Congregation Unitarian Universalist
WHY WE ARE NOT CATHOLICS *
En Español
Prayer: “Toward a Doctrine of the Liberal Church” Joseph Barth (edited) ( followed by a moment of silent meditation)
Joys and Concerns: : (We throw a small stone into this bowl filled with water, to symbolize our thoughts, which move in circular rings eternally, like concentric waves.)
Story for All Ages: (the children go to Religious Education at the end of the story and the adults sing "Spirit of Life" )
Hymn::
SERMON: “Why We Are Not Catholic”
Please raise your hand if you can answer “yes” to any of these questions:
How many of you have ever belonged to the Roman Catholic church, attended a Catholic school, married a Catholic, had or have Catholic children, divorced a Catholic, worked for a Catholic organization, are still a Catholic, or have ever played Bingo in a Catholic church hall?
Indeed, the effect of the Roman Catholic Church on some of us in this room and many throughout the world reveals that indeed, it is a “catholic” church – meaning “universal.”
But then aren’t we as Unitarian Universalists the “catholic” church!
In truth, there are about 264 million Catholics (of all kinds) in the world (compare that with the six-and-a-half billion people in the world, so, no the Catholic Church has yet to become the church of the planet). Compare that with the 166 million Protestants. Compare that again with the number of UUs in the UU Association: 217,970 – that includes 59,894 youth. Consider the fact, however, that those who claim Unitarian Universalist affiliation or like-mindedness (not necessarily membership) in the world is 800 thousand! That number ranks us twentieth in population of all the world’s religions!
There is still another statistic included in that survey of religious statistics – those who call themselves “non-religious” – specifically, agnostics, atheists, secular humanists, and those who answer “none” or “no” to “religious preference” (that sounds to me like they are UUs). That number would be 1.1 billion! And of that number, half of those would call themselves “theistic” but “non-religious” (meaning they do not need organized religion). That 1.1 billion figure, by the way, ranks third in the world religion statistics, number one being Christianity with 2.1 billion, followed by Islam with 1.3 billion.
In other words, 1.1 billion – or about one-sixth of the world’s population is really Unitarian Universalist – but most of them don’t know it!
Boy, have we got our work cut out for us!
Still, compare that 1.1 billion with the number of Catholics (264 million) and you see that there are four times the number of “us” as there are of “them” – but let us not consider this to be a holy war, please!
The truth it that I am not here this morning to set up a confrontational dialogue and/or to think of “us” as superior to “them,” because I really do believe that despite how differently we human beings perceive the world, we all are the commonality of stardust. As Joe Barth said in our meditation reading, we must not allow pride to make us think we are “pretender to the better.” We must forever eschew elitism!
Just think for a moment of the richness of art, music, meditative expression, and good service in the name of justice that has occurred throughout history because of the existence of the Catholic Church. The world is certainly a more beautiful place because of the lives of Michelangelo, Mother Theresa, Thomas Merton, St. Francis of Assisi, Pope John 23rd. Yes, there was also the Spanish Inquisition, the murderous conquests by even my beloved Jesuits, the crazed behavior of Popes who we would have trouble ever thinking of as spiritual leaders.
We could go off on all kinds of tangents this morning, giving positive or negative arguments in trying to answer “Why We Are Not Catholics” because there are numerous differences of belief and practice between UUs and Roman Catholics. But let us begin with a basic one.
Why aren’t we Catholic?
Because of the initial split between us so-called “free thinkers” and the early church when it came to our non-acceptance of the divinity of Christ. As the church says:
The first Council of Nicea exercises its right and duty to define the faith and protect the Church from the Arian heresy (325 A.D)
We, my friends, are the Arians, named such after the leader of the opposition at that Council of Nicea, one Bishop Arius.
We are the ones from whom the Catholic Church is defending its faith – well, not the only ones, but ones so-named seventeen centuries ago!
Well today, whether or not you still have formal Catholic affiliation and formal Unitarian Universalist affiliation (we Unitarian Universalists do not deny a weaving of multi-faceted tapestries), we are going to discuss who we are in relationship to the statements made by the then Cardinal Ratzinger within a few hours of his being elevated to leadership of the Roman Catholic Church as Pope Benedict XVI, statements which have been added to after he became the Holy Father.
Statements that, frankly speaking, make me want to ask him:
These were statements he made at the Mass dedicated to electing the next pope “to warn the faithful about tendencies that he considered dangers to the faith: sects, ideologies like Marxism, liberalism, atheism, agnosticism and relativism – the ideology that there are no absolute truths. (From an American On Line article, April , 2005).
Here are his exact words:
Why aren’t we Catholic?
In one fell stroke, the new Pope has announced that his way is the only way - that all others are misguided. Now, we Unitarian Universalists might think that our way is the only way and that others are misguided, too, but there is a difference. That difference is simply that if we really are Unitarian Universalists we believe that our way is simply that: our way and we do not condemn others for thinking the way they do (although we might, in the name of justice, love, equality, and freedom) condemn others or those within our own ranks, for acting in heinous ways.
I do not hear this openness to diversity coming from this Pope, do you?
In some ways, I must agree with Martin Luther who five hundred years ago was commenting on the papacy – and then sometimes in most scurrilous ways (that I will not quote because I don’t think the man was very nice at times, but then he did cause the Protestant Reformation, didn’t he?) So, here is what he has to say in light of Pope Benedict XVI’s pronouncements:
This, then is the question: Whether the papacy at Rome, possessing the actual power over all Christendom (as they say), is of divine or of human origin, and this being decided, whether it is possible for Christians to say that all other Christians in the world are heretics and apostates, even if they agree with us in holding to the same baptism, Sacrament, Gospel, and all the articles of faith, but merely do not have their priests and bishops confirmed by Rome, or, as it is now, buy such confirmation with money and let themselves be mocked and made fools of like the Germans.
Why aren’t we Catholic?
Because Emerson, in counter-distinction to Ratzinger, said:
In other words, we Unitarian Universalists attempt to be open to ever-new truths as they manifest themselves to us through our education, experience, intuition, and, as fate would allow. We are not stuck in tradition, although we might apply aspects of it for good and useful purposes. We seek to address the flow of time, not to be limited by the past. We are pragmatic and justice-oriented, believing that there are very real problems in the world that demand our time, energy, talent and money – and this is far more important than debating doctrine, creed, canon law or in writing encyclicals telling others what they are doing wrong. Said in another way, we Unitarian Universalists believe in process rather than stagnation.
Why aren’t we Catholic?
Because Robert Ingersoll, the so-called “great agnostic” said:
And elsewhere he said:
In response to Ingersoll’s thoughts – and realizing that the man held firm to his belief that it was not kind to attack individuals, but that their statements were not so immune - let us consider some of the Catholic Church’s statements. It appears that these teachings will not only be upheld by the new Pope but also made even more stringent. And in doing this, there is fear that many people today have that, as Ingersoll says in respect to the people, “the practical questions that affect their daily lives” will not be addressed. So then what are some of these questions and, indeed:
Why aren’t we Catholic?
Consider the Catholic teaching against birth control. When he was Cardinal Ratzinger, the now-Pope sent a letter to the U.S. bishops, pronouncing that those Catholics who were pro-choice on abortion were committing a “grave sin” and must be denied Communion. He even mentioned “the case of a Catholic politician consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws” – a reference to John Kerry. Any Catholic who voted for this “Catholic politician would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion.” This letter, by the way, was read from Catholic pulpits throughout this country.
Although not all UUs agree on the issue of birth control, our UU General Assembly resolutions have throughout the years, repeatedly upheld a woman’s right of choice. And many of you in this room have worked long and hard with Planned Parenthood and other organizations to keep pro-choice alive, believing that it is not evil, but in the light of personal and global reality, a necessary good.
Why aren’t we Catholic?
Terry Schiavo. I preached on the right of a person in such a persistent vegetative state to have the right to have all artificial means removed so that death would come. We all know what Terry had to endure because of “the church” (Catholic and otherwise), and because of some politicians.
Why aren’t we Catholic?
The list of other “issues” and how we UUs generally see things differently from the Vatican (note I put it this way rather than equating Vatican pronouncements with what all Catholics believe – especially in our country) is long:
The fear that people around the world have – both Catholic and non-Catholic - is that this very refusal to address these and other issues is sometimes cruel and unjust – consider the refusal of the Catholic Church to hand out condoms in African countries despite the fact that millions are now dying from AIDS.
Abstinence as a “birth-control” method in this situation is not just simply an idealistic position, it is a despicable one.
There is the fear, too, that the Catholic Church and other religious groups in this country and in other countries are becoming ever more passionate bedfellows with political leaders.
In that regard, let me close this sermon with these words of warning from President John F. Kennedy, a Catholic:
So, let us say to the Pope:
May you, Benedict, hear the people of the world. May your feel their suffering, their confusion, their need for a spiritual message that brings them the practical rewards of love, justice, and freedom. Bring them mercy not condemnation, Benedict. May you live up to the name you have chosen as Pope – “Benedict” from the word “benedictus” meaning “good words,” a “blessing.” May you bring them those words, but also may you bring them good deeds.
CLOSING WORDS: “The Conflict of Truth and Error” (edited) by John Stuart Mill
*Hymn:
Opening Words: “Nothing is secure but life…”
Nothing is secure but life, transition, the energizing spirit. No love can be bound by oath or covenant to secure it against a higher love. No truth so sublime but it may be trivial tomorrow in the light of new thoughts. People wish to be settled; only so far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them…
Lighting the Chalice:
In our moment we ignite a flame to share the flame of life.
At this moment when we look for understanding and serenity,
We ignite this symbol of our search for truth, meaning and community.
Assembled here in the mystery of the hour.
Assembled together here in one fervent body.
Assembled here in the struggle and in the power.
Spirit, come to us.
Any person who believes liberalism is a potentially superior method for human purposes to any authoritarianism, must also…realize that his freedom-in-fellowship in it is a relatively unearned privilege granted him as an inheritance from a bleeding, cross-carrying past. Since it is a personal privilege enjoyed, it involves him in personal responsibility: to treasure the inheritance which is his, to realize himself in it as fully as may be, to enhance the tradition with his own life, to share its spirit and direction with all he meets each day and to leave it at least unimpaired and possibly improved and enlarged in this world as he goes from it. For a clearly recognized limited (time) he possesses this treasure; he must also see that it has a right to possess him, his mind, time, money, energies, allegiance, persisting love and labor.
However, insofar as any one claims for liberal religion a superiority, he must place himself, in special degree of ethical discipline, to live in the tradition and to live up to it, lest in pride he become, not better than, but worse than other persons, hypocrite and pretender to the better.
We invite you to share your joys and concerns since our last meeting
# 123 (STLT)
"Spirit of Life" by Carolyn McDade (adapted)
Spirit of Life, come unto us,
Sing in our hearts all the stirrings of compassion.
Blow in the wind, rise in the sea;
Move in our hands, giving life the shape of justice.
Roots hold us close; wings set us free;
Spirit of Life, come to us, come to me.
Who do you think you are, the Pope or something?
Which, of course, he now is.
Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism, whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and swept along by every wind of teaching looks like the only attitude acceptable to today’s standards.
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said today. - “Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.” Is it so bad then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.
My belief is that the supernatural has had its day. The church must change or abdicate. That is to say, it must keep step with the progress of the world or be trampled under foot. The church must keep up with the people. The multitude cares little about controversies in churches; they do care about the practical questions that affect their daily lives.
True religion must be free. Without perfect liberty of mind there can be no true religion. Without liberty the brain is a dungeon – the mind a convict.
gay rights (including marriage of same-sex couples)
ordination of women to the priesthood
“appropriate” literature, movies, music
disciplining of children in school
church organization
stem-cell research
sexual expression
celibacy
cloning
divorce
I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute – where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote – where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference…I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish – where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source – where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials.
If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion…mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind…the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race…those who dissent from the opinion still more than those who hold it …
Go now in Peace
Go now in Peace, Go now in Peace,
*
Rev. Don Beaudreault
Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota, FL
May 1, 2005
May the Love of God surround you
Everywhere, everywhere, You may go
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