Pope Francis’
Synod Gerry OShea
Every major
document emanating from the Vatican has a Latin title, and the most recent one dealing
with the upcoming synod, scheduled to start on October 3rd, is named
Instrumentum Laboris (IL). This is the official appellation for an important
60-page booklet containing a summary of the results of a 3-year consultative
process involving Catholics throughout the world.
The synod
booklet asks serious questions about the mesmerizing allure of power and how
that played out in the structures that evolved in the Catholic Church. For
centuries the church has been a patriarchy with men making all the big
decisions about its rules and dogmas.
Successive
popes aided by male appointees in the various departments in the Vatican and
with a minor role for local bishops callrd all the shots. Until recently,
everybody understood that in any controversy Rome had the final say.
It is a
top-heavy organization with the dress code followed by members of the hierarchy
indicating their ecclesiastical status and perceived clout. The IL recognizes
that many of these power structures must change. Francis wants to
de-imperialize the church, moving aside the mitered savants who have stymied
the Christian project and opening the door for women’s participation at the
highest authority levels.
His biggest
challenge by far revolves around the sexual abuse problem in the church. Tens
of thousands of innocent young people, boys and girls, endured various forms of
sexual torture by members of the clergy. These have been thoroughly documented
over the last half century by diligent journalists and in official inquiries by
many dioceses and governments.
Take the
case of Bernard Law, a cardinal archbishop of Boston and America’s senior Roman
Catholic prelate just twenty years ago. He was a strong supporter of enhancing
civil rights laws and immigration reform, but he fiercely opposed modern
perspectives on birth control, the ordination of women and any changes in the
celibacy rules for priests as well, of course, as opposing abortion.
In January
2002, the scandal of child molestation by priests that had been gathering in
dioceses throughout the world, hit Boston like an explosion. It erupted when a
judge released documents relating to a defrocked priest who, while in service, was
shifted to a half-dozen parishes amid accusations of abusing 130 boys over 30
years.
In the
ensuing months, hundreds of people came forward to say that they had been
molested by priests in the archdiocese. Resulting from the lawsuits and
criminal investigation 25 priests were removed and the cardinal was forced to hand
over to prosecutors the names of 80 other priests accused of child molestation
over a few decades. Not surprisingly, Cardinal Law resigned his Boston
assignment shortly after these revelations.
Most members
of the hierarchy in chancery offices and presbyteries let the children down,
losing credibility with the people in the pews by failing dismally to take care
of vulnerable youth. Robert Orsi, the noted scholar of America Catholicism,
encapsulated well the disastrous effects of the abandonment of the innocent
when he wrote, “the holy proved the best hiding place for evil.”
Francis
acknowledges that his church is in crisis with millions of members leaving for
other churches or none. It is impossible to overestimate the damage done to the
credibility of the institution by the proliferation of stories and court cases
dealing with clerical sexual abuse in every country.
Biblical scholars
point to the prophetic words of Jesus when, according to Matthew, he warned
about disastrous future times, “the abomination of desolation, standing in the
holy place, as spoken of by the prophet Danel.” Is it too facile and convenient to identify
pervasive Vatican and hierarchical corruption as the object of this vision clearly
enunciated by the evangelist?
The synod
can be seen as Francis’ effort to regain the trust and goodwill of church
members. In 2019, he invited all his people, faithful and unfaithful, to join
together to deliberate about the priorities and authority structures in their
church. Why has it veered so far from the principles and teachings in the New
Testament?
He is
convinced that the Spirit speaks through ordinary people who, in the words of
the poet “are hearing oftentimes the still sad music of humanity.” Unlike the
leaders in the Vatican and their minions in chancery offices the men and women
in the pews never let the church down in any serious way. They have a proud
record of serving their communities and getting behind worthy charities to help
suffering people in poorer countries and Francis has wisely come to them for
their counsel.
He speaks of
the synod process as a time for walking together to discern the promptings of
the Spirit. It is a spiritual journey. However, he will be pushing the effort
against strong winds because the abuse crisis has produced a hard-to-reverse
disenchantment with the clergy.
The IL
document stresses that the synodal process does not indicate a step towards a
democratic church where majority opinion would authenticate decisions. With the
dire failure of the autocratic approach, I am surprised that democratic
decision-making, despite its undoubted clumsiness, is not viewed more favorably
in this reassessment of church procedures.
There are a
few noteworthy areas of discussion that are likely to engage the 370 participants
who will gather in Rome on October 4th and will include for the
first time a minority of lay men and women as equal participants with the bishops,
archbishops and cardinals.
First, should
the church continue as a patriarchy where the top decision-making power resides
with males? These cultural privileges are rooted in history. Governmental power
has resided with men for thousands of years, and the early church fathers came
up with easy rationalizations to follow suit and promote a male hierarchy in
their own institution.
Right now, women are not allowed to baptize,
except in extraordinary circumstances, or administer confirmation or
participate in priesthood ordination or provide the last rites for the dying.
Also, they
may not lead the eucharistic celebration or give the sermon after the gospel
reading at mass. Some or all these anti-female prohibitions would have to
change if the dynamism needed for renewal is to prevail.
Francis is
unequivocally opposed to women’s ordination but, significantly, he allowed the
impressive main Catholic group favoring women priests, the Women’s Ordination
Conference, to present their case on the Vatican website as part of the synod preparation.
That magnanimous act would have been unthinkable under any of his predecessors.
There is no
doubt that women acted as deacons in the early church and this matter is on the
agenda again at the synod. Failure to act on this would be a huge letdown for
church progressives.
Second,
providing a church blessing for gay marriages will divide the October assembly because
conservatives are dug in on blessing traditional binary relationships only. Considering the insistent preaching of this
outmoded view of conjugal love, which bans same-sex partnerships, achieving
change in church teaching presents a major challenge.
The experts
planning the synodal discussions claim that the primary goal of this year’s
session in October will be to outline areas of in-depth study that will be
examined in the lead-up to the second session in October 2024. Only then will
the synod’s final proposals be presented to the pope for his approval.
Gerry
OShea blogs at wemustbetalking.com
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