I seem to have sewn some
confusion the other day regarding my stance on the present situation.
First, the
matter of St. Clement's admonition...
Clement admonishes us to cleave to and obey those whom God has placed over us. God has established a rightful order that cannot, without sin, be set aside.
The
operations of natural things, he observes, are subject to God’s government,
never hesitating, nor changing any of the ordinances which he has fixed (Ch.
20). It is right, he says, that we too should remain in the posts assigned to
us. To reject this assignment is to reject also God (Ch. 21). Christ was sent
by God, the apostles by Christ, and the bishops by the apostles, all in an
orderly way (Ch. 42). The layman is bound to the laws that pertain to the layman
(Ch. 40). Again, let no one go beyond the ministry prescribed to him (Ch. 41).
Submit yourselves to the presbyters; better to case aside your pride than to be
case into hell (Ch. 57). And again, let us humble ourselves that we should be
placed among the number of the saved (Ch. 58).
But what are we to do if our appointed leaders betray the faith? Clement does not appear to have considered this possibility! One cannot, without sin, refuse the presbyters, he says, who have been appointed in the proper order and who have served blamelessly (Ch. 44). But what if the presbyters at Corinth, having been rightly installed, had not served blamelessly? This, I think most of us would agree, is the character of our present situation in the Church.
We can, as one gentleman suggested on Thursday, treat the matter as we would that of a bad father. The fourth commandment does not lose force when the father is unfaithful. Children are to obey their parents for the love of God. They are to obey their parents in all but sin. How does a child know that he loves his father for the love of God? He might feel as though he loves his father more than he loves God, but if he obeys his father in everything except sin, he shows himself to love God more. The same, I think, must be our attitude to the bishops and to the Holy Father. We are to love them for the love of God. This means that we are to submit to them in all things possible inasmuch as charity demands. The hierarchy of the Catholic Church is not an option for us. We cannot say “He’s not my pope” or “He’s not my bishop.” Rather, we should say “He’s my father. I love him because he is my father and I love God.”
DSMW
