In a recent BBC interview, Anthony Fauci reflects on his own “complicated” relationship with the Catholic Church. Fauci and the reporter are strolling the corridors of his new place of work, the Jesuit-run Georgetown University—where his wife studied, the two married, and their children were born.
Passing the chapel where they tied the knot, the reporter admires its beauty. Fauci agrees: “Yeah. It’s really nice.” Does he still go there? “No.” Does he practice the faith? Again, an immediate no. Why not, she wonders? He answers,
A number of complicated reasons. . . . First of all, I think my own personal ethics in life are I think enough to keep me going on the right path. And I think that there are enough negative aspects about the organizational Church, that you are very well aware of. I’m not against it. I identify myself as a Catholic. I was raised, I was baptized, I was confirmed, I was married in the Church. My children were baptized in the Church. But as far as practicing it, it seems almost like a pro forma thing that I don’t really need to do.
Fauci is divisive as a public health figure—and his merits in this area are not my concern here—but many, indeed most, baptized Catholics would find this to be a respectable take on religion. Almost half of those raised Catholic leave the Church and never return; yet many in that group are “cultural Catholics” who still identify as Catholic in some way, or “ex-Catholics” who still touch base with the institutional Church on occasion.
And of all those who identify as Catholic—including those who came back, or never left—sizable majorities disagree with or are doubtful of the Church’s moral or theological teachings. Fauci is just one voice in a veritable sea of souls who understand what it means to be Catholic in a similar way.
The problem with this worldview—one evident even to an impartial observer with no skin in the game—is not so much, as practicing Catholics often claim, that such Catholics cannot really be called or counted as “Catholic” in some fundamental sense. There is truth to the old saying: “Once a Catholic, always a Catholic.” In fact, the Code of Canon Law treats all baptized Catholics above the age of reason as bound by the Church’s ecclesiastical laws—that is, as Catholic. The Church remains, as ever, a patient mother, waiting with open arms to welcome her children back home.
No, the problem is that such Catholics, to borrow from Kierkegaard, fail to “become what they are.” They live in a state of what the existentialists called inauthenticity: play-acting as what they are not. This charade runs in both directions: they are Catholic, yet reduce religion to personal ethics and deny any need of the institutional Church; they become worldly, yet keep the Church at their disposal for academic degrees, special occasions, or times of crisis.
They are neither believers nor unbelievers, but passengers; neither wayward prodigal sons in a far country nor loyal elder brothers at home, but aimless middle brothers who come and go as they please. Churches are nice, they admit, but not that nice; they are not against attending them, they aver, but are too busy to do it themselves. They are, in fact, the true pro forma Catholics—too tepid to inhabit their own tradition but also too timid to leave it behind. They want to have their cake but still eat it.
From a spiritual vantage point, this lukewarm Catholicism is not only incoherent but also gravely dangerous. The message of Christ to the church in Laodicea in the book of Revelation stands as a perpetual word of warning to whoever falls into this trap: “
I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. (Rev. 3:15–18)
Reflecting on this passage, the sixth-century commentator Oecumenius associates the “hot” with those who are baptized and “fervent in the Spirit,” the “cold” with the unbaptized lacking the Spirit’s grace, and the lukewarm with those who “received the communion of the Holy Spirit” in Baptism but “quenched that grace through sloth and attention to temporal matters.” If Oecumenius is right, then being a lukewarm Catholic is even worse than being outside of the Church entirely. The cold at least still have the hope of being drunk by God unto eternal life; the former are “moribund and moving toward death.”
On Christmas and Easter, pews in churches across America are suddenly packed to the gills with Faucis and their families. The Christian response to their sudden appearance there—or at a Baptism, marriage, or funeral—is not the bitterness and resentment of the elder brother, but the loving embrace and warm welcome of the prodigal’s father. It would be a mistake to squander these encounters, so packed with the potential of reversion—or at least of pre-reversion—by turning one’s back and assuming the worst.
But it would also be a mistake to remain silent in the face of the rising tide of those who, like Fauci, have settled comfortably into the space between the distant country and Rome sweet home. Why do they claim the Catholic mantle but not put it on? Why do they throw it off only to show up again? Why these alternating charades?
The Christian also has a duty to speak the truth in love, and the truth is that such sons and daughters of the Church face a danger even greater than that faced by the starving prodigal of Jesus’ parable: the presumption of never having to return home when one is not really living there at all.
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The problem is that people like Fauci have a legitimate argument for their views of the Catholic Church.
And what would that be?
“Father” Rupnik (and his artwork)
Same-sex nativity scene in a parish in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Capocastello di Mercogliano outside Naples, Italy.
Fudiica Supplicans
Bishop McCarrick
Enforcing vaccine mandates on religious and staff, and in some cases on the laity
Parish closures during 2020 (or at least failure to resist)
BLM and LGBTQ-XYZ flags flown on the school flagpoles of various Catholic Schools
A good number of Catholic Universities
Failure to admonish pro-abortion Catholic politicians
Pachamama
I’m not fan of Fauci, but let’s not pretend in any way that the problems in the Church aren’t a real stumbling block for many, many people.
I totally agree. I can think of many more examples, too. I love the Church, but there are many problems with people like Fauci and McCarrick and McElroy….
They don’t. They think they do because they avoid grasping the most fundamental corollary to the essentials of faith, that it is destroyed by the original sin of vanity. We do not create any truth at all. God is the source of all truth. Even in scientific discovery, we only discover physical properties, and we only discover what God already knows and has always known. Science says nothing about value judgments, yet God provides all that we need to know about how we ought to order our lives together. Only our vanities lie to us. I went from atheism to faith as a scientist when examining the order of structure in the physical universe. I knew faith is a gift given to me that I did not earn, so I pray for wayward Catholics.
Not really.
Christ teachings promise eternal life. To preserve our soul, we must not “lean on our own understanding“ follow Christ teachings, which are flawless and without error. Because Christchurch and his teachings are often corrupted by shepherds, we must pray for those misrepresenting. Christ gave his life for our salvation.
The problems with Fauci are:
1. He thinks he’s God.
2. He was educated by Jesuits.
3. He’s not a physician who’s spent much time treating actual patients.
I think it was The Catholic Thing that recently carried an article saying that Fauci’s position isn’t one bit complicated – it’s apostasy.
Getreligion also has an article on the tricky position of those who have abandoned Christianity but still want to “celebrate” “Christmas”.
From Validating the Catholic Thing:
Rev. Jerry J. Pokorsky
Monday, December 11, 2023
Excerpt:
Just for fun, let’s imagine this scenario: Archeologists recently uncovered a scroll from the desert sands that reported an apostasy from the Jewish faith during the time of Christ. In an imaginary interview with the Talmudic Globe, Simon Bar Levi, a prominent doctor from the elegant suburbs of Caesarea, reveals that he no longer practices the Jewish faith. Although he was circumcised and had all (well, most of) his children circumcised, he said he no longer attends the Sabbath worship of local synagogues.
His objections to Jewish “organized religion,” he explains, “are known to everyone.” He said the Pharisees are hypocrites because “they do not practice what they preach.” He adds, “They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long and have become the center of attention in the synagogues.”
“You cannot be my disciple unless you abide in My Word.” Jesus The Christ.
Apostasy is what Apostasy does; one cannot remain in communion with Christ and deny The Word Of God Is The Word Of God, creating a god in one’s own image.
There Is Only One Word Of God Incarnate.
An autonomous Catholic is an oxymoron.
Lukewarm? Rather cold as ice. Eight years of Jesuit education, and now a lucrative lecturer at Georgetown.
That’s the picture.
Fauci always “follows the science”, as he has often told us, but I think he is very inclined to follow himself. He has a lot of company in that. He is very self-assured so what could he need the Church for?
When people talk about following the science a lot of it appears to be political science.
It is difficult to see how Fauci’s “I think my own personal ethics in life are I think enough to keep me going on the right path” differs from the view of Adam and Eve right before the eating of the forbidden fruit.
Charles, really… a bit FRUITY!
Comparing Dr. Fauci to the A n E fictious story is ludicrous. I believe that an all knowing and omnicient God would ever condemn his entire human creation with “original sin” when he knows that the vast majority of civilizations would never see a baptismal font.
Believe it or not, the scriptures are truly the inspired Word of God. Do you call yourself a Catholic? You may consider Charles’ idea a bit fruity, but I’m willing to bet that your fruit overflows with nuts.
You may want to pay these resources more than a bit of a visit: CCC, Leo XIII’s Providentissimus Deus, Pius XII’s Divino Afflante Spiritu, Benedict XVI’s Verbum Domini, and VCII’s Dei Verbum (11).
If mankind does not suffer original sin, how do you account for the problems in the world?
Excerpt: If mankind does not suffer original sin, how do you account for the problems in the world? “all Mankind”? You may be wrong. Read…
INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL COMMISSION…
THE “HOPE” OF SALVATION FOR INFANTS
WHO DIE WITHOUT BEING BAPTISED…
“It is clear that the traditional teaching on this topic has concentrated on the theory of limbo, understood as a state which includes the souls of infants who die subject to original sin and without baptism, It remains therefore a possible theological hypothesis. there are reasons to “HOPE” that God will save these infants.”
From a non-fruty Catholic.
…for Heaven’s sake. Silly Old Church Theology. Shameful.
Think of Our Loving God, “What would He do?”
Would you cast out your own child? No Never.
Why would you think our Creator would do differently?
Our God of Love, who desires all of us to be with Him in Heaven / on our appointed day; holds my own unborn child who died in his mother’s womb 45 years ago. My unborn baby son is indeed in Heaven. My son will be my Heavenly Greeter. What a Beautiful and Absolute Joyful day that will be!
Like many in his profession, Fauci has shown over the years that he is much more interested in expanding his wealth, prestige, and power, than treating the sick. Fauci began to show his true colors all the way back in 1987 when he crushed the researcher Peter Duesberg for daring to challenge Fauci on the AIDS theory of the time. Read RFKennedy’s book, The Real Anthony Fauci.
Charles E. Flynn above – Thanks for giving the reference for the article in The Catholic Thing. Dec. 11. I couldn’t find it.
Gilberta,
You are welcome.
I recalled having read the article recently at The Catholic Thing, and I was able to find the URL in my email, because I sent the article to my pastor.
Fauci has no need for the Church…hmmmm…… well….. that’s the best argument to take the Church seriously I have heard in a long time. I bet Fauci and McCarrick and a large handful of bishops/cardinals would enjoy very much playing bridge with one another.
Respectfully, “lukewarm” Catholicism is an oxymoron. There are lukewarm persons, who have been Baptized Catholic, who, because they no longer abide in The Word Of God Incarnate, have ipso facto separated themselves from The One Body Of Christ, just as there are couples, who individually have been Baptized Catholic, but whose relationship, can never be reconciled to Christ, for whom, because they continue to identify as being part of a relationship that can never be reconciled with Christ, a “Blessing”, would, in essence, be a curse, due to a denial of The Charitable Anathema, which has always served for the sake of Christ, His One, Holy, Catholic, And Apostolic Church, all who will come to believe, and the multitude of prodigal sons and daughters, who, hopefully, will soon return to The One Body Of Christ, outside of which, there is no Salvation, due to The Unity Of The Holy Ghost (Filioque).
Commenters pretty much size up Dr Fauci. A boy from Brooklyn like me, although drawn to academia much earlier in life likely, attracted by soft college style humanism compared to hardtack Brooklyn ethics.
Heard him in an interview describe himself as a humanist. Humanism as he described it meant accepting perceived realities as immanent to human nature, unlike Christian dogmas that tend to make pursuit of our dreams more difficult. Especially influential in academia, for Fauci medicine is critical scientific thinking which eventually overlaps everything, every evaluation. The dynamics of secular humanism adopted by many nominal Catholics including the lower level educated are very similar except for the venue within which it’s acquired. Experience as a priest has convinced me that a radical life or death challenge presentation of Christian truth is what draws nominals out of their secularist cocoons.
Your comments Father made me think about the ways professional people raised in an orthodox faith, or at least an observant family, assimilate into the secular culture. Whether by choice or by pressure .
Yes mrscracker. And the few Catholic professionals who remain faithful practicing Catholics are like welcoming lights in the darkness.
Mrs. Hess above – I don’t think these are the problems in the Church that Fauci is referring to (with the exception of clerical abuse, probably).
Undoubtedly, the only thing he truly cares about is the clergy abuse issue.
.
But other folks do care about the other items.
Mrs Hess – I’d say it’s committed Catholics who care about the issues you’ve listed. Lukewarm Catholics generally don’t care or are actually on board with them (with the exception of clerical abuse).
I was not just referring to Catholics. There are non-Catholics out there that do care about those things. And they are very put off by them, so they find non-Catholic worship communities to attend. They have no interest in converting to the One True Faith. In fact, some are proud ex-Catholcs or “recovering” Catholics.
I thought the discussion was about lukewarm Catholics.
Saint Fauci saved my wife’s life. Long before dawn one Sunday morning, he answered my random email – a question from someone he had never met – and he provided the information that saved the mother of five children. HE will always be OUR savior. If the great Dr. Fauci had been asleep or in mass, my wife would be dead now. We are eternally grateful to Dr. Tony Fauci.
A well written and researched and in-depth article on Dr. Anthony Fauci’s Lukewarm Catholicism. I would ask how lukewarm? If he is “guilty”, is his soul destined for Hell? How can he repent before he dies? We are observing a scientific giant with 4 decades of dedication to life.
US National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Francis Collins, who has worked closely with Fauci over the years. “His contributions have saved countless lives from HIV/AIDS, Ebola and SARS-CoV-2, and will stand as profoundly significant gifts to humanity.”
I remember when Dr. Fauci along with Dr. Blix headed the Trump effort with the COVID-19 pandemic. My only issue with him and Dr. Blix is when they watched at a press conference where Trump said “Just take household cleaners and COVID will go away”. They remained silent.
Comment here trashing Dr. Fauci “he thinks he is God. He is not a physician”? Evidence? “He did not point to the Jewish faith. He said “There are precious few religions that actually say, you cannot” get vaccinated.
I just hope our efforts to return the now retired Dr. Fauci to the full faith and not further alienate him, nor his Catholic family.
“and his merits in this area are not my concern here”
In mu line of work, accountancy, we would call them “immaterial, that is insufficient in nature of quantity to affect the overall evaluation of the entity’s overall condition.
A person either takes the Faith seriously or he doesn’t – it’s really that simple. If you do take it seriously, and practice it seriously, and let it be part of your life and let it HELP you, you will be infinitely richer for having done so. On the other hand if you don’t – you don’t.
I speak from experience – I was away from the faith for about 20 years when I was a young man and my sister spent a large amount of time praying for me, as well as many others who didn’t know me were praying for me at her request, and I’m back and the older I get (don’t ask!) the more Catholic I get.
Please pray for my grand-nephew Spencer Ross and his wife Meghan and their 2 sons Damon and Declan.
Katherine Bennett over on Catholic Herald reminds us that Dante has the lukewarm stuck in the lobby of hell – not even hell wants them!
(Profile of Brenden Thompson, new UK director of Word on Fire).