be optimistic and practice the virtue of hope.
I realize what I have written so far may offend Traditionalist Catholic who are reading this post. I wish to make it clear that I am not condemning all Traditionalists since there are many genuinely good and faithful Catholics within the movement. However, I am choosing to dissociate myself with Traditionalism due to the Pharisaical radicalism I have seen within the movement. This does not mean that I am leaning towards the Left side of the Orthodoxy Spectrum. I will remain a Catholic who is 100% faithful to the Church. If someone asks which religion I belong to, I will not label myself anything other than a Catholic.
I believe the label game we're familiar with should not exist. It breeds unnecessary division among people who are good and faithful Catholics. We waste time attacking each other instead of working together towards our mission of spreading the Gospel and evangelizing. Aren't we supposed to all be on the same team? If we cannot get our act together, then how can we even begin to reach those outside of the Church? Furthermore, who is going to want to convert to Catholicism once they see the mess we've gotten ourselves into?
If you're a Catholic reading this who has felt frustrated with the current state of affairs in the Church, I feel your pain. I am just an ordinary Catholic layman, so I don't have all the answers. I don't know how we can fix a wounded Church. However, I know that change starts with each individual person. Scripture tells us to take the beam out of our own eye before taking a speck our of our neighbor's eye. If we focus on growing in our own personal holiness, we'll eventually start to have an impact on the Church as a whole. We need to be a church of saints, not a church of bickering and argumentative people! Satan would want us to become distracted from our mission by being divided amongst ourselves.
To make the Catholic Church more Catholic, we Catholics have to become more Catholic!
Geo
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament © 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
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