Signs of the Times - February 1997

John Paul II will be remembered as the most traveled pope in history. A look at his itineraries, meetings, and messages suggest that he has two major overriding concerns. The first is the restoration of Catholic unity and identity, especially in America, where the church is threatened by dissent over doctrines and discipline. The second is the fostering of ecumenical understanding and cooperation among people of all religions under the moral
and spiritual leadership of the papacy. John Paul aims to make the papacy the undisputed spiritual leader of humankind. This article seeks to understand his strategy for achieving these objectives.

Catholic unity
American Catholics seem to think they have a right to pick and choose their beliefs and practices cafeteria-style, accepting those teachings they agree with and ignoring those they disagree with. In both his public speeches and, especially, in his private messages to the leaders of his church, John Paul makes it clear that he is deeply concerned about the independent ways of these members of his church.

A poll taken for Time1 indicated how widespread is American Catholic dissent. The poll showed that a staggering 93 percent of professing Catholics believe that "it is possible to disagree with the pope and still be a good Catholic." In fact, "only 37 percent accept the infallibility of papal teaching on moral issues." The major area of disagreement with official Catholic teaching involves such issues as abortion, artificial birth control, homosexuality, sex outside marriage, divorce and remarriage and the two closely related issues of priestly celibacy and the ordination of women as priests.
The resolute John Paul is determined to meet the challenge of this prevailing dissent because he recognizes the exceptional vitality, influence and potential of American Catholicism. While in most countries of Western Europe less than 10 percent of Catholics attend Mass weekly, in the United

States, according to the Time poll, attendance is 54 percent. And John Paul knows that America is a trend-setter. It influences the world not only with blue jeans and running shoes, but also with its moral and religious values. There is no question that John Paul sees himself as a man called by God to save the Catholic Church from disintegration by reaffirming the commitment of its members and leaders to the historic teachings of Rome. An important lesson that John Paul learned in his battles against Nazism and then communism in his own country of Poland is that the church can survive only
if it is rigorously disciplined and strongly united in essential doctrines and piety.
Consequently, a major goal of John Paul's pontificate has been to forge a united church, updated in its external forms, but strongly traditional in its adherence to church discipline and teaching. One of the first steps he took to achieve this goal was to revive the Sacred Congregation for Doctrine

of Faith--formerly known as the Inquisition. This watchdog organization, headed by the German-born Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, has pressed charges against such theologians as Edward Schillebeeckx of Holland, Jack Pohier of France, and Bernard Hasler of Switzerland. It stripped Hans Kung of his post as teacher of Catholic theology at the University of Tubingen and suspended Father Charles Curran from his teaching post at the Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C.
John Paul has worked to give the Vatican curia a core of tough disciplinarians who will support his conservative program. And the American bishops he has appointed have all been conservatives. By changing the makeup of the hierarchies, the pope now enjoys greater support in promoting traditional Catholic teachings.

Catholic revisionists and feminists accuse John Paul of being out of touch with the reality of the Catholic church in America. But these Catholic dissenters are out of touch with the reality of the Catholic church in Rome. They don't realize that John Paul is not running a democracy, but a hierarchy whose head is the pope and whose center is Rome. John Paul made this point very clear when in 1987 he told reporters in Miami that democracy is not the preferred form of government for the Catholic Church. Rather, he pointedly stated, the church "is an institution governed by Jesus Christ, a theocratic one." Since Catholics believe that Christ governs His church through His vicar, the pope, it is the Holy See in Rome that decides what is Catholic and what is not.

Have the papal visits succeeded in fostering unity and reaffirmation of traditional beliefs among Catholics? Contrary to what some news analysts say, I believe that to a large extent they have, for two major reasons: First, because people have been electrified by John Paul's charismatic personality. And second, because to genuine Catholics, the pope speaks with the unique authority of one who claims to be the vicar of Christ on earth. This high Catholic view of the pope as Christ's personal representative on earth makes the words he speaks during his visits the final statement that any true Catholic must and eventually will accept. While Catholics may publicly express their disagreement with their pope's teachings, most inwardly welcome his word of authority. It gives them a sense of certainty and stability amid the conflicting teachings and values of our ime.

Ecumenical outreach
A second major goal of John Paul's travels has been to enhance his role as the moral and spiritual leader of the world. This global vision is evident in the major themes of his speeches in all his trips. He pleads for human dignity, brotherhood, social justice, peace, an end to the arms race, and especially, for compassion toward the poor and downtrodden.
Many accept John Paul as the spiritual and moral leader of the world. To foster this position, the pope regularly welcomes to the Holy See delegates and leaders from Christian and non-Christian religions.

And he's found support in the United States for his aspirations. For example, in 1987 President Reagan traveled to Miami to welcome him as the spiritual leader not only of Catholics but of all Americans. It is noteworthy that never before had an American president traveled to another city to welcome a head of state. In the brief welcoming ceremony on the tarmac of Miami International Airport, Reagan encouraged the pope to preach freely to the American people. "As you exhort us," the President said, "we will listen."

Reagan could hardly have done this forty years ago, when conservative Protestants nourished a deep hostility toward the papacy. In 1951, President Truman had to abandon the plan to extend diplomatic recognition to the Vatican because of strong protests from Protestants. By the 1980s, however, Reagan was able to appoint an official ambassador to the Holy See without stirring significant Protestant reaction.

While Seventh-day Adventists aren't surprised (they view this radical change of attitude toward Catholicism as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy2), social analysts describe the change with wonder. What has turned the old hostility between Catholics and Protestants to friendliness? The factors are many; but, in my view, three of them stand out.

The first and foremost factor is the new Catholic policy of benign tolerance toward non-Catholics. Paradoxically, while the pope is intransigent toward Catholics, expecting them to uphold traditional church discipline and teachings, he is tolerant and open toward outsiders. Protestants, for example have been rehabilitated from heretics to brothers and sisters in Christ. Similarly, members of world religions are now treated with openness and respect.

The reason for this tolerance appears to be a new Catholic belief--expressed even in the "Constitution of the Church" of Vatican II--that salvation is not found only inside the Catholic Church but also outside the Catholic fold by all who live according to their conscience. The traditional view, expressed in Pope Boniface VIII's bull "Unam Sanctam," that "there is one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, and that outside this Church there is neither salvation nor remission of sins," has been replaced by the current view that there is salvation inside and outside the Catholic Church. This
new attitude of tolerance and respect toward outsiders is obviously paying back dividends in terms of good will and admiration toward Catholics and their pope.

A second reason for the pope's popularity, especially among evangelicals, is his strong stand for certain fundamental doctrines of biblical faith. Evangelicals cannot agree with the pope on such points as the role of the Virgin Mary, the Mass, the intercession of the saints, masses for the dead, priestly celibacy, and so on. But they admire his strong commitment to the authority of Scripture, to the sacredness of marriage, to a biblical sexual ethics, to a high regard for life, and to his discipline of blatant opponents of evangelical faith.

Unintentionally, perhaps, liberal Protestantism has helped enhance the pope's authority by contributing to the erosion of confidence in the authority of the Bible. Most Christians resent tyranny but welcome the voice of certainty and assurance. They want to hear from their church leaders, "This is the way, walk you in it!" When their pastors don't speak with this authority because they've lost faith in the Bible, these church members find attractive the pope's claims to offer the infallible interpretation of Scripture.

A third factor that endears the pope to mainstream Protestants and to people in general is his advocacy of social justice, respect for the rights of all people, a more equitable distribution of resources, peace based on justice, an end to the arms race, and especially, love toward the poor and downtrodden. By championing these legitimate human hopes with zeal and dignity, the pope has become for many the symbol of the noblest aspirations human beings struggle to achieve.

So John Paul has learned to be many things to many people. To devout Catholics he is the symbol of their piety and assurance of salvation amid the conflicting teachings and values of our time. To evangelicals, he is a man of faith and courage, willing to withstand the modern humanistic pressures. To mainstream Protestants and people in general, he is the champion of peace based on social justice.

Strongly Catholic
The many factors that make John Paul attractive and popular must not blind evangelicals to the fact that he stands strongly for traditional Catholic teachings and practices. Though he comes with more enthusiasm and greater communication skills than his predecessors, he still upholds the teachings that were the reason Protestants separated from Roman Catholicism during the Reformation. The great truths of Scripture alone, Christ alone, grace alone, and faith alone, are still unacceptable to Catholicism.

In his messages John Paul has repeatedly stressed his strong commitment to Catholic doctrines such as the interpretation of the Scripture by the magisterium of the church, the intercessory role of Mary and of the saints, transubstantiation, papal infallibility, the sacramental role of the priests, forgiveness only through the sacrament of penance, salvation by faith plus meritorious works, and masses for the dead. John Paul views these Catholic teachings as non-negotiable.

For John Paul, ecumenical Christian unity can be brought about only on Catholic terms. At his 1979 meeting in Chicago with the United States's Catholic bishops, he quoted the testament of Pope Paul VI, who said: "Let the work of drawing near to our separated brethren go on, with much understanding, with much patience, with great love; but without deviating from the true Catholic doctrine."

How should Catholics and non-Catholics understand all this? Catholics should entertain no illusions that their pope and church are about to change their historical teachings, especially on sexual ethics. Protestants may, on the one hand, admire John Paul's courageous and unpopular stand on behalf of the biblical view of the sacredness of marriage and human life and his uncompromising denunciation of homosexuality and of sex outside marriage as sinful acts. But on the other hand, they must never forget that the same pope is equally uncompromising on the fundamental Catholic teachings that have divided Protestantism from Catholicism. John Paul's commitment to upholding traditional Catholic teachings constitute two challenges for all Christians. First it challenges us to show respect for all, regardless of creedal differences. And second, it challenges us to seek for saving truth in the Word of God, not in the broken cisterns of human traditions or of contemporary social values. That Word, the Bible, is the only source of the truth that can make us free and secure for eternity.

1See the September 7, 1987, issue of Time.2A century ago Ellen White, a founder of Adventism, predicted that "the
Protestants of the United States . . . will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power." See The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan (Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press, 1911), 588.

*Samuele Bacchiocchi is a professor of theology and church history at Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan.