I am posting the following announcement from tonight’s on-line Catholic Courier before actually writing a full response to the premise of the Speaker’s title. At this point, it isn’t about content, as that isn’t disclosed, nor is it about intention, which also is not disclosed. So it’s only possible to deal with the title, and its implications, especially for Catholics.
—————above blue text is from 1-5-18 Catholic Courier on-line—————
The very subject of unity has been in the front of my thinking and in some rough drafts written over the past few weeks. I see the premise of the subject title as a sign that it is time to bring forth the counterpoint, ready or not. What is the point? “Unity is NOT created out of diversity.”
Please don’t take this as any criticism or rejection of St. Paul’s beautiful words in First Corinthians, which we should cherish. But diversity does NOT create unity. Diversity challenges unity. St. Paul’s words show that the One Body is Christ Himself, and He is complete ONENESS. That ONENESS is the very mark of the Church which He founded: One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. It is NOT the diversity of the parts within His Church which creates unity; no, rather it is Christ as cause and as effect of ONENESS, of His uniting the parts. It is from God that each soul receives its gifts and its work, not from the community of believers, albeit sometimes those gifts may be used through such community.
In His High Priestly prayer the night before He died, Christ chose to focus on one concern in particular — that we would be ONE as He and the Father are ONE. Of all the concerns about which He might have taught, or exhorted in His “Farewell Address to the Troops”, ONENESS was His message. It was to be a great challenge to the apostles, all the way down to us today. Read the Gospel of John, Chapter 17 to understand that ONENESS cannot possibly come from diversity. If it could, would we have over 40,000 different denominations spawned from within the heart of the true Church? Unity around any of the myriad issues which encompass a diverse population is meaningless where there is no unity in faith, in doctrine and dogma as Christ taught it. Unity which is built around ‘neighboring’ can bear no real fruit unless connected to the True Vine.
The great threat that the Catholic Church is facing today (greatest since the Arian heresy) is lack of ONENESS, and I believe it is quite likely that the period we are in will be someday seen as, in effect, a schism. To have bishops in Argentina, Malta and Germany teaching differently on doctrinal issues from bishops in Kazakhstan, Poland and Philadelphia hardly exhibits ONENESS. To have ambiguity in documents stirring souls to confusion, fear, concern and division is antithetical to the very nature of the mark of ONENESS and to the Peace of the Holy Spirit. What is not needed is a human answer to what only divine intervention can cure. What is not needed is more diverse opinion on matters which cannot be subject to change. What is not needed is a ‘feel-good’ gathering of diverse activities acting as a social action committee.
But it is necessary to speak out because the Catholic Church is very vulnerable right now, and that is why “human” answers are so dangerous. They mask the really difficult work that needs to be done within the Church and within each soul. And no Catholic Church needs to give a de facto pulpit to anyone to argue that unity can be created from diversity.
I am asking regarding this matter, and this post, very specifically for input from the CF readers, and others who want to join in. It is hardly a time to wait. I have more to share on this topic, but will try to wait a bit to sense the response and interest of others. So, if you are interested in exploring this topic further, please weigh-in.
No, I do not plan to attend on Tuesday. I don’t see any reason for any Catholic to entertain the premise. I will leave the podium to Assumption’s guest speaker, and stick to what I’m called to do, which is write, hopefully always for the good of souls. God bless!
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My first thought is this: without diversity, the concept of unity becomes a moot point. Unity isn’t required if everyone is the already the same. Just as faith isn’t needed in a world of certainty. So indeed, unity as a purpose or mission only makes sense if it is created out of diversity.
Not out of diversity of beliefs. How on God’s green earth do you get “unity” when everyone believes what they think is good and right?
THAT is the crisis in the Church today – we are heading toward schism – those who would bend the Church’s teaching to accommodate the prevailing morass of a culture, and those who advocate that the Church provide (as it has attempted to do for 2000 years) a light in the darkness.
In my opinion, a parish that purports to be Catholic has no business giving a microphone to someone who shares perhaps some beliefs with us, but few absolutely vital ones.
@annonymouse
The topic was “unity is created out of diversity”
I claimed that was the only statement that made sense when talking about the mission of the church.
So are you arguing that unity can only be created out of unity?
Or are you simply changing the topic to defining what is the definition of unity is?
I’ve been to enough diversity trainings over the last few years to understand that the cult of diversity has as its underlying principle relativism; that there is no universal truth or at least that if there is there is no way of determining. The label of diversity is pretty much equivalent to flying a rainbow flag. It should come as no surprise that this presentation is being hosted at Assumption – a stronghold of liberalism.
I’m with you Ben… I see diversity as what it was created to be by progressives: social engineering, which is the enemy of freedom. It’s just another bullet the enemy of our time is using, and obviously the gullible think it’s so very nice, so loving. It is neither nice nor loving. Its purpose is like all the other PR moves these many years… the destruction of souls.
First, I want to clarify my original objection to the title: “Unity is created out of Diversity.” When presented by a local non-Catholic but ministerial speaker in the Church of the Assumption, it seems reasonable to assume that the venue, the speaker’s ‘credentials’ AND the topic relate to “unity” in the sense of Christ’s call to be One, and for Oneness to be a Mark of the one, true Church. Quite frankly, I can’t imagine what else it might refer to. The word “diversity” plays on the current pro-diversity political, business and social climates. But let’s not leave out the verb … we are not dealing with “E Pluribus Unum” — which refers to one country functioning out of many states and peoples, without changing that diversity of the components. The verb “create” carries the implication of transformation, or making something out of nothing as in the Creator’s Work.
It is not as one commenter replied, that “… without diversity the concept of unity becomes a moot point.” Christ called for Oneness in advance, not to fall into disunity and then repair it on our own strength and ability. We do not need the diversity and falling away in order to adhere to Oneness. The spirit of Oneness must permeate the entire Church, not merely be a composition of various ways of, for example, viewing the Eucharist, or varied practices on a local level of marriage and divorce. The Oneness of Faith does not allow for splintering into a variety of interpretations of doctrine or dogma. This point is especially important today, as we see seriously threatening variations being introduced (or attempted to be introduced) into the Deposit of Faith. Holding onto the unity which Christ called for becomes a key way to examine and reject the unwanted diversity which undermines Truth, and the Faith itself.