Deeds rather than rhetoric

Perhaps some good can come out of the way in which the Vatican made such a mess of handling sex-abuse scandals over the past few years.

I get the feeling that already there are many priests, bishops and lay people who have decided not to sit back and twiddle their thumbs while expecting the Vatican to be sole protector of the integrity of the Catholic Church.

I have heard many sermons and read innumerable discussions in the past few months expounding the notion that our Church is actually its people. And that the person to whom we owe our undivided, unquestioning loyalty and devotion is not the pope nor any of the other members of the Church hierarchy, but Jesus Christ.

This does not mean, of course, that Catholics should turn their backs on the Holy Father or the Vatican, but rather to look at what we can do to further the Word of Christ and in so doing restore the integrity of our Church.

It has been said by numerous religious commentators that the sole remaining acceptable prejudice in the world today is castigation of the Catholic Church. What a damning indictment!

I firmly believe that in spite of the enormous wave of global criticism we face, Catholics should not start emulating some of our more extreme Muslim counterparts by declaring jihad on our enemies.

There is a far more effective method, I believe, that will allow each and every Catholic to show just what we are made of. That is to take personal responsibility for helping our fellow man and not to leave it to the Church by simply putting money into the collection on Sunday or just supporting a bring-and-buy cake sale. All around us there is poverty, the indignity of old age, lack of education and skills, illness and fear.

What I am suggesting is that Catholics should consider responding to criticism of our religion by deed rather than rhetoric.

I believe that this is already happening in South Africa. For example, no single entity outside the government does more to alleviate the suffering of those afflicted by HIV/Aids than the Catholic Church.

Add to that the many Catholic relief agencies and charities – such as Catholic Welfare and Development, which is the biggest non-governmental organisation in the Western Cape – and there is little doubt that the work of the Catholic Church in this country is significant.

All this is done by a relatively tiny handful of people. Bishops, priests, religious and laity – a few thousand at most.

Imagine if all of Southern Africa’s 7 million Catholics added their weight to these worthy causes? Or if they just helped neighbours, or comforted the sick and elderly. This is nothing new, after all, but something that Jesus Christ preached.

It would not take long for the world to realise that Catholicism was not just about the pope and the Vatican, but rather its people.

I believe times have changed. And so, perhaps, should the Catholic Church.

In the early days of the Church, wealthy Catholics would heed the call of popes and bishops to celebrate the glory of God by building massive, opulent cathedrals.

If today the Catholic Church somewhere decided to build a cathedral similar in size to St Peter’s in Rome, there is no doubt that the world would not see this as a monument to the glory of God, but rather a demonstration of self-indulgent excess denying millions of poor people a roof over their heads or survival from starvation.

There was also a time when it was quite appropriate for bishops, cardinals and the pope to live in palaces and wear luxuriant vestments because in those days the laity saw these as symbols of authority and leadership.

I wonder if all the pomp, ceremony and displays of wealth by the Vatican, outside of actual church services, has the same effect today?

I remember during my school years, when an archbishop would visit, we would be expected to go down on one knee and kiss his ring. But now, when I come into contact with our cardinal, bishops and archbishops, they mostly shy away from the ring-kissing, bowing and scraping and don’t particularly like to be called “Your Grace”.

In South Africa at least, all these superficial trappings of high office have been replaced with humility and the will to serve the people.

Is it not time, I wonder, for the Vatican to visibly follow suit? For the pope to look less like a head of state and more like the shepherd he is supposed to be?

Frankly, I am not convinced that if Jesus Christ returned to earth today he would drive through the streets in a popemobile, dressed in exotic finery.