A number of indicators point to a resurgence in Catholic orthodoxy. A new group of emerging Catholic thinkers, writers, apologists, and leaders are already carrying the New Evangelization into the third millennium. Among them is Deacon David Hess.

Perhaps not yet as well known as some of his colleagues, Hess has nevertheless received considerable attention for the depth of research in his co-authored apologetic book Jesus, Peter and the Keys: A Scriptural Handbook on the Papacy (Queenship, 1996). Hess's current research and writing project will defend the Church against attacks from schismatic traditionalist movements. If that work is anything like his previous book, Hess's name will be increasingly familiar to Catholic apologists in the years to come.

Hess grew up Catholic, in upstate New York, but fell away from the Church in his early teens, and then again in his early marriage. "After we were married," recalls David, "my faith was up to me. I was in charge. The first thing I decided was not to go to Mass anymore. It was the start of a very bad habit."
It was during a Marriage Encounter weekend that Hess first recognized the impact of this decision. During one of the breaks, while discussing marriage, his wife, Charmaine, started crying. "She broke down in tears because of my callousness about Christ in her life." The two spent a year in a non-denominational Bible community before returning to the Faith of their youth with a deep fervor. In the end, Hess says, "we didn't feel that we could leave a faith we didn't even know."

This conclusion led Hess to investigate the Church and recommit himself to Christ and His Church. His newfound love also led him to begin study in his diocesan diaconate program. Through the diaconate program he met others interested in apologetics.

We and a few others began meeting weekly over breakfast at a restaurant to talk. "We gathered to discuss and defend the Catholic faith. We talked about such issues as the forgiveness of sins, the Bible alone, praying to Mary, the Papacy, and the Eucharist. We went through the scriptural teachings, as well as Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant commentaries.

"After a year of study we had six or seven issues, and we asked ourselves, 'What one issue is the most important for opening up someone's mind to the truth of the Catholic Church?' We chose Christ's authority. We felt that if someone could see the truth of Christ's authority active and protected in the Church today, all the other teachings would fall into place."

This decision led the men on a four-year expedition of argument, relevant texts, scriptural search, and patristic study to explain and defend the papacy as clearly, concisely, and fully as possible. The result of their work was Jesus, Peter and the Keys.

The book, explains Hess, was generally well received even among Protestants. It has sold more than 20,000 copies, and a third printing is soon expected. "A number of Protestant professors and ministers gave the books a thumbs up," said Hess. "One Eastern Orthodox priest who had approved of the book, Father Chrysostom Frank of South Africa, eventually converted to the Catholic Faith."
It was also during these weekly meetings that Hess first confronted the thinking behind schismatic traditionalist movements, such as the Old Catholics, the Society of St. Pius the V, and the Society of St. Pius the X. "One friend joined us on four or five occasions," explained Hess, "but never contributed anything to the conversation. He sat silent, listening. Then, one day, out of the blue, he asked, 'Did you know that the Masses of the Novus Ordo and the consecration might not be valid because the words of consecration have been changed?'"

"We sat dumbfounded in complete silence," David remembers. "Our jaws dropped. After about fifteen seconds of silence, the gentleman who brought him asked, 'What in the world are you talking about?' At the time none of us understood the insidious nature of the particular movement that was just being introduced to us."

In time, their friend stopped coming to the group. But Hess says he has since had dear friends and acquaintances begin following similar lines of reasoning, and they have ultimately left Christ's Church.
Hess draws a parallel between such separatist movements today and the heresies that sought to destroy the Church in the past. "It's difficult for us to imagine the turmoil the Church has faced throughout its two thousand years of existence because we didn't live it. Yet we can see the turmoil in which we live here and now. We tend to see the Church as if it has only been these past forty years that the Church has seen struggle. We forget about Arianism, Pelagianism, and the other heresies the Church has had to contend with over time."

"Christ has promised, in Matthew 16:18-19, that He will not leave His Church orphaned. In the case of many of these schismatic groups, people have set in their mind that evil exists where Christ promises it would not. When individuals take on the task of searching for such evil, they will interpret what they do not understand as something counter to the will of God. Such groups seek to reinterpret Christ's message outside the will of His Church. They are protesting to the point of separation."

Hess uses an analogy to explain further. "When it would seem that the barque of Peter is buffeted by waves of uncertainty, many jump, only to find themselves in a sinking life raft. Modern-day separatists," he explains, "revolve largely around Vatican II and the perceived confusion that came from it."

What Hess finds so insidious about these groups is that they generate their own commentary on Church doctrines and teachings and present such commentary as the authority rather than the content of Church documents themselves. "Much of what I have found is either misquoted, misrepresented, or dishonestly applied," said Hess. As an example, Hess provides a recent article, "Rome Will Lose the Faith and Become the Seat of the Anti-Christ," from the schismatic publication A Voice Crying in the Wilderness by a "Brother" Michael Dimond.

Dimond, explains Hess, uses a false message, given in an act of disobedience, by one of the LaSalette seers thirty-three years after the apparition. "The false message is used as the premise for Dimond's article, hence there is no truth in the article," summarizes Hess.

In response to the rising popularity of such movements, Hess is at work on his next book, co-authored with Envoy publisher Patrick Madrid, which will examine approximately ten purportedly Catholic schismatic groups to flush out the errors in each. "Some of these groups are quite disruptive and unrelenting," Hess says, "so we need to make sure that all our ducks are in a row and the research is thorough."

At the heart of his passion is Hess's yearning for truth. "I have seen the divisive nature of these movements at the expense of the truth," he observes, "becoming a point of departure for many good Catholic families - families you would think would be far removed from the influence of such divisive groups. I don't want to see such a movement rearing its ugly head within my own family. These groups are meant to destroy the Church. We need to protect ourselves and our loved ones from these groups, which are attracting greater and greater numbers of young people and families."

In addition to work on his forthcoming book, Hess serves as a deacon within the Byzantine Catholic Church. It was his work directing adult education and RCIA for a local parish in the San Diego Diocese that originally led him to begin a deeper reading of the early Fathers of the Church.
"I discovered a sense of mystery among the Eastern Fathers in particular," he notes. Consequently, Hess felt called to participate in the Byzantine Catholic liturgy. "On a personal level, I was searching for what I felt the Eastern Fathers were trying to convey."

As he explains it, he fell "head over heels in love with the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom." After finishing study in the diaconate in the Byzantine Catholic Church, he was ordained in February of 1997. He serves at Holy Angels Byzantine Catholic Church in San Diego.

"The deacon's role in the Byzantine Mass is substantial," says Hess. "In the Eastern Catholic Divine Liturgy, the deacon presents the faithful and intercedes on behalf of the faithful before the kingdom of God." For that reason, he insists, his responsibility as deacon is "both wonderful and fear-filled" - wonderful, because it's "such an awesome gift"; fearful, because of "the grave responsibility entrusted to deacons by the Church."

He continues: "When I came back to the Church, I felt that a certain reverence was lacking. There was something missing. That is what came alive for me when I started attending the Byzantine liturgy. The Byzantine liturgy has changed little in twelve hundred years. It is both rich and awe-inspiring. While its structure is the same as the Latin rite, much of the liturgy is sung. The emphasis is more vertical, rather than horizontal."

David's familiarity with both the Roman and Eastern Catholic traditions provides him a unique opportunity to explain the similarities and differences between the two. For example, few Catholics realize that there are essentially seven Western liturgical rites within the Catholic Church (the Roman rite being used by most Catholics) and twenty-two distinct Eastern Churches within the Catholic Church.

"While the Byzantine Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church share the same liturgy," David explains, "there is nonetheless a separation within what once was a united Church under Christ. It is my fervent prayer that one day the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church may be one. The Holy Father wrote in Ut Unum Sint that the Church has two lungs [the Eastern and the Western Churches], and that it needs to breathe fully with both lungs."

Through, books, tapes, and apologetics lectures, Hess is working to foster a greater understanding and openness between Russian and Greek Orthodox Christians toward Catholics, and vice versa. He is keenly aware of the need for sensitivity, charity, and respect to shape the often strained dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox believers. He himself wasn't always a devout Catholic, and this background has helped him reach out more effectively with an invitation to unity and communion with the Bishop of Rome.

You can contact Deacon David Hess at revdavidhess@ hotmail.com