What are we supposed to think about the Roman Catholic Church?

I haven’t commented much about Roman Catholicism lately, although that has always been the primary thing that I have written about. There is a saying attributed to Napoleon that I find useful at times like these: “never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake”.

The official Roman Catholic Church has been making a number of them … the “official” “Church” being heavily constituted by that hierarchy which, according to Vatican II, is integral to “the Church that Christ Founded”:

Christ, the one Mediator, established and continually sustains here on earth His holy Church, the community of faith, hope and charity, as an entity with visible delineation through which He communicated truth and grace to all. But, the society structured with hierarchical organs and the Mystical Body of Christ, are not to be considered as two realities, nor are the visible assembly and the spiritual community, nor the earthly Church and the Church enriched with heavenly things; rather they form one complex reality which coalesces from a divine and a human element. For this reason, by no weak analogy, it is compared to the mystery of the incarnate Word. As the assumed nature inseparably united to Him, serves the divine Word as a living organ of salvation, so, in a similar way, does the visible social structure of the Church serve the Spirit of Christ, who vivifies it, in the building up of the body [emphasis added].

In other words, “the ”visible hierarchy” is to the Roman Catholic Church what Christ’s flesh was to the person of Christ”: a strong analogy to the flesh, the “assumed nature”, of “the divine Word”. In the same way, this “visible hierarchy” is (IS!) “vivified” by the Spirit of Christ.

There is no way any Protestant apologist could do more damage to Rome, than Rome is inflicting on itself these days.

Black Robe

Martin Scorsese's film Silence has gotten a lot of buzz among Christians. That's due both to the content and the fact that Scorsese is a legendary director, so his movies naturally garner much attention. Here's a review of a similar, but far less familiar movie:

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/black-robe-1991

The Antichrist or the Pope? I Smell a Conspiracy

In the Amazon Hot New Releases in Christian Theology for my book and the Popes, you can interpret this two ways:

(1) I am edging out the Pope in the Amazon rankings.

Or

(2) The Chris Pinto interpretation: since my book and the Pope's were published within 24 hours, and since Scott Hahn who wrote the foreword to Pope Francis' book attended the same seminary as I did, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, he must smell a Jesuit conspiracy!

“Superior General” Bergoglio: Not a “collegial” pope, to the alarm of some

He calls himself “bishop of Rome” and goes by his family name “Bergoglio”. He even expressed some reluctance to be pope.

However, thinking that these things showed him to be in favor of “democratization” in the church is “a blunder”, according to the Chisea espressonline.it.

But that publication is clear to say that Bishop of Rome Bergoglio operates like the “Black Pope”, the “Superior General” of the Jesuits:

Bergoglio is also a Jesuit, and by now his actions have made it clear that he intends to apply to the papacy the methods of governance typical of the Society of Jesus, where the superior general, nicknamed the “black pope,” has practically absolute power.

Of course, I had written about this phenomenon back on April 15, but as this “papacy” unfolds, some folks seem none too comfortable about it.

Not only did Bergoglio bypass the standard operating procedure for how everyone thought the Curia ought to be reformed:

If he had followed the suggestions of the preconclave, he would have found the “council of the crown” nice and ready. All he had to do was to call around himself the twelve cardinals, three for each continent, elected at the end of each synod and therefore of the last as well, in October of 2012. Elected by a secret vote and representative of the elite of the worldwide episcopate, containing almost all of the influential names of the last conclave: cardinals Timothy Dolan of New York, Odilo Scherer of São Paulo, Brazil, Christoph Schönborn of Vienna, Peter Erdö of Budapest, Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle of Manila.

But no. Pope Francis wanted his eight advisors to be chosen by himself alone, not by others. Called to answer only to him, not to an elective assembly as well.

But he’s brought in an outsider, “a guru from McKinsey to design that reform of the curia”:

His name is Thomas von Mitschke-Collande, he is German and was the manager of the Munich branch of the most famous and mysterious company of managerial consulting in the world.

In matters of the Church, he knows his stuff. Last year he published a book with a title that was hardly reassuring: “Does the Church want to destroy itself? Facts and analyses presented by a business consultant.”

The eight Cardinals who have also been named in the “reform the Curia” project will not ever form a commission to discuss this project. They will individually advise this pope as to what they think is best. Then the pope will decide. “Alone”:

But this is exactly what happens in the Society of Jesus. Bergoglio was one of its provincial superiors and assimilated its style. In the leadership of the Society the assistants who surround the superior general, appointed by him, represent their respective geographical areas. The decisions are not made collegially. Only the superior general decides, with direct and immediate powers. The assistants do not need to agree with one another and with him; they advise the superior general one by one, in the greatest freedom.

It’s definitely not the “collegial” model. The Cardinals in the conclave didn’t know it then, but as C.S. Lewis said, a vote for Bergoglio “is like being asked to agree not only to what a man has said but also to what he is going to say.”