It was a chaotic cook in the kitchen today. A new homecook had joined us and he ran about the kitchen like a headless chicken. He left the knives dangling by the edges of the table, indiscriminately used the knives and cutting boards for raw and cooked food, left a hurricane of a mess at his bench, did not pay any attention to what the headchef taught, did his own thing, and nearly set his station on fire. At one time, I had even begun to fear for his life, he was a hazard in the kitchen, and a danger not only to himself, but to the rest of us co-users of the kitchen as well.

In a similar way, pertaining to the matters of the Catholic Faith, the following scenarios may potentially cause more harm than good:

  1. I am ignorant about my faith and its teachings, and I am not interested in finding out the Truth.
  2. I know only a superficial part of the teaching of the Church, or a bit and bob of a teaching, and haven’t read the full documents, or the full context of the scripture. I can’t be bothered to read further or to fact-check.
  3. I am missing crucial information, taking only the parts that are palatable to me.
  4. I know what everybody else says about my Faith, and I apply what they say, as opposed to what the Magisterium says to my life.
  5. My understanding of the Truth is shaped by erroneous thought and philosophy.
  6. My filter and compass are secular.
  7. I think I know more than what the Church teaches, or better than my bishop, or my pope.

There are several levels of ignorance:

  1. I have never heard of the Gospel in my life – I lack the necessary information to know Christ, much less His teachings. This state of ignorance is a type of blissful ignorance, and on the part of the person, there is usually no culpability, having no inkling of a moral compass or law, or what conscience demands (Heschmeyer 2021). At the same time, this state of ignorance would only apply today if you lived in an incredibly isolated tribe, with minimal interference and contact with the outside world, or if you suffer from severe mental impairment.
  2. The second level of ignorance stems from those who have heard the Good News, but cannot comprehend what is being said. The Pharisees and Scribes in Jesus’ time, heard Jesus clearly when He was preaching at the synagogue, but somehow either deliberately chose to distort what was said, misunderstood what was said through no fault of theirs, or chose to pick and choose what was favourable to them. In today’s context, as Venerable Fulton Sheen says, “There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.” (Fisher 2019). We could possess the right information, but still be ignorant (Heschmeyer 2021).
  3. The third level of ignorance comes about when the truth I have is distorted, but unfortunately that which I perceive to be unadulterated truth. We see the discourse between Pilate and Jesus during Jesus’ trial for example: “So Pilate said to him, ‘Then you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’” (John 18:37)

To which end, Pilate replies, “What is truth?” (John 18:38)

The thing is, few of us would say that we believe wholeheartedly in a lie, but the reality is that we are more inclined, than we would actually desire, to be purveyors of half-truths, or even lies masquerading as truth.

We are drawn to the interesting example of the western schism in the 14th century.  Pope Urban VI had been elected as Pope, but his papacy was contested, and Clement VII also claimed to be pope. Interestingly, the entire part of Western Europe, with the exception of England, Ireland, and the English outposts in France, pledged allegiance to Clement VII, while most part of Germany, Italy, not withstanding Naples, and Flanders recognised and legitimised Urban VI’s reign (Mulder nd). The implications of this meant that even the saints were confused. St Catherine of Siena, St. Catherine of Sweden, Blessed Ursuline or Parma, and Blessed Peter of Aragon were in support of Urban VI, while St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Colette, and Blessed Peter of Luxemburg, pledged loyalty to Clement VII’s camp (Heschmeyer 2021). With the same set of information, there arose two factions. Of these, some chose to deliberately misinterpret the information, while others, misunderstood through no fault of theirs, the information that had been given to them (Heschmeyer 2021). To this end, a Catholic, who had the knowledge that Urban VI was the rightful pope, but refused to submit to his authority, would thus be committing willfully the sin of schism, and thus putting his or her salvation in dire risk (Heschmeyer 2021).

A superficial understanding of the Faith is as dangerous if not equally as harmful to a false understanding of the Faith. These are the ones who run about tripping others and who likely would cause some sort of injury or violation of safety. The average Faithful remains yet none the wiser.

 

By the Grace of God,

Brian Bartholomew Tan

 

References

Fisher, John. 2019. “Misunderstanding Catholicism – A primer for Catholics and other Christians.” Catholic Insight. Accessed July 27, 2024. https://catholicinsight.com/misunderstanding-catholicism-a-primer-for-catholics-and-other-christians/

Heschmeyer, Joe. 2021. “Don’t be Ignorant about Invincible Ignorance.” Catholic Answers. Accessed July 27, 2024. https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/dont-be-ignorant-about-invincible-ignorance

Mulder, William. Nd. “Pope Urban VI.” Catholic Encyclopedia. In Catholic Answers. Accessed July 7, 2024. https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/pope-urban-vi?_gl=1*1jghezk*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTA4OTY3Mzg0LjE3MjIwNTg5MTU.*_ga_C1P2JNZ1YB*MTcyMjA1ODkxMy4xLjAuMTcyMjA1ODkxMy4wLjAuMA..