A Dictatorship of Relativism

Twenty years ago, just a few days before he was elected to succeed Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger preached the homily at the Mass before the conclave for the College of Cardinals. This homily, now often called “The Dictatorship of Relativism Homily”, offered a clear picture of the conflict that exists between the world and the Church. It’s a conflict that has existed since the time of Christ, but one that has intensified over the centuries. 

Since then, relativism has become a defining element in the intellectual, political, and moral life prevalent in much of the world. I can recall many Catholic theologians and commentators criticizing as "extreme" Cardinal Ratzinger's use of the word "dictatorship." And yet, looking back on these two decades, I can think of no better word to describe the means by which the relativists have attempted to supplant the truth. 

Considering the state of our world, and the state of the Church today, I decided it might be good to read once again what Cardinal Ratzinger preached that day to the cardinals who would elect him Pope Benedict XVI just a few days later. 

I have included the entire homily below. Note: If you prefer, you can also access this homily via the following link: Ratzinger Homily 18 April 2005.

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HOMILY OF HIS EMINENCE CARD. JOSEPH RATZINGER
DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS

Vatican Basilica
Monday 18 April 2005 

At this moment of great responsibility, let us listen with special attention to what the Lord says to us in his own words. I would like to examine just a few passages from the three readings that concern us directly at this time. 

The first one offers us a prophetic portrait of the person of the Messiah - a portrait that receives its full meaning from the moment when Jesus reads the text in the synagogue at Nazareth and says, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing" (Lk 4:21). 

At the core of the prophetic text we find a word which seems contradictory, at least at first sight. The Messiah, speaking of himself, says that he was sent "to announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God" (Is 61:12). We hear with joy the news of a year of favor: divine mercy puts a limit on evil, as the Holy Father told us. Jesus Christ is divine mercy in person: encountering Christ means encountering God's mercy. 

Christ's mandate has become our mandate through the priestly anointing. We are called to proclaim, not only with our words but also with our lives and with the valuable signs of the sacraments, "the year of favor from the Lord".

But what does the prophet Isaiah mean when he announces "the day of vindication by our God"? At Nazareth, Jesus omitted these words in his reading of the prophet's text; he concluded by announcing the year of favor. Might this have been the reason for the outburst of scandal after his preaching? We do not know. 

In any case, the Lord offered a genuine commentary on these words by being put to death on the cross. St Peter says: 

"In his own body he brought your sins to the cross" (I Pt 2:24).

And St Paul writes in his Letter to the Galatians: 

Christ has delivered us from the power of the law's curse by himself becoming a curse for us, as it is written, "Accursed is anyone who is hanged on a tree." This happened so that through Christ Jesus the blessing bestowed on Abraham might descend on the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, thereby making it possible for us to receive the promised Spirit through faith (Gal 3:13f). 

Christ's mercy is not a grace that comes cheap, nor does it imply the trivialization of evil. Christ carries the full weight of evil and all its destructive force in his body and in his soul. He burns and transforms evil in suffering, in the fire of his suffering love. The day of vindication and the year of favor converge in the Paschal Mystery, in the dead and Risen Christ. This is the vengeance of God: he himself suffers for us, in the person of his Son. The more deeply stirred we are by the Lord's mercy, the greater the solidarity we feel with his suffering -- and we become willing to complete in our own flesh "what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ" (Col 1:24). 

Let us move on to the second reading, the letter to the Ephesians. Here we see essentially three aspects: first of all, the ministries and charisms in the Church as gifts of the Lord who rose and ascended into heaven; then, the maturing of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God as the condition and content of unity in the Body of Christ; and lastly, our common participation in the growth of the Body of Christ, that is, the transformation of the world into communion with the Lord.

Let us dwell on only two points. The first is the journey towards "the maturity of Christ", as the Italian text says, simplifying it slightly. More precisely, in accordance with the Greek text, we should speak of the "measure of the fullness of Christ" that we are called to attain if we are to be true adults in the faith. We must not remain children in faith, in the condition of minors. And what does it mean to be children in faith? St Paul answers: it means being "tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine" (Eph 4:14). This description is very timely! 

How many winds of doctrine have we known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking. The small boat of the thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves -- flung from one extreme to another: from Marxism to liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism and so forth. Every day new sects spring up, and what St Paul says about human deception and the trickery that strives to entice people into error (cf. Eph 4:14) comes true. 

Today, having a clear faith based on the Creed of the Church is often labeled as fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, that is, letting oneself be "tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine", seems the only attitude that can cope with modern times. We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires. 

We, however, have a different goal: the Son of God, the true man. He is the measure of true humanism. An "adult" faith is not a faith that follows the trends of fashion and the latest novelty; a mature adult faith is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ. It is this friendship that opens us up to all that is good and gives us a criterion by which to distinguish the true from the false, and deceit from truth. 

We must develop this adult faith; we must guide the flock of Christ to this faith. And it is this faith - only faith - that creates unity and is fulfilled in love. 

On this theme, St Paul offers us as a fundamental formula for Christian existence some beautiful words, in contrast to the continual vicissitudes of those who, like children, are tossed about by the waves: make truth in love. Truth and love coincide in Christ. To the extent that we draw close to Christ, in our own lives too, truth and love are blended. Love without truth would be blind; truth without love would be like "a clanging cymbal" (I Cor 13:1). 

Let us now look at the Gospel, from whose riches I would like to draw only two small observations. The Lord addresses these wonderful words to us: "I no longer speak of you as slaves...Instead, I call you friends" (Jn 15:15). We so often feel, and it is true, that we are only useless servants (cf. Lk 17:10). 

Yet, in spite of this, the Lord calls us friends, he makes us his friends, he gives us his friendship. The Lord gives friendship a dual definition. There are no secrets between friends: Christ tells us all that he hears from the Father; he gives us his full trust and with trust, also knowledge. He reveals his face and his heart to us. He shows us the tenderness he feels for us, his passionate love that goes even as far as the folly of the Cross. He entrusts himself to us, he gives us the power to speak in his name: "this is my body...", "I forgive you...". He entrusts his Body, the Church, to us. 

To our weak minds, to our weak hands, he entrusts his truth -- the mystery of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; the mystery of God who "so loved the world that he gave his only Son" (Jn 3:16). He made us his friends -- and how do we respond? 

The second element Jesus uses to define friendship is the communion of wills. For the Romans "Idem velle - idem nolle" [same desires, same dislikes] was also the definition of friendship. "You are my friends if you do what I command you" (Jn 15:14). Friendship with Christ coincides with the third request of the Our Father: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". At his hour in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus transformed our rebellious human will into a will conformed and united with the divine will. He suffered the whole drama of our autonomy -- and precisely by placing our will in God's hands, he gives us true freedom: "Not as I will, but as you will" (Mt 26:39). 

Our redemption is brought about in this communion of wills: being friends of Jesus, to become friends of God. The more we love Jesus, the more we know him, the more our true freedom develops and our joy in being redeemed flourishes. Thank you, Jesus, for your friendship! 

The other element of the Gospel to which I wanted to refer is Jesus' teaching on bearing fruit: "It was I who chose you to go forth and bear fruit. Your fruit must endure" (Jn 15:16). 

It is here that appears the dynamism of the life of a Christian, an apostle: I chose you to go forth. We must be enlivened by a holy restlessness: a restlessness to bring to everyone the gift of faith, of friendship with Christ. Truly, the love and friendship of God was given to us so that it might also be shared with others. We have received the faith to give it to others - we are priests in order to serve others. And we must bear fruit that will endure. 

All people desire to leave a lasting mark. But what endures? Money does not. Even buildings do not, nor books. After a certain time, longer or shorter, all these things disappear. The only thing that lasts forever is the human soul, the human person created by God for eternity. 

The fruit that endures is therefore all that we have sown in human souls: love, knowledge, a gesture capable of touching hearts, words that open the soul to joy in the Lord. So let us go and pray to the Lord to help us bear fruit that endures. Only in this way will the earth be changed from a valley of tears to a garden of God. 

To conclude, let us return once again to the Letter to the Ephesians. The Letter says, with words from Psalm 68, that Christ, ascending into heaven, "gave gifts to men" (Eph 4:8). The victor offers gifts. And these gifts are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Our ministry is a gift of Christ to humankind, to build up his body -- the new world. We live out our ministry in this way, as a gift of Christ to humanity! 

At this time, however, let us above all pray insistently to the Lord that after his great gift of Pope John Paul II, he will once again give us a Pastor according to his own heart, a Pastor who will guide us to knowledge of Christ, to his love and to true joy. Amen.

The Descent

I've been reading some poetry lately, more than usual. It seems to fulfill a need. While there are certainly exceptions, poets seem to be saner than most of us, certainly saner than most modern philosophers, and the best of them have been given a gift of prophecy. Today, given all that's happening in our world, I need a regular dose of sanity, and have therefore turned to a few of my favorite poets.

Poets, of course, are often pessimistic when it comes to the human condition. (This is a gross generality, but it's my blog so I can write such things if I like.) Anyway, two of the poets who have lately grabbed my attention are W. B. Yeats and T. S. Eliot.

Turning the pages of my copy of The Poems of W. B. Yeats, I'd occasionally stop and read a poem that caught my eye. Among these was The Second Coming. Written in 1920, after the wholesale death and destruction of World War One, it foresaw, with prophetic accuracy, what the world would face in the years that followed. Crushed by four years of nightmarish violence, the enlightened pre-war optimism disappeared along with the promising lives of a continent's youth. Expedience trumped morality as human lives became expendable, the means to political ends. The war promised only a bleak future, one that Yeats described in his poem:

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The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre   

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere   

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst   

Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.   

The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out   

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert   

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,   

 gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,   

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it   

Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.   

The darkness drops again; but now I know   

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,   

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,   

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

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W. B. Yeats

Writing almost a century ago, Yeats seemed to recognize that the 20th century would be one of chaos and upheaval such as the world had never seen. Rapid and remarkable scientific and technological progress would hide from many the continuing moral decline and the gradual replacement of religion by scientism in the minds of the elites. God is replaced by man, who finds himself caught between a failed rationality of the Enlightenment and the despair of the postmodernists. 

Closing my book of Yeats' collected poems, I turned to Eliot and amazingly opened right to page 96, the beginning of his long poem, Choruses from "The Rock" (See T. S. Eliot: The Complete Poems and Plays), written not long after Yeats' poem. I've included those opening verses below:

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Choruses from "The Rock"

The Eagle soars in the summit of Heaven,

The Hunter with his dogs pursues his circuit.

О perpetual revolution of configured stars,

О perpetual recurrence of determined seasons,

О world of spring and autumn, birth and dying!

The endless cycle of idea and action,

Endless invention, endless experiment,

Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;

Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;

Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.

All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,

All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,

But nearness to death no nearer to God.

Where is the Life we have lost in living?

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?

Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries

Bring us farther from God and nearer to the Dust.

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T. S. Eliot

Eliot, like Yeats and Chesterton and many others, was a modern prophet who saw clearly what would result from the moral distortions of his time. Read his thoughts on Christian society and culture in Christianity and Culture to get a better understanding of what we face today.  

Yes, as the poets remind us, we are surrounded by the signs of decline. Distracted by the wonders of technology that tell us how very smart we are, we forget that wisdom does not emerge from an integrated circuit. No, wisdom is passed down from one generation to the next through the traditions that today are forgotten, ignored, ridiculed, and suppressed.

We develop cures and preventatives, extending lives by years, even decades, but then slaughter the inconvenient infants in the womb by the tens of millions. Not content with denying life's beginnings, with god-like audacity we kill those approaching its end, the sick and the elderly, and label it "compassion."

We praise humanity's "progress" despite the evidence of a century of totalitarian despotism that destroyed more lives than in all previous human history. And yet, driven by extraordinary hubris, politicians scramble to acquire more power, actually believing they can control the uncontrollable and plan the unplannable.

It's all very disconcerting for those who lack faith. Most just move along in life hoping, at least, to find some ephemeral happiness. But some, far too many today, are driven to the brink of despair and self-destruction. Others find meaning in the extremes of human behavior and cling to ideologies that promise a distorted form of salvation. Satan is very busy in our world today.

Pope Benedict XVI

As I pondered the prophetic words of these poets, I couldn't help but think of the tragic events in Las Vegas. So many in the media and politics scream about controlling guns, the tools used by the man responsible for the carnage. But no one says a word about moral culpability because this would lead to an uncomfortable discussion of morality and truth, two words that have been excised from the popular language. As Pope Benedict XVI reminded us, today our culture is plagued by "a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one’s own ego and one’s own desires.”

No one dares examine the root cause of the Las Vegas tragedy and others like it: the fact that in our society human life has little value. If an unborn child, a human being with a beating heart who can experience pain, is considered disposable because he or she doesn't suit the parents' lifestyle or plans, then why not use violence to promote one's ideology or to satisfy  personal psychological desires? Without God, His commandments, and His gift of faith, there is no morality, there are no limits.

I thank God for my faith, and I do so every day, many times each day. For we were created by a loving God who has given us the freedom and the grace to accept His revealed Truth. But acceptance or rejection is up to us.

We must remember, too, that our loving God -- Father, Son and Spirit -- is the Lord of History and acts in our world through us or in spite of us. His will be done because His will cannot be denied. I encounter too many Christians who fear the future because of what they see in today's world. Such fears must never enter the Christian's heart, for our loving, merciful God has promised salvation to those who love Him. "Be not afraid" is God's constant command to His People, His reminder that He walks with us always. 

God's peace...

Truth and Lies

We live in a world in which encounters with the truth have become increasingly rare. I suppose it's all a symptom of what Pope Benedict XVI called a "dictatorship of relativism" in which everyone can decide on his own truth. In his homily to the Cardinals shortly before the 2005 conclave in which he was elected Vicar of Christ, the then Cardinal Ratzinger said:

"We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one’s own ego and desires."

Agreeing with his predecessor, Pope Francis, speaking to members of the diplomatic corps, stressed the consequences of this sort of misguided thinking:

"But there is no true peace without truth! There cannot be true peace if everyone is his own criterion, if everyone can always claim exclusively his own rights, without at the same time caring for the good of others, of everyone, on the basis of the nature that unites every human being on this earth."

I'm reminded of Pilate's impudent question when, shortly before he sentenced Jesus to death, he asked Him, "What is truth?" [Jn 18:38] Jesus, of course, didn't respond but allowed Pilate to continue in his confusion and ignorance and follow the path that would lead to the fulfillment of the Father's plan. Pilate, no doubt a typical functionary of the Roman Empire, would probably have been quite at home in our 21st-century world.

Some years ago, not long before the beginning of this century, I heard a commencement speaker inform his audience of new college graduates that, "The purpose of education is to find yourself, to learn to believe in yourself, to seek out and capitalize on your strengths, to show the world who you are, to lay the foundation for future success." I may have a word or two wrong, but that's pretty much what he said. It so surprised me that I've never forgotten his comment.

For years I had naively believed that education, indeed, life itself, involved the search for truth. But now I was told that my education had actually been all about me. I just didn't know it. Of course, this revelation came too late for one who, at the time, was only a few years from retirement. But all those young people in the audience that day lapped up every word and no doubt began the lifelong process of creating and polishing a personal brand that would separate them from all the other personal brands out there. As Pope Benedict astutely observed, relativism's "ultimate goal consists solely of one’s own ego and desires."

Unlike those young people -- and I knew a number of them, so I speak from personal experience -- who collected their degrees while bursting with self-esteem, I recall my own spotty education as a remarkably humbling experience. Paradoxically, the more I learned, the more I realized I didn't know. As the knowns grew, the unknowns expanded even more. Ultimately, I came to realize that God's creation was far greater and more complex than anything we could ever imagine. An understanding of just the material universe would always be far beyond us. As for the spiritual universe -- the eternal habitat of angelic beings, the realm of God Himself -- we know virtually nothing. Yes, it's all very humbling.

But I digress. I had intended to write about other things when I began this post; and so I will get to it.

Watching the world go by I am constantly amazed by so many inexplicable things that people say and do. I realize that I, too, am not always rational, and that I can shade the truth with the best of them, but the things I do are unlikely to make the headlines. Anyway, it's much more fun to question the words and deeds of others. For example...

Salvation. The other day, at the Soup Kitchen, I was asked by one of our guests, who attends a very fundamentalist church, whether I was saved. I'm always a bit surprised when asked this question, something that happens rather often, and I usually respond with, "Yes, I certainly hope so, and I continue to work on it, trusting in God's mercy." For some reason this response tends to confuse those who ask the question since they are so sure of their salvation and I suppose expect me to be equally convinced of mine. This time, however, I turned to Scripture [Phil 2:12] and said, "Like St. Paul I'm working out my salvation in fear and trembling. I suggest all Christians do the same." She said nothing more to me.

Abraham's Ratio. A few months ago, while chatting with a parishioner before our weekly Bible Study, he rattled off a litany of woes plaguing our nation and then added, "I'm afraid the USA is doomed." The truth is, he's not alone in his belief. Have you ever felt helpless in the face of evil? Surrounded by all the strangeness in our world today, it's easy to understand how individuals, good people, can feel powerless. The culture of death seems to be burrowing more deeply into our society. Our government, a government that once protected the religious freedom of citizens, is now suppressing that right in the name of a lie called political correctness. In much of the world Christians are being persecuted and martyred in numbers that exceed anything experienced in 2,000 years of history. The woes go on and on.

Whenever I detect these signs of despair in my own heart, whenever I begin to fear for the future of our country and our world, I turn to Genesis 18 to remind myself of Abraham's Ratio, and the power of intercessory prayer. It's in this wonderful passage that we discover the extent of God's mercy. He would spare the sinful city of Sodom if only ten righteous and holy people could be found among the population. And so God not only teaches that a few holy people can make a very big difference, but He also reminds us that, like the prayer of Abraham, our prayer, too, has an impact [Gen 18:16-33].

Veterans, Bureaucrats and Politicians. The problems within the Veterans Administration are not that fault of the current director, or any of the past directors, since none of these men could really have much of an impact on the functioning of such a huge bureaucracy. The problems all result from the simple fact that the VA is a perfect example of socialized medicine at work. If you want to see how a single-payer healthcare system will function, simply look at the VA. For decades politicians of every stripe have done what they do best and simply thrown money at the VA with little to show for it, except the creation of more federal bureaucrats who will support them at the polls.

In truth, the VA is really a quasi-Marxist organization, one that places crucial, life and death decision-making in the hands of bureaucrats who are protected from the consequences of their own incompetence. I have no doubt that there are many good and competent people working at the VA, but it takes only a small percentage of incompetent or unethical managers and supervisors to create a largely dysfunctional organization. And when upper management is driven by a set of metrics that replaces human beings with numbers, the result will be anything but healthcare. For example, one of our soup kitchen guests, a low-income Vietnam-era veteran who is almost blind because of cataracts, has finally been scheduled for the rather simple procedure to correct the problem. It took the VA only four years to approve it.

As for Congress and the executive branch, neither really cares much about veterans. They might talk about us a lot, but they've never really done anything about these problems and likely never will. After all, how long has the VA been dysfunctional? (Answer: since it was created back in 1930.) You see, deep down, the vast majority of politicians neither understands nor likes the military. Indeed, many see the military as a threat, as a weapon that might be turned against them. They project these motives because if it were in their power, they would politicize the military and use it against their own internal political opponents, much as they have done with other federal organizations like the IRS and FBI.

It's a sad situation, but just a symptom of what happens when a significant percentage of the citizens of a representative republic slouch into laziness and realize politicians will do just about anything for their votes.
Memorial Day. For many today is no more than a convenient holiday, a day to kick-off the summer, a day for barbecues and beer, a day for sales at the mall or a deal on a new car. I would hope, though, that most Americans recognize today as a day of remembrance, a day when we offer thanks for those who sacrificed their lives so you and I can enjoy the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution these men swore to preserve and protect. It's on this day that I especially recall those men whom I knew and with whom I served, forever-young men who made the ultimate sacrifice. Today I remember Henry Wright and my eight other Naval Academy classmates who died in Vietnam. I remember Ron Zinn, my brother's West Point roommate who gave his life in that same conflict. Yes, I remember them and many others, too many to name here, who will never be forgotten as long as we celebrate their lives every Memorial Day.

If you've never visited one of our 131 National Cemeteries, take some time to do so today. As a deacon who lives in Sumter County, Florida, the home of the National Cemetery at Bushnell, I have the privilege of conducting occasional committal services at that cemetery. I never tire of these visits. I never tire of hearing those haunting 24 notes of Taps. I never tire of the crack of the rifles that salute the fallen. I never tire of gazing on row after row of white headstones. And when you visit, take a child with you so the memory of these heroes will live on.

More on Europe...

Last week was particularly busy, leaving me little time for the blog or any of the other activities I actually enjoy. Interesting how one's expectations for retirement differ so greatly from the reality. But I suppose this is true of most human endeavors. Yesterday evening, for example, I opened Pope Benedict's book, Europe Today and Tomorrow, (written in 2004) and came across this prescient comment: "For politicians of all parties the obvious thing to do today is to promise changes -- of course, changes for the better."

And yet how often do those promised changes actually lead to the betterment of human life? We, the people, because we've bought into all the promises and the expectations, convince ourselves that we're unhappy with the status quo and embrace change. But, of course, every change carries with it unexpected consequences that more often than not degrade our condition. This is one reason why I'm fairly conservative: I know I'm not smart enough -- and I really don't believe anyone else is either -- to manage forced societal change and all its consequences effectively. Socialists have tried it. Communists have tried it. Fascists have tried it. And they've all failed.

Since the end of World War I, Europe, both East and West, has been the proving ground for these failed experiments in change. In truth, I suppose it all really began with the French Revolution with its cry for "Liberté, égalité, fraternité." Talk about unmet expectations! Yes, the French people certainly had liberty, equality and fraternity. Operated by a perverse form of fraternal love, the guillotine, that equal opportunity killer, liberated large numbers of citizens from their earthly lives. Another reason I'm thankful I was born here and not in France. (In a wonderful book, Ideas Have Consequences, 1948, Richard Weaver traces it all back even further, to the nominalism of the 13th-century English Franciscan, William of Ockham.)

Back to WWI...That devastating and so unnecessary war dimmed the enthusiasm spawned by the Enlightenment, an enthusiasm for rational man as the measure of all things, an enthusiasm that dismissed the divine and transcendent as meaningless when it came to human affairs. Faced by the devastation of that war, confidence in man's ability to solve all the world's problems ebbed. Rational man suddenly seemed little better than primitive man. It's no accident that the war's resulting crisis in faith and reason led to the totalitarianism that brought us an even more devastating war. It also brought an open and undisguised rejection of God. Religion was (and still is) seen as nothing less than a form of slavery, as the greatest obstacle to true human freedom. The folks who believe this are the same people who run the show at the European Union, the same folks who wrote the EU Constitution that, when addressing the roots of European democracy and law, dismissed the influence of 1,500 years of Christianity without a single word. -- a remarkable sin of omission. (If you want to understand better Christianity's forming influence on Europe, I can recommend no better book than Christopher Dawson's The Making of Europe, first published in 1932 but still relevant.)

Most Europeans have happily gone along with the politics of change. They accepted the idea of cradle to grave governmental control of their lives, demanding more and more "benefits" while disregarding the costs. As costs skyrocket, and productivity nosedives, and the tax base disappears, and the people demand more, and the politicians finally must face reality....we find ourselves in modern-day Greece, probably the prototype of the rest of Europe and perhaps the USA.

And so we're left today with a strange Europe, one seemingly afflicted by several maladies. It suffers from a form of historical amnesia in which it represses any memory of the creative force that actually formed Europe: Christianity, and in particular, the Catholic Church. Equally damaging, Europe seems to be committing demographic suicide. Birthrates in most European nations have fallen well below the population replacement rates. The people have apparently fully embraced the contraceptive mentality, one that views pregnancy as a disease and children as obstacles to the good life. And as its population dwindles, Europe will only experience an ever growing need for immigrant workers, one that the Islamic world is only too happy to satisfy. And as you might guess, the birthrates among Muslim immigrants is very high.

How are the Europeans handling this crisis? Simply by ignoring it. The average European pays obeisance to a new dictatorship, what Pope Benedict calls the "dictatorship of relativism." In his words, "We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires." Compared to the European totalitarianisms of the twentieth century, it's a far more subtle form of dictatorship. It's a dictatorship the people, driven by a combination of selfishness and laziness, willingly encourage and accept. They have turned away from their faith, turned away from the truth. But like all dictatorships it won't last long. Demographics will soon transform it into something else. Our grandchildren may actually live to see a Europe ruled by Sharia law. What Suleiman the Magnificent failed to accomplish at Lepanto with his huge fleet and tens of thousands of Muslim warriors, immigrant workers may well accomplish simply by knocking at the door.

This is why the New Evangalization, championed by Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, is so important today. As Christians we must evangelize our own. We must bring Christ to those among us who have rejected the faith of their fathers, to those who have lost their way amidst the confusions of our modern world, to those who struggle to see through the darkness that has settled all around them. The fathers of the Second Vatican Council, in their "Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity" (Apostolicam Actuasitatem), wrote:

"They [the laity] exercise the apostolate in fact by their activity directed to the evangelization and sanctification of men and to the penetrating and perfecting of the temporal order through the spirit of the Gospel. In this way, their temporal activity openly bears witness to Christ and promotes the salvation of men. Since the laity, in accordance with their state of life, live in the midst of the world and its concerns, they are called by God to exercise their apostolate in the world like leaven, with the ardor of the spirit of Christ." [Apostolicam Actuositatem, 2]

The politicians won't save Europe from itself since they're a major part of the problem. If Europe is to be saved, it will be saved by the same force that created it, the Church -- and that's all of us.

It Ain't Over...Yet

A week ago I wrote about Professor Ken Howell who had been fired by the University of Illinois at Champaign for explaining Catholic teaching on homosexuality and homosexual activity while teaching a course on -- you guessed it -- Catholic teaching. (Click here for my earlier post.) One student apparently made an anonymous complaint, and that was all the university needed to dismiss Professor Howell. It seems, then, that the Church's magisterial teaching on moral issues has, for this publicly funded university, become hate speech.

Well, it seems the story's not over. The Diocese of Peoria has stated that it will meet with university officials on Tuesday to discuss Professor Howell's termination as an adjunct professor. As I recall from earlier coverage of this story, Howell was receiving some legal assistance on this matter since it is clearly a violation of both his constitutional rights and of academic freedom. The threat of legal action just might have encouraged the university to revisit its unjust action and discuss it with the diocese. According to a diocesan spokesperson, “The Diocese has had direct contact with the President of the University of Illinois, who has reiterated that academic freedom is at the core of their teaching and he is willing to have a review of this action so that all the details related to this situation can be investigated..” That's certainly encouraging, and we hope Professor Howell will again be teaching at the university. I'll keep you informed.

Click here to read the latest on the upcoming meeting between the Diocese of  Peoria and the university. And keep Professor Howell in your prayers.

Blessings...

Dictatorship of Relativism: an Addendum

Just a brief follow-up to my previous post on Professor Ken Howell and his unjust experience with the University of Illinois. If you would like to read what Pope Benedict has to say about the latest form of totalitarianism, the dictatorship of relativism, then read his homily delivered on 18 April 2005, at the beginning of the conclave of the College of Cardinals that ultimately elected him. It's an absolutely wonderful homily: Cardinal Ratzinger's Homily.

Here it comes...

Well, folks, brace yourselves for the imminent arrival of the dictatorship of relativism. It's already made an appearance in academia, leaving intellectual and moral wreckage in its wake, and it won't be too long before it plows through the workplace and even the family home.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, today's relativists are not susceptible to logical arguments. Truth and justice mean absolutely nothing to them because they see these concepts as tools to be manipulated and changed as necessary to further their immediate agenda, whatever it happens to be. Here's the latest example of relativists at work in our nation, in this instance at the University of Illinois in Champaign.

Professor Ken Howell, a convert to Catholicism and a former Presbyterian minister, has taught courses on the Catholic faith and the Catholic intellectual tradition at the university for years. Recently, however, he was fired because he actually had the nerve to explain Catholic teaching on homosexuality and homosexual acts during one of his courses. His comments, which were stated in terms of natural law and utilitarianism, were apparently too much for the university's Office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Concerns. (Doesn't it just warm your heart that Illinois tax dollars are spent to maintain this office?) In other words, Professor Howell was fired for explaining Catholic teaching in a course whose subject matter is Catholic teaching. What a country! Academic freedom and first amendment rights to free speech apparently mean little when the subject of your speech conflicts with the current political correctness.

If you want to read more about Professor Howell, including a clear and concise statement by Howell himself, click on this link: Catholic Professor Fired for Being Catholic. And if you want to see Professor Howell's academic qualifications for yourself, just visit his page (not yet removed) on the University of Illinois website and then click on his curriculum vitae (in MS Word format).

Pray for our nation.

Natural Law...Who Cares?

It's becoming increasingly apparent that we live in a age of relativism, an age in which the only objective truth is that there is no truth. (Of course there's an inherent contradiction here, but that doesn't seem to bother those who believe it.)

While it's true that not everyone has succumbed to this belief, virtually all of our self-anointed enlightened progressives -- that is, the movers and shakers in the media, government, and higher education -- have bought into this way of thinking. For them the very idea of natural law, the law that St. Paul tells us God has written on the hearts of all men [Rom 2:15], is something that should have been left behind in the Middle Ages. For them, my "truth" is no more valid than anyone else's "truth." Indeed, if my truth is hostile to their truth then my truth becomes less than truth; it becomes hate speech. On the other hand, their truth, no matter how hateful, can never fall into this category because they are, after all, the enlightened ones.

Lest you think this is just an academic discussion, you need only consider the path our society has followed over the past few decades when it comes to abortion, homosexual activity, premarital sex. If you're over 40 you have seen this first-hand. And don't think this change in society's attitudes has affected only sexual morality. If a politician or public figure doesn't pay his taxes, well...that's okay because he's one of the enlightened who believes and says all the right things. It's affecting all areas of moral life.

The real concern, though, and it's something we're already starting to experience in this nation, is that some in our government want to punish those who believe in objective truth and are courageous enough to express their beliefs publicly. According to these self-appointed thought watchdogs, there are some things -- homosexuality, for example -- that one simply should not be allowed to criticize. This is a symptom of what Pope Benedict has called "the dictatorship of relativism" and, sadly, far too many Catholics have bought into this and refuse to confront such errors with the truth.

I'm certainly not the best person to address this subject, and so I will refer you to another excellent commentary by Deacon Keith Fournier on Catholic Online. Deacon Keith's article, "The 'Two Step' of the New Censors. A Threat to Catholics?" is a thoughtful and timely discussion of what we as Catholics face and the need to catechize our brothers and sisters in faith.

And if you'd like to delve into natural law more deeply, I suggest reading Russell Hittinger's book, The First Grace, published by ISI Books, or 50 Questions on the Natural Law by Charles Rice and published by Ignatius Press.

Pray for strength and trust in the face of persecution.

God's peace...

Pious Pessimism

Most of my friends and acquaintances are unabashed optimists. Despite the evidence that their world is changing rapidly and in ways they can't possibly predict, they seem to believe it will all turn out okay. In their minds the current unpleasantness is merely a short-term societal blip, and if we only hang in there, the world will right itself and in a few years return to normalcy. They say things like, "Hey, the stock market's on the way back up. Things are looking better..." or "Did you see how the Germans re-elected that conservative woman?"

I, on the other hand, am not so confident. Indeed, I believe that what we are seeing, both in our country and throughout the world, is the inexorable movement of an unthinking and malleable population in the direction of 21st century liberalism.

This post-modern form of liberalism is quite different from that of the 18th and 19th century, the liberalism of our founding fathers, and that of Locke and Mill. These men all recognized that their liberalism could easily evolve into very un-liberal ideologies if politicians were allowed to function unchecked. That's why our founders created a system of government with built-in checks and balances. Of course, they can hardly be faulted for not anticipating the clever ways we have been able to rationalize our disregard for these brakes on runaway government. Encouraged by a supportive media, a compliant and creative judiciary, career-focused legislators, and a "bread and circuses" constituency, today's liberal has moved into completely uncharted territory. Not satisfied to take control of the economy, he also demands control of the way people live their daily lives, all done in the name of liberality.

Unborn babies can be murdered in the womb because...well, it's convenient to do so. If someone wants to do it, it must be okay. "Homosexual marriage" (now there's an oxymoron for you) is fine because there are people who think it's fine. The elderly, the ill, the handicapped -- all those non-productive folks -- can be freed from their low quality lives and sent mercifully into oblivion because doing so will just make it a whole lot better for the rest of us. Isn't the post-modern liberal mind a beautiful thing to behold?

Political correctness is enforced, not legally (yet), but in ways that can cost people their jobs and their reputations. Driven by what Pope Benedict calls a "dictatorship of relativism", truth is no longer acceptable if it bruises the ego of another. Speaking the truth, then, has become the mortal sin of today's liberal, a development easily rationalized by his belief that there is no such thing as objective truth...except, of course, for this very belief. In the same way, any sort of religious orthodoxy -- that is, anything that actually includes a religious creed and a moral code -- becomes a form of "fundamentalism" whose adherents must be ignored, re-educated or suppressed. Not long ago a Methodist minister, after I alluded to my strong support for the pope, jokingly (half-jokingly?) said, "Oh, so you're one of those fundamentalist Catholics?"

I view all of this, and so much more, as evidence that our new global society, if I can call it that, is moving rapidly in the direction of liberal totalitarianism. I cannot see how any political force, except perhaps another less subtle form of totalitarianism, can stop this movement. I believe that the only solution, the only way to escape this worse than Orwellian future, is for us as a people to return to piety and holiness, to return to Christ and the Church He founded, the Church that continues to be inspired and led by the Holy Spirit. The only answer, then, is Jesus Christ and His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. And the task facing the Church is a task that all of us must accept. In the words of Pope Benedict at the Mass celebrated with the College of Cardinals before he was elected, "So let us go and pray to the Lord to help us bear fruit that endures. Only in this way will the earth be changed from a valley of tears to a garden of God."

Let us all go and pray and bear fruit...