On March 4th of 2008 John Allen spoke about mega trends in the Catholic Church and seems to have channeled the future as it regards Pope Francis and his remarks actually give us some very clear insights into the mind and spirituality of Pope Francis without ever mentioning him.
I suspect there is something about the name Allen,or properly spelled, Allan, that intuits clairvoyance!
This is copied from the Denver Register:
Catholic journalist-author John Allen outlines Church ‘mega-trends’ to watch
By Jennifer Voelker
3/19/2008
Denver Catholic Register
DENVER, Colo. (Denver Catholic Register) - In a fact-filled talk in Denver on March 4, journalist-author John Allen spoke about mega-trends facing the Church and tied them to Pope Benedict XVI’s upcoming U.S. visit. The pope will visit Washington D.C. and New York City April 15-20.
Allen is the Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, and also a CNN correspondent. He spoke before a sizeable crowd of 250 people in Bonfils Hall at the John Paul II Center. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., invited Allen, a close friend, to speak.
Allen spoke about the Catholic Church becoming a world church, evangelical Catholicism, the biotech revolution and globalization. A book he is writing on mega-trends facing the Church will be published this year.
The first mega-trend facing the Catholic Church, according to Allen, is the transition to a “world church” due to growing Catholic populations in Africa, Asia and South America. Allen calls this “Southern Catholicism.” In the past, the Church has been dominated by Europe and North America.
This population shift, he said, will move Church leadership to a more global focus.
Hemispheric differences
Allen noted several common characteristics of “Southern Catholicism,” including that most priests are morally conservative, but politically liberal. This is because the priests and the Church are often the only voice for the people to defend the common good in non-democratic and often tyrannical governments. For example, priests in Zimbabwe wrote a letter to the President Robert Mugabe telling him it is time for him to leave.
(MY COMMENT: This seems to sum up Pope Francis!:)Southern Catholicism is also biblical and not speculative. The supernatural is “very palpable and real,” Allen said. Miracles and exorcisms are the “meat and potatoes” of a supernatural spirituality.
Southern Catholicism also has a problem of growth, not decline.
“There is runaway, explosive, dynamic growth,” Allen said. In Africa, not enough seminaries can be built to keep up with the demand for priests and baptisms.
“People are being baptized faster than priests can be ordained,” Allen said.
Possible echoes on the pope’s visit include asking for solidarity. There might be a stronger sense of the world Church inside American Catholicism because the pope recently named the first cardinal from a Texas diocese last October.
The battle against secularism
(MY COMMENT: THIS IS VERY INSIGHTFUL AND QUITE IMPORTANT!:)The second mega-trend facing the Catholic Church is evangelical Catholicism. There is a strong emphasis on a traditional Catholic identity as a reaction against secular humanism, which has eroded Catholic institutions. Evangelical Catholicism includes a strong public proclamation, and faith as a matter of personal choice rather than a cultural influence.
Contemporary Europe is very secular, Allen said. According to a recent poll, only 27 percent of Italians think religion is very important. In comparison, 59 percent of Americans think religion is very important. This growing secularism is a major concern for the current papacy, he said.
Some examples of evangelical Catholicism include changes to the liturgy to reflect more accurate translations of the original biblical text, Catholic education and a culture of life.
Possible papal echoes might be a call to a strong sense of Catholic identity and a call to foster religious vitality in the United States.
Bioethical concerns on the rise
The third mega-trend is the biotechnology revolution, which includes cloning, in vitro fertilization, embryonic stem cell research, end of life issues, genetic engineering, genetically modified organisms, and justice and health care issues.
Increasingly, the question will come down to what it means to be human, Allen said.
Allen concluded that the biotechnology issue will consume more and more doctrinal time for the pope.
Possible echoes during the pope’s visit might be a strong call to a culture of life and the recognition that science can contribute greatly to humanity, but it can also destroy humanity.
The fourth mega-trend Allen sees is globalization. Worldwide, more people are enjoying prosperity, but most people worldwide still live in poverty.
Possible echoes during the pope’s visit might include developing human rights beginning with religious freedom and the growing ecology movement complementing natural law.
Allen concluded that American Catholics will need to emphasize the things that bring us together and not the issues that divide us to successfully meet and overcome the challenges facing the Catholic Church.
(This is separate from the above article, but John Allen has further defined Evangelical Catholicism:)
Defining Evangelical Catholicism
“Evangelical Catholicism” is a term being used to capture the Catholic version of a 21st century politics of identity, reflecting the long-term historical transition in the West from Christianity as a culture-shaping majority to Christianity as a subculture, albeit a large and influential one. I define Evangelical Catholicism in terms of three pillars:
A strong defense of traditional Catholic identity, meaning attachment to classic markers of Catholic thought (doctrinal orthodoxy) and Catholic practice (liturgical tradition, devotional life, and authority).
Robust public proclamation of Catholic teaching, with the accent on Catholicism’s mission ad extra, transforming the culture in light of the Gospel, rather than ad intra, on internal church reform.
Faith seen as a matter of personal choice rather than cultural inheritance, which among other things implies that in a highly secular culture, Catholic identity can never be taken for granted. It always has to be proven, defended, and made manifest.
MY FINAL COMMENT: John Allen sums it up perfectly and I couldn't have clairvoyanted myself any better!
5 comments:
The author mentions that the Catholicism of the so-called Third World is replete with supernaturalism. There is a theological issue here, and that is the problematic nature of the supernatural when applied to Christian theology. The supernatural is the irrational, the illogical, and is not subject to theological categories. The term is too loosely used by Christians when referring to the mysteries of our Faith.
Many theologians prefer the term "supra-natural," which indicates something beyond or above the natural world and natural phenomena but which has an internal logic of its own. Although neither term is ideal, supra-natural is more appropriate when referring to Catholic theology. If we accept and believe the revealed truths of our faith...Creation, Incarnation, etc, then there is a very consistent and compelling internal theo-logic that is tightly structured and which cannot be violated without damage to the entire structure. Augustine, Aquinas Anselm, Calvin, Barth, and Pope Benedict XVI himself were all acutely aware of the internal logic of theology and dogmatics and were careful, analytical thinkers. Interestingly, in the Holy Catholic Church, this theo-logic is beautifully embodied in the Liturgy and the Eucharist. Dogma flows from the Eucharist and is logically consistent with it.
The supernatural, on the other hand, tends to disconnect faith and belief from its logical base and relegate it to the realm of emotion and, well, magic. This is a problem with Third World worship as well as with charismatic worship in the Western World...it tends to view the Eucharist and the Sacraments as magic and emotion, compartmentalizing them and opening the Church to all kinds of secular/pagan expressions of worship and behavior. Voodoo and Marxist political philosophy are not that far apart when considered in this light. In this country, charismatic worship, clown masses, and secular humanism represent the irrational, non-theological aspects of a compartmentalized theology of worship.
I think of this every time I see Catholics run into Church after the Great Amen, kneel impatiently, hurry down to receive, then head straight for the exit. It is like nothing matters but that magic wafer...somehow that is all I really need for some kind of magic to happen inside me. Dangerous thinking, which plays right into the hands of the de-constructionists and secular humanizers...let them have their opiate and teach them to read Marx and wear Che t-shirts...
I think what Gene is saying is that it is a conversion process, not a dialectic. This is true even within the European cultures as well. Salvation comes from the Jews, we all know, there is no diminishing of European culture in accepting that. I love English Literature as much as anyone, French and Italian, too, but the Mass is in Latin for a reason and best serves that purpose.
My impression of the talk was that it states the obvious. What it never really addresses is that this has been going on for almost 2000 years. How do we deal with this success?
Philip Jenkins is a good author to read concerning "global Christianity."
His books include "the Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity," "The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South,"
"God's Continent: Christianity, Islam, and Europe's Religious Crisis," and "
The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice."
Let's see, Jenkins is a "Catholic turned Episcopalian." Wonder why that is?
Well, I downloaded some of his essays and read a couple of book reviews. He does have some interesting things to say about contemporary Catholic demographics and their possible effects upon the Church. Probably worth reading. Score one for Ignotus. His denominational switch still puzzles me...
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