Column Like most Catholics, Patricia is not angry, just indifferent to
bishops
By TIM UNSWORTH
Jean and I shared a pew with
Patricia, a lovely, sipping straw-shaped woman who looked like an
elongated sculpture taken from a Christmas card. She held her liturgy program
reverently and sang into it with the intensity of a seraphim. She was the same
during the eucharistic portion of the special Mass. This was a woman of faith.
It was as if she were a bride at her wedding.
In fact, I learned, she was going to be married. Together with her
intended, she would soon gather at the side of a lake and recite something from
Yu-Lan Fung -- or the Girl Scout Oath -- that would define their
relationship.
That sounds so skeptical, and I dont mean it that way.
Im not at all certain how Patricias wedding liturgy will come out.
But one thing was certain: It would be on her terms. Pat wasnt mad at
anyone, but the Catholic church wasnt even going to pick the hymns.
Patricia -- and the bulk of her contemporaries -- would protest
politely that she is as Catholic as a holy water bucket; but the church is her
companion on the journey, not her group leader. Patricia could be classed as a
liberal and, like me, she is liberal because she is Catholic.
Conservatives make up only a small percentage of the true church,
perhaps as little as 7 percent. I simply dont know why we try to dress
each other in borrowed cassocks.
Together with most NCR readers, I was raised in the
shudup-and-eat-your-peas church. I can recall stories of pastors
refusing to witness marriages because the groom was not clean-shaven or the
bride had a dress that was somewhere between a venial and a mortal.
It all began to unravel not long after Vatican II, which closed
its brass doors in 1965. But it was Paul VIs 1968 encyclical, Humanae
Vitae (Of Human Life) that, by forbidding all forms of
contraception, virtually dismantled the fragile moral pyramid. The birth
control pill not only limited the number of Catholic children that would come
into this world; it would also restore the churchs basic teaching about
the primacy of the individual conscience.
Today, most forms of contraception are classed with feminine
hygiene and rarely mentioned. (In my parish when one of the priests announced
that he would not even talk about the pelvic issues for the next six months,
the congregation broke out in grateful applause.)
Since 1968, however, the issues that define state-of-grace
membership in the church have become terribly complicated. In just over two
decades, the world has gone from the pill to petri dishes and to frozen
embryos. Now, the hot issue has shifted slightly from abortion to stem cell
research. The church has much that is worthwhile to say about stem cell
research. The thought of human embryos being strip-mined and then destroyed can
give one pause. But, unfortunately, the church left its credibility behind. As
a result, some of its strongest supporters -- conservative Catholics such as
former Sen. Connie Mack of Florida and the former governor of Wisconsin, Tommy
Thompson (now a member of the Bush cabinet) -- have both supported stem cell
research even as some bishops have hinted that it is virtually a reserved
sin.
Recently, The New York Times reported that some 200 members
of the House of Representatives would support stem cell research -- and a lot
of them are likely to be Catholics. For the rest, its likely that most
Catholics arent entirely sure what stem cell research really is. However,
we can be morally certain that most Catholics dont even know who their
bishop is.
Of late, the hierarchy has distinguished itself by speaking out
against the death penalty and for a living wage. It has urged compassion for
undocumented workers, welfare reform and the dangers of global climate change.
And, with the exception of the federal government itself, no other organization
has done more for the poor and the disenfranchised. Yet, with each new
appointment of a bishop, it paints itself into a corner. It insists that
converts from Mormonism be re-baptized but joins kerchiefs with the Mormons in
excluding gay Boys Scouts, even in parishes where the pastor is gay. Recently,
the bishops of South Africa condemned the use of condoms to reduce the spread
of AIDS in a country where AIDS is as widespread as the common cold. Its
likely that the U.S. bishops would rule the same way.
Now, largely because I write about things Catholic, friends ask my
opinion on the latest Vatican salvos. However, just as often, they will close
the discussion with: Tim, why do you bother? They arent
angry, just indifferent. The teaching church impacts on their life about as
much as an Ann Landers column. With a It doesnt matter, they
close the conversation. In my hometown of Chicago, only 25 percent are at Mass
on Sunday -- and these are the ones Im writing about.
Now the bishops tend to respond to new challenges by issuing
condemnations, generally packaged for them by others. The result is statements
with barely a dash of pastoral sentiment. The poor bishops must now stand back
and watch the Vatican make appointments without even clearing them with the
local don.
I dont know the answers. Only that Patricia isnt
concerned. She doesnt feel the need to be protected by the church,
although there must be times when she needs protection from the church.
Tim Unsworth writes from Chicago where he has been rejected by
three faith-based religions. Write him at unsworth@megsinet.net
National Catholic Reporter, November 9,
2001
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