By JAMES BARESEL
Eights Popes and the Crisis of Modernity by Russell Shaw, Ignatius Press (www.ignatius.com, 2020).
“The enemy at last was plain in view, huge and hateful, all disguise cast off. It was the Modern Age in arms. Whatever the outcome there was a place for him in that battle.” Russell Shaw placed this quote from Evelyn Waugh’s Sword of Honor trilogy at the beginning of a chapter about Pope Pius XII in Eight Popes and the Crisis of Modernity, but it could have served just as well as an introduction to the entire book’s account of the stands against aspects of the Modern World made by every Vicar of Christ from Pius X to John Paul II.
Some of these are, of course, well-known: St. Pius X’s attempt to root out the Modernist heresy, St. Paul VI’s reiteration of the Church’s condemnation of artificial birth control, St. John Paul II’s role in pulling down Communism in Russia and Eastern Europe. But the familiarity of the topics does not prevent the inclusion of generally unknown details, such as the role Pius XII played as early 1940 in communications between the British government and German generals planning a coup to overthrow Hitler.
By the standards of such a small volume, however, a refreshingly thorough treatment is given to less common topics.
Analysis of the World War I era peace efforts of Benedict XV, for example, does not stop at briefly mentioning that his attempts at mediation were widely ignored, his warnings about the dangers of a harshly punitive peace, and the (actually quite limited) influence that his proposals had on (some of) Woodrow Wilson’s “Fourteen Points.”
Shaw makes clear that while Benedict and Wilson were united in their opposition to punitive measures, the Pope unambiguously opposed the liberal aspects of that president’s agenda and aimed at a peace that would preserve what remained of old Christian Europe, including the last Catholic world power, the Habsburg Empire.
Instead of this, the victors chose to implement Wilson’s liberal ideas while rejecting his humane ones — the precise opposite of what the Pope had advocated. Benedict’s forceful analysis of the reasons for the war put him further at odds with political leaders of the day. Without denying that chauvinistic rivalry between nations had been the immediate cause of the conflict, he stressed the inability of secularist notions of the “universal brotherhood of men” to overcome the effects of original sin and provide a firm foundation for just and lasting peace.
Another interesting and even less studied matter is the pre-papal episcopate of Pope John Paul I, who is generally known for little other than his death weeks after election and whose name advertised his commitment to the prudential agenda of his two immediate Predecessors and to the official texts of Vatican II and whose record as a bishop reveals a firm commitment to orthodoxy.
While preferring to focus on works of mercy, the future Pope suspended from their priestly functions men who took liberal positions on divorce — while he further combatted the problem by establishing programs to provide marriage counseling to low-income couples at risk of separating. He also threatened action against and clergymen who supported Communists and was adamant in opposing the leftist “worker priest” movement.
Much as the briefness of his period on the Chair of Peter makes comparisons to the second Pope who took his name impossible, one is left with the impression that John Paul I would have done much to put ecclesial life back on track after the upheaval of the council’s aftermath.
The brevity with which Vatican II is treated in Eight Popes is another refreshing aspect of the book. Given that little new can be said about the topic outside of more detailed and scholarly contexts, Shaw avoids repeating old debates and briefly sketches out two core points: 1) From a doctrinal perspective, the council’s documents must be interpreted in continuity with established Church teaching rather than as a break with them. 2) From the perspective of changeable (and so reversible) matters of discipline, pastoral policies, emphases, and prudential judgments, the council brought about a very real shift.
One final strength Shaw demonstrates is an ability to be faithful to orthodoxy and papal authority without exaggerating the scope of the latter, and to be respectful of the Popes without overlooking their human limitations. Perhaps most important, he is able to take this approach when analyzing Popes from both before and after Vatican II. He is, for example, in full agreement with St. Pius X on the theological principles involved in that Pope’s condemnation of Modernism while raising questions about the efficacy of some of the means he used to promote orthodoxy.
Later on he accepts the legitimacy of the form of Mass promulgated by St. Paul VI while recognizing that the changes it introduced were more drastic than the majority of participants in Vatican II intended and that the virtual disappearance of the Tridentine Mass was not only painful to many faithful Catholics, but led less staunch ones to cease their religious practice.
Whether or not one agrees with all of Shaw’s particular reservations, his approach is grounded in a balance of which we are very much in need.
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress