Traditionalist Catholics have been engaged in a quiet (and no
so quiet) civil war for the past fifty years. They desperately want to overturn
the changes that took place with Vatican II. The problem is there are other conservatives
who embrace the changes in part, and then of course there are the large and even
overwhelming numbers of Catholics who not only embrace the changes but want
more.
Francis has not enacted any major doctrinal changes but he
has altered the tone and change is certainly in the wind. The innumerable scandals
as well as the rapid and seemingly unstoppable social changes are building
momentum and some traditionalists are beginning to despair.
Some of them could be described as feeling a bit of the
end-times bug. They're almost sounding like cousins to the Dispensationalist
Evangelicals with which many have formed an alliance. We don't usually think of
Catholics speaking about eschatology and the rise of Antichrist, but in this
era of Francis it's happening and if you look at history it has happened
before.
One way it's happening now is through the resurrection of
Fulton Sheen. His television broadcasts have reappeared on EWTN and the
National Catholic Register (owned by EWTN) is evoking his warnings concerning
Antichrist. The media group has become a powerful voice that is subtly and
sometimes not so subtly leading the campaign against Francis. Pulling Sheen out
from the archives was a clever ploy and will undoubtedly stir the hearts of
many a conservative Catholic as they will be reminded of former days. The Sheen
broadcasts appeared before the Francis papacy but in light of his papacy the
often Right-wing nature of the broadcasts take on a somewhat different meaning.*
Are
the traditionalists winning? The anti-Francis forces have certainly won some
support and there is an air of conspiracy forming against the pope. In ever
growing circles they've undermined his authority and credibility and
undoubtedly have won many over into their ranks... riding the wave of cultural
zeitgeist and the resurgence of Right-wing political movements.
And yet I don't doubt there's a feeling of despair and great
fear that even after the mostly friendly papacies of John Paul II and Benedict
XVI, any gains that were made are being quickly lost as Francis is creating a
new climate as well as slowly restructuring the curia. By no means has Francis
taken on and removed the corruption and yet he's laid the groundwork for a real
shift to take place in the years after he's gone. By some estimates he has
stacked the College of Cardinals to such an extent that the next pope is almost
certain to be in the stamp of Francis which would guarantee the 'modernising'
trajectory will continue.
Hence for some traditionalists the day of doom draws nigh and
while most traditionalists remain within the fold of Rome proper, some see both
schism and apostasy on the horizon. Hence, we find Sheen's comments on the
Antichrist being revived as well as signs that the traditionalists are becoming
more aggressive in their rejections of modern Roman Catholicism.
This is putting bishops in an awkward situation as they have
rebellious priests, congregations and various societies operating within and
parallel to the mainstream which effectively undermine both their authority and
that of the pope. The conflicts are ongoing but it hardly seems prophetic to
suggest they're going to intensify.
Why does it matter? From the standpoint of Biblical Christianity
it matters very little and yet the Evangelical movement continues to wed itself
to traditionalist Catholicism. Their organisations, money and political
alliances are being strengthened and are beginning to sink deep roots. It's
affecting both Evangelical doctrine and practice and leading to not a few
conversions to Roman Catholicism. The numbers converting to Catholicism seem
rather high, especially among the Right-wing intelligentsia. In addition to
considering the rapprochement with Rome, the Evangelical movement has
effectively destroyed the separatist witness of the previous generation as well
as what was left of Fundamentalism. In light of all these things, the
developments within Roman Catholicism are especially worthy of our attention.
Are people still leaving Catholicism? Of course but it seems
these numbers are mostly made up of people in the Developing World converting
to Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism as well as Liberals who are leaving Rome
to attend Mainline Protestant congregations.
It could be a flawed and narrow perception on my part but I
just don't see a lot of Catholics converting to Evangelicalism or even
Confessionalist Protestantism at the moment. Evangelicalism in particular has
so embraced Catholicism and migrated towards its social visions and
intellectual tradition, it's hard to imagine any Catholic seeing the point in
leaving their faction for the consumerist, shallow and tacky world of the
mega-church model. It is this sense of sobriety found within Rome and its historical
connections which bear watching. Serious Evangelicals are looking for something
more and all too often they're finding it on the fringes of Rome. It's no great
shock that some go ahead and swim the Tiber.
Though Catholicism is patently unbiblical we have a
generation of Evangelicals who have so wed their faith to the culture and the
Western Civilisation narrative that the pull toward Rome has become very
strong.
Once again I think Roman Catholicism bears watching not
because it's part of the Christian Church but because it's an apostate faction
of the Christian Church and yet continues to play a significant role not only
in the larger ecclesiastical world but in international affairs. Its
relationship with the American Empire, Latin American and European politics
continues to fascinate and the organisation itself is at a basic level
intriguing... though very evil. Some within Fundamentalism have gotten a little
carried away at times in how they would portray it and yet their assessment
remains much closer to the truth than the benign and naive perceptions of the
average Evangelical.
Theologically I've written elsewhere about the Northern
Kingdom Analogy which is how I explain a way in which to view Catholicism as
apostate and yet not wholly divorced from Church History. The Northern Kingdom
after Rehoboam apostatised and established a rival and counterfeit altar. Later
this kingdom was additionally affected by even more extreme forms of syncretism
in the introduction of Baal worship from Tyre. And yet even through these dark
days the nation officially remained a Yahvist or Jehovah-ite nation, though its
form was so degenerate that the faithful in both the Northern Kingdom and in
Judah would not recognise it as legitimate and also reckoned its rulers
(despite their theophoric onomastics) as illegitimate. They were Covenant
breakers and no longer reckoned as legitimate and yet the covenant was still
evoked (and thus still of relevance) when the final destruction came at the
hand of the Assyrians in the 8th century BC.
The Southern Kingdom of Judah had its ups and downs. At times
it was apostate and in other seasons it became a viable representative of the
Holy Covenant. But in most cases the faithful were represented by a remnant.
They took the form of extreme dissidents in the North and as traditionalists in
and out of favour in the South.
This analogy is far from perfect but it approximates the
situation as it has developed throughout Church History. Rome (and by extension
Constantinople) is like the apostate northern kingdom of Israel. It's still
relevant to the Covenant but its status is that of an apostate. Southern Judah by
way of general Protestant analogy retains its status though it has often proven
less than faithful and as a consequence those who would obey God must often
denounce it and live as nonconformists. The oracle and Holy Presence rest in
the south where Zion is located and yet even this history is clouded by
episodes of great apostasy. Likewise those who would retain the authority of
Scripture can claim the mantle and legacy of the apostles and yet all too often
even those who revere the oracular word of Scripture stray and embrace error,
and indeed their lampstands are imperiled and yet they still possess them while
Rome's was removed long ago.
Of course this analogy lives on during the Intertestamental
period with the rebuilt temple and the formation of the Samaritans.
*The paper had previously been owned by the Marcial Maciel
who founded the Legion of Christ. The organisation which is often compared to
Opus Dei is noted for its Right-wing (and often clandestine) political
involvement and fundraising... or laundering and covert funding if you view it
from another angle. Maciel of course was later revealed to be an utter sodomite
but was protected by the papacy of John Paul II.
The Legion had to do some reorganising to be sure but it's
still going strong. In the meantime the National Catholic Register has been
picked up by EWTN, another group associated with the Catholic Right and the
campaign against Francis.
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