Scottish Catholic Observer

In my last series I was searching for evidence that the Church is continuing the work that Jesus began. That search took me to meet a range of interesting people, some of them Catholics and others not. My visits sometimes raised a few eyebrows. My explanation of my aim caused some to wonder exactly what church I was talking about. I was thinking in terms of all those who professed to be Christian but I realised that I hadn’t made that clear.

Now I began to think about what we mean by the Church. There seem to be lots of ideas and different people seem to see the Church from different viewpoints. I thought it was time I found out what the Church really is. When I was a wee boy in St Columbkille’s I thought that was the Church. I remember a girl in our class—primary three, I think)—who thought that the parish priest was the Pope. We were all a bit surprised to find out he wasn’t.

When they started building other parishes in the town I began to realise that the Church must be something a bit bigger than I thought. I remember Bishop James Scanlan coming to bless the foundations of a new church. I was really impressed. He really looked important. At that time I didn’t really know what a bishop was. All I knew was that he was really important and we all had to turn out to welcome him.

Since those days I have met a few bishops and even a cardinal. I don’t know if I could tell you what the difference is, but I am determined to find out. I have seen two Popes here in Scotland, so they’re not as remote as they used to be. Actually, I have been seen by a Pope. When Blessed Pope John Paul II came to Scotland he addressed a large gathering of young people at Murrayfield Stadium. I was there, not because I was particularly young but I was accompanying my pupils.

While we were waiting for the Holy Father to arrive excitement was growing. I suddenly noticed that two of my charges, whom I had warned to stay close to me, had vanished. I headed back over the terracing to find them rolling about punching and kicking each other, the way best pals do. I grabbed them by the collar and pulled them apart. As I held them out of each other’s reach, still swinging punches, I looked up to see the convoy of cars pull in to the stadium. Worse, I saw the Holy Father looking out at our little tableau. I wonder what he thought of our Church at that moment. Where did he think he had come to?

Well, that’s my task for this year. I intend to explore our Church, The Catholic Church, to find its length, breadth and depth. I want to know about all those parts that go to make up the Church. Some of these are reasonably familiar but there are parts of the Church that I don’t really know anything about. There are people in the Church whose function is a complete mystery to me.

I think I know about parishes and how they work but what about deaneries? What are they and why do we have them? The same goes for diocese. Do you know what diocese you are in, does it matter? Then there are bits that don’t fit in here. What about religious orders? I need to find out why we have them and what they do. Do the Catholics in other countries think the way we do? Then, of course, there is the Vatican; I know the Pope lives there but who else is in the Vatican and what are they doing there?

I would like to find out how all these different parts fit together, if indeed they do. If I get confused how can anyone looking in from outside understand our Church? The Church must seem really confusing to someone who didn’t grow up in it. I walked in on my daughter watching an episode of The Simpsons the other day. Homer Simpson is the father and not a greatly spiritual person. In this episode he decides to become a Catholic. He discovers that Catholics can go to confession and wipe the slate clean, “Woo Hoo,” he exclaimed. If only it were that easy, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to become a Catholic so that they could confess their sins. But, then I wonder why people do decide to join the Church. What is it that people see in the Church that attracts them?

A few years ago I was training to be a marriage guidance counsellor. One of the exercises they gave us was to explore our image of the Church. There was the image of the Church as a rock, something solid and unmoving, something to anchor yourself to. I could see that. Another image was the pilgrim Church; the Church as a people moving towards God. I could accept that idea too. But that means I can see the Church as something unmoving and as something moving all the time. How can the Church be two contradictory things at the same time?

I think that highlights my big problem. I’m thinking of the Church as a human organisation, ordered and logical. Now while that is true it is not the whole story. The Church is also a supernatural organisation with Christ at its head. That makes it a much more difficult proposition. It’s obvious that I’m getting out of my depth so as usual I will need to go out and ask the people who know.

I want to get to understand more about how our Church works. I need to get a better idea of all the different roles in the Church. Not all the people who work for the Church are religious. Many lay people play important parts in making the Church work. I don’t know what they all are but I’m sure I can find out what some of them do. Perhaps you are one of those people the Church relies on. You might have an important role somewhere high up. On the other hand you might be one of those people without whom your parish just couldn’t function. I might be coming your way soon.

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