This is my version of an op-ed and reflects solely my biased opinion.
There is a rather mean-spiritedness running through some orthodox or “conservative” Catholic circles. For myself, I avoid such labels as conservative or orthodox since I think they lost all semblance of meaning back in the 1960 and 70s. In the 1950s, for instance, a liberal was still regarded as a red-flag waving Marxist. Today, there are few, perhaps Congresswoman Barbara Lee is one of the last remaining true liberals in the American political sphere. Democratic idols, such as the Clintons and Obama, are merely political opportunists. Therefore, to co-opt such sullied terms as conservative and orthodox diminishes the entirety of Catholic meaning. In my mind, you are either Catholic or you are not. In other words, you either follow the entirety of Catholic doctrine and teaching, or you reject it. If you do the later, you are not Catholic.
With this in mind, when I returned to the Catholic Faith in 1999, I rather prided myself in being a Traditional conservative Catholic. Till that point, my life had been so hopeless and wayward that I wanted to drastically embrace the fullness of everything that was Catholic. I wanted to set myself a part from everything else. I started hanging-around parishes that offered the Tridentine Mass, I loved the holy priests who administered the Sacraments there, but quickly discovered a rather nasty strain of uncharity among many of the Latin Mass faithful. After walking out of Church, still high from the most beautiful liturgies, I frequently heard conversations centered on bashing everyone from the Holy Father in Rome to one of the local pastors. I was so in love because of my new relationship with the Church that I found all the constant griping somewhat shocking. Later on, I realized that this propensity towards harshness and criticism also included a downright demonization of non-Catholics, public-sinners, and homosexuals.
The so called liberal Catholic-wing of the Church is not immune to the oftentimes drought of patience and sympathy that I found in my traditional leaning circles. I believe this whole phenomenon of polarization in the Church is due to the oldest fault of Man: Pride. By embracing the false label of conservatism, these confused Catholics rely upon their own knowledge, or lack thereof, regarding the Faith and claim that they know better than 2,000 year of traditional and authority. On the other side, the cafeteria-Catholics, because they pick and choose what they want to believe, are similarly indebted to their bloated arrogance and question everything – because they regard the Church as stuck in the past and unwilling to change. Both are wrong.
Case in point: Soon after my return to the secular life, upon leaving a religious community on the East Coast, a rather beleaguered woman approached me outside of church. A couple of years before, she had confided in me that she felt her son might be gay. Now, the boy was being mercilessly teased at a local Catholic school, and the administration, including other parents, and the community at large around the school, mainly because she was divorced, treated her not much better. It was like an old-fashioned shunning. For the kid’s own sanity, the mother pulled her son from the school. I tried to reach out to him, but he had been burned – and he blamed the Church. After that, I lost track of the family. Just recently, I heard from the woman, her son had moved to San Francisco, fully embraced the gay lifestyle, and found a “Catholic” church that would “accept” him; i.e. accept – meaning offering no alternative to being locked in a gay orientation.
I am still saddened by the news, for it’s a failure on so many levels. The Catholics, who claim to know the rules, and follow them: by hating the sin – have rejected the sinner. For, they often foster a bunker-like mentality: clinging to their own liturgies, schools, and prayer groups. The other side is equally intransigent: hold fast to the teachings of the Church, and you will be quickly labeled a crack-pot. Recently, I have been personally rejected by both: I unashamedly testify to the Truth of Catholicism, but will not belittle or abandon my gay brothers and sisters. I will not leave them to die in ignorance. Jesus wants to Save us all.
I am still saddened by the news, for it’s a failure on so many levels. The Catholics, who claim to know the rules, and follow them: by hating the sin – have rejected the sinner. For, they often foster a bunker-like mentality: clinging to their own liturgies, schools, and prayer groups. The other side is equally intransigent: hold fast to the teachings of the Church, and you will be quickly labeled a crack-pot. Recently, I have been personally rejected by both: I unashamedly testify to the Truth of Catholicism, but will not belittle or abandon my gay brothers and sisters. I will not leave them to die in ignorance. Jesus wants to Save us all.