.
Bruno got off the bus with some degree of relief, not only to be on solid ground again, but thankful that his trip into town didn't have to be in a military troop carrier for a change. His fatigued mind drifted a while past loosely connected chronological buoys marking his recent past: Honorable discharge as a second Lieutenant from the US Army in Europe in early 1944, immediate application and admittance into the Hastings Union Seminary, “dishonorable” discharge from the same seminary in fall 1946 despite excellent grades, assistance with new graduate school applications by one fellow “renegade" on the faculty who recommended the study of Psychology, a surprise admission to the University's graduate program in psychology on the GI Bill, the pleasurable packing of the worn army duffel bag beside him with only civilian things of life, this bus ride.
There were a number of GI's entering the University and other Colleges that year. With the government's help through the GI Bill, tuition was not a problem. Admittance into his program was easier for Bruno than he expected. His pre-war undergraduate degree, commendable military service, fine seminary grades for five semesters including summer sessions, and an inspired letter of recommendation all came together without much soul-searching or down time. It was a life change on the run but Bruno felt that this new direction was, if even by dumb luck, right for him. The study of Psychology could not replace his first love of theology completely, but it seemed more comfortable and reasonable to him now.
He was always an intensely religious person and his recent seminary expulsion at the hands of Martin Rathfield did not damage his faith. In a way, the dismissal strengthened it. The war had already shaken out any unnecessary clutter in his spirituality. The doctrinal difficulty he had with Dean Rathfield was the result of that kind of incongruent theological accuмulation he now felt liberated from. He no longer claimed a denomination people would recognize; but he believed he had a spiritual relationship that God would. At this point in his life, that had to do. Perhaps in his new field he could assist families with life's interior struggles and still share his own understanding of God with folks when it would be helpful. All in all, Bruno felt he had landed on his feet.
Having found his way to his lodging destination in the city new to him, he was promptly shown the spacious but dim basement room. For a veteran accustomed to war time accommodations, he knew he would be very comfortable there. He asked if he could replace the two hanging bulbs with a stronger wattage and was granted permission to do so. The manager gave directions to a hardware store four blocks away that sold such things. With his bag dropped on the old table in the center of the room, Bruno set off with the new key in his pocket.
As he made his way down the sidewalk, toward the store, he saw more young people entering through the doors of the neighborhood Catholic Church meeting room. It wasn't a chapel, though, rather a kind of community center. The ladies were nicely dressed and the men did not appear at all as if they had just ridden into town unshaven on a Greyhound bus. Bruno knew nothing about the area. He had not known there was such a community room there. He paused outside of its heavy doors. Partly out of curiosity for the youthful interest in the place, partly because of his interest in the saints, and partly because of the apparent quality of the ladies who had just passed though its doors, Bruno decided that the light bulbs could wait. He, too, entered into the meeting room with the others.
He had no idea what he was in for. He took his seat at the end of the back row of chairs set up in the crowded room beyond the lobby. He sat quietly with his ears wide open to collect as many comments as he could about the lecture topic. A young lady made that detective work easy when she handed him a program with some pre-printed notes stapled together and inserted inside the fold of the four-sided program. The topic was clear from the handout:
“The Heresy of Americanism and the 1899 Apostolic Letter, Testem Benevolentiae by Pope Leo XIII.” Bruno was intrigued. He had never heard of Fr. Duenez, nor could he fathom the “heresy of Americanism.” It seemed odd to him that there could be a Catholic heresy just for America. The ancient term for Catholics had always been associated in Bruno's mid with some early denial of the Faith or something Protestant came up with for hundred years ago. Bruno was glad he was there. This, he thought, would be interesting!
Purely by accident, an unceremoniously booted non-Catholic seminarian -- Bruno himself -- was going to learn something new from a priest on the fist day of his new life in a strange town. God is good!
The din of cordial chatter subsided as if on cue when a priest in a black cassock entered the room. Without a word of introduction, he led the crowd in the Sign of the Cross. The priest began speaking alone the first half of the Lord's Prayer. Bruno joined in the second half when the rest of the audience began to pray. Besides saying “debts” when everyone else said "trespasses” and, for just a moment, pronouncing the words solo at the end, “for thine is the kingd...,” Bruno felt at home. He recognized next the “Angelic Salutation” prayer drawing principally on Luke Chapter 1 and afterward shared in a heartfelt “Glory Be.” He even closed with the Sign of the Cross along with the others for the first time his life. He smiled to himself and thought, “When in Rome...” He had never crossed himself before. He was glad his parents weren't watching. Somehow, though – it felt right!
There was no small talk once the prayers were concluded. The priest, Fr. Duenez, began the bad news of the lecture with a lesson in Catholic American history:
“This land, not this nation, but this land, was once Catholic to the extent that it was not pagan. Long before The United States of America was here, long before the British were here, and well before the French were here, there were the Native Americans, the Jesuits in the east and thee Franciscans in the West. California’s largest cities still bear the names the Catholic Church gave the Missions there through the work of Fr. Junipero Serra and others. Santa Fe, new Mexico; Corpus Christi, Texas; and St. Augustine Florida – the oldest European settlement in the nation, all these and others bear the earliest presence of the Catholic Church. Even St. Louis, Missouri, founded in 1764 and named for a Catholic Saint, was there before the United States was born.
“French Jesuits brought Christ’s Church to these shores. Their names include Marquette, Cartier, Champlain, LaSalle – who opened Illinois to French settlement – and the brothers Lemoyne – one of whom founded New Orleans in 1718. We also must remember, of course, the eight slaughtered Martyrs of North America: Saints Rene Goupil, Jean Lalande, Isaac Jogues, Anthony Daniel, Jean de Brebeuf, Gabriel Lalemant, Charles Garnier and Noel Chabanel. These holy souls went to God for the Catholic faith after extreme torture and unspeakable demonic cruelty ended their efforts to bring salvation to pagan Native Americans between the years 1642 and 1649.
“Fr. Charles Garnier was born into a wealthy family in Paris. But he could not remain in luxury when there were souls to be saved. Eventually, this educated Catholic priest was brutally murdered in his quest to save the souls of his murderers. According to Coulson’s biographical dictionary entitled,
The Saints, FR Garner “would walk thirty or forty miles in the summer heat, over enemy country, just to baptize a dying Indian.” Why did he knowingly take profound physical risks just to baptize that dying Indian? A slow, painful death in the forest was the best those missionaries faced for the salvation of pagan souls. But the real risk of potential eternal suffering was so much greater than that.
“Jesuit Missionary Fr. Christopher Regnant gave the details of the torture and martyrdom of Fr Jean de Brebeuf whose slow murder made crucifixion look preferable. After being captured by pagan Iroquois, Fr. De Brebeuf was stripped naked and tied to a post where he was beaten with clubs right before his fingernails were torn out. In a mockery of baptism, he was scalded when a cauldron of boiling water was poured over him. A red-hot string of hatchets were next hung around his neck and after that, a belt of pitch was tied about his waist and set on fire. Next his tongue was cut out and the accomplices of Lucifer then began to cut an strip the skin off his body. Father Regnant wrote further: ‘Those butchers, seeing that the good father began to grow weak, made him sit down on the ground, and one of them, taking a knife, cut off the skin covering his skull.’ Another one, seeing that the good father would soon die, made an opening in the upper part of his chest, and tore out his beating heart, which he roasted and ate. Others came to drink his blood, still warm, which they drank with both hands.
“Why the brutality? Why this delight in the slow, excruciating death of a peaceful holy priest? It is because the Evil One enjoyed and encouraged it among his followers. The lightbearer hoped to defeat the Church by frightening its missionaries Another Jesuit, Fr. Juan Rogel at Mission Santa Elena in South Carolina found the eight months of Catholic religious instruction was disregarded when a council of Indian chiefs objected to the traditional renouncing of the devil before Baptism. The reason: many Indians worshipped the spirit of evil and it was to him that they offered human sacrifice. That should explain well the hostility encountered by so many Catholic missionaries to pagan peoples.
“Many Catholic martyrs died from demonic brutality, not just in North America, but in countless other places around the world. These missionaries, like Fr. Regnant, knew how other missionaries died. Why then, would they still take such risks? Why would they offer up their lives to suffer such terrible deaths? Why did they not count on ‘baptism of Desire’ to save the soul of a pagan Indian and let him die attended by his medicine man? Why did these well-trained Catholic missionaries not trust that God would work outside of His sacramental system to bring about salvation to the un-baptized soul simply because God wants all people to be saved? Why did they not just let the Iroquois be the best Iroquois man or woman they could be so they could reach God in the subjective Iroquois way through immanent Iroquois religious practices?
“The answer to each of these questions is that these priests understood that through no other means than His Church, available through these priests, could the soul of the dying Indian be saved. That, my friends, has always been the infallible teaching of the Catholic Church. The troublesome secret of the American Catholic Church of today is that IT STILL IS the infallible teaching of the Catholic Church! It saddens me to advise you that most, if not all, of the prominent Catholic hierarchy in this nation today do not want you to know that. They do not want you to hear that. They do not want you to believe that.
“Consider how in His great mercy, God has given mankind a Universal Church that is capable of reaching every corner of the world. Every soul can be reached. Every soul can be saved. Nothing is impossible for God and for those who trust in Him and do His will. This knowledge allowed the North American Martyrs to do their work. In supreme confidence it allowed these priests to suffer in the short term, for eternal rewards for all the Church Triumphant. And even if they died in the process, indeed especially if they died in the process, the Church would flourish. As in the Roman Colosseum, so too in the deep forests of the Iroquois: the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.
“Back in 1899, the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIII, released an Apostolic Letter called
Testem Benevolentiae. That letter was specifically addressed to Baltimore’s Archbishop James Cardinal Gibbons, the Primate of the United States. In that letter the Pope condemned the heresy – his word, not mine – of Americanism.
“This heresy can be identified, according to the Holy Father, by certain erroneous ‘doctrines’ – again , his word – ‘doctrines’, to wit:
Heretical Doctrines of Americanism
1) Christian perfection can be attained without external spiritual guidance;
2) Natural virtues are superior to supernatural ones and should be extolled over them;
3) Even among natural virtues, the cultivation of ‘active’ ones (doing good works) as compared to ‘passive ones’ (praying or contemplating) is more suitable for modern times;
4) Religious vows are out of place with these times because they limit human liberty;
5) Traditional methods of winning non0Catholics should be abandoned for new ones.
“I might add here that the Holy Father assumes we are still all in agreement that at least the winning of non0Catholics to the faith is the ultimate goal. I dare say that there is a disturbing trend among some who believe conversion into the Catholic faith is no longer even essential for salvation. For purposes of his letter, Pope Leo assumes, of course, that it is.
“This first erroneous Americanist docrrine – that Christian perfection can be attained without external spiritual guidance – is built upon a belief that the Catholic Church herself is not necessary or essential for salvation: not for the Iroquois, nor for the Moslem, the Jєω, or the Protestant. That, my friends, is the opinion of so many today. James Cardinal Gibbons – to whom the Pope addressed the Apostolic Letter – was one of the leading Americanist prelates in the United States. Unfortunately, he was by no means the only one.
“The Americanist clerics recognized that despite the great work of the early Catholic missionaries, emigration by European Protestants turned this nation eventually into a Protestant land. The Catholic Church was outnumbered by many differing, and splintering, Protestant sects. Catholics in the minority were easy targets for discrimination and ridicule. Their ‘undemocratic’, monarchal Papist Church was considered un-American at best and anti-Christian (actually anti-Protestant) at worst.
“Rather than trust in God that the faithful people who seek firt the Kingdom of God through the Church he established will succeed, the Americanist prelates implemented another approach. They provided an Americanist Catholic Church that would ‘live and let live’ so to speak. They proposed and Americatnist Catholic Church that would leave behind – untaught and hopefully even forgotten – certain ancient, undemocratic, un-American teachings that non-Catholics would dislike. The primary dogma designated by the Americanists for abandonment has been at least three times infallibly defined by the Church. It is the dogma of
Extra ecclesiam nulla salus – ‘Outside the Church there is no salvation’. This dogma meant that membership in the One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church was necessary for salvation. It meant that God will not accept home-made religions that distort the Gospel as a means of salvific grace. Why should He? He alone determines what is acceptable to Him and He told us those things in the Traditional teachings of His Church.
“The Americanists have left behind ‘Extra ecclesiam nulla salus’ because it was considered by them too exclusive, too divisive, and too judgmental for Protestant America and for the once-Catholic clrgy, lost in sin, who looked for an easier way to claim heaven without the sacrifice of a real lifestyle conversion. The rejected dogma suggests that God had a plan to develop One Church, One Faith, One Baptism outside of which no saving grace, and no salvation, will come. The Americanists do not want me or you to believe that, to teach that or even to say that. The Americanists would rather we please other sinful men by tacitly approving of their damning theological error rather than please God by delivering men from such theological error.
“Pope Leo XIII described these Americanists in his Apostolic Letter
Testem Benevolentiae, as follows”:
“They contend that it is opportune, in order to work in a more attractive way upon the wills of those who are not in accord with us, to pass over certain head of doctrines, as if of lesser moment, or to so soften them that they may not have the same meaning which the Church has invariably held.
“Now, Beloved Son[/i] [the Pope is now addressing Cardinal Gibbons],
few words are needed to show how reprehensible is the plan that is thus conceived, if we but consider the character and origin of the doctrine which the Church hands down to us. On this point the Vatican Council [i.e., Vatican I]
says: ‘The doctrine of faith which God revealed is not proposed like as theory of philosophy which is to be elaborated by the human understanding, but as a divine deposit delivered to the Spouse of Christ to be faithfully guarded and infallibly declared… that sense of the sacred dogmas is to be faithfully kept which Holy Mother Church has once declared, and is not to be departed from under the specious pretext of a more profound understanding’ (Const. De Fid. Cath. c. iv.).
“Far be it, then, for any one to diminish of for any reason whatever to pass over anything of the divinely delivered doctrine; whosoever would do so, would rather wish to alienate those who dissent from it.
“Let them return; indeed, nothing is nearer to Our heart, let all those who are wandering far from the sheepfold of Christ return; but let it not be by any other road than that which Christ has pointed out.”“The Americanists want us to be as compromised and as lukewarm as the man-made, disagreeing Protestant sects which number in the thousands and are increasing exponentially. The Americanists suggest that if the American Catholic Church would hide its true identity under the Americanist bushel basket, life would be easier for the Church here. If the Mother Church of all Christianity just dressed and acted like another one of its unruly and prodigal children in these United States, there would be less confrontation, less friction, and less debate. My friends, in the Americanist Catholic Church there would be likewise less souls being saved – much less souls.
“As the Protestant denominations derive their theological doctrine by division and their truth by mere opinion and popular vote, sinful man can redirect his flawed interpretation of God’s Word to suit his own pleasure. Those who disagree can then establish their own new ‘church’ and so it will go. If a sect approves of divorce, so divorce will be allowed. If a sect approves of the active ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖ lifestyle, so it will be allowed. As the people go, so goes the democratic nation. They may be sincere in their erroneous beliefs, but we are not saved by sincerity alone! Both the blind leader and the blind follower were sincere. Their sincere error landed them both in the pit according to Luke 6:39.
“The Americanist heresy smells of the smoke of the anti-Church Protestant revolt – not reformation – of the sixteenth century. It carried that scent of its subsequent fires from the French Revolution of 1789, from Spain’s ruined empire in the early nineteenth century, again from France in 1848, from Portugal in the early decades of this century and then, of course, from revolutionary Russia in 1917. Americanism was, and is the old, established Masonic crusade against God, masquerading in cassock and surplice. It is the Armerican Catholic cleric[s acceptance of the same revolt of man against the Holy Trinity which shouted government should rule not as God wills, but in accordance with the will for the people without regard to how depraved the people might be now or become later.
“Once the Catholic Church accommodates itself down to the government and the culture of sinful men by forfeiting the truth and its divinely ordained leadership, then there is nothing to prevent the ѕυιcιdє of the society by a diminished, marginalized collection of sects Christian in name only Each may barely possess, in varying degrees, relics of the ancient t wisdom an authority that the one, true un-Anmericanized Catholic Church had in all its fullness. But it is only a matter of time before those relics of Scripture, Tradition and magisterial teaching are eroded by the sands of time in the winds of public opinion and compromise.
“So let us remain faithful. Let us be true to the defined dogma of the Church. Let us be worthy heirs to the holy Catholic zeal of Father de Brebeuf and the many other Catholic Martyrs for the saving of lost souls – be they pagan or Protestant, Moslem or Jєωιѕн. There is only one Truth. There is only one Church. There is only one Baptism. There is only one true Faith. If any man, however sincere he may be, invents a new religion he calls Christianity and tries to define a path to heaven unknown to the Catholic Apostles, Church Fathers, Doctors of the Church, or the entire list of the Successors of Saint Peter, let us approach him in sincere and thoughtful charity but with deep conviction.
“Let each of us say to him so clearly and boldly that the Saints and Angels will recognize each and every voice that rises to heaven: my friend,
‘Extra ecclesiam nulla salus’. Outside the Church there is no salvation. And by the grace and mercy of the Holy Triune God, I am here to lead you to that very Church – the Catholic Church of Christ, of Saint Peter and the Apostles. Come with me friend, and I will show you the way to a blessed eternity with the Almighty!”
________________________________
Bruno sat in silence through the closing prayers following the presentation. He sat through the milling of the young crowd as they rose and drifted out the lecture room. A few of the young men and women offered kind remarks to Fr. Duenez before he left the group accompanied by an older nun apparently on staff at the place. The combat veteran and Protestant seminary-reject looked wounded with internal injuries. He was confused by his emotions. Some parts of the speech by Fr. Duenez, on Protestant doctrinal confusion, Bruno could have written himself. Other parts he had considered in passing as the logical implications of false Protestantism – that is, that the one Catholic Church was originally the true Church Jesus Christ had intended all meant to enter into for salvation. That was only logical.
What he was not expecting was the devastating sentiment that all of those non-Catholics throughout the centuries were lost to heaven, if they had sinned grievously after a valid baptism, including four centuries worth of dedicated Protestants – some even martyrs for the various Protestant denominations they formed and followed.
He recognized that men are not saved by error. He also knew well that men are not saved by sincerity alone. He seemed to recall that he had even used that sardonic line himself in the past.
Bruno just never quite appreciated the breadth and depth of the implications of the blind leading the blind. How many pastors, professors, preachers and chaplains had sounded to him like they were making up their theology on their feet and spiritually flying by the seat of their pants? How many pastors in his hearing took opposite or mutually exclusive views on a significant biblical text?
He had heard that every Protestant pastor has wondered at times if he was correct in his teaching and fearfully considered what would be the price to his flock of his mistakes. How deep do these errors run in Protestantism??
As Bruno was lost in thought, he heard a feminine voice touch him gently from behind his left ear:
“Sir? Excuse me Sir? Are you waiting for someone?”
Bruno turned around in his seat and gave an embarrassed smile to the woman standing behind him. She wore a ribbon that identified her as a member of the staff. They were alone in the lecture room.
“I’m sorry, I was just . . . remembering . . . I was recalling something. Never heard anything like that talk before . . . Well . . . time to go?”
As Bruno rose from his chair and turned toward the lobby, the lady agreed:
“I know what you mean. Father has a fearless way for telling us what we may not want to hear, but still should hear anyway. That’s what makes him so successful and, well, so controversial. No wonder they want to silence him.”
Bruno said, “It is a lot to take in. I believe he has given me a few questions to ponder. Maybe more than a few.”
“That’s you and everybody else, Mister . . . Mister -?” The lady suggested he introduce himself.
Bruno – Bruno Gregory. You said ‘silence him’. Who wants to silence him?” Bruno looked directly in her eyes and then felt embarrassed for his appearance. She did not seem to notice how he looked. She was professionally hospitable but not personal. He could have been wearing a towel for all she cared.
“Never mind about that silencing comment. Sorry I said that. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Gregory. I am Louise Marie. I help out here as needed. Have you ever visited here before?
“No. I . . . I was out to buy light bulbs, and walked by outside. I thought I would stop in with the others. I just came to town and was walking past and I . . . I’m not even Catholic. I’m not Protestant either anymore. I’m . . . independent.”
The young lady smiled and nodded knowingly. “I see. Independent. Right. We see a lot of independents here.” As they walked into the lobby the woman made a gesture toward a closed office door.
“If you’d like to speak to Fr. Duenez about your questions, he is usually around here in the afternoon. Why don’t you come back tomorrow and introduce yourself to him? He would like that.”
Bruno paused for a moment and considered whether he wanted to wade any deeper into the painful but haunting lecture topic. He weighed the invitation for a moment and turned to Louise Marie.
“I believe I might just do that if you don’t think he would mind.”
“Not at all, Mr. Gregory. That is precisely what he is here for. Good night.”
Bruno smiled and slipped out the door to the side walk. He cancelled his shopping plans and turned towards his building. He did not mind spending the rest of his evening reflecting on the lecture in a quiet, dim room. He would be content with the meager supplies in his bag. He thought best on an empty stomach anyway. It occurred to him that despite his long day, it still might take a while for him to fall asleep that night.
[break]
Bruno Gregory entered into his shadowy basement room and took five minutes to unpack. He turned the scratched desk lamp toward the apartment’s mattress so as to make it up with the sheets and blanket he pulled from the bag. Then he stretched out and read again the handout he had received from the lecture. Before he knew what had happened it was time to wake up. He rose early in the morning, and went out to pick up some groceries at a nearby market. Then he found his way to the University’s Psychology department where he registered as a graduate student. By late afternoon on his return, he stopped by the Catholic community center, hoping to find Fr. Duenez there.
He was asked by a young man at a desk in the foyer with several open books before him to take a seat if he chose to wait, since Fr. was due to return shortly. Bruno sat in a chair by the attendant. His badge called him Lawrence. Since there were just the two of them there, Bruno decided to take advantage of the opportunity to question the student.
“Excuse me, do you mind if I ask you a few questions about Fr. Duenez?” The man looked up from his books and inspected Bruno who had put a jacket and tie on for the meeting.
"Are you from the Archdiocese or from the University?” He appeared suspicious.
“If you mean, am I a student the answer is yes. I don't work for the University or the Archdiocese, I'm not even Catholic. Why do you want to know?”
The desk attendant relaxed a little as he was convinced Bruno was not out to undermine the priest or cause his office the usual trouble.
“Let's just say that neither the University nor the Archdiocese will be advertising Fr. Duenez’ lectures. Look – the fact is, they would like to shut Fr. Duenez down altogether! I was told that yesterday. How can this be? Why would the school care bout what a Catholic priest teaches off campus? For that matter, how could the Archdiocese not be supportive of him and his teaching? It seems pretty 'Papal' to me from what I read.” Bruno pulled out and unfolded the insert he had kept from the lecture.
Lawrence took the hand-out and scanned it quickly. Then he handed it back to Bruno.
“Okay. Here's the ugly truth,” he announced in response. “The University is putting pressure on Fr.’s office because so many students are discovering his compelling teaching and are acting on it. I mean they’re becoming Catholic because of his authentic, logical religious arguments. Fr. Duenez has influence among the post war vets who are sick of double-talk. He has influence among the others who are intellectually honest because he makes so much sense. The established progressives and the atheists at the University do not like his Catholic influence on their student body. Once the students discover the Church's answers to the questions the God-less faculty ask, the students are not open to or taken in by the intellectual hopelessness of the faculty. The School professors don’t like it when their students ignore them – or can answer questions they can’t. Then, we have in addition the alumni complaints from the progressives that cannot tolerate the idea that their University may become more Christian over time, rather than less. Finally, the parents of the converting students have a fit when their sons accept this immigrant religion. The White Anglo Saxon Protestant parents of the typical University student tend to have convulsions when their son comes back from The School as a ‘Papist’. They like
‘That Old Time Religion’, but they just don’t like that
REALLY OLD, old-time religion.”
Bruno nodded and shrugged: “Okay, I can understand why the anti-Catholic University Alumni and WASP parents cold live without this priest. But why would the Archdiocese want to shut him up? He seems like a one-man convert machine – a real secret weapon to turn
The School into Notre Dame East. What’s the problem with the Archbishop? Is he a closet Pres-byterian or what?”
Lawrence pointed to the handout in Bruno’s hand. “You were here last night. You heard Fr. describe the ‘Americanists’ – prelates who want the Catholic Church to play nicely in the religious sandbox of the United States. They are eager to put the light of Catholicism under and American-made bushel basket so everyone will get along better in the dark – even if that means souls are lost. The real problem is – they probably don’t think non-Catholic souls will be lost. That’s because they are no longer Catholic themselves.”
“Are there Americanists in the Archdiocese of the city too?” Bruno hoped he didn’t sound too naive.
Lawrence looked at Bruno in the eyes with sadness in his softer voice: “The Archdiocese of the city is full of those types, even up to the highest levels. Fr. must upset all the tea parties the Cardinal has with The School Administration. The University is probably telling him to put a stop to all this religious talk by Fr. Duenez. I’ll bet they are telling him to run another friendly, non-judgmental, un-Catholic diocese like almost all the other popular American Cardinals and Archbishops do.”
Bruno did not have a dog in that fight. He considered himself to be a theological loner. But for purposes of the discussion he had to ask:
“What can the Archdiocese do – publicly silence Fr. for teaching what the Church has apparently taught for millennia? This ‘DOGMA’ won’t be inscribed on my Christmas card this year. However, if the Archdiocese or the Jesuits tell him to shut up, at some kind of Church hearing all he needs to do is pass out some of these handy program inserts from last night. Infallibly defined dogmatic definitions must have a real good shelf life. These official pronouncements are still good law, aren’t they?”
“They’re still valid statements of dogma, of course. Dogma is dogma. It can’t go bad. It’s just not believed or enforced by the Americanist clergy. Yes, Fr. Duenez would have all the evidence and authority he needs to easily win his case at such a hearing. That is why there will never be that hearing. Neither the Archdiocese of The City, not the Jesuits, will ever let themselves get into such a gunfight with no ammunition. Look, there are three reasons why there would be no hearing on the DOGMA: First, Fr. Duenez would win it. Second: they would never want to call attention to that issue, especially with the student following he has. Third: If he ever got the chance, he could wind up converting every open-mined student within earshot. Obviously, Fr. Duenez, with his Papal docuмents and a young, intellectually honest audience, could blow the entire Americanist approach to Catholicism to smithereens in a single afternoon.”
“So what could the Archdiocese or the Jesuits do? If they can’t silence him with ‘due process’ they’re suck, right?”
Lawrence smiled and shook his head. “Due process is a term for the American courtroom, not for the chancery or the provincial’s office. Fr.’s superiors can silence him easily by simply ordering him to shut up and report to some rural prep school to teach physical education. Remember, as a Jesuit he has taken a vow of obedience. What really scares me is that these Bishops and Religious Superiors can do great damage to the Church with the sledge-hammer of OBEDIENCE.”
At that moment, a well-dressed young man burst through the door and strode up to the desk, interrupting their conversation. “I want to see this Fr. Duenez right now! Is he here?”
Lawrence looked up at the impatient student and checked his wrist watch. "He's not here right now, Jerry. Just take a seat. He should arrive soon."
Without acknowledging the recognition of his name, the student turned and began to pace back and forth in front of the few empty lobby chairs, He looked like he was frustrated that his priest, whom he had no appointment to see in the first place, was wasting his valuable time. His sense of self-importance was as thick as his upper-crust City accent.
A few minutes later, the front door to the street opened again and in walked Fr. Duenez. Seeing Lawrence and Bruno, the priest nodded a subtle greeting. Lawrence and Bruno stood out of respect for the priest and, referring to Bruno, welcomed him with “Good afternoon, Father. There is someone here to see you.” Bruno nodded to the priest. At that moment the pacing student, assuming that Lawrence was making his immediate introduction, strode up to the priest, completely ignoring the two standing, respectful laymen.
“Fr. Duenez, I understand you’re sending my Protestant friends to hell.”
Fr. sized up the impertinent youngster with the introduction that sounded like fighting words, if he has ever heard them. The composed and battle-tested Jesuit responded: “I’m not sending your Protestant friends to hell. I’m just telling them that if they want salvation, where they’ve got to find it.”
The young man shot back: “I know more Protestants who are going to heaven than Catholics.”
Father sensed from that sample of theological nonsense that the boy was all uncontrolled emotion and no religious insights. Years of street preaching taught him that no reason will enter a closed and angry mind. He had better things to do than try to teach in a few minutes what did not yet sink into this man’s head in the past few decades.
“That’s not a way to talk to a Catholic priest. If that's the way you’re going to talk, you can get right on out of here.”
The young man was startled by the demand for priestly respect. His next pompous response did not help him. He pushed back: “Do you know who I am?!”
“I don’t care who you are. That’s not the way a Catholic young man talks to a Catholic priest. There’s the door.” Fr. turned his back on the young man and walked into his office.
The future Attorney General and United States Senator and Presidential candidate apparently had believed he could prejudge the eternal destiny of souls, could cancel the applicability of infallibly defined Catholic dogma, and could “pull rank” on an ordained Jesuit priest by virtue of his simply being born into money. Yet despite these imagined powers, all Jerry could do at that point was leave the office in a disrespectful huff. Humility is the foundation of a spiritual life, not a political one.
The two respectful laymen heard it all. Bruno leaned towards Lawrence and whispered out of the corner of his mouth: “Maybe I should come back another time.” He did not want to contribute to the burdens of the priest that afternoon. Lawrence settled his concerns. “It’s okay. Don’t leave. Let me try again to introduce you.”
They went to the open door of the office. Fr. was standing by his desk going through the day’s mail. His face was expressionless. “Father, I would like you to meet the man I said was waiting to see you.” The priest looked up with interest: “Oh. You mean you have more fawning sycophants to see me, Lawrence? By the way, who was that inspired fellow who could decide who was or wasn’t going to heaven? He could be useful around here.”
That was Jerry Whitehead. His father is big in Democrat politics, and was the Ambassador to the Court of St. James. Brother Cleo was some Navy war hero. Grand dad was the mayor of The City.”
“I see. They are Irish Democrats before they are Irish Catholics. They can’t afford to offend the voting protestants with any ‘inopportune’ Catholic dogma. Better to offend God than the party faithful. So.. who is your friend, Lawrence?”
“Bruno Gregory, Father." Bruno helped with the introduction, for he had not yet given his name to his new acquaintance. He held out his hand and the priest took it with a firm, manly grip. “I’m pleased to meet you, Father. I’ve heard so many bad things about you!” Bruno grinned and the priest chuckled.
“All of it true, I’m sure!” Father took his seat behind the desk and pointed to the chair beside Bruno. “So, Mr. Gregory, ... Protestant, Catholic or Democrat?”
“None of the above, Father. Just an independent Christian veteran. Too Catholic to be a protestant too protestant to be a Catholic. But I never miss a free lunch or a free lecture.” Bruno held up the program insert.
“So you’re a Dominican!” Bruno looked puzzled and the priest chuckled again at his intramural Catholic joke. “Never mind, Mr. Gregory.” With a wave, the priest cleared the air of his dry humor. Lawrence giggled and returned to his books.
“It is my pleasure to meet you. You don’t happen to be armed are you?”
“No, Father. Lawrence frisked me in the lobby.”
“Just like I taught him. Tell me Mr. Gregory. What do you find most distasteful about ‘the Dogma’? Too harsh, too divisive, too judgmental, too Popish, too Latin, too...?”
“Too Catholic, Father. Much too Catholic. It’s hard to imagine all those bible-quoting protestant grandmothers, Sunday school teachers, and... and homesick infantry privates who never made it back, burning in hell because their daily bible readings were out of a King James rather than a Douay-Rheims, or because they thought they were already saved rather than subject to losing salvation by one last mortal sin before the unexpected heart attack or the bullet from nowhere with their name on it.”
The priest paused for a moment and contemplated the personal pain dripping from the real memories that carried the words of Bruno’s objections. Bruno’s visions of a potentially hopeless death drifted in the room like incense. The priest could see them as well as the veteran could. Bruno struggled in his mind to give them hope because he could not return to give those dying bodies and eternal souls sanctifying grace.
“That would be the very definition of a tragedy, wouldn’t it? Almighty God does hate that result. Indeed, that is why he gave humanity seven sacraments to provide that grace which would make that heart attack, or that bullet eternally irrelevant.
“Everyone knows they will die eventually, except the very young and the insane. Baptism can assure them of heaven. The rest of us had the means of sacramental grace given by a merciful God in his perfect time to prepare us for our own end of time.”
The priest leaned back in his chair and studied Bruno’s face.
“So tell me, Mr. Gregory, who took those sacraments away from the homesick privates, from the dear grandmothers, from the Sunday school teachers? Who left these poor souls with just a bible they really don't understand, but think they do? Who put their souls at such risk by removing their access to sanctifying grace? Was it God or was it man? Was it the Catholic church – or – was it someone’s ‘private hostility toward the Catholic Church’ posing as a denomination he named after himself, that led men away from the sacraments? Who gave any of the thousands of founders of Protestant sects the right and authority to take away God’s gift of the means of grace, the means of salvation itself, the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church? Who rejected and buried the settled truth that the people must either have these sacraments or spiritually die? And with that left accomplished, how can it be wrong now, or insensitive, or harsh to tell the people that they have been robbed of their eternity with God simply because a king wanted a new wife, or because an Augustinian monk had spiritual struggles, or because subsequent reformers rejected the teaching of prior reformers?”
The priest paused, even though both men knew, his ostensibly endless string of stinging questions was only rhetorical.
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Topic: One man, one mission, one visitor to Americanism defined (Read 960 times)