December 2011 Philadelphia Chapter of Pax Christi U.S.A.

The Emerging Catholic Church

I have been reading Tom Robert’s thoughtful insights concerning the Catholic community for the past seventeen years, as he served as Editor and Editor at Large for the National Catholic Reporter, (NCR). Several years ago he offered a retreat to CPF. Recently I heard him speak at a retreat at Sacred Heart parish in Camden. Roberts has encyclopedic understanding of the American church, along with pungent journalistic skills to engage you and having experienced the warts, wounds, and charisms, of mother church, he retains a genuine care and affection for her. The retreat was based on his new book, “The Emerging Catholic Church”, chronicling the story of an 18 month journey across the U.S. listening to the people from miter to the pew.

I recommend that you read the book – hoping this summary will whet your appetite. If the quotations seem prolific; it’s difficult to improve on Tom’s succinct phrases.

CPF has not examined the sex-abuse crisis; the secular press’s repeated scorchers seemed enough, and compassion for the many active, dedicated priests restrained us. However, Robert’s analysis is a new awakening to the systemic evil infecting the global church, from the papacy down to some rural padre. It is a scourge and the catastrophe is repeated from country to country, truly catholic - the U.S. Ireland, Canada, Australia, Germany, Austria, South Africa, Belgium, and on. “The same leadership template: power and privilege, clericalism, secrecy, without accountability.”

Roberts begins with the towering presence of Pope John Paul II, a central force, "in the collapse of European communism… The longest papacy of the twentieth century will resound down the ages as one that forever changed the job description of the office and its relationship to the world. He leaves behind the irony of a world more united because of his life and legacy and a church more divided. (NCR Rome correspondent John Allen).” There is nothing in this book that suggests that John Paul II offered or demanded a different pattern of response by the bishops of the world to the sex abuse crisis. As talk of John Paul II’s canonization circulates, there remains the inescapable question of why he did not act to cauterize the flagrant wounds. This failure is so profound it cannot be ignored. At least he did on many occasions offer profound apologies.

The avoidance of scandal, the protection of the church took priority over the lives of innumerable children and the devastating consequences they suffered. The ultimate paradox is the constant message on respect life and the evil of abortion from Rome to every earthly parish, which evaporated when the victims were viable, walking children. They were abandoned! One of Jesus’ most fearsome utterances is in regard to children. “But anyone who is the downfall of one of these little ones who have faith in me would be better drowned in the depth of the sea with a great millstone round his neck.”(Mt. 18:6) “Alas for the world that there should be such causes of falling! Causes of falling indeed there must be, but alas for anyone who provides them.”

The numbers from research carried out by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice over a fifty year period, 1950 - 2000 and then updated in 2002:

--at least 5,000 priests

--13,000 victims, and

--2.5 billion dollars to victims.

Skeptics on both sides feel the numbers are minimized or exaggerated, but they appear to be the best available stats.

NCR broke the story in 1985. At that time bishops claimed with some validity, that they had little knowledge, or understanding of pedophilia and its treatment. Many reacted as did Cardinal Law of Boston, who “could assure Catholics what they heard about abusive priests was either an aberration or manufactured by anti-Catholic press”, even though Law was “warned about dangerous

priests, but continued to put these sexual abusers in positions to attack children”. When Cardinal Law was reassigned to Rome, he acknowledged “a very serious issue undermined the mission of the Catholic Church.”

After Cardinal Law’s removal and other revelations Roberts sees a change in perception, “Catholics began to see that these leaders were willing to betray, at a fundamental level, the sacramental life that they preached if doing so was necessary to protect the institution and their own careers.” Philadelphia has experienced two grand jury investigations in many ways replicating the Boston experience which space precludes detailing. The 2005 grand jury indicated 169 priests and hundreds of victims were involved over a period of 40 years. Cardinals Krol and Bevilaqua were among the responsible authorities.

“Why did bishops not behave as parents? Why did they not protect the children?” In a devastating critique of the hierarchy, Roberts described the very heart of the tragedy as a “clerical culture.” “The sex abuse crisis is not fundamentally about sex. The designation is a convenient label that, at its core, has to do with power and authority and how they are used in the church. The sex abuse crisis is more accurately, a crisis of the clerical/hierarchical culture that can no longer maintain its superiority by dint of office or by claim of some ontological difference from the rest of us.” He illustrates his point with reference to two Philadelphia priests who committed heinous crimes and were repeatedly transferred. The 2005 document showed that secrecy about the crimes was simply part of the system.

Some prophetic people Roberts encountered included Richard Rohr, Franciscan priest-author who in (2009) held his own Conference on the Emerging Church at his center in New Mexico. Rohr writes that we need to “see with a different set of eyes and break from dualism – us or them – to us and them.” His grand assumption is need for a ‘different consciousness’ to understand the Gospel and practice it. One essential is a more contemplative life, another need, good, honest Jesus scholarship so we know who He is. That we must all become contemplatives is a mandate that long precedes, Rohr, i.e. Karl Rahner, SJ, Thomas Merton, going back to the Desert Fathers. Along with Rohr’s love of contemplation is a centering on issues of peace and justice. A recent book of his, “Falling Upward” attempts to integrate that tricky balance.

Recently, “the litmus test being abortion and gay marriage ignore 1900 years of Catholicism and that test requires no change in our life style.”(Rohr) The centrality of peace and justice is reflected in the Gospels, the Beatitudes. The litmus test ignores the transcendent, revolutionary message of Christ. Our CPF experience in regard to justice issues is the radical diversity of the crowd, religious to all Americana. Small communities need to discern constantly that the chosen path is Spirit led. Better we Catholics be known as sisters and brothers of Francis of Assisi, followers of Dorothy Day - a bit of hyperbole for a middle class guy.

Early Church Fathers thought “God wrote two books: God wrote the bible and God wrote nature. You have to learn how to read both.” In regard to the issue of authority: “the new authority is going to come from nature or the cosmos, the natural world.”(Rohr) “The invisible existence of God and his everlasting power has been clearly seen by the mind’s understanding of created things” (Romans 1:20). Echoing Teilhard and Thomas Berry’s “Fate of the Earth”, Rohr writes that “the cosmos binds us together – the sacredness of all creation. As we destroy the planet we realize this is the one thing we all have in common: that, ‘what is’ is demanding obedience and a response from us far more than a mental construct from a pope or scripture.” Robert’s mentions a slew of prophetic people out there. Most would share Rohr’s thought: “the old conception of the natural order, the up and down universe from which hierarchical examples of leadership are modeled no longer applies. It doesn’t work …the superior – inferior model where the large guys are in charge abetted and fostered the sexual abuse crisis.” We also need to remind ourselves, we are talking about a small percentage of clergy. The statistic for Ireland is four (4) percent.

Some of us men are slow to mature. Writing this article, it was as though a light bulb went off in my head. If women held positions of authority in every diocese in the world and the Vatican, this crisis would have had a more compassionate outcome. It helps me understand why Fr. Roy Bourgeois, late of Maryknoll, has been walking and talking about women’s ordination. There is a price to pay, excommunication. There is a lot of mourning and grieving going on, but there are many bright lights out there as well, and they won’t give up the ship, the Barque of Peter.

Joe Bradley

Joe is a member of CPF