FEATURE
The Church on earth and its essentially militant characteristics A talk given by Bishop Athanasius Schneider to a meeting organised by Voice of the Family in St Mary Moorfields, London on 24 May, 2018
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Bishop Athanasius Schneider at St Mary Moorfields
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hen there is no battle, there is no Christendom. When there is no battle, there is no true Church of God, no true Catholic Church. The dramatic situation of "the whole world [which] is in the power of the evil one" (1 Jn 5:19; cf. 1 Pet 5:8) makes man's life a battle (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 409). The Christian life is indeed a warfare. Saint Paul wrote that "we wrestle" against the powers of darkness. “Our battle is not with flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). The Baltimore Catechism teaches us: “We are called soldiers of Jesus Christ to indicate how we must resist the attacks of our spiritual enemies and secure our victory over them by following and obeying Our Lord. We have good reason never to be ashamed of the Catholic Faith because it is the Old Faith established by Christ and taught by His Apostles; it is the Faith for which countless Holy Martyrs suffered and died; it is the Faith that has brought true civilization, with all its benefits, into the world, and it is the only Faith that can truly reform and preserve public and private morals. We should know the Chief Mysteries of Faith and the duties of a Christian… because as one cannot be a good soldier without knowing the rules of the army to which he belongs and understanding the commands of his leader, so one cannot be a good Christian without knowing the laws of the Church and understanding the commands of Christ. By the expression ‘these evil days’ we mean the present age or century in which we are living, surrounded on all sides by unbelief, false doctrines, bad books, bad example and temptation in every form.” (3 part, lesson 15).
In the time of the Fathers of the Church the Christians were aware to be spiritual soldiers of Christ and to fight for the truth, even at the risk of one’s life. Saint Cyril of Jerusalem told the catechumens: “You are to be enrolled in the army of the Great King” (Catech. 3, 3). The Christian duty to fight against the sin, the errors and the temptations of the world, includes also the fight against the errors inside the Church, i.e. the fight against heresy and ambiguity in doctrine. Saint Ignatius of Loyola is one of the most eloquent teachers of the truth about the Church militant. He writes in his book of the Spiritual Exercises: “Consider the war that Jesus Christ came to bring from Heaven to earth.” People are used to the idea that Our Lord Jesus Christ came to bring peace. Yet St Ignatius with all naturality begins the meditation by saying “Consider that war that Jesus Christ came to bring from Heaven to earth.” A true Catholic spiritual knight of 20th century, Plinio Correia de Oliveira, a Brazilian layman who spent all his life in defending Holy Mother Church from the spiritual attacks and infiltration of the unchristian spirit of revolution, modernism and communism, said: “Every man is born a soldier, although not every soldier will use his arms. Yes, all men are born soldiers because, as the Scripture states, Militia est vita hominis super terram [The life of man upon earth is a warfare] (Job 7:1). Our life is a fight, and this is how we must consider it first and foremost. A man is born a soldier at the first moment he sees the natural light. Then when he is baptized, he receives the light of grace and is born a second time, now to the supernatural life, becoming a soldier in its defence. Further, the Church has a special Sacrament that confirms a man as a
SPRING 2019
