en en en en en en en en en es en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en es en en en en en en en en en en ru en en en en en en en fr en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en es en en en en ca en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en fr en en fr en en en en en nl en en en en en en en en en en en en en de en sv en en de en en en en en de en en it en en en en en en en en en en en en
When I look at the Catholic Church, I see my sisters and brothers trying to be faithful and share their faith
By William Grimm | Japan
One of the fastest-growing religious affiliations, or more accurately disaffiliations, is the large number of people who declare themselves to be former Catholics.
Departures from the Church are especially pronounced among the young, but are not limited to them. In places like Australia, France, Germany and increasingly in the United States, which for many years differed from other places, the Catholic Church is hemorrhaging members.
There are many reasons people disavow Catholicism. From what I've seen, those reasons are not often linked to a crisis of belief in God, at least not at first. The crisis is Church-centric, but may eventually lead to a crisis of faith in God as proclaimed by the Church.
Certainly a big factor has been the exposure of the sexual abuse of children by clergy and, even more, its aftershocks.
The strongest aftershock is the growing realization of how much the Church's bishops and other managers covered up, enabled, perpetuated and even perpetrated abuse not only of children but of other vulnerable people and women.
Now we see reports of a Vatican cardinal indicted for financial corruption involving €350 million (about US$416 million) given by Catholics throughout the world toward the Peter's Pence collection.
This may mark the beginning of exposures that will touch every department in the Catholic Church's "head office" where spectacular corruption has been "business as usual" for centuries.
Yet in spite of the demolition of their collective reputation, bishops insist upon absolute rectitude (as they define it) from others in matters of sex and gender. They seem less concerned with financial rectitude among major donors.
A majority of people simply ignore them. More and more people take the next step beyond ignoring, and walk out the door, no longer willing to be linked to the hypocrisy. The Catholic Church's public face is pretty ugly.
Those of us who remain must ask ourselves why. Why do I still call myself a Catholic given the Catholic Church's official face, generally dispiriting history and the inevitability of more and worse revelations to come?
The first point to stress is that continuing to identify as a Catholic Christian is not necessarily, or at all, an endorsement of the management of the Church. Some individual bishops may attract respect and attention, but that does not imply anything for the breed overall.
The Catholic Church is not mainly or even importantly a hierarchical social entity. For most Catholics, their bishop is merely a name in the Eucharistic Prayer.
We are a people, a tribe, if you will. We are the largest cohort within the Christian People of God on pilgrimage to the Kingdom.
While at times that pilgrimage may resemble a grand procession, more often it is a stream of refugees battered by life and trudging on in hope, supporting one another when we need it and savoring our various respites and joys along the way.
Vatican II proclaimed, "The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ." And we share those joys and pains not as spectators, but as those who themselves experience joy and pain.
As a Catholic, I am one in that journeying throng that today and for 2,000 years has trudged through history, confident that God has not and never will abandon us whether we move on, stand still, fall or run back.
What sustains us is the typically Catholic sacramental sense, the conviction that the whole universe and anything and anyone in it is an encounter with God, most present in the Eucharist.
We use bread and wine, oil and water, words and gestures, postures and songs, minds and bodies. We venerate our saints known and unknown and one of them famously speaks in prayer of the Sun as brother and the Moon and even Death as sisters.
Catholic novelists like Georges Bernanos, Shusaku Endo, Graham Greene and Flannery O'Connor show God at work in human failure, divine glory in God's sad sacks.
When I look at the Catholic Church, I see my sisters and brothers trying to be faithful and share their faith.
I see people dedicated to building justice and peace in God's world. I see servants of the poor. I see soup kitchens, dispensaries, schools, orphanages, hospital and prison chaplaincies. I see saints and sinners. I see sad sacks serving sad sacks as we journey to God.
In them, I see Christ at work in the world. I meet Christ calling me to that work.
When I sing in the hymn Jerusalem, My Destiny, "here among you I have met the Savior, Jesus Christ," I sing of, to and as part of the Catholic tribe on the way. In the community with which I worship, we sing it as an inspiriting march.
That is why I remain a Catholic. The tribe is bigger than some of its chiefs. It is as big as the world. It is big enough to include a sad sack like me.
And yeah, even some bishops.
William Grimm is a missioner and presbyter in Tokyo and is the publisher of the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCA News). The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.
Get the latest from La Croix International. Sign up to receive our daily newsletter.
You may also like
How the Catholic Church lost its soul
Paraguan bishops embrace synodality ahead of regional meet in Mexico
African diocese ordains its first woman priest
SUPPORT LA CROIX INTERNATIONAL’S COMMUNITY OF READERS
Support La Croix International's unique blend of international Catholic journalism by making it available to people in Asia and Africa who can't afford a subscription and often don't have credit cards to pay for it either.
Synodal virtues: valuing and extending theological education
Recently ordained Congolese bishop is big on synodality
Church leaders should engage social media’s Catholic influencers
The business of simply living a normal social life
Celebrating gay relationships in church is actually quite Catholic
Why Pope Francis did not attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral
Celebrating gay relationships in church is actually quite Catholic
The elderly pope's patience is put to the test
Elizabeth II, the “last Christian monarch”, has died
A challenge for Europe
Shaking up the economy
Peace, our common good
For 70 years she “was” the United Kingdom
Cooperation rather than competition
The elderly pope's patience is put to the test
Francis continues his push for a humbler, more open Church
The pope and the praying menace
What was the August meeting of cardinals really about?
Is Christian hospitality enough?
"What fraternity does assisted suicide build?"
Live, learn, forget, repeat
When timing is paramount
The pandemic, Christian faith and the perils of kids living in the digital world
"It’s been powerful to watch people enunciate a theology of care for creation"
Laudato si’ guides Indian archdiocese to help fisherfolk
Brazilian bishops stand up for the Yanomami people
The Gaia Man, James Lovelock
Pope calls for a new relationship with God, others and Creation
| Catholic Digest | UCAN | Living in faith | La Croix Africa | La Croix español
About Us | Contact Us| Newsletter Sign-up| Donate| Terms and Conditions| FAQ| La Croix| Confidentiality Policy| Sitemap