Catholic cafeteria coming to a close
23 June 2004
George W. Bush meets with the pope and makes a thinly veiled
appeal for
It certainly looks like it. Much of the fault for that lies with church leaders who foolishly have allowed themselves to be dragged into partisan politics. Yet there is a more fundamental issue here, one that transcends the election and confronts not only Catholic politicians but all who call themselves adherents: What does it really mean to be a Catholic?
Both political parties are engaged in a fierce battle for the hearts and minds of Catholic voters. Catholics number more than 63 million, and Time magazine finds them almost evenly split in their preference for Bush or Kerry. Move a few of those votes either way, particularly in heavily Catholic swing states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio, and the result of the November election changes.
All of which has had the effect of politicizing religion. The last time a Catholic was the nominee of a major party, Catholics overwhelmingly voted for him. Kerry hopes to duplicate John Kennedy's feat; the Bush team is determined to thwart him. One way to do that is to question the religious sincerity of Kerry. Although he's a regular churchgoer, some of his public positions (notably on abortion) are at odds with church doctrines.
Under enormous pressure, the American bishops last Friday issued a statement, called "Catholics in Political Life," that gave comfort to both sides. To some extent, the bishops tried to dampen the current furor, distancing themselves from partisanship, stressing their role as teachers and paying some homage to the separation of church and state. Contrary to the demands of conservatives, they refused to ban pro-choice Catholics such as Kerry from receiving communion, instead leaving it up to the decision of local bishops. Thus, as long as it does good advance work, the Kerry team should be able to spare the senator the embarrassment of coming up empty- wafered, so to speak.
Moreover, the bishops made explicit reference to another document they approved last September called "Faithful Citizenship." A great deal of it reads as if it were cribbed from the Democratic platform. In it, for instance, the bishops come out in favor of a higher minimum wage, more stringent environmental protections and even new rules to prevent the concentration of media ownership. As the bishops noted, a "Catholic moral framework does not easily fit the ideologies of `right' or `left,' nor the platforms of any party."
That's all good news for Kerry. Yet the bad news - for Kerry, for other Catholic politicians and for Catholics generally - is that it is also quite clear that the church, from the pope on down, is starting to take its doctrines seriously. The era of the cafeteria Catholic is coming to a close.
Cafeteria Catholics are those Catholics who pick and choose among the church's rules. Many self-professed Catholics, for example, have sexual relationships outside of marriage. They get divorced. They have homosexual relationships. They approve of the death penalty. They back abortion rights, they use contraception, they favor stem- cell research, they support gay marriage. All of those, of course, are contrary to church doctrines. Moreover, many profoundly disagree with teachings about the role of women in society, the refusal to allow women to be priests and the celibacy of the clergy.
Add all of those up and it's a safe bet that most of those who call themselves Catholics don't agree with the tenets of their religion.
That's not the way it's supposed to be. Catholicism is hierarchical, not democratic, with a set of doctrines ultimately promulgated by the pope. The rules are universal. They are not up for a vote by churchgoers nor at the discretion of individual members. To be a Catholic means accepting everything. If you don't, then you are sinning. And if you don't acknowledge the sin, then you're not a Catholic, nor should you hold yourself out as one.
In other words, the Catholic Church is like a club. The club has rules. If you want to be a member of the club, you abide by the rules. Otherwise, leave.
This applies to more than politicians, of course - they're simply in the spotlight because their public lives have put them there. Eventually, it's not only John Kerry who will face hard questions about whether he is a "real" Catholic. Regular Catholics need to confront and answer that about themselves as well.
Ultimately, this will have a profound effect on the power of the church in American life. The influence of the church is tied to its vast membership and the resources that membership devotes to it. But with the cafeteria closed, the club will almost certainly find it has far fewer who are willing to stay, dine and pay the bill.
Talk back to Tom Keane at tomkeane@tomkeane.com.