evangelicals & catholics
Eating God? A glimpse of Roman Catholicism
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Aug 2022
At first glance, it seems like a cannibalistic gesture, even if it is addressed to God and not to a human being. Yet it is the quintessence of Roman Catholicism.
We are talking about ‘eating God,’ an act that is at the heart of the Roman Catholic understanding of the Eucharist. Can Roman Catholicism really be thought of as the religion of ‘eating God’? Exploring it is Matteo Al-Kalak, Professor of Modern History at the University of Modena-Reggio, in his latest book, Mangiare Dio. Una storia dell’eucarestia (Eating God. A History of the Eucharist).
evangelicals & catholics
The liquid Pope?
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Jun 2022
Since the sociologist Zygmunt Bauman coined the expression Liquid Modernity (2000), the adjective ‘liquid’ has been applied to almost all phenomena, e.g. liquid society, liquid family, liquid love, etc.
In our world, liquidity seems to describe well the vacillating, uncertain, fluid and volatile feature of contemporary life. To the already wide range of associations, liquidity has been added as a descriptor for a specific religious tradition, i.e. liquid Roman Catholicism. George Weigel, a conservative American intellectual, talks about it in a worried tone in his article ‘Liquid Catholicism and the German Synodal Path’ (First Things, 16 February 2022).
evangelicals & catholics
Puzzling over the Pope
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Apr 2022
Among the many puzzling things introduced by Pope Francis, his teaching (magisterium) is perhaps the level that was most impacted by the Argentinian Pontiff.
Many Roman Catholics (and also many non-Catholic observers), accustomed to associating the papal magisterium with an authoritative, coherent and stable form of doctrinal teaching, are perplexed if not dismayed by a Pope who seems both to say and not say, to argue for something and to undermine it, to state one position and then contradict it the next breath.
evangelicals & catholics
A Roman stop after a Catholic push
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Oct 2022
Roman Catholicism can seem to be a pairing of contradictions. It is both Catholic (inclusive, welcoming, absorbing) and yet at the same time it is Roman (centralised, hierarchical, institutional).
The former characteristic gives it its fluidity, the latter its rigidity. Certainly there are historical phases in which the Catholic prevailed over the Roman and there are different combinations in the way the two qualities are intertwined with each other.
Event asks: is Roman Catholicism a legitimate form of the gospel?
Jim Sayers
Date posted: 24 Jul 2024
'Is Roman Catholicism a legitimate form of the gospel with strange elements added, or is it something which makes contact with the gospel but is not authentic? Are we in Philippians 1 or Galatians 1 territory?'
This was the question Leonardo De Chirico explored in a Saturday morning event recently organised by the Grace Baptist Association. Over fifty leaders and trainees heard Leonardo’s fascinating analysis. Leonardo writes regularly for Evangelicals Now, and pastors Chiesa Breccia di Roma in the heart of Rome.
Rome church faces shock new battle
Iain Taylor
Date posted: 17 Jul 2024
One of Rome’s leading Protestant churches, the Breccia di Roma, is set to take the Italian tax authorities to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) following an unexpected defeat in the Italian Supreme Court.
After Breccia di Roma bought its building in the heart of the capital city it applied to be classed a religious building, which would have exempted it from taxation. But the Tax Agency challenged that ruling, on the grounds that the building lacked the ‘intrinsic features’ of religious buildings, such as altars, images, and statues – clearly based on Roman Catholic conceptions of religious space. The church’s explanation that, as Protestants, the buildings contain no altars because it worships God in spirit and truth, fell on deaf ears. Although two lower courts found in the church’s favour, as they recognised the right of faith communities to design their own spaces according to their own principles, the Supreme Court disagreed.
evangelicals & catholics
Rome sweet Rome? The shock awaiting Nazir-Ali
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Feb 2022
I am not English, nor Anglican, but the story of the conversion of the former Anglican bishop Michael Nazir-Ali to Catholicism struck me.
Bishop Nazir-Ali’s concerns over the trajectory taken by the Anglican Church on some key doctrinal and moral issues made him look at Rome as a much safer place to identify with. Rome’s image was perceived as being a traditional, stable, authoritative institution with an aura of doctrinal and moral integrity. The question is whether Bishop Nazir-Ali is aware of the evolutions of Roman Catholicism under the papacy of Francis, which are the result of trends stemming from Vatican II.
evangelicals & catholics
Catholicism burning?
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Dec 2021
The fire at Notre-Dame cathedral (see photo) in Paris on 15 April, 2019 is a symbol of the church that burns in secularised Europe and, more generally, in the globalised world.
Andrea Riccardi’s book, La Chiesa brucia: Crisi e futuro del cristianesimo (The Church Burns: Crisis and Future of Christianity) (Bari-Rome: Laterza, 2021) starts with the evocative image of the burning Notre-Dame. Riccardi is well-placed to bring forth his analysis, being professor of Contemporary History at the University of Rome III and a biographer of John Paul II. His is an insider’s and scholarly voice on the inner dynamics of Roman Catholicism.
evangelicals & catholics
Who will be the next Pope?
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Oct 2021
There is a general perception that Pope Francis’s pontificate has entered an irreversibly declining phase.
It is not just a question of age: yes, Pope Francis is elderly and in poor health. But aging aside, the pontificate finds itself navigating a descending parabola. It started with the language of ‘mission’ and ‘reform’. Francis’ reign, now nearly ten years old, was immediately engulfed in difficulties, particularly within the Catholic Church.
evangelicals & catholics
No laughing matter
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Aug 2021
On the occasion of the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), Pope Francis wrote an Apostolic Letter to celebrate Dante as a ‘prophet of hope and poet of mercy’.
The magnitude of Dante’s significance for Western civilisation is extensive. Here the focus will be to sample Dante’s relationship with the Bible in The Divine Comedy, his most-known work.
evangelicals & catholics
Are we all ‘Children of Abraham’?
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Jun 2021
Whenever we talk about lands tormented by decades of wars and violence, sometimes perpetrated in the name of religions, we must do so with sobriety.
This is to say that commenting on Pope Francis’ recent trip to Iraq (5-8 March 2021) can become a pretext for easy criticism if one does not try to enter the complexity of the situation. Therefore, it must be acknowledged that the Roman pope’s call to religious freedom, his appeal to respect for minorities, and his invitation to national conciliation were commendable.
letter from Italy
Right-wing renaissance?
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Nov 2022
The victory of a nationalist coalition headed by Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s first female Prime Minister, chimes with concerns also visible elsewhere in Europe, such as Hungary, Poland and Sweden.
The global crisis, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, increased energy prices and migrations arouse anxieties that the right seem better able to interpret.
evangelicals & catholics
Pope Francis, United Nations Chaplain?
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Apr 2021
In observing the recent global activities of Pope Francis, the Argentinian philosopher Rubén Peretó Rivas asked whether Pope Francis aims at becoming the ‘Chaplain of the United Nations’.
His 2020 ‘universal’ initiatives indeed look like those of the United Nations in language, scope and content. While the encyclical ‘All Brothers’ reiterated the Roman Catholic universalism two (en, December 2020), other projects deserve to be mentioned in this respect.
Italy: Evangelicals in Supreme Court tax battle after being told their building isn’t ‘churchy’ enough
An Italian evangelical fellowship is facing a potential tax penalty – because the building in which it meets does not look ‘religious’ enough.
Breccia di Roma lacks the usual Roman Catholic paraphernalia, and now faces a Supreme Court battle. Leonardo de Chirico reports:
evangelicals & catholics
The ongoing scandal of indulgences today
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Feb 2021
Indulgences make us think of the time of the Reformation. Some may think of indulgences as a matter of the past, relating to the days of Martin Luther, and not be aware that the Roman Catholic Church has been offering them since, and is still offering them today.
In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence is ‘a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins’ according to Catholic author, Edward Peters.
evangelicals & catholics
Roman Catholic universalism?
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Dec 2020
It has been rightly called the ‘political manifesto’ of Pope Francis’ pontificate.
In fact, there is a lot of politics and a lot of sociology in the new encyclical All Brothers, a very long document (130 pages) that looks more like a book than a letter. Francis wants to plead the cause of universal fraternity and social friendship. To do this, he speaks of borders to be broken down, of waste to be avoided, of human rights that are not sufficiently universal, of unjust globalisation, of burdensome pandemics, of migrants to be welcomed, of open societies, of solidarity, of peoples’ rights, of local and global exchanges, of the limits of the liberal political vision, of world governance, of political love, of the recognition of the other, of the injustice of any war, of the abolition of the death penalty. These are all interesting ‘political’ themes which, were it not for some comments on the parable of the Good Samaritan that intersperse the chapters, could have been written by a group of sociologists and humanitarian workers from some international organisation, perhaps after reading, for example, Edgar Morin and Zygmunt Bauman.
evangelicals & catholics
Packer’s papal mistake?
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Oct 2020
The global church owes a debt of gratitude to James I. Packer (1926–2020). During the second half of the 20th century he has embodied Evangelical theology at its best, especially on issues like the authority of Scripture, penal substitutionary atonement, and the interplay between theology and spirituality. This is to say that, if I dare critique one minor – albeit significant – instance of his theological involvement, I do so out of immense respect.
It is no secret that in Packer’s theological biography his involvement with the ‘Evangelicals and Catholics Together’ (ECT) initiative has puzzled many of his admirers. How such a solid theologian could be prone to sign theologically-blurred documents and encourage confusing ecumenical activities has been a standing question in many people’s minds.
ten questions: Leonardo de Chirico
1. How did you become a Christian?
The gospel came to our family through a Swiss missionary couple who were going door-to-door as part of a church plant. My parents were converted; my older brother and I took some years to respond to the gospel. My conversion happened at a summer camp.
evangelicals & catholics
The unsettled legacy of Pope John Paul II
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Aug 2020
Karol Wojtyła (1920–2005), since 1978 better known as Pope John Paul II, has been one of the most influential men of the 20th century.
The centenary of his birth is a useful opportunity to reflect on his legacy. His life was at the centre of the major affairs of the 20th century: the tragedy of Nazism and the trauma of the Second World War, the apex and fall of Communism, the Second Vatican Council and its debated implementation, the apparent triumph of Western democracy and the oppressive costs of globalisation for the Majority world, the fracture of ideologies and the rise of secular hedonism. Supporters have acclaimed his achievements in terms of navigating, surviving and overcoming the dangerous streams of our post-something world. Critics have pointed out the double-faced, contradictory trajectory of his life and his very backward-looking Catholic outlook.
evangelicals & catholics
Who really cares for us?
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Jun 2020
Under pressure, the true and deep commitments of the heart are exposed. When facing hardships, we reveal what is really important for us.
In these weeks of the coronavirus emergency, the message that Roman Catholicism is giving is a disarming detachment from the basic principles of the biblical faith. This should come as no surprise. What is happening belongs to the core of Roman Catholic beliefs and practices, as they are taught in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and as they are lived out in Roman Catholic parishes. However, given the favour with which even some Evangelicals view the self-styled ‘renewal’ of Roman Catholicism and the action of Pope Francis, it is worth mentioning the spiritual regression we are witnessing in the midst of the pandemic crisis that is severely hitting Italy.
evangelicals & catholics
The tale of two popes?
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Apr 2020
When Pope Benedict XVI resigned in 2013 nobody could have imagined what has been happening since: the Roman Catholic Church has one reigning pope (Francis), but also a former yet-living pope (Benedict) who still speaks, acts, and intervenes in ecclesiastical matters.
There were hints that the prospect of having two living popes would cause some confusion, if not controversy. The fact that Benedict wanted to keep his title as Pope (only adding ‘Emeritus’ to it) as well as his white papal robe (a symbol of the papal office) and his residence inside of the Vatican walls (the home of popes), indicated that, in spite of his pledge to remain silent for the rest of his days, the cohabitation between two popes would easily result in misunderstandings, even conflicts.
evangelicals & catholics
Christ alone or the whole Christ?
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Feb 2020
Solus Christus (Christ alone) versus totus Christus (the whole Christ). If one wants to capture the difference between the evangelical faith and Roman Catholicism, here it is.
On the one hand, the evangelical stress on the uniqueness of Jesus’s person (the God-man) and His atoning work; on the other, the Roman Catholic insistence on the organic relationship between Christ and the Church.
evangelicals & catholics
The truly ‘catholic’ church
Leonardo de Chirico
Date posted: 1 Dec 2019
The adjective ‘catholic’ and the noun ‘catholicity’ have a bittersweet usage in ordinary evangelical language. They seem too strictly associated with the reality of Roman Catholicism to be used in a way free from cumbersome superstructures of meaning.
The Bible never uses the expression kath’olon (according to the whole) in the theological sense. The only explicit reference, which is used in a negative form, is in Acts 4:18. The profane use of kath’olon has a variegated range including the meaning of ‘total’ and ‘complete’. In borrowing the term, the church began to understand it as describing the universality of the church (made of Jews and Gentiles), the fullness of the gospel (once and for all delivered to the saints), and the global extension of the people of God (from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth).
