Wednesday, November 6, 2013

The future lies in engaging with the secular world

An extract from a piece written by Dermot Lane. The full text is on the ACP site.

More great writing. Intelligent man.

6. Pope Francis has also retrieved the meaning of what is involved in thinking with the Church: “When the dialogue among the people and the bishops and the Pope goes down this road and is genuine, then it is assisted by the Holy Spirit”. In this way Francis has retrieved the importance of the sensus fidelium as intrinsic to the teaching-mission of the Church
7. The crisis of faith in Ireland today is far more serious than most Church leaders recognise. This crisis of faith is not something that began with the revelations around child sexual abuse. This crisis of faith had begun prior to the revelations of abuse and the inadequate response of ecclesiastical authorities through the failure of the church to come to grips with the winds of modernity. Modernity arrived in Ireland almost overnight to challenge a church that seemed immune to the challenges of modernity
This crisis of faith will not be resolved by condemning secularisation, or demonising the secular, or berating the ways of the world. The only way forward out of this crisis of faith is by engaging with the secular world as proposed by Gaudium et Spes, by initiating a dialogue between faith and the public square in Ireland, and by attending to “the unquiet frontiers of modernity” (Charles Taylor). Addressing this crisis of faith will also require social and cultural analysis of what exactly is happening in modern Ireland today. In this way faith will be able to find positive points of contact with the secular ( eg, the turn to mindfulness, the search for well-being/wellnes, the quest for the spiritual…) while critiquing the negative aspects of the secular. This analysis will need the help of the arts, philosophy and theology. It is far from clear that the current methods of the new evangelisation in Ireland are sufficient to the task of addressing the crisis of faith.

1 comment:

windmill said...

Rubbish.
My faith is as it was taught me by my parent.
The church on the other hand bears no resemblance to the christianity I was brought up with and to which the bible has been my guide.
I possess zero faith in the catholic church today as the church retains zero authority in all and every spiritual matter. The catholic church is a sham full of pomp and ceremony and is rife with criminality.

The church's consistent actions in protection of the pedophile, for generation after generation, for profit; is unforgivable.
Jesus suggested a clear and concise action be considered when dealing with those who would interfere with children and 'His' church has opted instead to follow the road to perdition, a route to evil.

It is laughable to watch Rome squirm in its denial. The sooner the Pope deals with the true reality the better and by that I mean, shut down the whole evil entity that is the catholic church.
Shut it down now, today, and give up yer aul sins.
Whited sepulchers wouldn't get a look in.

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