Gumbleton's departure

There is a good rule of thumb regarding public notices about personnel issues: They’re probably more complicated than they appear. That most likely goes for bishops, too.

And so, we presume, it is with the case of Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, auxiliary of Detroit, who has been told he must leave St. Leo, the parish he has served for 23 years.

His departure as pastor has developed, understandably, into a bit of a drama, with conflicting views of why he is being removed and who’s behind it. The saga has played out on our Web site (NCRcafe.org -- including video clips) and in this week’s issue ( see story).

It should be apparent to all, given the amount of coverage Gumbleton has received on these pages and by the fact that his homilies appear weekly on our Web site (a practice that will continue), that we are deeply sympathetic with his view of church, his conception of how hierarchy should relate to the community, and his involvement in a host of issues, not a few of which have put him at odds with many of his brother bishops and those above him.

Gumbleton is an intelligent, deeply read and prayerful individual who, it is clear, decided at some point in his career that speaking truthfully to his community was more important than climbing the ecclesiastical ladder.

We don’t make the point necessarily to indict other bishops or presume they are being disingenuous. Some of them are without a doubt heartfelt and sincere in their beliefs. However, we have known enough of them over the years who harbor the same questions Gumbleton speaks aloud, or who share privately the same convictions he preaches. They simply know it would be impolitic to speak out; some believe that “the faithful” would be “confused” should they publicly delve too deeply into a topic’s complexity or their own doubts about what they are told they should hold as absolutes.

Gumbleton believes that Catholics can be taught, that they can handle complexity. He also believes one can question and debate teachings about such topics as homosexuality or the place of women in the church without being disloyal or unfaithful.

How much Gumbleton’s speaking out had to do with his removal is, of course, left to speculation. We would tend to agree with him that it probably had a lot to do with it.

More than one person commenting on the situation has remarked that the surprise is not that he’s been asked to leave but “that he’s lasted as long as he has.” The remark is neither snide nor inaccurate -- it is simply a measure of these times in the church.

It is well known, too, that local communities, people in the parishes, are rarely consulted about their desires regarding pastors and bishops. It is a multi-tiered system and those in the pews are clearly on the bottom rung of the hierarchical scheme. They have little, if anything, to say about who will lead the community, who will have the privilege of preaching to them as a captive audience each week, about who, by virtue of distant appointment alone, will take on the mantle of spiritual authority for all.

So the situation at St. Leo in Detroit, truth be told, is not unusual. It appears that the orders that Gumbleton give up pastoral duties came directly from Rome, so it seems unlikely that petitioning Cardinal Adam Maida to change his decision will be successful. The bright side, of course, is that Gumbleton remains a priest in good standing and that at a healthy 77 he is still able to travel widely and minister to those for whom he remains a symbol of hope and integrity.

John Allen, in his reflection on Abbé Pierre on Page 7 warns against what he calls a “purple ecclesiology,” or, as he explains it, a concentration on a segment of the hierarchy as representing the entire church. “Purple ecclesiology” is a “a prescription for grumpiness.”

He is not suggesting, of course, that people anesthetize themselves against certain facts in the church. Rather, he points to Abbé Pierre as an example of how creative Catholics who understand the church as a much broader set of realities and people can often find a wide berth for their convictions, their spirituality and for shaping Catholic community.

The members of St. Leo will probably have to take comfort in the happy experience of Bishop Gumbleton as their pastor for as long as it has lasted and offer him every support possible in his new ministry.

National Catholic Reporter, February 2, 2007