Letter to Pope Leo XIV

S.R. Ward, an unworthy admonisher of The Universal Church.

To His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, and to The College of Cardinals.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

It is no secret, I think, that The Protestant Church is collapsing in on itself. From this decade’s unprecedented decline of church attendance in the UK, to the MAGA movement’s filching of Evangelical Christianity in the US. From The Prosperity Gospel spreading like a cancer across the globe, to the overwhelming political divides tearing at the seams whatever institutional structure the protestant denominations historically had. Without a centralized power or doctrinal authority, there is nothing to unite these countless churches, and they are each of them left on their own as competitors: evangelically, politically, financially.

As The Protestant Church now delves from the Kingdom of Heaven into this capitalist jungle of competition, we see ever more daily the expected results: the strong survive and the weak wither away. But who are the strong in this jungle? The strong, just as in the corporate world which the protestant majority has come to belong to, are those who maintain the greatest capital. And those churches who maintain the greatest capital are those who maintain the greatest mass appeal – a watered-down Christianity bearing a banner of entertainment and willful blindness towards the suffering of the world. So indeed, the churches that survive are the churches we would expect: the megachurches, the thinly-veiled country clubs, and the political echo chambers.

What then happens to the remaining churches, the weak who cannot survive in the capitalist jungle? The congregations gradually dissipate, being absorbed by the larger and wealthier churches, or evaporating out of The Faith entirely. All that is left in these innumerable church buildings is the empty pews once filled with the multitudinous congregants who marked a successful half-millennia of independence from The Mother Church, and a sign marked “foreclosure” hammered into the front lawn.

Yes, the protestants are most certainly facing collapse; however, I believe this collapse is not the unhappy conclusion of an entire branch of The Universal Church, but rather the early stages of a metamorphosis into what The Church is meant to be. As church buildings are increasingly emptied of their congregations, indeed what remains are the church buildings themselves. This need not be a bad thing. Already, even now amongst this collapse and chaos, many church administrators have begun to see and realize the vision anew of the first Christians of Acts: “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need." Last year The First United Methodist Church of Asheboro converted their building into a shelter for unhoused women and families; Caldwell Presbyterian Church turned theirs into twenty apartments for the homeless; even in my own home town Our Redeemer Lutheran Church has sold their building cheaply to a nonprofit organization for conversion into a forty-house cooperative living space. These are but the first days of metamorphosis from the Protestantism of Capital into the Protestantism of Charity.

It is of course no news to anyone that The Catholic Church has always been the world leader of charity work. Most certainly charity is engrained into Her very essence and calling. From the holy conviction of Saint John: “If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him?” – to His Holiness’ most venerable instruction in Magnifica Humanitas: “The civilization of love is no naïve utopia, but a demanding project, which consists in translating charity into structures of justice, giving institutional form to fraternity and regarding others — whether individuals or peoples — as allies necessary for building the common good.” This noble work of “translating charity into structures of justice” is what is seen embodied in the work of Lorenz Werthmann, Dorothy Day, Saint Vincent de Paul, Werenfried van Straaten, and countless others of the Catholic Faith who seek to establish institutions of charity, peace, justice and love.

Aid to the Church in Need, the charity founded by the very same Father van Straaten, bears a quite unique crest which serves not only as a banner for the organization, but as a beautiful illustration of The Catholic Church’s holy vocation. The symbol on this crest is The Cross, piercing as an arrow through a vertical white line. Originally symbolizing for the organization The Church’s goodwill to pierce through the Iron Curtain and help those suffering beyond it, the white line represents now more than just the Iron Curtain: The Church’s goodwill to pierce through every blockade of wicked contriving and every force of oppression, for the sake of the persecuted, the impoverished, “these least brothers of mine” as they were so called by Christ.

Most assuredly, The Church pierces not only through the blockades of oppression for the sake of humanity, but also through the blockades of division and strife. She made this spirit of unity most manifest in The Second Vatican Council under Her declaration of the Protestant Christians as Fratres Seiuncti – not enemies, but separated brethren.

Now at last these separated brethren the protestant churches are in their penultimate stage. Some are reaping the greedy reward of their business endeavors. Many more are suffering the consequences of this rivalrous system. But those who are left behind, who don’t find success in the jungle of capitalism and are left only with empty buildings – these are the churches who are being prepared for that beautiful final stage of metamorphosis: the very same one already experienced by the Asheboro Methodists and Caldwell Presbyterians.

I described the metamorphosis before as being from the Protestantism of Capital into the Protestantism of Charity. But the very nature of the title “Protestantism” feels inappropriate after this transformation. Should the new so-called Protestantism of Charity be characterized by Her title of defiance toward The Mother Church, or should Her title – not just the title itself, but the very essence of Her existence – be characterized by Her redemption and reorientation towards caring for the poor? Indeed, She is not so much transformed from the Protestantism of Capital into the Protestantism of Charity, as she is transformed from the Protestantism of Capital into simply the Church of Charity.

But there is already a Church of Charity: Her Mother, The Catholic Church. And so the motives of the two become one and the same: “to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” In saying this, of course, by no means do I intend to casually disregard five hundred years of ecumenical divorce. Between The Protestants and The Catholics there are innumerable doctrinal differences, from veneration of The Blessed Virgin Mary to the promulgation of The Papacy itself. Half a millennium of forsaken ties will not heal easily amidst so many continued differences. But from Vatican II and beyond, The Catholic Church has graciously offered an outstretched hand of peace to Her separated brethren. The transformation and reorientation of The Protestant Church into The Church of Charity will, I believe, inherently change Her spirit of rivalry with The Catholics into a spirit of cooperation, and in turn we will see the hand of that Church begin to reach out and grasp the outstretched hand offered by Her Mother.

But alas we are only in the early days; the unification has yet to be realized; though the metamorphosis of the Protestant Church seems certain, the chrysalis is still being constructed and the transformation will be a slow one. As the wheel of history turns though, I believe that The Catholic Church has still further capability in guiding the Fratres Seiuncti towards their transformation into The Church of Charity – heeding the holy exhortation of Pope Leo XIII in Rerum Novarum: ”By every means in their power [every minister of holy religion] must strive to secure the good of the people; and above all must earnestly cherish in themselves, and try to arouse in others, charity, the mistress and the queen of virtues. For, the happy results we all long for must be chiefly brought about by the plenteous outpouring of charity.” Though the transformation be slow, “to arouse in others charity, the mistress and the queen of virtues" is a most godly endeavor. I see two ways at least in which The Catholic Church may arouse this virtue in The Protestant Church, and therein bring Her ever closer to metamorphosis into that Church of Charity.

Firstly, it is necessary to give direct, public, and frequently repeated exhortation to The Protestant Church for Her to increase the institutionalization of charitable work across Her diaspora. What I mean is this: While Protestants on the level of the individual are quite generous in their charitable giving – some of the most generous people of any religious tradition – Protestant churches do very little for charity, either in financial giving or in dedication of their infrastructure and resources. As the adaptation of the competitive capitalist model bodes, churches are ever-more-frequently endeavoring into corporate rivalries amongst themselves, competing for survival by dedicating their finances and infrastructure solely to the attraction and maintenance of congregants. The continuous exhortation towards charity would not only serve as a godly and corrective guidance for these many churches; but the issuance coming from The Catholic Church Herself would serve to refresh in the minds of all earthly onlookers the ongoing history of Her innumerable establishments and works of institutional charity, and would spark a righteous fervor and holy jealousy that The Protestant Church should act in the same manner as Her Mother.

Secondly – and with the most officious presumption do I suggest this – it would be prudent to extend a standing global offer to purchase the property of any failing Protestant churches, for the express purpose of conversion into charity havens – namely homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and safehouses. This offer serves a twofold purpose: that of further expanding global Catholic stewardship, and that of positive public relations. On the increase of Catholic stewardship the point is inherent. On the idea of positive public relations: when coupled alongside the exhortation to Protestant churches to utilize their infrastructure for charity, the offer would reinforce to all earthly onlookers that The Catholic Church substantiates Her position on the matter and does not speak hypocritically. This of course is already substantiated by the social doctrine and countless charities The Catholic Church is responsible for; but it serves all the more “that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

In this exhortation to The Protestant Church and in offering the hand of charity to Her, She may indeed be convicted towards that most godly virtue. That Her vision might clear, and She might see that Her Rival of half a millennium is in truth Her Friend, and the truest Friend of Christ. For He said “Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me,” and His command was that “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Martin Luther himself taught that “[the Christian] cannot bear to see anyone suffering and when this happens they tender their own resources and provide help howsoever they can.” The Protestant Church has lost this legacy in Her possession by The Capitalist Spirit. Like the church of Ephesus, to whom Christ says “You have lost the love you had at first. Realize how far you have fallen. Repent, and do the works you did at first.” She must be admonished and pleaded with to turn from the love of money to the love of Christ and to the love of the poor.

The metamorphosis of that Church is coming, however slow it may be. For some, like the Asheboro Methodists and Caldwell Presbyterians, the metamorphosis has already begun. Many churches will greedily continue to maintain their comfortable existence as country clubs and political echo chambers. But many still are thirsting for depth of meaning, and for tangible Christian action. The Protestant Church can change; She only need be reminded of the charitable hand Her Mother offers.

Should The Catholic Church endeavor to play a role in The Protestant Church’s transformation into The Church of Charity, I believe that She would be most justly rewarded by the results, that the testament to the world of Her actions would serve as an incomparable witness of love, and that The Kingdom of Heaven would increase in fullness of unity and brotherly affection.

I have the honor to profess myself with the most profound respect.

His Holiness' most reverent and humble supplicant,

S.R. Ward.