Care not killing

Care not Killing campaigns against euthanasiaand advocates for better pallaiative care for terminally people. I have created a link to their website. See sidebar for link.
 

Catholicism v Nationalism 2

In the last post of this title, I expressed concern over the history of Croatian Catholicism and its identification with extreme nationalism, manifested in acts and behaviour that demonstrate not a love for one's country alone, but applied hatred for those who are neither Croatian nor Catholic.
The history of Croatia during World War 2 and the atrocities committed are well documented.
Equally, it is true that Archbishop Stepinac suffered under the post-War communist regime and suffered because of his faith. However, he was also the senior churchman in Croatia during the brutal reign of the Ustashe, a group of people so  evil they even managed to sicken the Nazis.
Whether or not Stepinac actively supported  the Ustashe, his failure to openly and robustly reject and condemn them stands against him. It is highly probable that elements of Catholic clergy were vigorous supporters as we have seen with Serbian Orthodox clergy both during the Balkan and Kosovo wars. 
Archbishop Stepinac was not martyred for his faith, he was imprisoned and, no doubt, suffered. But, the question arises: if he was prepared to oppose and suffer by standing against the ruthless Communist authorities, why did he not stand openly against the Fascist Croatians?
Perhaps the answer lies in the unholy mixture of Catholicism and Nationalism. The Communists were not only anti-Catholic but had as a basic tenet of their system the eradication of religion. Stepinac therefore was right to oppose this in support of his faith and his flock. However, the evil
of the Ustashe was cloaked in the Catholic Faith. These brutal murderers were Catholic and probably fervent in their faith. Though what understanding of Catholic Christianity allows the brutality and oppression they committed is quite baffling.
So, the malign mixture of faith and nationalism tainted the Catholic Church and compromised Archbishop Stepinac. We are the Church of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the World. When we narrow that idea down to a particular nation or political system, right or left, we reject all that the Church and Scripture teach us about God's love. We take that beautiful and noble idea and drag it through the dirt for political power or national pride. We create a Via Dolorosa that ends in a new Calvary.

Southern Sudan

Sudan has been riven by division and civil war for 20 years. Next month Southern Sudan is set to become an independent state. The largely Christian country will have to begin almost from scratch to build an economy and a social structure for the governance of the country. Northern Sudan military forces are still posing a threat to the South. There is clearly a long way to go before independence becomes a solid reality. An article from Zenit here gives further background.
There is a real need for prayer in support of Christians and others in Southern Sudan who have undergone years of persecution and still have a long journey ahead of them to be truly free.

Supporting small business: Cafod campaign

Cafod is running a campaign to encourage the Government to support the development of small businesses in developing countries through International Development funds. For further info and to add your name to the petition to Andrew Mitchell, Development Secretary, contact Cafod at this link cafod.org.uk/business

Nationalism and Catholicism

See here Cranmer has a post on his blog today about the Pope's visit to Croatia and his urging of that country to join the EU despite fierce opposition around the loss of national identity. Read the post for a well informed analysis.
My issue is about some points raised in the post about Croatian Catholicism and Croatian  nationalism, if it is possible to seperate the two in practice. Given the history of Croatia during World War 2 and the more recent events in the wars in Yugoslavia in the eigthies and the atrocious ways in which "fervent" Catholics treated their enemies, armed and unarmed, the question arises about the nature and the influence of Croatian Catholicism. Going back even farther to World War 1, we have the Vatican encouraging the "Catholic Austro-Hungarian Empire in attacks on Orthodox Serbia, leading to religious and ethnic cleansing and, of course, the Great War itself. The kind of nationalism that has bedevilled(interesting word) the Balkans is extreme and dangerous. It is easy to absorb a religious faith into it, particularly when your enemies have a different faith as the Orthodox Serbs have. But in conflating the two, inevitably the nationalism proves stronger and re-defines the faith to support its pupose. Catholicism or Orthodoxy should never be so strongly identified with any nation. Faith and religion transcend national boundaries, they are universal. If we forget that we find ourselves needing to paraphrase Mme. Roland facing execution in revolutionary Paris:"O religion, what crimes are committed in thy name."


So,for the Vatican is it not only a question of my country right or wrong but also Catholic right or wrong? And is the Pope now  running the risk of identifying with and seeming to support some very unhealthy and un-Christian understanding of what Catholic means.
The Pope will pray at the tomb of "Blessed" Archbishop Stepinac, who was created Blessed by Pope John Paul 11 after his persecution and suffering during the post-war Communist regime in Yugoslavia. There remain however great uncertainties about his role during World War 2 and his links to and support of the facist Ustashe who undoubtedly were every bit as bad as the Nazis in their persecutory zeal.
A difficult visit then and one that might have been better avoided. They say never talk about politics and religion. The Vatican needs to get better at seperating the two.

Are you a natural........

In Mark's Gospel (Mark 8: 1-10) we have the feeding of the four thousand by Jesus with just seven loaves and a few fish. As with the feeding of the five thousand where Jesus uses five loaves and two fish, we are given an account of Jesus miraculously using what he had in order to feed all those present, with the disciples later collecting baskets full of leftovers. Generations of Christians have taken this at face value and marveled at the power and generosity of God at work in Jesus. What you would call a supernatural explanation. But this account is not interpreted in this way by everyone and, as such, acts as a dividing point between what you might call the naturals and the supernaturals. There are those who now promote a type of Gospel which excludes to a large degree any element of the supernatural, denying the miraculous events in the Gospel by re-interpreting them in a natural and human context. And so for example we have the well known modern version of the above Gospel passage where the multiplication of bread and fishes has nothing to do with the sovereign power of God ministering to the needs of his children, but is to do with the crowd being so overcome by generosity and compassion at somebody handing over their own bread and fishes that they immediately share out all they have, rather than scoff it themselves. This is the natural explanation. Human beings, of themselves, are capable of casting off the limits of their humanity and all they need is an inspiring lead to encourage them to do so. No need for divine intervention, no need for salvation; no need for anything other than a positive lead from an inspiring human being. So Jesus becomes a " good man" and an inspiring teacher, both of which he was; but the power of God acting directly into his own Creation,out of  compassion, through his Son in human form has no part.
We are capable of being so much more than we think if only....... In this version we do not follow Christ as the Son of God, but as an inspiring human teacher.
Of course, once you remove the supernatural from the miracles and they are downgraded to pious, inspirational tales then you have to think about the other supernatural elements of Christian belief. What about the Virgin Birth, what about Resurrection? What about the Precious Blood and the Body of Christ present at every Mass? Are these real and, if so, miraculous and supernatural; or are they just human creations that we find helpful? Have we created them to make sense of life and our experience, to give it meaning and hope?
The Church has many opposing groups: conservative and modern, traditional and liberal etc. but the fundamental question is are you a natural or a supernatural? The two are radically and irreconcilably opposed. As Jesus said " You cannot serve God and Mammon". One is true, the other a wicked and dangerous heresy.

Never too old

I've just read an article in the paper about some research done on church attendance. The research suggests that the decline in church attendance has something to do with the fact that as a population we are healthier, live longer and, therefore, are less pre-occupied with death and the need to think of life after death. On this basis, it says, the young will not be interested  in religion and the other end of the age spectrum is where we need to pitch our evangelisation efforts. There is reference to the Cof E and its efforts to use "street cred" approaches with young people without too much success. There are, obviously far more complex reasons for decline in membership of churches, and far more complex reasons than fear of death for making a committment to a life of faith; but there may be something useful here.

There is, rightly, an emphasis on "youth" in catechesis and recruitment but, sometimes  it seems, to the detriment of older people. The Church, naturally, thinks of the next generation but there are vast numbers of retired people who are not believers or certainly not practitioners. They are the people who need to  hear the Gospel just as much as the young. Their need to accept their salvation through Jesus Christ is just as necessary as that of a teenager with a long life ahead. And the bonus is that such people would have time to attend Church more frequently, to participate in parish life and work and would , hopefully, be able to offer an example to younger members of their families.

Perhaps those responsible for the Diocesan evangelisation strategy should think about this.

This is what Psalm 91 says about the usefulness of the old:
                                        "The just will flourish like the palm tree
                                          and grow like a Lebanon cedar......
                                          still bearing fruit when they are old,
                                          still full of sap, still green......