Why We Should All Be Catholic

by Neely Baugh 

A lot of people wonder why Catholicism is so much more prevalent in Latin America compared to North America. The key reason behind this is that much of South America was colonized during the 16th century, in the early stages of the Reformation, by settlers who believed spreading Catholicism to other lands would help preserve their religious influence. By contrast, North American colonialism began with a desire to escape the already Protestant Church of England and form a new division of Protestantism. The unique influences of these two branches of Christianity permeate the cultures of both continents to this day.

For Catholicism, the Reformation represented what they had worked so long against—division. Even though many acknowledged that the Church was corrupt, they recognized the value of unity among followers of Christ and feared the consequences if the ranks of believers broke apart. Martin Luther himself (the one with all those Theses) did not want to form a new church, simply to reform the unhealthy practices of the Catholic Church at the time. In fact, the word catholic (with a little “c”) simply means universal. The Church was founded to unite all believers in Christ and foster community between them. To this day, Catholic Masses include prayers for the unity between Christians to be restored.

But as the Reformation progressed, we grew farther away from unity. Protestants and Catholics wanted nothing to do with each other, and eventually Protestants separated into even more specific sects. We thought we needed more divisions, more categories, more “don’t you dare confuse us with them.” Separation came to define us.

Now, we can see the deleterious effects of these divisions—people who believe in the same God and His son argue over petty doctrinal differences. What we need to realize now is that no one approaches the Bible thinking, “Okay, how can I distort this as much as possible and draw it away from its true meaning?” We are all just trying to understand God and Jesus and what it means to live in, yet transcend, this world. For Catholics, that involves placing a barrier between them and God, a wall of saints to intercede, because not just any old Joe cannot approach the holy, powerful, and awesome throne of God. For Protestants, it means running around trying to do more stuff that will make us feel holier, because not just any old Joe can approach the holy, powerful, and awesome throne of God. In both cases, we miss the mystery of Christ.  What we need now is what the Catholic faith stands for at its roots—unity. A collaboration of our different methods of understanding that highlights the helpful elements of our traditions and minimizes the shortcomings. We need each other to make sense of it all.

So may the churches of the world return to understanding, conversation, and unity. May I be an instrument of reconciliation between faith traditions, cultures, social classes, and any place where there is a break in our common humanity that needs to be healed. And may we all learn to be a little more catholic.