Our Place in the Procession of the Saints
When I opened up CNN’s webpage to read the news this morning, I was taken aback when I read about the calls for the Bush administration to assassinate the Venezuelan president. And it came from Pat Robertson, a Christian broadcaster and founder of the Christian Coalition. And I’m sure he has his supporters as well. So this is what some of us Christians are up to these days.
It’s easy for us to disconnect from such people and refer to them as ‘they’. ‘It’s the Fundamentalist Christians’ we say. We like to blame it on others. We look at our own history and blame every dirty blot of our history on the poor old Catholics. The Crusades, the Inquisition, the execution of heretics; ‘It’s the Catholics’ we say. Of course it was the Catholics! There were no Protestants then! But the truth is that we Protestants have been responsible for as much violence and misdeeds as our Catholic brothers. And what do we say of them then? ‘They are not real Christians la… they are just Christians by name’. We go around denying that these atrocities were committed by real Christians. Real Christians don’t go around killing people, do they? I ask: What about what the early American settlers did to the Red Indians? What about the Calvinists in their persecution of the Anabaptist Christians? What about Dutch colonialism? What about Rwanda? What about Ireland? Will we deny the fact that our Christian past is riddled with war, violence and errors? Will we deny that some Christians among us will continue to use such means to ‘rid the world of evil’ as we see the Bush administration and people like Pat Robertson doing? Will we disassociate from ‘them’ and say that we have nothing to do with ‘them’ because they are not real Christians, just Christians by name? Who are the real Christians anyway?
I salute Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessor Pope John Paul II for their continual efforts at reconciliation. Pope John Paul’s official apology to the Muslims and Jews for the errors of the Church must have been one of the greatest things that He did in his lifetime.
He asked pardon for the wrong that was done in the course of history through the words and deeds of the members of the Church. In this way he showed us our true image and urged us to take our place, with all our faults and weaknesses, in the procession of the saints. ~ Pope Benedict XVI speaking of his predecessor Pope John Paul II
Just a few days ago, Pope Benedict XVI paid a visit to a Jewish synagogue. Another historical moment… a German Pope who used to serve in the Hitler Youth during the second Word War visiting a synagogue once destroyed by the Nazis. He says:
The Catholic Church is committed -- I reaffirm this again today -- to tolerance, respect, friendship and peace between all peoples, cultures and religions. Yet still much remains to be done. We must come to know and love one another much more and much better
Is it time for us Protestants to begin doing the same? Is it time for us to embrace the whole of our history (including our pre-Protestant history as the catholic Church) and admit that some of us have at times fallen into error? Will we allow these errors to be valuable lessons for us? Will we admit that as Christians, we are not beyond such errors? Instead of putting the blame on others or disassociating with people like Pat Robertson and George Bush, the crusaders and inquisitors, will we say that they are a part of us, and apologize to the World on their behalf, as the catholic Church? Will we look at our own true image as the Church, and take our place with it among all its saints, sinners, glory, faults and weaknesses? Or will we continue in our self-denial and self-righteousness?
It’s easy for us to disconnect from such people and refer to them as ‘they’. ‘It’s the Fundamentalist Christians’ we say. We like to blame it on others. We look at our own history and blame every dirty blot of our history on the poor old Catholics. The Crusades, the Inquisition, the execution of heretics; ‘It’s the Catholics’ we say. Of course it was the Catholics! There were no Protestants then! But the truth is that we Protestants have been responsible for as much violence and misdeeds as our Catholic brothers. And what do we say of them then? ‘They are not real Christians la… they are just Christians by name’. We go around denying that these atrocities were committed by real Christians. Real Christians don’t go around killing people, do they? I ask: What about what the early American settlers did to the Red Indians? What about the Calvinists in their persecution of the Anabaptist Christians? What about Dutch colonialism? What about Rwanda? What about Ireland? Will we deny the fact that our Christian past is riddled with war, violence and errors? Will we deny that some Christians among us will continue to use such means to ‘rid the world of evil’ as we see the Bush administration and people like Pat Robertson doing? Will we disassociate from ‘them’ and say that we have nothing to do with ‘them’ because they are not real Christians, just Christians by name? Who are the real Christians anyway?
I salute Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessor Pope John Paul II for their continual efforts at reconciliation. Pope John Paul’s official apology to the Muslims and Jews for the errors of the Church must have been one of the greatest things that He did in his lifetime.
He asked pardon for the wrong that was done in the course of history through the words and deeds of the members of the Church. In this way he showed us our true image and urged us to take our place, with all our faults and weaknesses, in the procession of the saints. ~ Pope Benedict XVI speaking of his predecessor Pope John Paul II
Just a few days ago, Pope Benedict XVI paid a visit to a Jewish synagogue. Another historical moment… a German Pope who used to serve in the Hitler Youth during the second Word War visiting a synagogue once destroyed by the Nazis. He says:
The Catholic Church is committed -- I reaffirm this again today -- to tolerance, respect, friendship and peace between all peoples, cultures and religions. Yet still much remains to be done. We must come to know and love one another much more and much better
Is it time for us Protestants to begin doing the same? Is it time for us to embrace the whole of our history (including our pre-Protestant history as the catholic Church) and admit that some of us have at times fallen into error? Will we allow these errors to be valuable lessons for us? Will we admit that as Christians, we are not beyond such errors? Instead of putting the blame on others or disassociating with people like Pat Robertson and George Bush, the crusaders and inquisitors, will we say that they are a part of us, and apologize to the World on their behalf, as the catholic Church? Will we look at our own true image as the Church, and take our place with it among all its saints, sinners, glory, faults and weaknesses? Or will we continue in our self-denial and self-righteousness?
posted by sojourner @ Wednesday, August 24, 2005
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