Shaky, Not Stirring

Shaky, Not Stirring | Carl E. Olson | Editorial | Catholic World Report



What happens when Christians put more faith in modernity than they do in the Faith?

Jonathan Aitken, an Anglican, has penned
a piece for The American Spectator praising the edgy, intellectual heights and depths of Rowland Williams
and the late Cardinal Carlo Martini. The latter was not known to many
non-Italian Catholics (at least on this side of the pond), I suspect, until
after he died this past August and it was revealed, with much media furor, that
he was critical of certain qualities exhibited by the Church in Europe. He
stated, rather (in)famously, in an interview late in life, "The Church is
200 years behind the times". This was top-grade catnip for the chattering
classes, who immediately made Cardinal Martini a saint, prophet, and folk hero.
(Russell Shaw ably critiqued the usual suspects in this
September 2012 CWR article.)

Aitken is late to the party, but wants the tired band to
play on. He writes that Cardinal Martini "shook up a heady intellectual
cocktail for the Catholic Church before he passed away." That's certainly
debatable. Making a splash and making a difference are, well, different. And an
occasional fireworks display from the secular media does not equate in the
least to serious—that is, meaningful, mature, and rational—discussion within
the Church. But Aitken seems to think the dusk has fallen on the Catholic
Church; yet a much stronger case can be made that the light of faddish, liberal
Christianity is fast faltering, if only because it is (to switch metaphors in
midstream) parasitical and the host, secular humanism, will only abide it while
it is helpful.

But, before getting too far afield, here is Aitken outlining
the impressive achievements of his two heroes:

The lives of Cardinal Martini and
Archbishop Williams share common themes. Both have held the highest academic
positions and been recognized as great scholars, having produced over 50 works
of theology between them. Both are remarkable linguists—Martini spoke 11
languages and Williams speaks six. Their prelatical concoctions pack a punch,
and both will certainly enliven the debates about the future of the world’s two
largest churches

And, he adds, "Cardinal Carlo Martini, who died on
August 31, was the best modern pope we never had." It's interesting, of
course, to hear what an Anglican hopes for in a pope, keeping in mind that
Anglicanism was the product of a king rejecting the papacy. (If I ever make the
mistake of trumpeting my choice for king or queen of England, please chastise
me promptly.) It appears that Aitken, not surprisingly, would prefer a pope who
is, well, not really Catholic or papal; in short, someone like Williams.

Cardinal Martini, he notes approvingly, "was the
counterweight to papal conservatism. On a crucial range of
issues—contraception, homosexuality, family values, and the right to end
life—he took popular positions that made him almost a leader of the opposition
within the hierarchy of the church." Or, in other words, he apparently
took positions contrary to historical, traditional Catholic teaching.
Agreed—those positions are certainly popular, most notably among those who have
either renounced the Catholic Faith or large chunks of it. Shocking, that.
Anyhow, this means Martini is deemed worthy of one of the greatest titles that
can be granted a capitulating Christian: modernizer. The assumption is that being
"modern"—which seems to ultimately fixate on loosening moral and
marital bonds while lamenting the demands of traditional beliefs—is not just
inevitable but enviable.

Continue reading on the CWR site.