July 7, 2000

Dennis DeHart needed to let off a little steam.  Frustrated with platitude-filled "I-have-a-friend-in-Jesus" homilies, realizing that Catholics in this diocese were woefully ignorant about their faith, and disturbed by the compromising position taken by our diocese in the name of "ecumenism", he had to do something about it.  A few years ago a priest gave him a little booklet called "What Think You of Christ?  Some Things Catholic".  This little apologetics booklet pulls no punches in its explanations of Catholic beliefs and practices that are frequently questioned and criticized by misinformed (but for the most part, well-meaning) protestants.  Published in 1978, it has the Imprimatur from Archbishop William Cardinal Baum.  This means that the book is free of "doctrinal or moral" error.  He decided that he would publish the entire booklet, a chapter at a time, in his local newspaper, the Owensboro "Messenger-Inquirer".  At about $210 a week, he would pay a total of $14,000 for the whole booklet.  Not desiring any official recognition of this effort, he ran the columns anonymously.

Since the book defends the Catholic Church and upholds it to be the one True Faith it was no surprise that the book received some responses.  The biggest surprise, however, was that the harshest response would come from the leaders of his own Catholic Church.  In an article by the Messenger-Inquirer, Bishop John McRaith and his Director of Communications Mel Howard, who is also the editor of the diocesan newspaper, criticized the booklet and Dehart's efforts.  McRaith said it was "...embarrassing to Catholics that that is how we would be perceived" and Howard said, "The ad bothered me... it makes it difficult for a Catholic person to talk with an individual from another faith."

This booklet only makes it difficult if the "Catholic person" doesn't know his Faith.  The book, in several chapters, upholds the necessity of the Catholic Church for salvation.  Quoting from Lumen Gentium, a Vatican II document, an excerpt from the book says:

It is not just a matter of choosing one religion in preference to another; it is rather a matter of recognizing and embracing the God-given means of eternal salvations... outside of which there is no salvation.  As Vat.II said, "for Christ, made present to us in his Body which is the Church, is the one mediator and only way of salvation..."

(The Catholic) Church alone has all the means that God has ordained for bringing men to salvation, namely, the sacraments, the holy sacrifice of the Mass, the divinely guided teaching authority, etc.

McRaith's statement in the previous paragraph is really only half right.  The Catholic Church does not actually teach that only Catholics can be saved.  Neither does the booklet that DeHart reprinted say that.  What it does say, and go on to clarify, is that outside of the Church there is no salvation.  There's a difference here that Bishop McRaith and Mel Howard are failing to explain or defend.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that,

846  How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers?  Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes through Christ the Head through the Church which is his body:

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation:  the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church.  He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door.  Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it. ~Lumen Gentium, 14  (Mk 16:16, Jn 3:5)

847  This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:

Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation. ~Lumen Gentium

848  "Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men." (Heb 11:6, 1Cor 9:16)

"The Catholic Church gladly acknowledges the grace of God to be found outside its boundaries. With equal clarity, it teaches: "Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by God through Jesus Christ would refuse to enter her or to remain in her could not be saved." (Lumen Gentium, 14) That poses the crucial point of decision."
     `Neuhaus, First Things, Aug/Sept 1998

According to DeHart, in a letter to me, "Mel Howard and the bishop tried to tell everyone that I was not doing Vatican II material, and me and a few priests, and about six or seven letters in the Messenger-Inquirer, from Catholics on my side, proved them to be wrong."  According to the priest at my own parish, he was even denounced from some pulpits.  Many priests and laity alike, however, understood DeHarts efforts and completely supported him.  A search of the Messenger-Inquirer's online archives using a few choice keywords revealed seven letters, some from clergy, criticizing our diocesan office's actions and supporting Dehart and the booklet "What Think You of Christ?" (To be fair, there was one letter supporting the diocese's actions and expressing disapproval of the reprints.)

Also, Dehart says, "When 90 percent of Catholics vote for Bill Clinton, and are pro-choice, want women priests, can't defend their faith, no preaching in the pulpit, you couldn't hear a sermon on hell or mortal sin if you paid a priest (in Owensboro) a thousand dollars...",  having the booklet reprinted was "...my way of letting off steam but doing it right."

Our diocese, in the name of "unity" and "ecumenism" allows the Truths of the Faith to take a back seat.  According to McRaith, the concept of the Catholic Church's fullness of truth would take volumes to explain.  Maybe someday the bishop will take the time to explain it.