Bishop Vasa of Oregon would keep diabetics away from Mary Poppins and her notions of spoonfuls of sugar just as he would keep Catholics away from Catholic politicians whose policies recognize the US is not a Catholic theocracy.Bishop Vasa explains use of excommunication and communion denial
A bishop’s power of excommunication in grave cases is like that of a doctor who cuts off a diabetic patient from sugar, Bishop of Bend, Oregon Robert Vasa has said. Explaining the practice, he noted that excommunication is an act of charity intended to instruct a wayward Catholic about the gravity of his or her situation. (Actually excommunication is more like a doctor cutting off someones head to save their own.)
Writing in his Jan. 7 column for the Catholic Sentinel, Bishop Vasa noted that bishops are “extremely reluctant” to take the step of excommunication.
Accusations of abuse of power towards bishops who talk about excommunication are “unfair,” the bishop said.“Excommunication is a declaration, based on solid evidence, that the actions or public teachings of a particular Catholic are categorically incompatible with the teachings of the Church,” he explained. “It is intended primarily as a means of getting the person who is in grave error to recognize the depth of his error and repent.”
Bishop Vasa added that a secondary reason for the practice is to assure the faithful that what they believe to be Catholic teaching is true and correct. (It assures some faithful and alienates more faithful. The question is, does the assurance for the few out weigh the anger of the many?)
“Allowing their faith to be shaken or allowing them to be confused when Catholics publicly affirm something contrary to faith or morals, seemingly without consequences, scandalizes and confuses the faithful. This is no small matter.” (I'm glad a bishop finally explained that for some of them the idea is to cater to those whose faith is not internal and integrated but external and subject to peer pressure.)
The bishop noticed that he receives “a significant number” of messages from supportive Catholics when he speaks on matters of morality and discipline. Further, allowing public error to stand without comment is “discouraging” to faithful Catholics and may give the impression that the error is condoned by the bishop and the Church.
He compared excommunication to a doctor’s treatment of a diabetic patient.
“Accusing the doctor of being a tyrannical power monger would never cross anyone’s mind,” he noted. When a doctor “excommunicates” a diabetic man from sugar, Bishop Vasa explained, “it is clear that his desire is solely the health of his patient.” (The good bishop needs to update himself on diabetic treatment for starters because diabetes is about insulin not sugar, but I forget, the good bishop is justifying a spiritual treatment from the middle ages.)
Any doctor who encouraged a diabetic patient in destructive habits, he noted, would be “grossly negligent and guilty of malpractice.” (And any doctor who limited his treatment to cutting out sugar would be equally guilty of malpractice.)
Bishops must tell the faithful when they are gravely wrong and out of communion with the Catholic faith, he said.
“In serious cases, and the cases of misled Catholic public officials are often very serious, a declaration of the fact that the person is de facto out of communion may be the only responsible and charitable thing to do,” the bishop added.
Not naming an error for fear of causing offense is not compassionate or charitable, he continued.
“Confronting or challenging the error or evil of another is never easy yet it must be done,” Bishop Vasa concluded his Catholic Sentinel column.
“Confronting or challenging the error or evil of another is never easy yet it must be done,” Bishop Vasa concluded his Catholic Sentinel column.
“In an era when error runs rampant and false teachings abound, the voice of the Holy Father rings clear and true. The teachings of the Church are well documented and consistent. Bishops and the pastors who serve in their Dioceses have an obligation both to lead their people to the truth and protect them from error.” (Especially if you buy the 'parent/child' mode of spiritual leadership.)
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I really wish some bishop, maybe even Pope Benedict himself, would get honest about whose spiritual needs they think the Church should care about. That might be the first step in a transparency that Catholicism desperately needs. Let's stop ignoring this particular elephant. The current Church leadership either does not care about people who have moved up the spiritual maturation ladder, or is incapable of dealing with them given it's current structure. I don't understand this at all because historic Catholicism has plenty of examples of people who have moved beyond a pre adolescent level of spiritual maturity.
This letter from Bishop Vasa is simplistic in the extreme. Excommunication is not like a diabetic being told to quite eating sugar. Excommunication effects the totality of Catholic practice, not just one aspect of it, because it theoretically removes a person from everything the Church offers for spiritual solace. It bans one from the community. Diabetics are not told to stop eating and leave their families out of some sense of 'love'. Besides sugar is only one of a number of foods on the glycemic index a diabetic has to watch. Stevia, as well as other artificial sweeteners, are alternatives that can replace sugar. Excommunication as a spiritual therapy offers no such alternatives. Excommunication says such spiritual alternatives do not exist inside 'god's' church.
If it's so important to 'assure' the few at the expense of the many, and the lack of concern for the vast numbers of faithful who have left the Church seems to prove this point, then please come out and say this honestly and give your reasons--if you dare. As it stands now, I'm of the opinion that bishops like Vasa are terrified that their real reasons for cultivating the needs of the few have a less to do with protecting them from confusion and scandal, and a great deal more to do with pleasing certain wealthy benefactors and apostolates and furthering their own ecclesiastical careers in the process.
If official Catholicism is to be the Church of the beginning stages of spiritual development then come out and say so because all the excommunications you throw out will not force people who have moved up in spiritual maturity to revert to previous levels. Spirituality doesn't work that way. Maturing in spirituality moves one away from black and white regulations towards non judgmental compassion, sharing, and the universal recognition of our similarities not our differences. Human consciousness is maturing exactly along these lines.
The current Church is setting itself up in opposition to this trend rather then encouraging it's development. This is so unfortunate given the biggest boost to this development was Jesus Himself. But then He suffered the ultimate form of excommunication for His speaking out against rigid adherence to Jewish law in it's zealous need to supersede compassion and human decency. In a very real sense Jesus taught about the necessity to maintain relationship with our fellow man at all cost. He instructed Peter that forgiveness was so important Peter must be prepared to forgive seventy times seven.
Yes, Jesus frequently suggested people he healed 'go and sin no more'. But he didn't add, "and if you don't, you are dead to me". It's not the hierarchies place to declare who is and who is not dead to Jesus or His Church. That's a choice we make as individuals and that choice does not reflect on the real truth or lack there of in the Church. To think it does is not a particularly mature response and shows a stunning lack of belief in the power of the Holy Spirit to guide and protect the Church.
**Personal note. My daughter is a type I diabetic and has been since she was nine. I wish for her sake that managing this disease was as simple as cutting out sugar. If we had taken that simplistic a position she would have died a long long time ago. Simple solutions to complex problems rarely work. Bishop Vasa is not doing diabetics or Catholics any good with his simple understandings and solutions.
