The Crisis of Authority in Catholic Modernity (review)

This splendid collection of essays explores the problems regarding the authority for being able to say what constitutes being “Catholic.” The conflict between “thinking on one’s own” and “following the magisterium” is portrayed not as a conflict between traditionalism and liberalism, but as composed of serious tensions within the living Catholic tradition.

Oakley, Lacey, and Joseph Komonchak contribute essays on “contested pasts.” The contemporary significance of the conciliarist movement, the significance of the nineteenth century anti-modernist church in contrast with the post-Vatican II church, and a nuanced appreciation of Benedict XVI’s hermeneutics of reform regarding Vatican II are all ably and evocatively discussed. These essays truly help us see where we are by showing some of the places we have come from.

Six essays explore contemporary challenges and emerging directions. Francis A. Sullivan, SJ, suggests ways to differentiate among authentic and “no longer appropriate” traditions in the church. John Beal lucidly analyzes and contrasts the baroque, sometimes despotic, and truly paternalistic “social imaginary” that contextualizes canon law with a modern, sometimes individualistic, and usually egalitarian “social imaginary” that shapes Catholics’ lives. Gerard Mannion advocates that a “teaching church” needs to learn from its mistakes from some of the refusals and dissents of its non-conforming members. Lisa Sowle Cahill helpfully surveys recent patterns in Catholic moral theology. M. Cathleen Kaveny advocates the creative retrieval of casuistry as a resource for moral theology. Charles Taylor provocatively and insightfully explores the all-too-often violated limits of magisterial authority. All these essays are insightful and excellent, but Taylor’s is a lucid and compact gem.

Three more empirical essays explore the responses of United States Catholics to magisterial authority (Dean R. Hoge and Mary L. Gautier), the coincidence of the birth control controversy and the irrelevance of regular confession after Humanae Vitae (Leslie Woodcock Tentler), and the problems and prospects in contempoary patterns in clerical education (Katarina Schuth). All of these authors know their fields well. These essays not only contribute real insights about the actual shape of the contemporary church, but display the real significance of the historical and theological essays.

Each essay is clearly written and convincingly argued. The seminar at the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, founded by James Heft, S.M., that generated this volume has made a real contribution to understanding how the church – both as institution and as congregation – has not yet figured out how to thrive in (post)modern times. If the “baroque” pattern is no longer viable, what is? If jurisdictio is in severe tension with communio, where can a unifying path be found in a society that is practically godless while clothing its structures in a cover story of divine guidance?

The volume does not answer such questions, but raises them brilliantly and readably. This is a model of what edited collections should be. Highly recommended for cultural critics, theologians, historians, and any interested in thinking seriously about the future of the church, including bishops and bishops-to-be.