Cor ad cor loquitur - heart speaks to heart. The words are the motto chosen by John Henry Newman after his conversion to the Roman Catholic Church. (I'll do a post on Newman on Sunday). On the official website for the papal visit the motto is explained by pointing to Newman's conviction that truth comes from the centre of the person.The most important form of communication is that of heart to heart, rather than relying only on words spoken and heard, and sometimes misheard, and liable to misunderstanding.
The controversies around the visit of Pope Benedict XVI are well enough known. I have views on most of them, and since they are likely to be misinformed, partial and unfair, because formed from media reports and slanted discussions, and about a tradition other than my own, I'm not for pontificating - allusion intended.
I'd rather do what one of the Catholic priests suggested would be the most important response Benedict and the British public can make - openness. The openness of the Pope to hear the different voices that will speak - the voices of young people seeking meaning and direction in life; the voices of victims of abuse whose pain and suffering must be given voice, and a hearing, and a response that acknowledges and addresses such profound wrong; the voices of those who feel excluded, who seek change, who feel alienated from their church and defined out of its communion; the voices of those angered and frustrated at moral stances that seem to ignore human consequences for example in relation to HIV protection; and yet also the voices of those looking for stability, a strengthening and recovery of moral and spiritual values that enhance human culture and enable human flourishing. And these are mixed and contradictory voices, asking questions that arise from the deep places of the heart, or emerge from the complexities and challenges of a contemporary culture in flux conflcting with a church tradition seeking to keep the faith once for all delivered.
But heart speaks to heart - and so when the Pope speaks he too has the right to be listened to. When other voices have spoken, and been heard, his voice must also be heard - and with openness of heart and mind. He has come to speak not only to the faithful of the Catholic Church, but as a major European voice, as a magisterial theologian and philosopher who is immensely learned in the Enlightenment philosophies of Western Europe, including Scottish philosophy, and in Catholic historical theology. While this is a state visit to this country, the Pope nevertheless is the head of a global faith tradition representing 1.1 billion people, and in his person he represents the pastoral care of the Roman Catholic Church for the faithful worldwide.
So his visit to Britain is a significant occasion, and the message he brings should be heard with openness of heart - not uncritical enthusiasm, but because this Pope is incapable of mere ecclesial platitudes, morally anemic pronouncements or politically correct blandness, his words should be received with critical respect, and weighed with intellectual fairness. His words should be interpreted as coming from the heart of the Christian faith in its Catholic expression, and will be best understood if trouble is taken to be theologically informed about Catholic theology, spirituality, devotion and institutional history.
And no, I'm not saying that is how everyone will hear him - public perceptions are often more shaped by populist rhetoric, dumbed down sound bytes, and image aided information flow. And that isn't Benedict's forte!. But informed critique and eschewing prejudiced caricature are indeed what I expect of those who claim to be intellectually engaged with the tradition Benedict XVI represents with such scholarly precision and intellectual candour. Whether as supporters or opponents, Catholics or non Catholics, those who want to be taken seriously as cultural commentators and serious reporters on matters of religious import and cultural significance, such as this papal visit, need to stop playing around with caricatures, uncritically perpetuating prejudiced opinion.
For example blaming an entire church tradition for the evil actions of some, as if the Roman Catholic Church were the only large voluntary organisation or religious grouping where the problem of child abuse exists, and as if the guilt by association principle was unchallenged norm, legally secure and morally defensible. Like the overwhelming majority of Catholic people, priests and laity, I believe such actions are wicked, criminal and should be brought to justice. But in evaluating the Catholic Church as a whole, the sin of the tiny minority should never mean the eclipse of widespread goodness, nor the betrayal of trust by some, negate the faithful and costly devotion of all others. That happens when, for example, we overlook or detract from the immense good that has been and continues to be done by the Roman Catholic Church, in care for the poor, educational provision, and development and medical aid, and this on a global scale.
Likewise, European civilisation is still heavily mortgaged to the historic contribution of the Catholic church. Consider the richly textured diversity of spiritual traditions which flow like a mighty river gathering from its many tributaries; or weigh the worth to human fulfillment of the great religious music, architecture and art of Europe, as human creativity fused with religious devotion to produce some of the greatest masterpieces to grace the eyes and ears of generations. The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is just one outflowing of art inspired by Christian faith, expressing in beauty and image the truths that lie at the heart, not only of the Roman Catholic Christian tradition, but of the worldwide Christian communion centred on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This post is written before the Bellahouston Mass. I'll blog on that tomorrow, as one who remembers the John Paul II event in 1982, and that remarkable rendering of Our God reigns. How can you not rejoice that thousands of people will be singing Isaiah's good news hymn in a park in Glasgow, in the sunshine, and sensing in themselves the reawakening of a faith and devotion too easily trapped in the tedium of the consumer converyor belt, or exhausted by contemporary anxieties and excesses. And I'm looking forward to hearing the new James MacMillan Mass, words and music made accessible for congregational singing.
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