Jubilee Holy Year: examining our conscience.

Since 1995 and the publication of his encyclical Tertio millennio adveniente (Thecoming Third Millennium) Pope John Paul II has been preparing us for the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Christ, the Lord of History, "the Living One" (Rev. 1:18), "who is, who was and who is to come" (Rev. 1:4). He himself, he tells us, had this Jubilee in mind right from the writing of his first encyclical The Redeemer of Man (Redemptor hominis) in 1980 onwards.

In November 1998, the Pope spelled out details of various actions to be undertaken: the opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter's--as well as doors in Jerusalem and Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, symbolizing the acceptance or "confession" of Christ as gate ("I am the gate," John 10:7); the encouragement of pilgrimages, as witness to our own lifelong pilgrimage though "this valley of tears"; the gaining of indulgences, signs of God's mercy in the forgiveness of sins; and his own hoped-for pilgrimage to the Middle East to follow in the footsteps of those who prepared for the coming of Christ, beginning in Ur, the birthplace of Abraham (modem Iraq), then to Damascus (modem Syria), Jerusalem (Israel), and Bethlehem (Palestine). He encourages local initiatives and projects.

Purification of conscience

Above all, the Holy Father emphasizes the need of what he calls in the November 1989 document the "purification of conscience." In fact, he himself has been examining the conscience of the Church for years and not just since 1995, when he specifically recommended it as something which needs to be done by the whole Church. The journalist Luigi Accattoli lists no fewer than 21 different occasions on which the Holy Father has "apologized" for the actions of Catholics, or groups of Catholics (When a Pope asks Forgiveness, 1998, pp. 225).

As everyone knows, making an apology is unpleasant; it also demands courage, and it requires a sense of humility. Moreover, public apologies have a further drawback that the expression of sorrow may be exploited by the media who may take the apologies as proof that "religion is a bad thing", or that the "Church is corrupt." Thus the very exercise of what pertains to the heart of Christianity--the calling for repentance from her members--becomes a new occasion for ridicule. Some people still don't know what Pope John Paul's apology for the "Galileo case" was about, forgetting that Galileo never did prove that the earth turns around the sun. Somebody else did, 200 years later.

The 2000-year relationship with the Jews is even more difficult; here many people fail to distinguish between universal Catholic Church doctrine on the one hand, and the behaviour of Catholics in this or that country at this or that time or era, on the other. Apologies for what our forefathers may or may not have done a thousand years ago, should be based on careful historical research before anything is said or done.

Examining ourselves

Aside from technical difficulties, apologies for past sins is not of the first order of importance. Anway, what counts above all is today, and where we stand as individuals, and as members of our larger national community.

As individuals, we look inside ourselves and ask--as the Pope puts it--what have I done with my baptism? How am I responding to my vocation? Is Christ, the "Thou" always present in my life? Am I faithful to the truth taught by the Church's magisterium?

As Catholic members of our national community we carry a double responsibility: first as members of the Catholic Church in Canada; this requires an internal examination, so to speak. Second, in our community's relationship to the wider Canadian society. Let's call this our external examination.

It has been Catholic Insight's belief all along that we must raise our Catholic consciousness specifically as Canadians.

Internally--as Catholics among ourselves--Catholic Insight has attempted to discuss questions of liturgy, sex education, religious education, teachers, ecumenism, doctrinal questions, and pastoral strategies, the most important of which have centred around contraception and Humanae vitae. We have also commented on many positive new developments in the Church.

About our Catholic community's relationship to the wider Canadian society, Catholic Insight has often spoken about Catholics and politics, raised questions about the loss of Catholic schools in Quebec and Newfoundland, or the declining Catholicity of institutions such as hospitals, discussed the reasons for the often lacklustre support for the vital "prolife" struggle, etc. If we don't ask questions, how can we examine where we are going? Yet, the response has not been overwhelming.

In the current edition, Professor Ian Hunter--who, by the way, is an Anglican--raises vital questions about the corrosion of Christian principles in the current Canadian political climate (pp. 14-19). Again, they should be examined and analyzed, not only about what is happening, but how we can change things for the better.

The Holy Father is calling for the new evangelization of the Americas, that is, for a renewed commitment to Christ by all of us. Let us, he says, acknowledge with Jeremiah that "we have sinned" (Jer. 3:5) but let us keep alive the certainty that "where sin increased, grace abounded even more" (Rom. 5:20).