Given the antiquity of Scotland and the youth of the USA it may come as a surprise to learn that the Catholic Diocese of Philadelphia (1808) predates that of Glasgow by 70 years.
The first public mass in in the ‘city of brotherly love’ was in 1707 while even by the end of the 18th century fewer than twenty Catholics lived in Glasgow.
The outlawing of Catholicism by John Knox’s reformation meant that the faith’s Scottish revival began long after its emergence in America.
Yet Philadelphia’s current Archbishop, Charles Chaput, is looking to Scotland to see what might be coming the way of the US.
His Glasgow counterpart Archbishop Tartaglia is turning the US in the hope of learning from the push back against secularism there how to re-evangelise in Scotland.
Archbishop Tartaglia has generated growing interest with an address to Catholic priests in Philadelphia earlier this summer.
He quoted me to the effect that Catholicism has been weakened by a substitution of belief by social action, with the replacement of rigorous moral thinking by sentimentality, and by a social process of accommodation and ingratiation through which Catholics diminish the differences between their beliefs and practices in the interest of avoiding stigmatization and penalty.
Let me now suggest that something deeper is at work which tells against the possibility of extensive re-evangelisation without a cultural revolution that the Church, and churches more generally, cannot themselves effect.
We live in an age that began in the 18th century with the idea that humankind would do better to set aside notions of sin and need of salvation and trust instead in knowledge and benevolence.
The onwards and upwards movement is seen as a human achievement without need of religion to assist, or retard it; but herein lies its vulnerability. What was historically proposed was in fact a product of Christianity and its vision of humanity as oriented towards completion in company with God. What we have now, however, through the loss of that originating source, is expressive individualism, narcissism and hedonism marked by the relentless pursuit of things and experiences, and the coercive constraint of critics as intolerant.
The beginning of wisdom comes with the recognition of human limitation and the effects of intellectual darkness of self-understanding, emotional disturbance, and weakness and irresolution. Secular humanism has no diagnosis let alone any cure for these. Christianity has identified and emphasised them from the outset, not to condemn but to begin the process of salvation.
There will be no good future for the Catholic and other Christian churches until they recover a spirit of true faith, and the hope that comes from that, and the charity that comes from hope. This calls for two things: clear eyed recognition that contemporary society is post-Christian and post-faith; second acceptance that a recovery of Christianity will have to await the collapse of our current narcissistic and unself-critical culture.
* John Haldane is Professor of Philosophy in St Andrews University, and Newton Rayzor Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Baylor University, Texas.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here