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| St. Oliver Plunkett, Last Catholic Martyr in England |
Many, if not most, Catholics, have not read the major encyclicals. Many, if not most, have not studied the Mass, or basic doctrines of the Church, despite so many excellent blogs and articles, as well as talks on line for free.
The spirit of disobedience involves anti-intellectualism, as we come to God through our intellect as well as the heart. If a Catholic is not studying his faith, he is not obedient to the Church's expectation that he live out his baptismal promises. One cannot share what one does not know.
Heresy is, of course, false dogma or false doctrine. But, how can one discern truth from falsity without knowing the Faith?
All Catholic adults are responsible for learning the Faith. All Catholic adults are culpable for ignorance. I am not talking about those, who through no fault of their own, have never heard of or seen Catholic teaching. But, here in Europe and in America, I would think invincible ignorance is rare.
Which is why, today, I am grieving over my protestant brothers and sisters, as well as Catholics who are for all purposes, protestant. I have come to the conclusion that three things keep them from coming into the fullness of truth about Christianity, which is only found in the Catholic Church.
The first is the simplest reason, and that is learned prejudice. And, even in 2013, prejudice rears its ugly head in conversations with protestants, who have been raised to hate things, even people, which and who are Catholic.
The second is disobedience, which is connected to heresy. One of the biggest problems in the protestant world has been the widespread acceptance of the sin of contraception. Disobedience also lies in not following the very words of Christ regarding the Eucharist.
He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day. John 6:24. DR
One simple line in John which is denied and not considered by millions of protestants reveals a disobedience which is not only learned, but treasured.
The third problem is culpable ignorance. There cannot be more than a handful of protestants in Europe or America who have not bumped into the truths of the Catholic Church in some way or another.
Recently, the Church has been in the media more than ever.
Heresy, prejudice, disobedience, culpable ignorance are all serious sins. One hopes and prays that our brothers and sisters in Christ will have a moment of epiphany, of real grace, when they see the obstacles keeping them from truth.
In the hard times to come, disobedience, heresy and culpable ignorance will lead many, many people astray, into worse sins, such as complicity in the coming persecution of the Catholic Church.
It has all happened before and it will happen again.