The living Church of the faith-filled and departed

Oct 06, 2023

By J.P. Grayland
In the ever-evolving landscape of faith and spirituality, the Catholic Church finds herself at a crossroads. The synodal process, which emphasises the importance of listening, has been underway for several years. However, as any true listener knows, the act of listening is far more profound and complex than mere intention. To truly engage with the faith-filled-and-departed, the Church must adopt a multifaceted approach that respects the diversity of voices, languages, and cultures within its global congregation.

Listening to the ‘departed’ members of the local Church is perhaps the most crucial, yet challenging, aspect of this synodal journey. Many who have left the Church did so in pursuit of a more authentic spiritual experience. They no longer consider themselves part of their local congregation, and some even view themselves as having transcended the Church.

Engaging with these individuals is not just an exercise in missionary outreach but an exploration of the profound questions of truth, faith, and belonging.

In our intercessory prayers, we often petition the Lord for the return of those who have strayed from the faith: “We pray for those who have left the Church and pray for their return”. Framing the prayer this way implies that faith and church attendance are intimately linked and that those who leave have a problem to be fixed. The prayer centres on those who are not at Sunday Mass, exposing a deeper undiagnosed dysfunction. A more authentic prayer might acknowledge the complexity of both departure and continued adherence. It might ask the Lord to guide everyone to a place of mutual understanding and growth, where a genuine connection between the faith and Sunday Mass exists.

Evangelisation or “religionisation”?
The history of Catholicism is marked by a deep-rooted missionary fervour. Over millennia, individuals and groups have ventured forth from their established religious communities to spread the Word of God and share the teachings of Jesus. However, it’s important to distinguish between two distinct forms of mission: evangelisation and “religionisation”.

Evangelisation involves reaching out to those who have not yet encountered the message of God. It aims to bring the light of faith to those living in spiritual darkness. Unfortunately, some missionaries inadvertently fall into the trap of superiority, believing they possess an unassailable truth. This top-down approach, often characterised as a “jug-mug” model, presupposes that only the missionary holds the divine truth.

Such an approach neglects the possibility that God is already present in the lives of people, regardless of their religious affiliation. It assumes that the missionary alone carries the voice of the divine, a presumption that can hinder genuine dialogue and understanding.

In the modern Western world, where traditional religious practice is on the decline, there is a prevalent urge to “save” those who have supposedly strayed from God (the Church). This mentality often leads to religionisation, where religious practices, structures, and institutions are imposed on cultures in an effort to bring them under religious control.
Religionisation does not offer the liberating message of Augustine’s “love God and do as you will” but rather, seeks to bind faith to a particular theological and ecclesial form.

Adherents are presented with an institution as the sole means of practising their faith and achieving salvation. This mechanistic approach undermines the organic and transformative nature of faith, reducing it to a set of rigid practices and doctrines.

Belief without religious practice and religious practice without genuine faith
The contemporary challenge facing the Church involves reconciling the rejection of formal religious culture with the search for an authentic spiritual experience. Many people today doubt the Church’s ability to witness to God without resorting to religionisation. Furthermore, the diversity of religious practice calls into question the necessity of a singular sacral culture with a uniform liturgy, rites, and ecclesiastical laws.

In the Western world, people are reluctant to embrace a jug-mug model of evangelisation or be coerced back into religious practice through exclusionary rites. The Church must grapple with the tension between belief without religious practice and religious practice without genuine faith.

Addressing these complex issues requires a nuanced and comprehensive response. It is not enough to dismiss secularisation as the enemy of faith; instead, the Church must adapt and evolve to meet the spiritual needs of a changing world. In doing so, it can demonstrate that the faith-filled-and-departed can coexist within a living Church that is willing to listen, adapt, and evolve in the spirit of genuine dialogue and understanding. -- LCI (https:// international.la-croix.com/