In the realm of Catholic spirituality, Pope Saint John XXIII was a game-changer. This "short-timer" pontiff managed to usher in an era of reform that (so-it-seemed) would forever shape the Catholic Church. But it doesn’t seem that way now, some 60-plus years later.
Women’s rights. Antisemitism. The rights of migrants. Issues of war and peace. Racism. Ecumenism and interreligious dialogue.
Many do not see the Church as having the same forward trajectory as it seemed to have in the years following John XXIII’s pontificate. Even in 2014, the very year that John XXIII was declared a saint by the Church, the mixed reactions and ambivalence on the part of Roman Catholic clergy polled spoke volumes. The Church is on a different trajectory than that charted by good Pope John.
And I think that is too bad.
Because we are living at a time when the world is in crisis, and a lot of the ugly, fascist movements from previous decades are rearing their heads again. In our own country—actually many countries—we see an alignment between a kind of Christian nationalism, xenophobia, racism, and resurgent sexism and antisemitism.
But only do we live in time when there seems to be increasingly an embrace of extremist ideologies among Catholics and other Christians, but there is a rejection of some of truly affirmative spiritual tends that came out of the Vatican II era, such as ecumenism, interreligious dialogue and cooperation, and centering prayer.
Of the latter, one is more likely to encounter those who dissect and criticize the documents of Vatican II and disparage varieties of contemplative prayer or spirituality that they really know next to nothing about. I thought of John XXIII at the start of this short “rant” because to me he is a Christ-like example of what is so sorely lacking in the Catholic world of today.
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