I have spent a lot of time in various Catholic forums where I often spend more time arguing about language than about ideas. Life is not a simple concept. Liberty is not a simple concept. Happiness is not a simple concept. I would take great pleasure in immersing in the ambiguity of each, but I'll hold off for now.
Liberal is the word I want to play with. Liberal is a word bandied about like a deft and deadly sword. In those forums, it often holds little meaning.
Many insist that there is no such thing as a liberal Catholic. That is something of a shock to those of us who identify as liberal Catholics. Pressed they explain: there are Orthodox Catholics who cling to the truths of the Church and there are people who reject those truths. Heterodox. Or more strongly, heretics. If liberal means, "rejecting or redefining truths in opposition to the Church" one cannot truthfully claim the faith and be liberal. You cannot accept the Church when it is easy and popular, reject Her when it hurts, and still claim a faithful relationship.
I started to try to make my stance more clear. I am not a liberal Catholic, by which I mean a Catholic who thinks the Church should change. I am a liberal who is also Catholic, by which I mean, my politics are liberal and my faith is Catholic. They are not separate and I do not want to separate them, but they are different. My Catholic faith both informs and trumps my politics.
What does liberal mean? In these Catholic forums which I have enjoyed, the word is not easy to define, though it is used frequently. It is certainly negative. It seems to mean something like stupid. To some it means elite, people who think they are smarter than everyone and should make decisions for them. Sometimes it means placing new ideas over the old, history be damned. Does liberal mean "pro-choice and anti-church?" Does it mean enthralled by massive government and regulation?
If the goal is communication, is worthwhile trying to understand how a person is using a word.
So, what does the word mean to those who would claim it? Progressive? Democrat? Protecting the marginalized from the masses? Protecting the little guy from the bully? Open-minded?
I joined a group an facebook a few months ago called "Catholic Democrats." I was so excited to find a group of my people: people who identify with the Church and the democratic party! People who want to talk and learn about their faith as it relates to modern politics. People who still cling to the notion that the left is a more natural fit for Catholics than the right because the left prioritizes people where the right prioritizes wealth.
When I joined the group I joined because I am a Catholic and I am a democrat. The tension between these identities has been a source of discomfort for my whole adult life. On many of the issues most important to me, my party does not go my way. Why not defect? I vote on issues, but it would be a lie to claim a conservative identity. Issues aside, where is my heart? Do I think that a government should essentially stay out of my way or do I think the government has an obligation of justice to protect and amplify the smallest voices?
I am a democrat. Still, it did not take me very long to find that I do not fit in in the group.
In the group it became quickly clear that there is a lot of pain and a lot of anger. Many have suffered abuse, and identify with the marginalized voices because they have been those voices. Most have been subjected to attacks for their politics.
I began to see, for the first time, some of the stereotypes that my previous Catholic forum experiences had decried. For the first time, I heard a perspective that both claimed a love for the Church and a deep and angry mistrust of Church authority- which found expression in many ways. I could almost hear the voices from the other forums: They do not understand gender, and reject gender roles. They reject Church authority. They point to human nature as a reason to denounce doctrine. They ignore and belittle bishops and priests. They reject the pope. They hate the Church.
They do not hate the Church. Defiantly, they cling to the Church and our Lady as a mainstay. Some found the group as they were thinking of leaving the Church and in the group found refuge.
I nearly left when I found such a vocal apparent opponent of Church authority. Who do they think they are? But I saw glimpses of a faith formed in pain and a faith which, though challenged, is not broken. Who do they think they are is not the question. Who does God think they are?
"You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye." Matthew 7:5
We are imperfect and imperfectly following a path to God.
The authority of the Church is important. So too is the heart. It is my fervent prayer that these strong liberal Catholics can find a joyful home in the heart of the Church. It is my fervent prayer that the most vocal of the "orthodox" voices find the charity to welcome and learn from this other half. The Church is a grand collection of sinners. Mary Magdalene and the Pharisees. The Truth is not second to Love, but Love is not second to Truth either. Each is servant to the other. The Mother loves and corrects. The child is, at times, rebellious and self righteous. Mom is wrong. Mom is not listening. Mom does not understand or care. I know better than Mom.
A Franciscan prayer for unity:
O Immaculate Mother of God and Our Mother, Mediatrix of every grace and Corredemptrix of mankind: as Thou didst gaze upon Thy Most Beloved Son, filled with suffering and ignominy upon His Holy Cross, on account of His most tender and loving compassion for us poor sinners, deign in Thy great Maternal solicitude for us Thy children, to obtain from Him every grace and mercy, so that fortified in the unity of the One True Faith and restored to the bonds of charity and authentic worship, His Virgin Bride, Our Mother the Church, may once again offer to the Eternal Father, through the ministry of His sacred Priests, the holy, immaculate, and pure offering of His Body and Blood, in propitiation for our sins and those of the whole world. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
