When Control Becomes a Fixation in the Church

By Andrea Tornielli
Vatican Insider
November 28, 2013

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/vaticano-papa-el-papa-bergoglio-30216/

“A supposed soundness of doctrine or discipline leads instead to a narcissistic and authoritarian elitism, whereby instead of evangelizing, one analyzes and classifies others.” This is the phase Francis uses in the Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium” to describe certain ailments of today’s Catholicism. Francis devotes a number of dense paragraphs of the lengthy document outlining the direction of his pontificate to this. In these paragraphs he explains the various forms of “spiritual worldliness” present in the Church.

“One is the attraction of gnosticism, a purely subjective faith whose only interest is a certain experience or a set of ideas and bits of information which are meant to console and enlighten, but which ultimately keep one imprisoned in his or her own thoughts and feelings. The other is the self-absorbed promethean neopelagianism of those who ultimately trust only in their own powers and feel superior to others because they observe certain rules or remain intransigently faithful to a particular Catholic style from the past,” the Pope goes on to write.

This constitutes a “supposed soundness of doctrine or discipline” which “leads instead to a narcissistic and authoritarian elitism, whereby instead of evangelizing, one analyzes and classifies others, and instead of opening the door to grace, one exhausts his or her energies in inspecting and verifying. In neither case is one really concerned about Jesus Christ or others.” Neither of these cases, which are both “adulterated forms of Christianity” inspire the mission.

Francis describes “attitudes which appear opposed” but which have the same pretence of “taking over the space of the Church”. In some people we see an ostentatious preoccupation for the liturgy, for doctrine and for the Church’s prestige, but without any concern that the Gospel have a real impact on God’s faithful people and the concrete needs of the present time.” It is not hard to see that these attitudes apply to those who for example misinterpreted the depth of Cardinal Ratzinger and then Pope Benedict XVI’s reflections on the liturgy, dedicating all their efforts to appearance, neglecting the heart of the ministry and paying attention instead to ecclesiastical aesthetics, bringing back sumptuous robes which should in theory give glory to God but instead end up glorifying only those who wear them and sending waves of self-satisfaction through them when they see their photos migrating from one blog to the next.

You only need to follow one of Francis’ masses to fitness the intensity with which he celebrates and his profound under standing of the mystery he is celebrating. In another passage of the “Evangelii Gaudium”, the Pope writes that “evangelization with joy becomes beauty in the liturgy, as part of our daily concern to spread goodness. The Church evangelizes and is herself evangelized through the beauty of the liturgy, which is both a celebration of the task of evangelization and the source of her renewed self-giving.” So the beauty and care that goes into the liturgy is unquestionable. It must leave room for the real Protagonist, who is not the celebrant or his creativity, his abilities or his performance. But it is one thing to care about the preparation and presentation of the liturgy and it is quite another to take ostentation to the extreme. “In this way, the life of the Church turns into a museum piece or something which is the property of a select few,” Francis warns.

“In others,” the Pope goes on to say “this spiritual worldliness lurks behind a fascination with social and political gain, or pride in their ability to manage practical affairs, or an obsession with programmes of self-help and self-realization. It can also translate into a concern to be seen, into a social life full of appearances, meetings, dinners and receptions.”

“It can also lead to a business mentality, caught up with management, statistics, plans and evaluations whose principal beneficiary is not God’s people but the Church as an institution,” Francis warned. Again, this brings to mind the criticism Ratzinger made twenty years ago as cardinal of a self-absorbed Church. He too urged people not to see the Church as a company, as a business and spoke against excessive bureaucracy and an organisation that is an end in itself.

In all cases, Francis observes, the Church presents itself as “a place in which the mark of Christ, incarnate, crucified and risen, is not present; closed and elite groups are formed, and no effort is made to go forth and seek out those who are distant or the immense multitudes who thirst for Christ. Evangelical fervour is replaced by the empty pleasure of complacency and self-indulgence.” Those who have fallen into this worldliness look on from above and afar, they reject the prophecy of their brothers and sisters, they discredit those who raise questions, they constantly point out the mistakes of others and they are obsessed by appearances. Their hearts are open only to the limited horizon of their own immanence and interests, and as a consequence they neither learn from their sins nor are they genuinely open to forgiveness. This is a tremendous corruption disguised as a good. We need to avoid it by making the Church constantly go out from herself, keeping her mission focused on Jesus Christ, and her commitment to the poor,” Francis writes.