The Whole World Groans
by Michael Hanby, First Things:
St. Jerome, angry over the protracted Arian crisis and the apparent victory of the “semi-Arians” at the Council of Rimini, expressed his exasperation and amazement in words that have endured across the centuries: “The whole world groaned and marveled to see itself Arian.”
Over the past decade, the West has seen a massive push for so-called LGBT rights and the codification of radical new human archetypes, with ramifications for law, politics, family, technology, and social structure that we have barely begun to contemplate. Meanwhile, the (RC -ed) Church has witnessed the McCarrick revelations, the exposure of widespread, predominantly homosexual abuse, and the allegations by Archbishop Viganò of a homosexual cabal operating at the highest levels of the Roman Curia. We have endured the machinations connected with two controversial Synods on the Family, the promulgation of Amoris Laetitia, two World Meetings of Families and, now, the Synod on Youth. And we have seen the rise of a public-relations juggernaut, buttressed by progressive bishops and a fawning media, aimed at “building bridges” to the LGBT community. Dissenters are intimidated by the toxic charges of “hate” and “homophobia,” coming from inside the Church. One could hardly be blamed for wondering whether future historians and theologians will look back on this period in ecclesial history and say, with an amazement similar to St. Jerome’s: “The whole world groaned and marveled to see itself gay.” Of course, our moment will merit comparison with the great heresies of ages past only if the question of sexuality pertains to fundamental truths and puts the integrity of the faith into question.
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