No. The Church doesn’t need to be more “Inclusive.” It already is.
Since the election of Pope Leo XIV, we’ve been treated to a non-stop barrage of wonder from the secular media about whether this pope will be equally or more “inclusive” than Pope Francis. As a practicing Catholic, I’m often confronted with the concept that the Church needs to be more “inclusive.” I am told that I am bigoted, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, Islamaphobic, Anti-Semitic, paternalistic among a host of other castigating labels for the refusal to acquiesce to modern sensibilities. There is a tremendous disconnect between the continually malleable secular morality and that of Absolute Truth. Absolute Truth is unchangeable. No matter the volume of screeching from activists of all kinds, the Church is merely the guardian and protector of Truth. Truth is fairly crystal clear, knowable through reason and protecting and espousing it is the Church’s mission.
Now, the Catholic Church’s recitations of the Truth might seem demanding.
That’s becuase it is demanding. The Church proposes nothing less than conversion: a radical change of life and mind in conformity with what is True and holy. The secular world often asks the Church to “get with the times,” to conform to modern values in order to be more “inclusive.” The Church’s mission, as understood from its inception, is not to conform to the world, but to transform the world. St. Paul exhorted Christians, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2). The Church holds that it is the human person who must be transformed (by God’s grace), not the truth of God that must be watered down or adapted to fit modern sensibilities. After all, the man who is married to the spirit of the age will be a widower in the next.
Truth is not ours to edit; it is received from God through Revelation and the natural order. Therefore, the Church does not “own” the Truth as a malleable policy – the Church is merely its servant and custodian. As such, when faced with new social pressures about supposed “inclusivity,” the Church’s answer is filtered through the deposit of faith it has received. If secular “inclusivity” demands acceptance of what God’s law and sound reason indicate is false or immoral, the Church—-and its adherents-—must reject that demand.
It is this fact that is difficult for many modern Catholics from the clergy to the layperson. Lest we forget with our modern picture of Christ as a foot-washing social justice warrior, his exhortation in Matthew 10:34 was pretty clear:
Nolite arbitrari quia pacem venerim mittere in terram : non veni pacem mittere, sed gladium veni enim separare hominem adversus patrem suum, et filiam adversus matrem suam, et nurum adversus socrum suam
“Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword. For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.”
The Truth will divide people.
Crucially, the Church believes that genuine inclusion happens precisely through conversion and adherence to the truth. When a person becomes Catholic, traditionally they profess to do so “freely and knowingly, accepting what the Church believes and teaches.” This involves what might be called a conversion of intellect and will. According to Catholic teaching, faith itself requires the alignment of these faculties: “faith is a gift of God … an act of the intellect commanded by the will”newadvent.org. In other words, one chooses (with the will) to assent to the truth that one has come to see (with the intellect) as revealed by God. The First Vatican Council (AD 1870) taught that because God is the ultimate truth, faith involves submitting one’s mind and will to God who reveals newadvent.org. This is not irrational or coerced – it’s a free cooperation with grace, often described as “the obedience of faith”. The Catholic Encyclopedia puts it succinctly: “Man is able by the natural light of reason to arrive at certain knowledge of the one true God… and faith is a supernatural act of the understanding, moved by the will, whereby we hold as true what God has revealed… It requires the influence of the will which moves the intellect to assent.”newadvent.org. Thus, those who seek full communion with the Church are expected to undergo a metanoia (Greek for “change of mind/heart”). It is not enough to simply feel drawn emotionally; one must believe with the mind what the Church professes and resolve with the will to live accordingly. This includes embracing the Creed (truths of faith), receiving the sacraments, and obeying the moral teachings. Conversion is the gateway to inclusion in the Church – not in the sense of being worthy (everyone is a sinner in need of mercy), but in the sense of freely choosing to accept the identity and lifestyle of a disciple of Christ.
From the Catholic point of view, then, the most inclusive thing the Church can do is to remain faithful to her mission of truth. She includes all by calling all nations to baptism (Matthew 28:19) and teaching them to observe all that Christ commanded. It is a universal call that holds nothing back: Jesus didn’t say “teach them only what is easy or culturally acceptable,” but “teach them to observe all I have commanded.” At times, this puts the Church in tension with prevailing cultural norms. But the Church trusts that the Truth has an attractive power of its own, when proposed with charity. As Pope Benedict XVI noted, “The Church grows not by proselytism, but by attraction” – meaning that it’s the witness of holiness and truth that truly draws people, not a compromise with the spirit of the age. In practice, this means the Church often appears “countercultural” on issues of sexuality, family, life, and doctrine. Yet, interestingly, this steadfastness may be precisely why many converts are drawn to Catholicism: in a world of shifting sands, the Church offers a rock of certainty. The early Christian writer Tertullian once quipped that “truth does not blush” – the Church, in holding firm, believes she is rendering service to all who yearn for Truth beyond the fashions of opinion.
And, let’s be frank, modern notions of inclusivity are just code for unqualified acceptance of any behavior or belief. This is false mercy. It may spare feelings in the short term, but it does not lead people to the lasting happiness that comes from living in accord with Truth. The Catholic Church’s approach is inclusive at the deepest level: it seeks to include everyone in the fellowship of Christ, which means including them in a life of truth, conversion, and salvation. It asks something of the adherent. And, this sometimes necessitates hard truths and moral boundaries, just as any loving family sets rules for the good of its members. When the Church teaches, for example, that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered or that worship of the one true God is necessary for salvation, it is not pronouncing a sentence of damnation on individuals. Rather, it is illuminating the path that leads away from self-destruction and toward fulfillment in God. Catholics believe that God’s laws are not arbitrary restrictions but the Maker’s instructions for human flourishing. As Jesus taught, “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32) – free, ultimately, to become the person God created you to be. Thus, the Church does not need to conform to secular definitions of inclusivity to prove its love. Its love is demonstrated in the courage to speak truth and invite all people to communion in that truth. As St. Augustine would remind us, authentic love burns with “hatred of the sin” only because it burns so fiercely with “love for the person” catholic.com. The Church, in her best moments, reflects this love by welcoming every prodigal son or daughter home – but always to the home of a loving Father who calls His children to “go and sin no more.” In a world confused about whether there even is Truth, the Catholic Church stands as a sign of contradiction: profoundly inclusive in extending Christ’s saving invitation to all, yet unapologetically exclusive in fidelity to the one truth that leads to eternal life.
The question is: Do you have the courage to stand with the Truth?