Like many of my coreligionists I was disappointed with the outcome of the Papal election. I have faith that the Holy Spirit is animating the Body of Christ. All will be well.

My desire for reassurance motivated me to read 2 books. The first is “Faithful Dissenters” by Robert McClory. It’s the story of men and women who loved and changed the Church despite resistance.

He begins with John Courtney Murray who was a persona non grata with the Roman Curia because of his stance on religious liberty. The Catholic Thesis held that the state had an obligation to recognize and give preferential treatment to the Catholic Church. Murray argued that such a doctrine was not valid in today’s world. Human freedom and the supremacy of conscience must be recognized. The Jesuit General on orders from the Holy Office forbade him to write on topics relating to church and state. He had some bad years, but at the third session of Vatican II the Declaration on Religious Liberty was adopted. It echoed the thoughts of John Courtney Murray and would never have come to pass except for his tireless work at the Council.

It took 400 years for the Church to acknowledge that it had erred in the well-known case of Galileo. In 1992 John Paul II explained that the Church no longer believes that Scripture in its “literal sense” can be used to explain the physical world. Galileo’s repression has made the scientific community scornful of the Church even to this day.

John Henry Neuman got into big trouble by insisting that doctrine is not handed down from above in final form but develops over time. The “sense of the faithful” is necessary for the up building and renewal of the Church. The Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity of Vatican II says exactly this.

The French theologian Yves Congar was repressed, exiled, and removed from his teaching post by the Holy Office because of his unrelenting dedication to ecumenism. The Council of Florence in the 15th century declare “All who are outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans but also Jews, heretics, and schismatics cannot partake of eternal life, but are doomed to the eternal fire of hell.” Congar argued that separated Churches contain manifestations of true Christianity and must be respected as holy. He was rehabilitated with the election of John XXIII. He helped in developing the Constitution on the Church, the Laity, Revelation, and the Church in the World at Vatican II.

The case of Thomas Aquinas is a bit murky. His blending of the faith of the Church with the philosophy of Aristotle has withstood the test of time. He was extolled by John Paul II for his enduring originality and emphasizing the harmony which exists between faith and reason. Yet four Popes strictly banned the works of Aristotle during the 13th century. Thomas publicly flaunted these prohibitions and seems to have suffered no consequences. Three years after his death the Bishop of Paris on orders from the Pope excommunicated all who taught Aristotelian propositions. 90 years later a grasp of the works of Aristotle was required for a degree in philosophy at the Catholic University in Paris. It is not clear if the excommunications were revoked.

A number of women dissented with the Holy Office. Hildegard of Bingen never got into trouble, probably because she was a visionary and didn’t claim to know much. Her radical ideas were not transparent. Feminine personifications of God dominate her writings. She had an exuberant sense of the Divine Feminine. Her writings are being studied with great interest today.

Marvelously talented Sor Juana, the Mexican Muse, proclaimed the rights of women in the Church and in society. She insisted that St. Paul’s prohibition against women speaking in Church was meant not just for women but for all incompetents. She directly challenged the Bishop of Pueblo. There has lately been much interest in her literature also.

All these dissenters (and there are many more) never considered leaving the Church. They didn’t see themselves as being disobedient since they were submitting to God. Some of them suffered greatly before being vindicated. Some were never vindicated in their lifetimes. They all made tremendous contributions to the Church they loved.

Charles Curran is a recent dissenter, who in 1989 was forbidden by the Congregation for the Faith from teaching theology at a Catholic University. The study and teaching of theology had been his life’s work. He is highly respected in his field and at the Catholic University where he had taught for many years. His book “Faithful Dissent” was published in 1986. Much of it consists of his correspondence with Cardinal Ratzinger in which he defends his positions and his status as a Catholic theologian. In the first part of the book he explains the function of a theologian as that of an independent scholar who must have the academic freedom to critically study Christian faith and action. When they sometimes criticize official proclamations they are performing one of theology’s tasks. There will always be tension between the Bishop’s pastoral function and the theologian’s scholarly one. Scriptures, tradition, the Magisterium, the sense of the faithful, the liturgy, are interrelated organically. The Church’s ever-growing understanding of the meaning of Christ’s revelation derives from the contributions of them all. Often those who dissent from the Church’s teaching in one generation are preparing the official teaching of the Church in the future. The work and work of Jesus must always be made present and meaningful in the contemporary historical and cultural circumstances.

It has been said that St. Peter could not have passed a test based on a modern third grade catechism. He wouldn’t have known about the three persons of the Blessed Trinity, the two natures of Christ or the seven sacraments. These dogmas were developed by the doctors of the Church, the theologians.

Father Curran suggests that the doctrine of papal infallibility that was proclaimed in the middle of the 19th century was necessary as an explanation of how the Church could have completely changed its teaching on usury and slavery as well as many minor matters. They were never proclaimed infallibly. He asks if the teaching of religious liberty, a truly revolutionary change, became true only when a document proclaiming it was signed at Vatican II.

Father Curran wants to have a role in the Church. For him the Catholic tradition makes sense. It has the presence and gift of the Spirit. It has the resources to arrive at the truth. History gives him hope and optimism for the long run.

If he can be optimistic, so can I.

My ex-husband telephoned me concerning a problem his youngest daughter is encountering at the all-girls Catholic High School she attends in California. As I understand the problem, a particular teacher was fired at this Catholic High School because it was discovered that she had worked for Planned Parenthood during her summer off from school. The way my ex-husband tells it, this teacher was exceptionally talented and popular. Also as my ex-husband tells it, the Bishop informed the school’s administration that they must fire the teacher or the school would be shut down. So, of course, the school fired the teacher, but many students and I guess supportive parents of these students and other adults, object to the firing of this particular teacher due to her exceptional talent and popularity with students and parents. My ex-husband informs me that his daughter and her fellow students were considering wearing black tape around their arms to protest the firing and that his daughter’s step-father suggested the wearing of black tape over their mouths in protest of this teacher’s firing. My ex-husband asked me to offer suggestions to his daughter concerning how to handle her and her fellow students’ discontent concerning their loss of this popular, effective teacher.

Of course, I told him I would consult with those I consider much wiser than myself, as this is a sticky situation involving a Church doctrine that condemns anything having to do with the use of birth control or abortion on the one hand, and innocent students’ loss of a popular and effective teacher on the other hand. I had nothing, I told him, to offer concerning a means by which a compromise and potential settlement between the parties could be reached, as it seemed to me to be unlikely that negotiation between the parties would ever take place in light of the Church’s doctrine and the Bishop’s firm stand on the situation! So, what would you suggest to this young lady, her fellow students and the parents and others who object to the firing of this teacher?

Scriptures leave no doubt that a social mission is constitutive of the nature of the Church. This is evident in the Old Testament, but more especially in the New Testament where it is an important part of the Gospels. There are, however, limitations to the social mission. It is only one part of what the Church does.

Messages are all around us, visible in various places if only we look more deeply into our lives for hallmarks of peace and reconciliation. These last weeks, my search has been intentional to find and participate in expressions of peace. My journey was triple in shape and carried me to three very different places, three unique gatherings.