Top church historian Diarmaid MacCulloch sees Catholic schism ahead

[SecularMotion]

Influential church historian Diarmaid MacCulloch said he believes Christianity faces a bright future, but predicted the Roman Catholic Church will undergo a major schism over its moral and social teaching.

"Christianity, the world's largest religion, is rapidly expanding -- by all indications, its future is very bright," said MacCulloch, 60, professor of church history at Oxford University and an Anglican deacon. His latest book, "Silence in Christian History," will be published in the fall by Penguin.

MacCulloch said in an interview that "there are also many conflicts" within Christianity, "and these are particularly serious in the Roman Catholic church, which seems on the verge of a very great split over the Vatican's failure to listen to European Catholics." He predicted that Catholicism faces a division over attempts by popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI to "rewrite the story" of the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council by portraying it as a "minor adjustment" in church governance, rather than as a "radical move to change the way authority is expressed."

"Conflict in religion is inevitable and usually healthy -- a religion without conflict is a religion that will die, and I see no sign of this with Christianity," MacCulloch said. "But the stance of the popes has produced an angry reaction among those who want to see the council continue. No other church in history has ever made all its clergy celibate. It's a peculiarity of the Western Latin church, and it looks increasingly unrealistic."

http://www.religionnews.com/culture/arts-and-media/top-church-historian-sees-catholic-schism-ahead

[cbayer]

1. Somethings got to give here.

The pushback from women at all levels is getting stronger. It's not just European Catholics the PTB need to listen to. Celibacy, birth control, women being denied positions of leadership - it's coming to a head, imo

[dmallind]

2. Once every 1054 years ain't bad I guess

Although presumably this one might be over something a bit more relevant to th real world than filioque.

[benld74]

3. I cannot recall Pope Paul even talking about what is going on now,,,,

ALL of this began on Benedict's watch. HE is the Pope who pulled into the Vatican those from that States with the MOST conservative viewpoints on the religion. Almost the SAME ones who ignored and did nothing on the sexual attacks as well.

[struggle4progress]

4. IIRC there've been a few schisms before

such as the splits between the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox or the Hussites or the See of Utrecht

[Angry Dragon]

5. It would be nice to see the RCC go up in flames

[ButterflyBlood]

6. The church is fading into irrelevance anyway

Let me give an illustration, the church I was baptized at as a baby has just closed. The diocese has to renovate and merge some parishes and just can't support as many as it had before. Meanwhile the church I go to now is having to raise funds for a new building because it's growing so fast.

So it's not just secularization, though that plays a role. But even those not leaving religion aren't staying Catholic. Might I add my church is predominately under age 40. I'm sure there's plenty others raised Catholic there and it continues to grow even as society secularizes.