True Renewal: Why is it So Hard to Grasp? by Dr. Jeff Mirus

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture, Aug 29, 2023

The problem of authentic Catholic renewal is very much in the air leading up to the Synod on Synodality. Indeed, the preparations for the Synod itself often highlight the problem by giving worldly participants an opportunity to advocate changes that undermine authentic Catholic renewal. Of course, in Church affairs there is often significant good behind the scenes which seems far too boring to report. But one thing has become clear through this synodal process: There is a great deal of confusion about what it means to renew the Catholic Church.

Probably for this reason, the better publishing houses are trying to promote new books that get renewal right despite the more popular theorizing and reporting that gets it wrong. Indeed, when all is said and done there have been throughout history only two kinds of “renewal” in the Church. On the one hand, we have the effort to increase the Church’s power and influence by aligning Catholic teaching and Catholic advocacy with the goals and aspirations of the surrounding non-Catholic or even anti-Catholic culture. On the other hand, we have the effort to refocus on the fundamental identity of the Church as the Body and Bride of Jesus Christ so that she can, again in her members, bear a sacrificial yet also evangelical witness to the world. …

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