Neitzsche is Dead: Vatican, Catholic priests should stop being politicians

A back-room deal is in the works.


The conservative faction, seeking to boost its numbers, is working to steal disenchanted members of the competition. The rules are simple — these people will keep many of their same beliefs, but they will switch their allegiance to the new faction in protest of the policies they protest.


Sound like the Republican Party picking Sarah Palin to steal Democratic women in 2008? Maybe, but it more recently fits the description of the Catholic Church, which is cutting a deal to convert dissatisfied Anglicans to bolster their ranks.


The Anglican Church ­— and its American branch, the Episcopal Church ­— has recently been rocked by a highly divisive controversy over its policies concerning gays in the church. The church's more liberal wing has been pushing to not only allow pastors to bless homosexual marriages, but also to appoint gay pastors and bishops.

These efforts have caused widespread outrage among the more conservative members of the church and has created tensions in recent years that threaten to rend the entire denomination in two.


The Catholic Church has apparently been watching the debate closely. The Vatican announced a few weeks ago it would make it easier for incensed Anglicans to switch to Catholicism.


Progressive policies within churches often result in some of the faithful changing denominations, but this move is unprecedented, primarily because it relaxes some doctrines deeply held by Catholics. The Vatican says Anglicans making the switch will be allowed to keep some of their unique worship traditions, such as mass rites. It has even provided for married Anglican bishops to be ordained as Catholic priests — a startling compromise, especially for traditional Catholic clergy, who must remain celibate.


It's true Catholicism and Anglicanism are strikingly similar — the more cynical might call Anglicanism "Catholicism lite," — but bending the rules to allow this transition is reprehensible for both those who made the deal and those who choose to accept it. The Vatican claims it is merely "adding to the Church's spiritual diversity," but it is obviously just making a side deal to increase its membership. In fact, under the current conditions, the new Catholics wouldn't even answer to their regional Catholic bishop, instead following a "personal ordinariate" who would report to the Vatican directly.


In other words, these ex-Anglicans would be off-shoot Catholics, instead of members of the Church proper.


But even as the Vatican is merely trying to add more numbers, Anglicans who accept the deal would be sacrificing some important ideals. Primarily, Anglicans who switch to Catholicism would have to acknowledge the authority of the Pope — and disagreement with that important principle is the primary reason Anglicanism even exists in the first place.

What's saddest about this maneuver is the badly political overtones. As previously stated, it sounds eerily similar to 2008, when Republicans attempted to steal female voters angry with the party's nomination of Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton.

Separation of church and state is a good idea, as much for the church's sake as for the state's. When a church starts to throw itself into the cutthroat game of compromise and maneuvering that is politics, it starts to lose its spiritual and theological value. And when churches start employing tactics almost identical to those employed by political parties, they risk sacrificing important ideals just to grab more votes — I mean members.

I hope Anglicans — like Democratic women in 2008 — will recognize this ploy for what it is, that they are not so obsessed with a single issue that they are willing to give up their ideals and change their spiritual identity.


Catholic leaders should stop trying to be politicians. Instead, they should be dealing with their own flock and making sure real Catholics continue to act out the faith they believe in.


Matthew Albright is a 21-year-old mass communication junior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_malbright.




Contact Matthew Albright at malbright@lsureveille.com