Church In Change

by Michael Shackleton · January 21, 2009

by Michael Shackleton – An often-quoted extract from Cardinal Newman’s Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine reads: To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.

But because the introductory words of Newmans quotation are generally ignored, there has resulted a somewhat distorted understanding of Newmans intent and the application of it to our situation today.

Newman began: In a higher world it would be otherwise, but here below, to live is to change. He was contrasting the world to come, where there is no change for the better or the worse,with our own experience here below of unremitting inconstancy and uncertainty.

His drift was that in this fickle landscape, the formulation of the Church’s doctrine and self-understanding develops over a long period from what was implicit to what becomes more explicit. The highest truths cannot be comprehended all at once by the recipients but have required only the longer time and deeper thought for their full elucidation. As a result, the Church evolves in its self-understanding without simultaneously losing its substantial identity. In fact, there is no perfection on earth, either for the Church or the peoples of the world. Perfection is an ideal and culmination yet to be realised.

Vatican II (1962-1965) brought this reality home to the Church in a long overdue fashion.It raised awareness that, aside from the eternal truths to which it adheres, the Church is as much in the changing world as of it.

Pope John XXIII, who inaugurated the Council, wanted to open the windows to the outside world, invoking the power of the Holy Spirit to blow a fresh new life into us all. The Council’s document on the Church in the Modern World was particularly forthright in stating: We must therefore recognise and understand the world in which we live, its expectations, its longings and its often dramatic characteristics (section 4).

South African Catholics, together with all other citizens here and abroad, are affected by local and international affairs. The signs of the times confront us at every turn.

So we should pose the question to ourselves: Is change something that we must passively accept or can we contribute to the change we want to see in our country? Whether on the political or ecclesiastical scene, we can all contribute to change, not only because change is inevitable but also because we have a role to play in politics and religion.

Passivity in civil and church affairs has too long been the norm among our people. We must contribute actively to making changes for what we believe in. A little reflection on Newmans words would not go amiss: In a higher world it would be otherwise, but here below, to live is to change

It is those who live, those in the world here and now, who are responsible for change. We may have inherited what others have done and do, but our reactions and actions are essential not merely for the preservation of a healthy democracy but for a healthy People of God too who survive in faith here below.