Inside
NCR
You are about to wade into an
extensive special section on Vatican II, the reform council that opened 40
years ago this month, so I need not say much here. I would, however, like to
thank the writers who delivered eloquence and insight (on time and at correct
word lengths) and helped make this package of articles broadly representative
and wonderfully diverse.
Undoubtedly the debate over the “true” representation of
Vatican II, the most “orthodox” understanding of its intent and the
implications of it all for the future of the church will go on for some time.
One of my favorite clerics, a monsignor, would often say, “As far as
Christianity goes, we’ve barely climbed out of the trees.” I daresay,
as far as Vatican II goes, we’ve just begun to realize we can move out of
the trees.
Yet I would also submit that a striking piece of evidence of the
council’s intent and effect is the range of the conversation that occurs
in these pages this week, from the rich essay by Garry Wills to the lively
views on our letters pages. We have come upon the adulthood of the laity, and
we have grown in our understanding of ourselves as a people of God. We say with
confidence that we, too, are called to holiness.
I am convinced that throughout the year NCR with all of its
readers and contributors stands as evidence, with other lay efforts,
that the council lives and continues to reform the church and its members.
One might argue that another bit of
evidence of the council’s staying power is the writing of Fr. Richard
McBrien. It was rare for priests to engage in such bold truth-telling in the
days before the council. And if they had the stomach for it, they probably
didn’t have the popular platforms from which to pronounce their views. So
I call special notice to his column in this week’s issue, where he takes
on some of the popular, but off-the-mark assumptions and analyses that have
been advanced to explain the causes of the priest sex abuse crisis.
I often refer to our letters section
as a must-read. This week’s is especially rich with for-and-against
opinions about the United States’ steady advance toward war with Iraq and
your continuing comments on the clergy sex abuse crisis.
The Winter Books section, also in
this issue, contains a page of book recommendations from readers. Because of
the size of the Vatican II section, we had to pare the books section a bit, so
were able to use only a portion of the responses. That being the case, I’d
like to invite you to continue sending in recommendations based on what new
you’ve read during the past year, and we’ll run them out in the next
two issues. Please keep the reviews brief.
Some thoughts on the ideas about
laity taking control of the money as a way to get the hierarchy’s
attention — the subject of last week’s Inside NCR — have
begun to arrive. Please keep sending any thoughts or ideas. I think we may have
the makings of an interesting discussion.
-- Tom Roberts
My e-mail address is troberts@natcath.org
National Catholic Reporter, October 4,
2002
|
