Why the Church is Two Centuries Behind

George Weigel, in his inimitably ignorant fashion, is bloviating about the latest synod and its discontents. Specifically, he deplores the invocation of Cardinal Martini (d. 1999). The problem, of course, lies precisely in the fact that Martini, might have been theologically insane in some areas, but he was also sometimes correct. Two of the points the First Things article decries are precisely the two points Martini got right: the Church is two centuries behind the times, and it is in need of another ecumenical council. 

The Catholic Church was wildly successful in a subsistence-level society. In such a society, everyone was poor. The corporal acts of mercy were used as an evangelization tool to bring everyone into the Church.

But in a surplus-goods society, especially a first-world society like the US, virtually no one is poor in the 1800's senses of the word. No one starves to death, no one dies of smallpox, anesthetics means pain and suffering is minimal even when major surgery or death approaches. No one can identify with the Cross in a way that EVERYONE could in 1800.

Now, we suffer from diseases of wealth, like addiction, alphabet people, and abortion. Try this: find an addiction treatment center for lay people in the US that has daily Catholic Mass or even a weekly priest visit. Good luck. There is only one such retreat center in the entire nation, and it is run by a married lesbian.

While the bishops natter on about the problem of poverty in a country that has essentially no poverty, millions suffer from diseases of the wealthy. The Church completely ignores them, because it has no objective bullet point in any of its works of mercy for them. The Church teaches celibacy as objectively superior to marriage, and wonders why the TFR is dropping even among Catholic populations.

In 1800, everyone lived in extreme poverty. Today, according to the latest poverty statistics, approximately 9.2% of the global population, or about 700 million people, live in extreme poverty. Extreme poverty is defined as living on less than $1.90 per day. The Church is still trying to sell a subsistence-level response to a world that is 90% wealthy people. It doesn't understand its own market.

Martini was also correct about the timing of the next ecumenical council. If you bother to look at the intervals between councils, the geometric mean between councils is 60 years. That puts 2025 smack dab at the geometric mean: 60 years since the last council.