The Church Cannot be a Democracy

St. Photios the Great

This is something that liberal westerners have serious trouble understanding.

From the First Congregational Church of Rome:

It seems a papal commission reached a result that Pope Paul VI did not desire,

"--so the Pope simply overruled the experts who were qualified on this subject [artificial contraception] . . . . . This is not the only way Vatican methods run parallel with those of Washington. Rome too is now ruled from the margins. Most Catholics hold views different from the Pope’s on many matters."

Er, come again? When the Vatican is being run by the Pope it is being ruled "from the margins"? At the Roman "center," then, would be papal commissions endorsing the majority will?

One wonders how many readers—how many Catholic readers, forsooth--skim over flabbergasting stuff like this and think, "Yeah—right! What makes the Pope think he has the right to run the Church?" Apparently the author expects it.

What is obvious to Orthodox Christians is sadly lost in this liberal, godless culture. The Orthodox Church and, for the most part, the Roman Catholic Church are the preservers of the original faith, having defended it against the many terrible heresies of the first four centuries. We have the witness of the early Saints and Holy Fathers to teach us, and our Priests and Bishops to transmit that teaching to us. The Church teaches us how to live a holy life. Secular liberalism cannot.

God doesn't change. He is what he is, and the way to personal sanctification is what it is, regardless of how a democratically conducted poll would have it.

We learn from our Bishops, our Priests, our monastics, and other holy people how to be holy. How to stengthen our spiritual lives (this has nothing to do with any kind of emotionalism). How to be closer to God.