Many Rooms in the Mansion

Freedom within the Church

            If someone feels inspired by the Holy Spirit to make a personal contribution to the Church, and the leaders do not accept this point of view, what is he to do? Should he continue in the Church submissive and repressed or should he leave it and initiate his particular aspect somewhere else?

           In the 13th century, St. Raymond Lull was practically the only saint I know of who was opposed to the Crusades. He personally went to the Pope and told him of a vision of he had, of Christ telling him that He did not approve of the killings between Catholics and Moslems. Christ had said to him in the vision that he wanted to use peaceful methods in order to convert the Moslems. The Pope did not listen to St. Raymond Lull, but continued soliciting European princes to go out and fight bloody wars against the infidels. Now, do you think that St. Raymond should have left the Catholic Church and start a more peaceful type of his own? No, he stayed in it and did exactly what he felt Christ had called him to do. He went and learned Arabic and started schools for the Moslems in Europe! This was just during a time in history when they were confronted by Crusaders. St. Raymond had wonderful success in converting many of them and creating a beautiful climate of friendship and dialogue. Now if St. Raymond had left the Church, he never would have reached his objectives nor become a canonized saint. Yet, today, he is the venerated saint and the popes who started the crusades have gone done in history forgotten and without an "ST." before their names.

         St. Francis of Assisi was concerned about the corruption in the Church and the vast riches that the clergy possessed. He had gone to Rome to try to tell the Pope to live the poverty of Jesus. He was not able to convince anyone to change their lives. Should he have left the Church? If he had, he never would have been St. Francis. He stayed in it, lived what the Holy Spirit taught him and became the greatest saint of history. The Popes and Cardinals who kept their material wealth did not become saints and are also forgotten to mankind.

         In the 14th century, the Popes left Rome in order to take up residence in Avignon, France and live an indolent and luxurious life. St. Catherine of Siena wrote letters to the Pope asking him to come back to Rome and assume his spiritual leadership. He refused to listen to her. Should she have gotten discouraged and left the Church, and no longer believe in it, due to its corruption? If she had, she would not have become St. Catherine. No, she stayed in it and threatened the Pope with death (praying to God for a curse against him) if he did not come back to Italy. The Pope, knowing that St. Catherine was a holy woman and got answers for her prayers all the time from God, became afraid, and returned to Rome. Thanks to the courage and patience of St. Catherine, the Catholic Church was saved from extinction.

       Italy was going through the period of the Renaissance and you had great artists and architects like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Bernini, Rafael and others. The Popes in the 16th century wanted to build the basilica of St. Peter and take advantage of the cultural and artistic talent of the geniuses of the Renaissance. In order to finance the project, they had to invent something as a source of income. The idea of indulgences is not theologically incorrect, but was pastorally abusive. The Popes said that anyone who helped pay for the construction of the Church or gave money to her would have a period of punishment discounted in purgatory. The rich people were delighted with this. They thought that they could sin during their lives and then pay off their debt in purgatory by helping to construct St. Peter's Basilica. Money poured into Rome and the Popes proceeded with the grand project.

       Martin Luther suggested replacing the indulgences with the practice of good works. The Church did not accept his idea. Now, if he had stayed in the Church and continued holding his ground, he would have reformed it and become a saint. He became, however, disillusioned with the priesthood and discouraged with the Church. He denied the spiritual power and efficaciousness of all the sacraments (except for two) and the priesthood. He left the Catholic Church and got married. This is where Martin Luther went wrong. Instead of attacking abuses, he was now attacking the very foundations of our Faith. In this sense, the Church was correct in condemning his errors.

    If anyone feels that there is something wrong in the Catholic Church, one has every right to express himself. He is a part of the family and has every right to criticize it. Members of a family are always calling each other to attention, but they don't feel that they have to leave the house because of the problems present in it. If I were a fallen away Catholic, I would come back to the  Church, but  still preserve and hang on to all the wonderful things I learned outside of it. No one will obligate me to give up anything valid and good that I acquired outside of it over the years. Jesus said: "In my house, there are many mansions". In other words, the Catholic Church is like the columns of Bernini, embracing all the different children who come to her.

Father Anthony Mellace