"It's very difficult to determine whether this is the fault of the world that has abandoned the Church, or the Church that does not know how to relate to the world"
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The line lands like a quiet indictment that refuses to pick a convenient villain. Scola frames secularization not as a morality play with clear heroes and deserters, but as a crisis of relationship: the world and the Church have drifted into mutual incomprehension, and assigning blame too quickly becomes its own form of denial. The phrasing matters. By saying its "very difficult to determine", he signals that the usual Catholic reflexes - either lamenting a decadent culture or scolding a timid institution - are inadequate to what is actually happening.
The subtext is pastoral and political at once. Pastoral, because "relate to the world" is less about capitulation than translation: can the Church speak in a language that sounds like good news rather than an internal memo? Political, because it subtly interrogates the post-Vatican II tension between doctrinal clarity and cultural engagement. The Church can claim continuity, but if its presence in modern life reads as defensive, nostalgic, or managerial, it forfeits the ability to persuade. Meanwhile, a "world" that has "abandoned" the Church is not neutral; it carries an implied critique of a public sphere that treats faith as either private hobby or public nuisance.
Contextually, this sits in European Catholicism's long hangover from rapid secular change: thinning parishes, scandals, a loss of moral authority, and a rising suspicion of institutions. Scola's intent is to force a harder question than "Who left whom?" - what kind of Church could remain itself while actually being intelligible, credible, and present inside contemporary life.
The subtext is pastoral and political at once. Pastoral, because "relate to the world" is less about capitulation than translation: can the Church speak in a language that sounds like good news rather than an internal memo? Political, because it subtly interrogates the post-Vatican II tension between doctrinal clarity and cultural engagement. The Church can claim continuity, but if its presence in modern life reads as defensive, nostalgic, or managerial, it forfeits the ability to persuade. Meanwhile, a "world" that has "abandoned" the Church is not neutral; it carries an implied critique of a public sphere that treats faith as either private hobby or public nuisance.
Contextually, this sits in European Catholicism's long hangover from rapid secular change: thinning parishes, scandals, a loss of moral authority, and a rising suspicion of institutions. Scola's intent is to force a harder question than "Who left whom?" - what kind of Church could remain itself while actually being intelligible, credible, and present inside contemporary life.
Quote Details
| Topic | Faith |
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