TECHNOLOGY AFFECTS THEOLOGY 

ONE OF THE MOST VIVID MEMORIES FROM MY YOUTH WAS REGISTERED DURING MY FIRST VISIT TO RURAL QUEBEC. HERE I ENTERED A WORLD DOMINATED BY AN OVER-POWERING RELIGIOUS PRESENCE AND WHERE RELIGION PERMEATED EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE. AS HAD BEEN THE PRACTICE FOR CENTURIES, LAY AUTHORITIES WOULD NOT MOVE ON ANY SECULAR MATTER BEFORE CONSULTING THE CHURCH. THIRTY YEARS AGO THERE WERE FEWER CIVIL SERVANTS THAN PRIESTS! ONE COULD NOT PROGRESS SOCIALLY, ECONOMICALLY OR PERSONALLY WITHOUT FOLLOWING THE EXACT RULES OF RELIGION AS THEN ORDAINED. CHANGE WAS NOT A COMMON OCCURRENCE.

RIGHTLY OR WRONGLY -- DEPENDING ON ONE'S OWN PHILOSOPHY, CHANGE HAS COME RAPIDLY AND DRAMATICALLY TO QUEBEC, THE FORMER FORTRESS OF OLD-STYLE MONOLITHIC RELIGION IN NORTH AMERICA. THE JESUIT ORDER, ONCE THE MENTOR OF THE MAJORITY OF QUEBEC'S LEADERS -- SUCH AS PIERRE TRUDEAU, ROBERT BOURASSA AND MARC JOHNSON -- HAS, SINCE THE MID- SIXTIES, ENCOUNTERED RAPID DECLINE. TWENTY YEARS AGO, THERE WERE MORE THAN 700 JESUIT FATHERS IN QUEBEC. TODAY THERE ARE FEWER THAN HALF THAT NUMBER. AS FATHER TREMBLAY, PRINCIPAL OF COLLEGE JEAN DE BREBEUF, MONTREAL'S PRESTIGIOUS ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIVATE SCHOOL, REMARKED, "MY PRIESTS ARE CLOSER TO THE GRAVE THAN THE CRADLE." AN EVEN MORE DRAMATIC OCCURRENCE HAS HIT THAT FORMER CITADEL OF POWER. IT WAS SOLD LAST NOVEMBER TO THE SECULAR WORLD FOR $3 MILLION! FATHER TREMBLAY REMAINS AS THE LAST JESUIT IN SENIOR ADMINISTRATION.

WHAT HAS ALL THIS TO DO WITH HIGH TECH? TECHNOLOGY FORCES CHANGE. AS COMMUNICATIONS INCREASE IN SPEED, CLARITY, CONTENT AND MASS, PEOPLE ARE FORCED TO LOOK AT THE WORLD DIFFERENTLY. WHEN THEY SEE A DIFFERENT WORLD, THEY ACT DIFFERENTLY. AT ONE TIME IT WAS UNTHINKABLE FOR A QUEBECER NOT TO GO TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY. MANY WENT SEVERAL TIMES A DAY, EVERY DAY. TODAY ONLY 25 PERCENT OF THE CATHOLIC POPULATION GOES TO CHURCH IN MONTREAL, ONLY 30 PERCENT IN THE REST OF THAT PROVINCE.

LOOK AROUND YOU. WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR HOME THAT IS MORE THAN 30 YEARS OLD? WHAT ABOUT THE HOME ITSELF? HOW OLD IS IT? THE MORAL: IF CHANGE IS HAPPENING ALL AROUND YOU -- WHY NOT POSITION YOURSELF TO BENEFIT FROM CHANGE, INSTEAD OF BEING VICTIMIZED FROM IT? IT ONLY TAKES A CHANGE IN ATTITUDE.

THE EFFECT OF TECHNOLOGY ACCELERATES CHANGE. TODAY TECHNOLOGY MAKES THE LAWS AND UNMAKES THEM. A FEW YEARS AGO IT WAS BECOMING NECESSARY TO LENGTHEN AIRPORT RUNWAYS EXTENSIVELY. LOUD CRIES FROM ENVIRONMENTALISTS WERE HEARD. BUT SUCH CRIES ARE SILENT NOW. NOT BECAUSE THEY WERE SUCCESSFUL BUT BECAUSE NEW DESIGNS, TECHNIQUES AND AIRCRAFT ENGINES HAVE MADE AIRCRAFT CONFIGURATIONS ABLE TO USE SHORTER RUNWAYS EVEN WITH LARGER PLANES.

THE MORAL OF THIS STORY? EVEN SUCH APPARENTLY ROCK-SOLID INSTITUTIONS AS THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH ARE DRAMATICALLY AFFECTED BY CHANGE. IF THE CHURCH, ONCE THE CENTRE OF THE CIVILIZED WORLD, CAN IN 30 SHORT YEARS BE SO DRASTICALLY ALTERED, WE CAN EXPECT EVEN MORE DRAMATIC CHANGES DURING THE NEXT 30 YEARS!

* * *

< previous | chapter index | next >
back to Main Chapter Listing
back to Home Page