There's a curious determination among British Catholic bloggers to criticise their bishops for not following what the blogger sees as the correct interpretation of the Vatican's position - particularly on sexual matters. For them the magisterium of the church is not ecclesial but a private deal between Rome and them personally. Their priority is therefore not to listen and understand but to dissect and catch out. Our Bishops deserve better than this and so do our blog readers.
The result of this approach is that great Catholic issues - like Climate Change - are largely ignored by the blogging fraternity. Even though the Holy Father has said how important it is to get serious progress at the Durban international conference on climate change, the bloggers have not taken it up. Yet this is about our fundamental duty as stewards of God's creation. Just as we protect the life of the unborn child, so we have a duty to protect the planet that God has given us. Trying to trip up our bishops is not just unattractive,it distorts our priorities.
Whilst I've probably been guilty of a bit of this myself, I do agree with you on the need not to get into a mindset of constantly criticizing bishops. But it's very easy for a moderately educated layperson to spot where there's a lack of clarity in a moral position, and far, far harder to give any sort of useful assessment of a highly complex scientific and political issue such as climate change. I'm also enough of a Freudian (or perhaps an Augustinian!) to think that sex reaches quite deeply within our personalities: it matters to us emotionally in a way that climate change doesn't. So we're much more likely to talk about it, particularly where there appears to be a tension between our loyalty to local bishops and our loyalty to the papacy (again, likely to be a highly emotional area for Catholics).
ReplyDeleteOh dearie me, obsessing about climate change. Over millenia climate has changed, it's nature. It's the arrogance of man to assume we are so powerful that we are responsible for it.
ReplyDeleteThe Bishops will be constantly criticised while they are worthy of criticism. As for climate change, I think the Almighty has it all in hand.
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