Decisions, Decisions!

 As I am writing this on a rainy Tuesday morning, I am at a series of crossroads, and feel like there is a traffic light that won't turn green.  It gets frustrating, aggravating, and just fuels the natural human trait of impatience.  However, in the midst of this, I have come to a few new decisions about myself that I feel need to happen, and currently am moving forward on some of them while waiting for the ability to do so with others.  While obviously there are no promises about life being easy, in all honesty if one works toward something it should at least get easier.  This is where I am in my mind right now, and it is a lot to sort out.  However, there are a couple of things I am almost certain about at this point, and I wanted to talk about those. 

My Christian faith is an integral part of my existence, as without it I am not sure where I would be at.  But, at this point in time I am questioning some things about what I should do, and while my basic faith will remain the same, the setting in which I will live it out is at this point up for change in all honesty.  By faith, I am a very committed Catholic - it took a long time to come to terms with my faith, a lot of struggles, a lot of questions, and I believe I am in a good place with my personal faith.  However, the church I am part of right now is something I am not absolutely sure about, and I wanted to spend some time talking about that today.  

As you have heard me say before, I am of the conviction that the term "Catholic" is not the monopoly of a bunch of Vatican bureaucrats who don't practice what they preach themselves.  And, the inconsistency coming from the Vatican apparatus in recent years has got me concerned - is the Roman Catholic Church even truly "Catholic" anymore, or is it just a platitude to them?  The recent pronouncements of Pope Leo and his second-in-command, a pervert in a cardinal hat by the name of Fernandez, makes me wonder about this.  On one hand, they are booting out the SSPX and other conservative and traditionalist clergy, even excommunicating them.  On the other, now there are pronouncements saying that conversion is "not necessary" as well as a bunch of universalist BS like "all religions lead to God" and other such stuff.  This represents both an inconsistency and a contradiction - if indeed, as the Church has taught for centuries, that "there is no salvation outside the Church" and then in the next breath saying that all religions are the same, it causes some serious problems.  You have to be either/or, and not both/and, in this case, and the one negates the other.  I mean, seriously, have we not affirmed the Law of Non-Contradiction for centuries, meaning that something cannot be and not be at the same time?  This bad inconsistency on the part of the Pope and some of the Sadduccees that advise him is causing a lot of confusion among the faithful, and this is why perhaps it is time to face up to reality that perhaps the Roman Catholic Church is not the Catholic Church, and that begs another question:  What is the true Catholic Church then?  This is the fundamental question at the root of the personal reflection I have been doing recently,  and it has led me to look into something much more radical.  That is what I want to share now.

Based on how my own faith formation has shaped me, there are two defining principles to ecumenism that guide me.  The first is what is called the Augustinian Affirmation, and although I am not sure whether St. Augustine said this or not, it is still a sound principle:

In essentials, unity

In non-essentials, liberty

In all things, charity

We are going to spend a little time on this, as I am also coming at this from the position of a former Protestant who became Catholic.  I believe for one thing in what is called a "hierarchy of truths," but I am going to define it differently here based on how it relates to other Christians.  In the way I would see this, there are two tiers:

Tier one:  The truths all Christians - Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox - share that makes us Christians.

Tier two:  Sacramental truth - this applies to other Apostolic Churches such as the Orthodox, other types of Catholics, Oriental Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East, as well as some Anglo-Catholics and high-Church Lutherans.   A sacramental understanding is shared by such groups, and it gives a validity to sacramental grace being received in any of these contexts

This means that we can accept other Christians as Christians because they share a faith with us that has fundamental beliefs we share with them too.  I know that some radicals on all sides of this would have problems, but let them - ultimately, God will determine who or who did not serve him.  The affirmation attributed to Augustine attests to this as well.

The second principle I stand on regarding how I see other Christians I relate to is called the Vincentian Canon, and you have heard me talk about this before.  It essentially affirms that what constitutes "being Catholic" is that which has been held in all times, all places, and by everyone who affirms the truths.  While this would be more specific to the second-tier application of the Augustinian affirmation, to a degree it also can be applicable to non-sacramental Christians of sound faith like Evangelicals and Pentecostals.  I think also that is one of the positives of Vatican II as well, in that it does view Protestants as "separated brethren" rather than some sort of heretical schismatics because in their wisdom the Council Fathers did understand that these people are fellow Christians and not a whole different religion or anything.  Question is though, how was this implemented?  I want to get into some problems with the way the Vatican has played fast and loose with ecumenism over the past 50 or so years, and that will give you an idea of where I am going.

I have made the statement many times that it is not so much Vatican II that went wrong so much as it is how some radicals implemented Vatican II reforms.  No place is this clearer than ecumenism.  If the Church were truly as grounded as it claims to be, then on a larger level the Vatican should have been seeking out relationships with Christians who at least had solid convictions - the Evangelicals, the Orthodox, more traditional/conservative Anglicans and Old Catholics, etc.  Instead, it seems like some figures in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church have taken an inconsistent approach to how they engage in ecumenical affairs - they tend to form bonds with liberals, non-Christian religious traditions, and even heretical sects like Mormons rather than with those Christians who actually adhere to historic positions that are professed officially by the Catholic Church.  The inconsistency has grown more flagrant under both the regimes of Francis and Leo, in that faithful Catholics like Fr. Frank Pavone, Archbishop Carlo Vigano, and the SSPX, are given excommunication exactly for being faithful Catholics, but then Fernandez and the other bureaucrats in the Vatican turn right around and kiss the posteriors of Islam and radicalized mainstream Protestant liberals.  Saying the St. Michael Prayer at the end of a Mass in some dioceses is forbidden, but by all means put up a Pachamama or a Santa Muerte idol.  This type of inconsistency is what is making me formulate questions about whether or not I should stay identifiably Roman Catholic or not.  After months of ruminating over this, I have begun to make some inquiries of my own, and I want to talk at length about that now. 

I have shared my story already about my close relationship with the Armenian people, and a few weeks ago I also talked about visiting an Armenian church in Washington, DC.  There was an experience in that liturgy (Badarak) there which caused some things to surface for me, and in the past couple of weeks I have begun to make inquiries about what it would entail to be received into the Armenian Church as a full communicant.  Being as a Catholic I already share the same sacraments with them, I don't think the process will be all that complicated, but I currently am waiting on Ter Hovsep, the priest at that parish, to respond to me.  I am also inquiring of the other Armenian church down there, Soorp Khatch (Holy Cross), about the same thing.  Once I am better informed either way, I will make a decision before year's end about what the next steps will be.  Please keep me in your prayers, and I will share more details later.  

Thanks again for allowing me to ramble today, and will see you again soon.