The American Climate by John J. O'Brien, C.P.

The Church performs its task of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ and witnessing God's liberating works in an American culture and climate. Father Anthony J. Gittens speaks about the four issues that make up the contemporary American climate: (1) the split between the Gospel and culture, (2) the vulnerability of the church, (3) divisiveness in the church, and (4) institutional arrogance.

(1) The Split between the Gospel and Culture. Pope Paul VI called the split between the gospel and the culture "the drama of our time." The gospel inspires Christians to live out the good news of Jesus Christ. The culture refers to the tastes and the smells, the behaviors and the bonds that people experience in their ethnic and family stories. The gospel is offered to a people to make theirs. Each ethnic group has its own characteristics such as language, food, dress, worship, and bonding with a particular topography. It is hard work to learn a new culture,, to respect differences, to develop a give-and-take among people of varied and different backgrounds. Some parishes work at connecting people of one culture with people of another. Others simply live side-by-side, politely tolerating one another and providing dual services. Gittens says. "To pay lip service to separate development rather than to work for intercultural communication and common worship is to practice a veiled form of Christian apartheid: it is sinful."

(2) The Vulnerability of the Church. The dominant religion in America is no longer Christianity. In the 1950s Will Herberg could talk about Catholics-Protestants-Jews. In the 1980s Robert Bellah added secularism, self-improvement (for the sharing impaired), and an eclectic, pick-and-choose brand of religion. In the 2000s Diana Eck includes Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. We are religiously plural. Father Anthony J. Gittens writes, "No longer can the church persuade people that it is the only way to salvation. No longer is salvation itself as highly prized as it once was...If the church wishes to convince in the future, it will be through service, dedication and vulnerability rather than censoriousness, dictate, and invincibility."

(3) Divisiveness in the American Church. Polarization is visible in the church between the theologians and bishops, clergy and laity. Gittens says, "The church in the United States is potentially creative, strong, and faith-filled, but its members are neither sheep to be meekly led, nor idiots to be disregarded...Christian charity requires that all members of the church commit themselves to unity in diversity, to loyalty to Jesus and lawful authority, and to mutual respect and collaboration."

(4) Institutional Arrogance: The master is to serve, the first will be last, and the least will be first in the Kingdom of God. We must "trade" bombast for a little diffidence, and assertion for an occasional apology. The credibility of the church is not served by posturing or denial in the face of unethical or unjust practices...Christian charity is extended to all without distinction of race, social condition, or religion, and seeks neither gain not gratitude." Humility, respect, and compassion enable the local church to move from scandal to prophetic witness.