Solemnity of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Apostles

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062912.cfm

I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

That God should become a man is hard enough to swallow; that this man should appoint another man as his vicar is an enormous challenge. Why should I follow a vicar?

The obedience we owe this man has challenged the church since the beginning. It is controversial during the best of times; and when a successor of Christ at any particular time proves manifestly unworthy of the title, it becomes too much for some to bear. The Church must inevitably split asunder.

To counter the scandal the Church does not try to sanitize the history books or sterilize our collective memory, as many governments do. Even before digital photography the Soviets were adroit at removing people from their group photos. Once a friend of Stalin, Khrushchev or Brezhnev fell from favor he completely disappeared. His past with all his influence, sacrifices and contributions vanished under the official historian’s eraser. Even speaking of the fellow as if he might have existed was a punishable crime.

The Church has a different strategy: we honor the saints who remained loyal to the Church and its leadership despite the scandals. Saint Francis of Assisi, called “the most Catholic of all saints,” taught in his 26^th Admonition:

Blessed is the servant of God who exhibits confidence in clerics who live uprightly according to the form of the holy Roman Church. And woe to those who despise them: for even though they [the clerics] may be sinners, nevertheless no one ought to judge them, because the Lord Himself reserves to Himself alone the right of judging them. For as the administration with which they are charged, to wit, of the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which they receive and which they alone administer to others—is greater than all others, even so the sin of those who offend against them is greater than any against all the other men in this world.

With the stories, teachings and example of the saints we avoid the sectarianism which has plagued the Church ever since Saint Paul complained to his Corinthian disciples:

For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers, by Chloe’s people, that there are rivalries among you. (I Cor 1: 11)

Americans are especially challenged by the institution of the papacy. First, we suspect it’s undemocratic. Then we think that religion should be spiritual, and not sullied by human interaction. There should be no authority in the spiritual world; but every person is his 

own prophet, knowing the will of God through direct, personal revelation. As if...

Some observers believe the papacy of this early 21^st century has never been more powerful -- or more vulnerable. With modern communications the Vicar and his secretaries can keep an eye on nearly everything that happens in the farthest hinterlands of the church; but they are also challenged for a judgment, teaching or opinion on every little thing. Every misstep is reported instantaneously throughout the world. 

In such an environment the papacy and its policies seem brittle. Can it maintain a male-only priesthood and oppose almost all forms of birth control in the face of a world-wide movement to empower women? Can it defend the Church’s definition of marriage in a multicultural world? Can it represent Catholic moral teaching when so few Catholics accept that teaching? Can the papacy survive?

If I didn’t believe in the Holy Spirit I would not bet on the pope. But I do. Give it time; wait another century. Peter and Paul and the college of apostles have survived worse than this. Despite all appearances to the contrary, structures of leadership do change over time, even when they are loath to admit it. We we will always need leadership and God will always provide for those who wait on him.