It usually happens when I’m at a party with lots of drinking and laughter. One fellow starts joking about dumb haoles. As the cracks get crueler, other guests look nervously at me. “Not you, Kathy,” they assure me. “You’re different.” That bothers me somewhat. I’m just as representative of the white race as whichever Caucasian annoys them. When you talk stink about haoles, you’re talking stink about me.
I feel the same way when I hear people belittle the church. If I object, they say, “Oh not you. I’m talking about those mean nuns (or abusive priests or corrupt cardinals).” But I’m just as Catholic as Pope Francis. St. Paul taught that we are all part of one body, and we’re all are equally necessary (1 Corinthians 12:12-26). There are roughly 2 billion Catholics but only about 1 million clergy and religious. So who is more typical, me or Bishop Larry?
Sometimes critics of Catholicism go beyond the sins of the clergy. One claims that Catholics care more about Mary than Jesus or that we worship idols. Another says that Catholic teaching on birth control condemns millions to poverty and AIDS. Yet another believes that the church treats women like second class citizens.
A little Catholic theology clears up the confusion over Mary and the saints. We who love the church can mention the United Nations report that says the Catholic Church is the largest private provider of AIDS care in the world. We might mention that U.S. Catholics donate $8 billion annually to fight poverty, illness and injustice here at home. As for the role of women, what parish could survive without us?
The birth control question is more complex. Church teaching on this subject is clear and consistent. Pope Francis has said that contraception is just one aspect of a larger issue. For years, the church has warned that the secular world promotes a distorted view of human sexuality in which intimacy is just about physical sensation. The church’s teaching on marriage is far more respectful of human sexuality than the latest beer commercial or R-rated movie.
The Holy Spirit speaks to Catholics through the church’s teaching office, and we are bound to receive that teaching with an open mind and heart. He also speaks directly to individual souls. The church acknowledges the primacy of the individual, informed conscience on any moral issue. Ultimately, each Catholic must make her own personal decision on how to best love God, family and neighbor.
The church can’t force her members to do, or refrain from doing, anything. There’s no Vatican police force reporting what goes on in our businesses, schools and homes. No eucharistic minister withholds communion from suspected heretics. No hospitality minister closes the door to sinners. The church might censure or even excommunicate a member, but she cannot cut off a baptized Christian from the Body of Christ. Only our sinful pride can do that.
In defending the church, supporters sometimes distinguish between good or practicing Catholics and bad or lapsed Catholics. I’m uncomfortable with that distinction. I remember how many saints were initially labeled bad or dangerous Catholics. Yet who is more Catholic than Ignatius Loyola or Joan of Arc? Nor can we say that sinning proves you’re not really Catholic. Many saints were raised Catholic but led shabby lives until their spiritual conversion. Some had difficult personalities or made serious errors even after their spiritual awakening.
I can’t say that loud, insensitive boor isn’t really haole, and I can’t say some crooked politician or scandal-prone celebrity isn’t really Catholic. We’re all sinners, and we are the church.
Kathleen welcomes comments. Send them to Kathleen Choi, 1706 Waianuenue Ave., Hilo, HI 96720, or e-mail: kathchoi@hawaii.rr.com.
