A Culture of Grievance

Ours is a polarized nation and Church. Left versus right, red state versus blue, traditionalist versus Vatican II Catholics. There seems to be one commonality that crosses the usual lines: Ours is a culture of grievance.

The grievances on the right can be plainly seen. Just tune in to an evening of Fox News or watch Bishop Robert Barron interview one of his many rightwing interlocutors such as Jordan Peterson. These grievances interest me less than those on the left.

Consider the responses to Dignitas Infinita, the Vatican’s statement on human dignity, specifically the section on gender and sexuality. Most of the responses from the theological community were filled with a sense of grievance: How dare the pope sign off on a document that did not cohere with the latest theories about gender and sexuality!

Some invoked “the science.” The United Kingdom’s National Health Service recently published an extensive study of gender identity services for children and young people known as the Cass Report that concludes that the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of some medical treatments is not conclusive. Dr. Hilary Cass who led the study wrote: “While a considerable amount of research has been published in this field, systematic evidence reviews demonstrated the poor quality of the published studies, meaning there is not a reliable evidence base upon which to make clinical decisions, or for children and their families to make informed choices.” The report recommended a ban on prescribing puberty blockers to adolescents unless they are part of a clinical trial.

The most curious thing about most of the responses to Dignitas Infinita from the theological community, however, was not what they contained, but what they lacked: theology. There were many who invoked the experiences of transgender persons. As I wrote at the time in NCR, “Experience matters, but in the making of theology, experience can never be the only thing that matters. We have canonical Scriptures. We have a theological tradition. We have an authoritative magisterium. More importantly, there is not a human alive who has not at least once made a choice that seemed obvious at the moment given his or her lived experience, but the decision turned out to be a disaster.” 

The same attitude of grievance and umbrage followed upon reports that Pope Francis has used a vulgar slur when discussing gay seminarians in a meeting with Italian bishops. At America magazine, theologian Fr. Bryan Massingale published a long complaint. There was no real engagement with the possibility that a subculture of campiness in a seminary could be problematic. Again, what was missing from the essay was much in the way of theology.

The highlighting of pastoral theology alongside other theological disciplines is one of the hallmarks of this papacy. Where are the symposia and academic conferences on the obvious tensions between pastoral theology and doctrinal teaching? Where are the studies on the relationship between the ethical visions Catholic hold and their ecclesial visions? I would venture to say that in the U.S., one of the principal impediments to a shared ecclesial vision, without which the Catholic Church cannot hold together, is our dogged insistence that our particular ethical visions are what is most important. That may work for other denominations, but it doesn’t work for the Catholic Church.

Even more importantly, where are theologians focusing on forging a Catholic culture in which grace and gratitude take priority over grievance and umbrage?

I was speaking with an employee at a diocesan chancery about their Vicar General and why he was so successful. “There are a lot of reasons, but most of all, he is a happy priest,” the staffer told me.

His comment put me in mind of a recent academic conference. I was not in attendance, but the story was related to me by three people who did. After one of the presentations, one theologian said she found it necessary to spend several classes at the beginning of each semester helping the students work through their anger at the Church. The presenter replied, “I find my students respond well to the fact that I am a happy Catholic.”

That Vicar General and that presenter are the exception, but we need them to become the rule. Here is the remedy for the divisions, and much else, that afflict the Church. The key problem for the Catholic Church is not the divide between the left and the right, but the failure of both to build a culture of grace and gratitude.

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Michael Sean Winters is a journalist and writer for the National Catholic Reporter.