The Price of Consistency

Why is it that some people can't let the Catholic Church be? The Vatican keeps being viciously criticised for its standpoint on themes such as Abortion, Use of Condoms, Stem-cell Research etc. and it seems to me that most of these critics have not stopped to think that all the Vatican is doing is to pursue consistency between what it preaches and what it condones.It is my view that the Catholic Church is no-longer the political influence it once was during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and doesn’t wish to be. Unlike what critics seem to suggest between the lines of their blind condemnation of the Church’s morality, the Catholic Church has distanced itself from politics considerably and seeks to act more in the area of its competence, which is to say matters of Faith, Charity and Ethics. It is true that the Vatican State pronounces itself before the world about issues of political relevance, but it is clear to me that this is done where political events overlap with humanitarian issues, questions of ethics and matters of faith. I don’t think that the Vatican seeks to overthrow the sovereignty of any country, as I see no sign at all to that effect.

Yet, how can the Vatican remain silent about what it perceives to be destructive to Christians and, in fact, destructive all Mankind? This is because the Church nowadays remains the guardian of the Universal Truth as Catholics see it. As such, it is the Church’s obligation to safeguard and preach this Universal Truth to those who want to listen to it, and as a consequence, the Church must be consistent with what it preaches. Remember that Catholics and the Catholic Church believe that we received this Universal Truth from God and from Christ whilst he walked among us here on Earth. This means that the Vatican cannot resort to a democratic process to change Truth; after all it is a Universal Truth and we cannot hope to supplant God’s wisdom.

Hence, I think anyone with a sparkle of logic in them will see that the Catholic Church cannot advocate one behaviour and then condone another that presents stark contrast to the first. In order to preserve its consistency with the Universal Truth it defends, the Catholic Church must be unswerving where new trends and new technologies endanger the object of its precepts. For example, if the Church preaches that all life is precious, that murder is wrong and that human life begins at conception, how could it accept abortion? If the Church advocates monogamy and no pre-marital sex, how could it condone the use of condoms? Moreover, why would a monogamous married couple that is not supposed to prevent child birth need condoms at all? The Church must advocate and support only that which is consistent with what it expects of its followers, regardless of what the world thinks of it and what the current scientific trends are.

Finally, let’s face it: Nowadays being Catholic is a personal choice. It is not a compulsory act, nor is it socially mandatory. In the eyes of the Christian Faith, we are each and all free to chose, but the Church’s responsibility is to inform us of the Truth and the consequence of our choices. In this sense, one could think of the Church as a private club where you are not obliged to enrol, but if you so choose, you must follow the rules of the club. You either choose to be Catholic or you choose not to be, so why criticise the Church when it is only preaching to those who chose to be Catholics?

When governments opt to fight a nation’s perceived enemy by pre-emptively striking at their homes overseas, more often than not the initiative results in a new and bitterer generation of enemies. When citizens forgo common sense and let themselves be fooled by foolhardy politicians even in the face of evidence, they surrender themselves to convenience and corruption and condemn their offspring to perpetual strife.