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Synod on the Family – Please fasten your seat belts

We carry two reports about the Synod on the Family.
Gerard O’Connell in America Magazine gives an account of the first week and the reports of various language groups.
‘The first week revealed not only the ethnic but also the theological and cultural diversity of the synod fathers, which French language group “A” described as “a unique experience of Catholicity.” ‘

In the second article Sandro Magister, comments in www.chiesa.it on a letter reputed to have been sent to Pope Francis from 13 Cardinals who are said to be a little disgruntled by proceedings at the Synod.
One of their objections is that members of a committee to draft a final document at the Synod “have been appointed, not elected, without consultation.” Interesting they think people should be elected, not appointed, to important positions and that there should be consultation!!

Archbishop calls for possibility of ordaining women as Deacons

Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service, reporting in www.cruznow.com writes about the call made by a Canadian bishop for women deacons.
The issue of the role of women in our church is not going away, and won’t, no matter how many attempts are made to suppress and close down dialogue and debate.
St. John Paul II called for “no more degradation of women” in the world in “Familiaris Consortio”, 1981.
But there is a credibility issue for us with huge numbers of people, in making such calls, when women are still excluded from ordained ministry and from real decision making roles.
Ordaining women as deacons would be seen by many as a very tentative first step in righting a wrong.

Faith; the ability to live with uncertainty

Brendan Hoban writing in his weekly Western People column worries about the type of church some church leaders are pushing on the faithful.
“What’s emerging is almost a church within a church where visions, novenas and relics skirt the edges of superstition, where questionable piosities are lauded and intellectual rigour is suspect, where asking a question is tantamount to betrayal, where pleasure is distrusted and sexual pleasure anathema, where Catholicism takes on an Amish-like appearance and where a series of ‘Catholic’ newspapers encourage a return to the severity, rigidity and judgementalism of the past.’

Sin, Mortal & Otherwise

Donald Cozens writing in Commonweal suggests that ‘Pope Francis, in harmony with the work of contemporary theologians like Bernard Häring, Charles Curran, Margaret Farley and others, is showing us how to move beyond the narrow legalisms of act-centered morality.’
This is in contrast to the position that has pertained since the time of the Council of Trent when there was ‘an emphasis on the “act committed” rather than on the penitent’s encounter with the healing mercy of Jesus Christ and his or her overall moral orientation.’

Protecting the Pope ……. from us.

The U.S. Secret Service kept Pope Francis safe during his recent travels in the U.S.A., even if some think their methods a little over enthusiastic for a man who prefers to travel in a small Fiat rather than an armoured SUV.
Seamus Ahearne suggests that maybe we now need to protect him from our need for a jamboree by expecting him to attend the Congress on the Family for 2018.
Seamus thinks Francis’ time is precious and “I would much prefer that we respect the age of Pope Francis and conserve his energy and reduce his trips abroad. We should be caring for him and protecting him …We need to keep him at home and let him do as much as he can, in enlivening the Church.”

The laity has spoken and the Church must learn

The Catholic bishops of England and Wales have published an extraordinarily candid piece of criticism of the Church taken from a summary of responses to a consultation conducted in preparation for the forthcoming international synod of bishops in Rome next month, on the subject of marriage and family life.
An editorial in The Tablet states that “they want a Church that engages with married life and its messy difficulties realistically and humanely, not one offering idealistic textbook answers.”
One respondent is quoted as saying: “It would seem that right now the Church may well have more to learn from marriage and family life than to teach.”

Pope Francis speaks to the Joint Session of the United states Congress

Standing ovations for Francis from Congress but is anyone actually listening?
Are we, the church. listening?
Are Church administrators and curial officials listening?
Caroline Wyatt, BBC religious affairs correspondent, says in a report “Above all, Pope Francis in the US has challenged his audiences to think, and to cast aside ideological divisions in favour of unity and mercy – to reflect on how to help the poor and those without. ……. Then, he left in his small car that makes a big point about the environment, showing that sometimes, actions can speak louder than words.”

Francis used the example of four people to highlight his points. “Three sons and a daughter of this land, four individuals and four dreams: Lincoln, liberty; Martin Luther King, liberty in plurality and non-exclusion; Dorothy Day, social justice and the rights of persons; and Thomas Merton, the capacity for dialogue and openness to God.”

Liberty; liberty in plurality and non-exclusion; the rights of persons; the capacity for dialogue and openness to God:
They’re as needed in our church as in U.S. society.
It’s time for action.

Pope Francis speaks to the Bishops of the U.S.A.

One of the rich veins of wisdom in Francis’ words to the bishops of the U.S.A.
“Dialogue is our method, not as a shrewd strategy but out of fidelity to the One who never wearies of visiting the marketplace, even at the eleventh hour, to propose his offer of love (Mt 20:1-16).

The path ahead, then, is dialogue among yourselves, dialogue in your presbyterates, dialogue with lay persons, dialogue with families, dialogue with society.

I cannot ever tire of encouraging you to dialogue fearlessly.”

‘Ordination ideas have changed over time’

The issue of the ordination of women to the priesthood should not even be mentioned according to some, never mind discussed and debated. For others the fact the the catholic church does not allow ordination for women is an issue of justice and diminishes the church’s voice when commenting on other issues in society.
In an interesting article in the National Catholic Reporter Thomas C Fox writes of the approach taken by Gary Macy, professor of theology and chair of the religious studies department at Santa Clara University. Macy argues that we need to look to the history of the church to gain a full understanding of the nature of priesthood and ordination.

Underestimating Love, which is the gospel’s core message

Francis A. Quinn, the retired bishop of Sacramento, has an interesting article in The New York Times in preparation for Pope Francis’ visit to the U.S.A.
One of the topics he broaches is that of the ordination of women.
“Recent popes have said publicly that priesthood for women cannot be considered because the gospel and other documents state that Christ ordained men only.
Yet women have shown great qualities of leadership: strength, intelligence, prayerfulness, wisdom, practicality, sensitivity and knowledge of theology and sacred Scripture.
Might the teaching church one day, taking account of changing circumstances, be inspired by the Holy Spirit to study and reinterpret this biblical tradition?”

With so many retired bishops speaking out recently on topical issues it raises the question why they haven’t done so when in office. What prevents bishops from expressing such views when they hold office? Whatever it is, it most certainly is not healthy and is damaging the office of bishop and the universal church.

Beyond “Viri Probati”

The problem of the shortage of priests is not new, nor is it confined to Europe.
TEAMS OF ELDERS: Moving Beyond “Viri Probati”, was published in 2007 by Bishop Fritz Lobinger.
We carry a review of his book by Michael Shackleton published in 2008 in “The Southern Cross”, South Africa’s Catholic Weekly.
Bishop Fritz Lobinger is the retired bishop of Aliwal, South Africa.
He has also expressed his opinions in the second article that we carry as published in U.S. Catholic.

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