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Heroes and Villians

As Christians we share in our brothers' triumphs; we may all share their disgrace.

Among the many unique ceremonies that have been scheduled for this Jubilee year, two liturgical celebrations have captured special attention: the March 12 “Day of Pardon” observance and the May 7 tribute to the Christians who gave their lives for the faith during the 20th century. To be understood properly, these two ceremonies should be seen side by side.

As Christians living at the dawn of the 21st century, we can and should be proud of the heroism shown by the many thousands of people who died for the faith during the past 100 years. Even if we ourselves have not shown the same fortitude in defense of the faith, we can rejoice in the glory that our brothers have earned. The martyrs are members of our family, and we can bask in the glory reflected off their crowns.

And there is more. Grace is the currency of the divine economy, and in giving their lives for Christ the martyrs made large deposits into our account. We, the sinners of the 21st century, draw constantly on the credit established by the saints and martyrs of past generations.

By the same token, since we are all members of one Body, we living Christians still suffer because of the misdeeds of our erring predecessors. As individuals we are not responsible for the sins of past generations, but we still struggle to undo the damage they have done. If we are bold enough to claim the credits earned by the martyrs, we should be humble enough to shoulder the debts incurred by the sinners like ourselves.

The ancient foe

Every one of us is familiar with the battle between credit and debit, between good and evil, between the Holy Spirit and “the world, the flesh, and the devil.” In this conflict, which shapes the course of world history, we recognize the same struggle that shapes our own souls.

That struggle takes different forms in different eras. Early in May, the Pope’s pilgrimage to Fatima, and the surprise revelation of the “third secret,” helped to focus public attention on a central conflict of the 20th century: the Church’s struggle against totalitarian ideology. Thousands of Christians died in that conflict, because they dared to uphold the message of the Gospel at a time when secular ideologies would not tolerate any such competition.

Martyrs come in all sizes, shapes, and personalities. Their stories—as the Pope observed during that May 7 ceremony—bear witness to the vast panorama of Christian experience. And yet every martyr dies for the same cause: the Cross of Jesus Christ. The Cross, St. Paul teaches us, is a “sign of contradiction” in every age. And when Christians raise that sign too high—higher than the spirit of the age is willing to tolerate—they risk martyrdom.

The most important historical conflict of the 20th century pitted the Catholic Church against the forces of atheistic ideology. Now that century is over, and new generations will face the ancient foe in new guises. As Pope John Paul has repeatedly warned us, the central battle of our era is the conflict between the culture of life and the culture of death.

If we editors are doing our job well, each new issue of Catholic World Report should offer fresh perspectives on that struggle. In this month’s issue, we pay special attention to the battle that is being fought inside the ranks of the clergy in North America. Here the focus of the struggle is not political but personal; the enemy is not Communism but lust.

Fruits of the same tree

Today the vast majority of Catholic couples use contraceptives, and roughly half of all Catholic marriages end in divorce. Is it any wonder, then, that the Catholic clergy—and even the hierarchy—has been shaken by scandals involving sexual misconduct? There is no end to the list of possible offenses against the virtue of chastity, but they are all fruits of the same tree.

For us today, living in a world that is saturated with sensuality, the practice of chastity is not easy. At times it calls for the exercise of heroic virtue; at times we are called to be signs of contradiction. It is always easier to make compromises. But in spiritual warfare there can be no compromises; there are only wins and losses.

We are all sinners. That is a fundamental tenet of our faith, which has been dramatized and driven home anew by the Day of Pardon ceremony. With God’s help we can overcome our faults. But first we must recognize those faults. Today we—perhaps as individuals, and certainly as a family—need to acknowledge our offenses against chastity, and plead for God’s pardon.

—Philip F. Lawler

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