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Modernism in the Catholic Church

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Modernism is, according to the teachings of the Catholic Church, not so much a heresy, as the synthesis of all heresies. Thus at least it was expressed when first condemned in September 1907 by Pope Pope Pius X in the encyclical Lamentabili, which a modern historian of the Modernist crisis attributes to Joseph Lemius (1860-1923), the procurator in Rome of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (O'Connell 1994). In 1910 the Anti-Modernist oath was imposed on candidates for ordination, and remained in force until it was abolished by Paul VI in 1967.

Modernism is characterised in the Church hierarchy as an unwillingness to accept defined Church dogmas, accompanied by claims for the possibility of the evolution of dogma—a notion said to be distinct from Cardinal Newman's teaching on the "development of doctrine" an unfolding in time of what was complete in the Creator's mind. "Truth is no more unchangeable than man himself, for it evolves with him, in him and through him" Pius X expressed the Modernist view, in condemning it.

Modernism was a term given by the Catholic hierarchy to describe a series of movements and beliefs in which some Catholic thinkers were joining Protestant theologians and clergy, starting with the Tübingen school in the mid-19th century. The crisis took place chiefly in French and British intellectual Catholic circles and to a lesser extent in Italy and virtually nowhere else. It should be noted that none of the "modernists" used this label, nor did they see themselves as a unified group; "modernist" was applied to them. The first reactive attack on modern trends can be recognized in Pius IX's Syllabus of Errors, issued in 1864.

Modernism in the Catholic Church might be given the following broad headings:

  • Textual Criticism of the Bible. In other words, attempting to reevalute the meaning of the Bible by focusing on the text alone and ignoring what others have historically taught about it, especially with the assumption that the miracles described within couldn't possibly have happened, and attempting to piece together what really happened and why the writers might have written about what they did. This way of looking at the Bible became quite popular in the Protestant churches and found its way into Catholic churches. It was an offshoot of the concept of sola scriptura, since that doctrine asserts an individual's ability to learn all that is necessary regarding religion by reading the Bible alone.
  • Secularism and other Enlightenment ideals. The ideal of secularism can be briefly summarised as holding that the best course of action in politics and other civic fields is that which flows from disparate groups' and religions' common understanding of the "good". By implication, Church and State should be separated, and the laws of the state should generally only cover the "common ground" of beliefs between the various religious groups that might be present—for example the prohibition of murder, etc. From the secularists' point of view, it was possible to distinguish between political ideas and structures that were religious and those that were not. In the movement of the Counter-Enlightenment after the fall of Napoleon, Catholic theologians in the mainstream argued that such a distinction was possible, that all aspects of society had to be organized with the final goal of heaven in mind. This was a direct counter to the thread of Humanism that had been in the forefront of intellectual thought since the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution. The roots of secularism they traced to those English philosophers who attempted to create a "universal religion" based on the "common denominator" of all other religions; it was largely spread through the secret societies of the Enlightenment, including the Freemasons, the Illuminati, and the Carbonari, and its greatest threat, in the writings of this school, was the spectre of Democracy.

The combination of these three currents usually led to other conclusions which were common in various streams of progressive thinking that was characterized as Modernism:

  • That religion is primarily a matter of irrational emotions. As more dispassionate and detailed studies of history appeared, a sense of historicism suggested that ideas are generally so conditioned by the age in which that they are expressed; thus a transcendent truth is compromised. Rationalism and textual criticism downplayed the possible role of the miraculous, and the philosophical systems in vogue at the time taught that the existence of God and other things could never be known (see Agnosticism). Theology, formerly the "queen of the sciences" was dethroned. (Wilkinson 2002) So it was argued that religion must be primarily caused and centered on the feelings of believers. This bolsters the claims of secularism in weakening any position that supported favoring one religion over the other in the state.

Evolution of dogmas

The final overall teaching of Modernism, is that dogmas (what is taught by the Church and what its members are required to believe) can evolve over time, rather then being the same for all time. This aspect of thought was what made Modernism unique in the history of heresies in the Church. Previously, a heretic (someone who believed and taught something different than what the rest of the church believed) would either claim that he was right and the rest of the church was wrong because he had received a new revelation from God, or that he had understood the true teaching of God which was previously understood but then lost. Both of those scenarios almost necessarily led to an organizational separation away from the Church (schism) or the offender being ejected from the Church (excommunication). With this new idea that doctrines evolve, it was possible for the modernist to believe that the old teachings of the Church and his new seemingly contradictory teachings were both correct—each had their time and place. This system allows almost any type of new belief that the modernist might want to introduce, and for this reason Modernism was labelled the "synthesis of all heresies" by Pope Pius X.

Social/Anthropological causes of Modernism

Catholic historians and theologians have social explanations as to why Modernism developed as it did and became so popular:

  • Working with the modern philosophical systems was popular. It allowed theologians to work with non-Catholic philosopher contemporaries, and not to be looked down upon as "ancient" for their frequently exclusively Scholastic philosophy.
  • In the Americas, especially in the United States, priests, bishops and theologians were surrounded by a culture and laity fully enraptured with the concept of secularism. Anti-Catholic uprisings in the early colonies and later caused a desire for priests and bishops to "fit in" and to "prove their loyality to the American way". Embarrassing encyclicals such as the Syllabus of Errors (which condemned most of the ammendments in the Bill of Rights) were largely ignored by these priests and bishops. The modernistic trend of injecting secular values into Catholicism itself would allow for a much smoother relationship in these areas. Also, some argue, the downplaying of the doctrines taught by the Church contrary to the Constitution led them to be virtually unknown by succeeding generations of Catholics, causing newly ordained priests and bishops to almost automatically have secularist beliefs.
  • The evolution of dogmas theory, much like certain interpretations of being saved sola fide ("by faith alone"), allows for a constant updating (critics would say "loosening") of standards of morality. As moral standards shifted heavily during the 20th century, previously a Catholic would have had to deny his faith to engage in some of the actions of his contemporaries. Now, citing that dogmas can change, it was possible to "update" Catholic morality while not being concerned with possible contradictions.

Church officials' responses to Modernism

In 1893 (1894?), Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Providentissimus Deus seemed to give encouragement to these progressive studies. affirming in principle the legitimacy of biblical studies, but limited to those pursued in a spirit of faith, which was a discreet warning that the opposing forces within Catholicism were already drawn up. Providentissimus Deus may be considered the opening shot in the battle. In 1903 Leo established a Pontifical Biblical Commission to oversee those studies and ensure that they remained within official guidelines.

Pope Pius X, who succeeded Leo, was the first to identify Modernism as a movement. He frequently condemned both its aims and ideas, and was deeply concerned by the ability of Modernism to allow its adherents to believe themselves strict Catholics while having a markedly different belief as to what that meant (a consequence of the notion of evolution of dogma). In 1907 he published the encyclical Lamentabili, a sweeping condemnation which distinguished sixty-five propositions as a Modernist Heresy. In the following months he promulgated an encyclical Pascendi dominici gregis which enjoined a compulsory Anti-Modernist oath on all Catholic bishops, priests and teachers to force them to come to clear terms with what they believed. He also, more controversially, introduced a secret society called the Solidatium Pianum to spy on seminaries to see if Modernism was being taught in them. Catholics reason that this had to be done because of the dangerous structure of modernist thinking.

Modernism continues to be condemned by the Church hierarchy, with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and others having done much in recent decades to prevent its spread. It is generally accepted that measures taken under Pope Pius X led in several cases to injustices being perpetrated against orthodox Catholics, and the structures of ecclesial espionage which characterised his period in office have long since disappeared.

Some Catholic Modernists

Major figures

Other, less public modernists

Suspected of Modernism

External links

References

  • Jodock, Darrell, editor, Catholicism Contending with Modernity Cambridge University Press, 2000 .
  • O'Connell, Marvin, Critics on Trial : An Introduction to the Catholic Modernist Crisis, Catholic University of America Press, Washington DC, 1994. Reviewed by Fr. John Parsons
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