At the beginning of chapter three, page 101, Michael Coren quotes Fulton J. Sheen (Roman Catholic Archbishop and TV preacher of the 1950s and 60s) as having said, “There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church,....” I remember Bishop Sheen positively, and I also remember my father using that quotation. It’s a fine quote inasmuch as it makes the point that a good deal of what people hate about the Church is based on misunderstanding. But it’s also hopelessly arrogant and naive in that it dismisses virtually all criticism as ignorance. To know us is to love us, it says, so just get to know us. It is a helpful way, however, to begin an explanation of what the Church really is. There’s more than enough misunderstanding to go around.
The classical Roman Catholic Church perceives itself to be the “True Church”. Modern Catholics don’t generally talk this way, but it’s still the fundamental disagreement between Catholics and other Christians. The Catholic Church believes itself to be The Church that Christ established two-thousand years ago. Their scripture text is Matthew 16:13-19.
One day Jesus was speaking with his disciples at a place called Caesarea Philippi when he asked them, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." And then he asked them "Who do you say I am?" And Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ , the Son of the living God."
At this point Jesus made the declaration that has caused so much disagreement over the centuries. “...you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." I wonder if he ever wishes he could get a do-over?
Coren explains that, since the name Peter means rock, Jesus is obviously saying that he (Peter) is the foundation of the Church, establishing him as the first Pope, initiating an unbroken succession of Popes (266 from 32 A.D. to the present), and guaranteeing the infallibility of the Pope, albeit limited to what is declared as an infallible teaching of the Church. – I repeat, this is the sort of thing we don’t hear much anymore, and I think we can see why. It’s a lot to hang on a half dozen verses of scripture.
Protestants, as you might expect, disagree. The foundation of the church is Jesus, not a Pope. “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:11) Peter’s name does mean rock, and we all love a good pun, but surely the rock Jesus refers to is not Peter, but Peter’s declaration "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
In Protestant, and particularly Evangelical thinking, the church is not an institution, but a movement. It does not depend on any individual or an unbroken succession of Popes, but on the commitment of a community of believers to Jesus as the Christ (Messiah). It is composed of all believers who share Peter’s conviction about Jesus, regardless of denomination or points of disagreement. Being human, it is not infallible, though it is continually led to seek forgiveness and renewal. And, on the whole, it has survived pretty well.
For the most part Protestants and Catholics get along these days. But the Catholic notion that they constitute the “One True Church” is a continuing source of mild irritation. It results in our Catholic brothers and sister excluding us from sharing in Communion, while most Protestant churches feel free to include them. It also leads to the insistence that children of Catholic/non-Catholic marriages be raised Catholic, and numerous other points of discomfort. In fairness, it should be noted that many Catholics are uncomfortable with this notion, but they are as stuck with it as we are.
It is an important point to keep in mind, however, as we continue to explore Why Catholics Are (so fixated on being) Right. So Coren has done us all a service by bringing it up again, and we will see that it explains a lot of things.
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