A Critical Analysis of the Heart of Catholicism - Essay Example

A Critical Analysis of the Heart of Catholicism Though ‘Catholicism’ has diversely been interpreted by prominent theologians and scholars, it pivots on several crucial basics of beliefs and practices such as spiritual union with the Holy See of Rome, devout obligation to the sacraments and religious traditions, and to religious authorities such as the Bishop, churches, etc. Catholicism looks upon these religious authorities as the mediation between God and a devout Christian. Perceptibly at the heart of Catholicism lies a rigid sense of institutionalism, a strong commitment to the religious authorities, rituals and practices. For salvation and redemption, people need to gather around the bishop since he is the true descendant of God and, therefore, of Jesus. In Catholicism, this institutional approach to belief and the importance of communion with the Holy See through a religious medium like church or other religious authority are essentially inspired by Biblical evidences and history. One of Jesus’ speeches supports Catholicism’s claim about the importance of a believer’s communion with the religious authority is as following: “I say to you, something greater than the temple is here” (Barron 24). Indeed in Catholicism, the ideas of ‘temple’ and ‘bishop’ are the representatives of each other. In this regard, Barron says, “If Jesus is, in his person, the true temple, then he should be the definitive source of teaching, healing and, forgiveness and this is just what the Gospel tells us” (Barron 24). Indeed this very basis of Christ’s persona as the sole source salvation and redemption lies at the heart of Catholicism. Indeed, proper religious authority plays an important role in shaping the rites and rituals of Catholicism. The propriety of religious authority is often determined by sacramental evidences. While the Catholics unanimously believe in the ministration of Christ as the temple of teaching, salvation and redemption, the bishop is believed to be the true spiritual descendant of Christ himself. Therefore a bishop plays a very important role in catholic rites and rituals. For an instance, Catholic dogma asserts that the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper must be administered by certain qualified persons. According to the Roman Catholic Church, “only a Catholic Priest ordained into the apostolic succession can administered the Eucharist” (Erickson 1122). Erickson further says in this regard, “If any other person should take the same physical elements and pronounce the same words over them, they would remain bread and wine” (1122). Catholicism, in no way, can detach it from the authoritarian zeal. This same authoritarian zeal in Catholicism manifests a strongly rigid adherence to institutional propriety of performing the sacrament. Since Jesus himself performed this sacrament with a number of his chosen disciples, Roman Catholic Church would prohibit the participation of ordinary people. But such prohibition has severely been criticized by Martin Luther, one of the famous critics of Catholicism, on the point that “[Catholicism] withheld the cup from the laity. They were permitted to take only the bread. The clergy took the cup on behalf of the laity” (Erickson 1123). The Roman Catholics believe in a form of ‘transubstantiation’ which brings a metaphysical change in the elements of the Lord’s Supper administered by the right priest, as Erickson notes in this regard, “The substance of the bread and wine –what they actually are- is changed into Christ’s flesh and blood, respectively. The accidents, however, remain unchanged…” (1124) Such catholic belief essentially lies in Christ’s speech: “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me” (Corinthians 11:20-21). Any devout catholic further believes that the Holy Communion can be achieved by drinking Christ’s blood, as Christ says, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” (Corinthians 10:16) Apart from this metaphysical interpretation, the Lord’s Supper is viewed as a sacrificial act of Christ. In the same manner, Catholicism demands that most other sacraments such as Baptism, Penance, Holy Matrimony, etc to be strictly performed under Holy Orders, another sacrament of Christianity. Indeed the sacred mystery of the Holy Orders appears to be a major and sole premise of institutionalism of Catholic faith. The “administrators of the mysteries of God” (Corinthians 4:1) –namely, “bishop, priest and deacon- are considered to be “in persona of Christi” who preserves the right to govern people, to teach and sanctify them. The Holy Orders ‘in persona of Christi’ pivots on Jesus’ mode of preaching which is essentially to persuade the followers to rely more on Jesus’ person than his teaching. Such mode can summarized by one of Jesus’ speeches, “Come and you will see” (Barron 13). Referring to the importance of Jesus’ in Christianity, Barron comments, “Though he did indeed formulate moral instructions and, though he certainly taught with enormous enthusiasm, Jesus did not draw his followers’ attention primarily to his words…He drew it to himself” (Barron 13). In support to this position about the precedence of the authority of Church over the authority of the Bible, Catholicism asserts that since the Bible is ‘the product of the faith of Israel’, it should be considered as the testimony and revelation of the greater truth which is often construed as Christ’s person itself. The Holy Orders inherit this truth from Christ by succession. The stance of Catholicism about the priority of the Church authority to the authority of the Bible does not go unchallenged by critics, as Galliardetz notes, “Certain Church attitudes and practices have sometimes given the impression that the chronological priority of Church over Bible justifies limiting the authority of the Bible to a kind of remote coronation for the authoritative teaching of the popes and bishops” (38). In the first place, such criticism assumes that the priority of the Church over the Bible endows the Holy Orders with the scope to exert authoritative power arbitrarily. In this sense, Catholicism’s belief in church does not support much of the democratic values. But neither all of its values are anti-democratic. Throughout the passage of church-history, the church system has absorbed a number of democratic practices in electing the bishops by “the clergy and the people” (Galliardetz 62). Also for a long time, Synods, cardinals and councils have played an important role in electing the Pope and the decision making procedure. Since church works in the sphere of human life, democratic values, which are not in conflict with biblical evidences, may “find their way into the life of church” (Galliardetz 62). Outwardly, though Catholicism comprises a number of religious practices and beliefs, a strongly rigid commitment and loyalty to the persona of Christ dwells in the heart of Catholicism. This very commitment also tends to shape the structures of performing the sacraments, practices and beliefs of a devout catholic. Consequently, the Holy Orders overwhelmingly dominate a catholic’s devotion, since they themselves represent the persona of Christ. Indeed the Holy Orders’ importance pivots on Jesus’ mode of teaching. Jesus’ emphasis to rely more on his person than his moral instructions enormously assist the Catholic religiosity to establish their authority over the Bible and therefore in the whole religious system. Indeed the catholic morals derive from the Divine Persona of Christ through the Holy Orders who are supposed to achieve the communion with the Divine Lord. Since the Holy Orders are ordained with the authority which Jesus himself possesses to guide people, they, hypothetically, also preserve the right to guide people in cases when Biblical evidences are sufficient enough to give right directions. Works Cited Barron, “Amazed and Afraid: The Revelation of God Become Man”, Catholicism. Year of Publication Erickson, J Millard. “The Continuing Rite of the Church: the Lord’s Supper”, Christian Theology. Michigan: Baker Books. Year of Publication Galliardetz, Richard R. “What is the Canon of the Bible?”, By What Authority. Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2003 Galliardetz, Richard R. “How do We understand the Magisterium Today?”, By What Authority. Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2003 Read More