Truth & Beauty

Q: How should Catholics respond to controversy in the Church?

For Catholics just trying to live their lives, raise their families, and grow in holiness, the constant online cycle of Church news and over-the-top reaction can be exhausting and disheartening. It seems every time we turn around, we’re breathlessly informed of yet another event that spells certain disaster for the Church. That much of this doomsaying originates from fellow Catholics makes it all the more hurtful— and frankly, dangerous for the Church’s mission of bringing Christ to the world. 

How should Catholics respond to all this? Here are four suggestions to keep us grounded amid of the storms of controversy:

Remember that we’ve been here before.

At times like these, it pays to keep our perspective. The truth is, there has never been a time in the last 2,000 years where everything was perfect and the Church simply sailed smoothly from victory to victory—not in the 1950s, the 1350s, or the 550’s. Not after the Council of Trent, or Nicaea, or any other “good” council. Only in hindsight does any period look like a “golden age,” and then only through a selective lens. Imagine if social media had existed during the era of the Borgia popes! From Pentecost to the present, there have always been problems, disappointments, and scandals. As the writer of Ecclesiastes says, “there is nothing new under the sun.” 

Notice the good that’s happening.

At the same time that many bad things were happening in the Church, far more wonderful things were also happening. The Gospel was preached, the poor were fed, miracles were worked, and Western Civilization was built. So it is today. Christ continues to touch hearts and change lives all over the world. 

Social media gives us a myopic view of the world; we see only what the content creators want us to see. But that’s not the whole story—not even close. While we’ve lamented the shrinking of the Church in the West, the Church in Africa has grown by leaps and bounds, often under intense persecution. Baptisms and Mass attendance are riding again in secular Europe. Right here at St. Mark, we have 28 beautiful souls in our OCIA program, seeking to be united with Jesus in His Church. Don’t let the anger and scandals blind you to the grace that is all around us.

Take a break from the social media.

Speaking of social media, maybe it’s time to take a break. If we’re spending hours a day “doom-scrolling” through X (Twitter) or YouTube, only to come away angry or fearful, that’s probably not time well-spent. Yes, there is good, uplifting content online. Does it outweigh the bad? That’s an open question. Sadly, many Catholic content creators are busy fueling, rather than fighting, the fires of resentment. Replacing screen time with the Bible, the Rosary, or simply a walk outside, can do wonders for our outlook.

Trust in God’s providence.

In times of distress, we must decide what we really believe. Is God in control, or not? Will the Church established by Jesus persevere, or not? Does God really need us to fret over every controversy, as though that will change anything? It takes trust and humility to accept that Jesus will make good on His promises, and that He will calm every storm, just as He did on the Sea of Galilee. Can we find the faith to simply rest with Him in the boat?

In conclusion, we might take the advice of J. R. R. Tolkein, who himself lived though some significant Church controversies, his later years being spent in the aftermath of Vatican II and the implementation of the new Mass. An inveterate traditionalist, Tolkein struggled inwardly to adjust to the many changes. But he knew that being Catholic meant to remain steadfast, even as the familiar landscape of the Faith seemed to slip away. In a letter from 1967, he wrote:

For all of us ‘conservatives’ I think the trouble in our Church is at present more trying than all our personal and physical woes. But it has to be endured. Only loyalty and silence (in public) will provide the ballast for the rocking bark! As the disciples said to Our Lord: we have nowhere else to go.¹

¹ J. R. R. Tolkien, Letter 294a in The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition, ed. Humphrey Carpenter (William Morrow, 2023), quoted in “The Doctor of the Church and the Maker of Middle-earth: J. R. R. Tolkien’s Newman Connections,” Word on Fire, https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/the-doctor-of-the-church-and-the-maker-of-middle-earth-j-r-r-tolkiens-newman-connections/