Priests for the Third Millennium: A Return to Civility

I have been reading Archbishop Timothy Dolan's book Priests for the Third Millennium and find it a wonderful book surrounding formational issues. One of the important chapters is on courtesy. He reminds us that the courteous gentleman is civil. One of the things I found so refreshing about the Holy Father's visit to the UK was the courteousness and civility he displayed in his speech and actions. He won his critics over by this virtue and I believe that the words of Jesus that remind us that our love for one another is one of the most powerful apologetic tools we have at our disposal can and will change attitudes. A lack of respect and acrimony alongside our terrible trap of a hermeneutic of suspicion of one another does not help our witness. For instance, I would think that if we are going to use the Internet and other mediums of communication to witness to the faith of our Lord, our return to civility is paramount. We live in tense and sometimes unpleasant situations but we should always try to be civil. Our Holy Father's civility during his visit transformed his critics. May God help us to be so courteous and civil to one another! Archbishop Dolan writes,

The name-calling, suspicion, and vitriol that characterize the written and spoken word among Catholics is nothing less than sinful. Augustine claimed that the greatest of all heresies was lack of charity. A few observations:
Never should we get ad hominem. "Don't listen to him - he's a heretic!" "She's not orthodox." "He's a right-wing fanatic." The presumption for the civil man is that each person is good, honest, and respectable. We may disagree with what he or she says or does, but we are always civil to the person. "I wouldn't let Sister talk to the RCIA - she's a heretical feminist!" No, she's not...she's a child of God and consecrated daughter of the Church, whose particular views on a given issue may be wrong - and need to be corrected - but she deserves our respect, and our words about her are always civil.

* Civility means no name-calling, no angry outbursts, no accusatory charges. We express our criticisms calmly, charitably, and respectfully.

* Civility also means that, when we have made our point and brought it to the proper authority, we let up, and trust the goodwill of those who have proper responsibility to take care of it. We do not then wage guerrilla warfare to accomplish our goal. The Most Revd Donal Wuerl wrote in a pastoral letter, "We cannot highlight evangelisation and then destroy its fondest hopes by the way we talk with or about one another." He wrote, "To enter a dialogue convinced that the others engaged in the effort are dishonest, deceitful, or intent on harming us negates the possibility of a wholesome outcome."

There are great lessons for all in the above quotation from an address given to seminarians in Rome at the North American College. There has recently been a lot of talk about the bloggers meeting in Rome and I wonder if the above call to civility and courtesy will be the foundational hallmark of what it means to be a Catholic blogger. "Courtesy demands civility."