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An American archbishop has warned against what he called the “balkanisation” of United States’ Catholics.
Indianapolis Archbishop Joseph Tobin is worried the divisive nature of the nation’s politics may be seeping into the US Catholic Church.
At a theological convention on May 30, he expressed concern about the separation of people into ideological camps.
Archbishop Tobin also warned against a trend in the US church to “oversimplify what are really complicated questions in the hope of discovering who to blame”.
“At the present moment, this behaviour helps to contribute to the balkanisation of American Catholics into so-called right wing and left wing, or progressive and traditionalist, factions, who point fingers at each other,” he said.
“In my opinion, finger pointing does a great harm to religious life because it makes us defensive,” Archbishop Tobin continued.
Under such finger pointing, he said, “we feel constantly compelled to defend ourselves against other parties in the Church”.
“Such self protection will make us less likely to humbly examine the distance between our ideals and the present moment, which is the point of departure for a life of continuing conversion,” the archbishop added.
From 2010 to 2012, Archbishop Tobin, was secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
At the US convention, he gave a frank assessment of the struggles facing the American Church.
He said some US bishops are finding Pope Francis’s leadership style difficult to understand.
“What I’ve seen is how disruptive Pope Francis has been within the hierarchy of the United States,” Archbishop Tobin said.
“I was talking to a couple of brother bishops a while back and they were saying that bishops and priests were very discouraged by Pope Francis because he was challenging them.”
“I think there was a particular image, perhaps, of what it means to be a pastoral leader in this country, and Francis is disturbing it,” he continued.
“I think there is some resistance to a different way of doing the Gospel mission of the Church.”
The archbishop, a former superior general of the Redemptorists, paused before continuing with a smile: “So, pray for Francis’s health.”
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