Do Believers Have Their Act Together?

I vividly recall when, as a kid, I learned that a priest who was popular nationally for his ultra-traditionalist, anti-Semitic radio broadcasts, was excommunicated by the Catholic Church for insisting that non-Catholics could not be “saved.”

At the time, this news confused me because I thought that’s what we learned in the Catholic school I attended. Later in life, I better understood the church teaching on the subject but still believe the teaching is ambivalent and misunderstood by many Catholics, let alone non-Catholics.

On the one hand, Fr. Feeney’s view confirms the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John that “No one can come to the Father except through me.” On the other, the church attempts to explain how non-Catholics can enter God’s kingdom with the esoteric doctrine of the “baptism of desire.”

“Seeks the Truth”

“Every man who is ignorant of the gospel of Christ and of his Church,” says the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity.”

So now along comes Pope Francis, who recently said during an interreligious meeting at Catholic Junior College in Singapore, that religions are “like different languages in order to arrive at God, but God is God for all. And if God is God for all, then we are all sons and daughters of God.

“But,” he continued, “‘my God is more important than your God!’ Is that true? There’s only one God, and each of us has a language, so to speak, in order to arrive at God.”

A Firestorm

These comments caused a firestorm among some Catholics, such as Charles Chaput, retired archbishop of Philadelphia, who wrote: “To suggest, even loosely, that Catholics walk a more or less similar path to God as other religions drains martyrdom of its meaning. Why give up your life for Christ when other paths may get us to the same God?”

So, how is this sectarian squabble relevant for people searching for God?

First, it illustrates that we believers don’t have our act together. But among other things, the differences in opinion result from apparent contradictions in the Bible. Jesus, for instance, also said things like, “In my Father’s house there are many mansions,” and “I have other sheep not of this flock,” both also from John’s gospel and often interpreted to mean that Jesus came for all people, not just the Jews or his group of disciples.

Not Like Dictating to a Secretary

I’m confident that competent Scripture scholars could go a long way in resolving these apparent contradictions. Still, I doubt if all of them can be resolved. Ultimately, we have to accept that the Bible was written by people of a different age, using different languages and different literary forms. And though inspired by God, authoring the Bible obviously wasn’t a process similar to dictating to a secretary. Some parts of the Bible are confusing, even for scholars.

For people searching for God as Catholics or in other Christian traditions, I recommend the words of the Pope rather than those of the archbishop. To me, what the Pope said sounds more like what Jesus would say.

As for non-Christians, you already know that what the Catholic Church teaches – though undoubtedly helpful in the search for God – is not essential in your search for God.

Father Feeney, by the way, reconciled with the Church before his death.