Almost Catholic Is Not Quite Enough

by Elizabeth Scalia - March 6, 2008

Reprinted with permission.

Almost Catholic: An Appreciation of the History, Practice, and Mystery of Ancient Faith

Jon M. Sweeney, Jossey-Bass, $19.95, 240 pages

Since the second half of the 20th century, the ongoing ecumenical dialogue between Protestants and Catholics has been steadily yielding a strange fruit. Certainly understanding and appreciation between Catholics and their separated brethren has improved and even coalesced – on issues of abortion, euthanasia, and pornography – into shared action. Some Catholics, however, believe (not without reason) that ecumenism largely progressed thanks to Catholics rendering themselves less objectionable to Protestants by minimizing the trappings of Romanism, in order to emphasize our commonalities.

Twenty-first century ecumenism seems to be trending differently. As Catholics have begun to reclaim some of their heritage – taking the statues out of mothballs and even processing through public streets and college campuses with the Blessed Sacrament – some Protestants are exploring and adapting Catholic practices and ideas into their worship. It is no longer unusual to find ashes being distributed 40 days prior to Easter at Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches. St. John's Abbey in Minnesota (and other Benedictine houses) welcomes Protestants into their Oblate program, and recently the Boston Globe reported on Evangelicals who are exploring monastic spirituality, communal living, and the Liturgy of the Hours.

Episcopalian Jon M. Sweeney seems to have been ahead of that curve. His last book, Strange Heaven, explored his deepening attraction to and affection for Mary in a warm and scholarly manner, demonstrating how reverence to the Theotokos enriches the worship and understanding of the Christ.

Now, with Almost Catholic, Sweeney takes Catholic trappings and traditions and runs with them, exhorting his fellow non-Catholics to forget what they think they know about Catholicism and explore the language, spirit, imagination, and practices of the Church. Sweeney takes a clear-eyed view of the strengths and weaknesses of Protestant denominations and suggests that adopting some Catholic practices will not require "conversion."

Like C. S. Lewis, Sweeney is able to appreciate and teach a large-C Catholic understanding while maintaining a small-c catholic identity that is uninterested in fully aligning itself with the church he admires and even seems to accept – in a limited way – as authoritative. Discussing Pope Benedict XVI and his writings, Sweeney warns skeptics, "Any non-Catholic who thinks that this pope is heavy-handed with authority is simply not paying attention."

This, unfortunately, can be disconcerting or confusing to a Catholic reader who reads Sweeney's heartfelt appreciations and thinks, "What's the hesitancy, man, just cross the Tiber!" Almost Catholic, like Strange Heaven, is not really meant for the Catholic reader, but for the open-minded Protestant who has concluded that Catholics are not the idolaters and heathens they had previously seemed.

That does not mean, however, that the book has no appeal for Catholics. On the contrary, Almost Catholic is a nourishing read from the first pages (where his advice to his non-Catholic readers brings perspective) through the brief biographical essays of Sweeney's favorite Catholic thinkers and even into the glossary, which undoubtedly some Catholics will find entertaining and helpful.

Packed with bits of trivia and real scholarship, Sweeney does a very good job of blending his own often wise and prayerful musings with the ideas of Catholic writers and philosophers who have influenced his faith. He quotes generously from Graham Green, G. K. Chesterton, Flannery O' Connor, Evelyn Waugh, and Pascal, among others, selecting such choice morsels as will leave the reader desiring to return to those books – or read them for the first time – themselves.

Some Catholics might take serious issue with some of Sweeney's ideas and his interpretations, though, wondering where the line may be drawn between ecumenical appreciation and abuse. For example, in suggesting that the non-Catholic reader "forget about conversion," he writes:

I believe that the practice, history and mystery of Catholic faith are for everyone. You don't need a special password to come in. There is no secret code. And you don't have to be a Roman to practice spirituality that is Catholic. To be Catholic is a conscious choice, but it is not the same thing as being born into Roman Catholicism, or even converting to it.

Likewise, Sweeney's interpretations may sometimes seem so startling as to send one scurrying off to find the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Some say it is the father's semen that contains the stain of sin; others have said that the mother's womb carries it… . The theory of atonement was said to be necessary not because of actual sin in the lives of people but because of original or inherited sin. If semen or the birth canal passes sin from one human to the next, then it was believed to be blood (Jesus' blood) that would fix it, making it possible to break the cycle.…

That explanation seems to imply that God has a sort of blood lust, seeking the suffering of anyone – even his own Son – to satisfy Divine wrath and justice. Instead, God sets prisoners free.

Sweeney is of course not alone in his timely discomfort with the idea that Catholicism, like Judaism from which it sprang, is a religion of blood-sealed covenant, but a Catholic reader may squirm through one short section titled "The Sensuousness of Jesus." There Sweeney keeps the Catholic reader frowning as he attempts to expose rather large ideas in rather short fashion, and the whole chapter ends up feeling haphazard and disjointed, as though it were slung together from leftover thoughts that had not been fully fleshed out. The reader ends up feeling grateful to move on and get back into discussing the "little books" and knick-knackery that are part-and-parcel of the Catholic culture and imagination, and which so charm and feed the author.

As it is, Almost Heaven, though not a large book, attempts to cover a lot of ground. Sweeney touches on atheism and doubt, and even offers "Eleven Steps to Becoming a Truly Catholic Christian," which perhaps should read "small-c catholic." His thoughts on the spaciousness of Catholic imagination are very provocative, but he sometimes swings and misses, as when he quotes Ignatius of Antioch, "Wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church," and seems oblivious to the Eucharistic reference.

That miss may well illustrate the difference between being appreciative of Catholic spirituality and being "a truly (capital-C) Catholic," but Sweeney has written this book for Protestants; the Catholic who can remember that and not allow convictions to overpower curiosity may find Almost Catholic to be an enjoyable read, as well as a reassurance that the Christian church progresses toward unity in an imperfect but more balanced manner.

Elizabeth Scalia is a columnist and blogger at InsideCatholic.com and a regular contributor to Pajamas Media. She is also a freelance editor and the successful blogger known as The Anchoress.