Father Richard Kunst: Why the Diocese of Duluth is so important

Apologetics 

I am, admittedly, a political junkie. I have always liked politics and used to work in the field before I was a priest. Though the church is not a partisan institution, it has something to say about nearly all issues in the political arena. When it comes to the Catholic faith, religion and politics do intersect a lot. 

As a political junkie, I like to follow the polls, especially in an election year. There are many organizations out there that conduct polls these days, but the oldest polling organization is Gallup. Gallup and polling have always been synonymous. But did you know that Gallup polls subjects other than politics? 

Gallup was established in 1935, and just two years later, in 1937, it did its first poll on Americans’ religious affiliation. That year, they found that 73% of Americans affiliated with some organized religion. That number remained pretty consistent up until 1999, when 70% of Americans were affiliated with an organized religion. Not surprisingly, that number has taken a drastic hit in the last 25 years. (That happens to coincide with my priesthood, which started in 1998, but I am not going to read too much into that.) 

In Gallup’s last poll on the subject, the number is down to 46%. So, while it remained steady for decades, that is no longer the case. And although I don’t like to be a “sky is falling” sort of guy, all you have to do is open your eyes and see the rapid degradation of society to know that there is a clear cause and effect. Religion has always been the part of life that has provided people with a moral compass, so when religion has such a clear decline, so too will a generation’s moral compass. 

But now I am going to say something that will seem contrary to common sense: The Catholic Church is not an organized religion, because it is not an organization, it is an organism. As members of the church, we are not just Christ’s disciples, workers, people, or friends. We are his organs. We are his hands, his feet — his body. This was the whole point of Christ’s sermon on the vine and the branches, when he repeatedly said in John’s Gospel that he was the vine and we are the branches. 

Remember what happened to St. Paul on the road to Damascus when he was on the way to arrest Christians? Christ appeared to him and said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). This is precisely why, later, in his writings to different Christian communities, Paul regularly referred to the church as the Body of Christ, because indeed it is. St. Joan of Arc, the 15th century defender of France, said it this way: “Christ and the Church are one and the same, why complicate the matter?” 

So, now I am going to address something in my column that I have never done before, but it seems so pertinent. If you are a Mass-going Catholic in the Diocese of Duluth, no doubt you have heard about The Ministries Appeal, which has taken the place of the United Catholic Appeal, which had been around for more than 50 years. No doubt, in recent weeks, as you have been going to Mass, the pews have had “Ministries Appeal” envelopes in them. 

Do yourself a favor and make use of these envelopes, if you have not already done so. This is not an advertisement for something we all need to do anyhow, this is simply another way of looking at something that is necessary. 

When we are sick, we go to the doctor. When we have a toothache, we go to the dentist. When we need to lose weight, we diet. When we are depressed, we seek a counselor. In other words, we are always taking care of our physical and mental health, as we should. 

But what about taking care of the Body of Christ, which we are all part of? Does it not make sense that we take care of ourselves? 

When we support The Ministries Appeal, we are supporting the health and well-being and functionality of the church, which we are. And in doing so, we are directly addressing the woes of our culture that has become more secularized, because in supporting our local church, we are supporting the spread of the Gospel. 

As members of the same church, as members of the same organism, we support ourselves. It’s pretty simple stuff. Let’s get religious affiliation back up into the 70th percentile. 

Father Richard Kunst is pastor of St. James and St. Elizabeth in Duluth. Reach him at [email protected].