In the inaugural Way in the wild, I looked at a recent New York Times piece on two competing mottos emerging in pre-conclave discussions: unity (the motto of “conservative” cardinals) and diversity (the motto of “progressive” cardinals). While this tug-of-war does draw us toward real heaven-earth dilemmas (the one or the many, order or openness), I argued that in the Catholic Church, these remain emphases—not divisions—and that it would be difficult to imagine that any of the quoted cardinals (whether “conservative” or “liberal”) disagreeing with a basic Catholic framing of needing both unity and diversity.
Well, sure enough, today I stumbled on a CBS interview with Cardinal Czerny, a Canadian Jesuit in the mold of Francis quoted in the Times piece. Norah O’Donnell, who interviewed Pope Francis last year, opened with a question on continuity vs. change. And, to Cardinal Czerny’s credit, he beautifully displayed the Catholic both/and in response:
O’Donnell: In some ways the Church is at a turning point. And there will be a new choice, and that choice will be continuity or change. What do you see ahead?
Czerny: No, I can’t accept that question as it is, no. The choice is not between continuity and change. The choice is to go forward, and that includes both continuity and change. And that has always been our way forward. We never make a total break, and we never stay in the past. So, it’s both. It has to be both. That’s the life of the Church.
O’Donnell: It’s interesting that you say it can be both.
Czerny: It has to be both.
O’Donnell: It has to be both.
Czerny: It has to be both, yeah. Our mission—we exist, the Church exists, to bring the Gospel to society. Societies are constantly changing—you know that better than I do—and quickly. And so there has to be constant change. On the other hand, the Gospel is the Gospel. We’re not changing it. We’re not changing the traditions of the Church, the teachings of the Church. So there’s this continual continuity with renewal, with new efforts. And this would be true in a single society; if you look at the Church, which is in two or three hundred countries—so much the more so.
Both continuity and change, both tradition and renewal, both one and the same Gospel and the diversity of societies. Of course, as Catholics we disagree on how exactly to strike that balance; but this is our common starting point no matter who is elected as pope, and we shouldn’t let the media convince us otherwise.
Kudos to Cardinal Czerny for cleaving to the both/and here. And may all Catholics see each other—first and foremost, despite all other differences and disagreements—as brothers and sisters on the Way.