- Feb 5, 2002
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...who exclude themselves
Our Catholic World News report tells the story: New Synod document calls for a more inclusive Church. The problem, of course, is that the Catholic Church is already as inclusive as any organization for “believers” can actually be. A century ago, Anglicans who observed the incredible diversity of ethnicities and social backgrounds in the Catholic Church used to joke that she is the rather distressing Church of “here comes everybody.” Catholicism is already inclusive of all kinds of people—men, women, and children, no matter what their ethnicity, nationality, state in life, and position in society, no matter what their (moral) profession or job, and no matter what they have believed or done in the past.
If anyone commits to the Church as she is structured in accordance with her teachings, that person is warmly welcomed and eagerly included.
In other words, the only bar to entering the Church is refusing to accept what the Church is. Those who join themselves to her must recognize that she is the body and bride of Jesus Christ, and therefore must accept the reality of the graces she imparts, the Divine mandate of her constitutional structure, the truth of her doctrines, the validity of her sacramental ministry, and the authority she possesses to articulate without error the moral commands of Almighty God. The only impediments to a more inclusive Church, then, lie in the hearts and minds of those who reject her teachings. For example, consider those who are often regarded as somehow “excluded” from full participation in the Church:
Continued below.
Inclusive Church, uncertain trumpet
Our Catholic World News report tells the story: New Synod document calls for a more inclusive Church. The problem, of course, is that the Catholic Church is already as inclusive as any organization for “believers” can actually be. A century ago, Anglicans who observed the incredible diversity of ethnicities and social backgrounds in the Catholic Church used to joke that she is the rather distressing Church of “here comes everybody.” Catholicism is already inclusive of all kinds of people—men, women, and children, no matter what their ethnicity, nationality, state in life, and position in society, no matter what their (moral) profession or job, and no matter what they have believed or done in the past.
If anyone commits to the Church as she is structured in accordance with her teachings, that person is warmly welcomed and eagerly included.
In other words, the only bar to entering the Church is refusing to accept what the Church is. Those who join themselves to her must recognize that she is the body and bride of Jesus Christ, and therefore must accept the reality of the graces she imparts, the Divine mandate of her constitutional structure, the truth of her doctrines, the validity of her sacramental ministry, and the authority she possesses to articulate without error the moral commands of Almighty God. The only impediments to a more inclusive Church, then, lie in the hearts and minds of those who reject her teachings. For example, consider those who are often regarded as somehow “excluded” from full participation in the Church:
Continued below.
Inclusive Church, uncertain trumpet
