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The battle for control of the American church
Your report on the fifth anniversary of Voice of the Faithful (NCR, Jan. 19) correctly emphasized the movement’s commitment to the “center” of the American church. Voice of the Faithful’s members work for a just, pastoral response to victims of sexual abuse, they support American priests and the church’s badly damaged pastoral ministries, and they advocate structural reform by developing or improving diocesan and parish pastoral councils and finance committees. Unfortunately many Catholic leaders no longer regard such Vatican II objectives as “the center.”
NCR illustrates a fairly typical attitude of church officials by quoting a New Jersey monsignor who believes that Voice of the Faithful dissents from church teaching because it opposes mandatory celibacy for the clergy. In fact, it has not taken a position for or against clerical celibacy. In addition, for more than 30 years American Catholic priests have consistently supported reconsideration of mandatory celibacy.
Your readers might note that Voice of the Faithful’s positions correspond almost exactly to those expressed by the bishops’ own National Review Board in 2004. That remarkable group of lay Catholics urged greater openness and accountability, a renewed commitment to mandated structures of lay participation and shared responsibility, and a closer, more collegial relationship between bishops and their priests. Instead, the bishops and the Vatican are presently assessing seminary education, mandating dramatic changes in the role of laypeople in liturgical ceremonies, and issuing guidelines for pastoral practices, all without consulting priests or people.
Unfortunately, NCR’s report misses an important part of the story. Most American Catholic priests, religious, pastoral ministers and laypeople, as well as the press, have taken little or no responsibility for the ever-deepening crisis in the American church. Even those who have occasionally “spoken up” have rarely joined Voice of the Faithful or some comparable organization. Yet, as most of us stand by, a small number of self-described “faithful” Catholics, like that monsignor, have seized the opportunity to claim “the center” of the American church, relocating Voice of the Faithful along with the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin and the first generation of the National Review Board, on the left. Their control of the American church is now almost unchallenged. If NCR readers want to change that, they can get started at www.votf.org and help by sending a check.
DAVID J. O’BRIEN
Worcester, Mass.
David J. O’Brien is a member of the board of trustees of Voice of the Faithful.
Robert Royal’s column on global climate change (NCR, Feb. 2) is an appalling concatenation of scientific errors, pious distortions and dangerous advice. Science is based on concrete evidence gathered by methods that are carefully monitored by peer review. Although Mr. Royal claims to have expertise because he said he has “carefully studied” what he calls “anthropogenic warming” an unspecified number of years ago for an unnamed book he wrote, the scientific evidence he quotes to back up his overblown claim that scientists and the rest of us do not know for certain that global warming is “real” is total hogwash. Pseudo science is what he relies on. The “fact” that the mean temperatures may have varied multiple times by as much as the difference between New England and Miami (25 degrees) “in as little as 25 years” is not supported by any evidence I can find in the literature. The publication of this piece is an embarrassment to a journal dedicated to responsible journalism.
FRANK LAWLOR
Royal Oak, Md.
This is to commend you for Mary Gail Frawley-O’Dea’s article about priest sex abuse (NCR, Dec. 29). For a Catholic to blame the lawyer for the pedophile victim for making a legal complaint makes about as much sense as blaming the homeowner for having a home a burglar decides to invade. The fault for the church’s problem arising out of the legal actions taken against it by victims of sex abuse lies with the administrators of the church, not with the abused or his or her legal counsel. It takes great courage for a lawyer to take a case against a party who stands well in the community, such as the bishop. It requires no courage to criticize the lawyer for affording representation to the victim of the bishop’s mismanagement.
JEROME F. DOWNS
San Francisco
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It is easy to understand some of the frustration people may have with attorneys who have made millions through their lawsuits against the Catholic church. Such frustration was expressed in August Tican’s letter to the editor (NCR, Jan. 26). It is easy to question their motivation with such large amounts of money involved. But would our children be safer if attorneys had never filed a suit representing any victim of sexual abuse by a priest? How much do we know now that would never have been known without the work of attorneys to force the collection and release of much painful information? No matter what the motivation of the attorneys involved, our children are certainly safer as a result of their work.
BILL BETZEN
Dallas
Two bishops in Poland admit being Russian informants during the Soviet occupation of their nation (NCR, Jan. 19). Is that John Paul II spinning in his grave this very moment? But wait, there’s more. Archbishop Jozek Michalik, chairman of the Polish bishops’ conference, promised “a public report,” according to the Chicago Tribune. “But instead of making a public disclosure of the findings, the result will be forwarded to the Vatican.” Archbishop Michalik added, “Nobody in Poland has the authority to judge and assess a bishop, only the Holy See has that authority.” We ancient, loyal Catholics are finding it more and more difficult to practice our faith.
TOM RIORDAN
Ocala, Fla.
Shame on Msgr. Tim O’Connor for calling the police to stake out an elderly beloved parishioner whom he suspected of petty theft from the collection plate (NCR, Jan. 26). Police found a marked $20 bill in his pocket. I wonder if Msgr. O’Connor has a certified financial audit done every year that he shares with his parishioners. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate morally if all the priests, monsignors, bishops and cardinals called the police when they had credible evidence of sexual abuse by a priest? Certainly, what has been done in the past -- church hierarchy transferring priests who have raped and sexually abused little boys and little girls -- is far worse than a “mentally limited” old man taking a $20 bill.
MARY-ELLEN CREAMER
Philadelphia
Colman McCarthy in his column (NCR, Jan. 26) states that religious women have taken the vow of obedience to obey the hierarchical, male-run church. However, they really vow to obey God and to follow the Gospel. Neither God nor the Gospel would ask these women to follow a sinful, domineering, exclusive hierarchy. They are asked to follow the Gospel where all are included, all are respected and reverenced and where each is valued for who she or he is. This is what women religious profess. Even before Vatican II, women religious were taught that they need not obey sinful commands. Therefore, they are bound not to follow a sinful structure, but to follow the just way of the Gospel.
(Sr.) JOELLEN SBRISSA, CSJ
Chicago
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Colman McCarthy’s statement that “they vowed it” (that is, obedience to a bishop) doesn’t hold water. Did he study the rituals of all the congregations of religious women before Vatican II to which these women vowed themselves? I haven’t, but I find it difficult to believe they really vowed their lives to anyone other than God through Jesus Christ and in the light of the Holy Spirit. If they did, however, vow themselves to a mortal bishop, I could add to Mr. Briggs’ book a chapter or two about sisters who were half dead because a pastor shut off their furnace. I’m sure other readers could add their own stories of pastors and bishops who would show those sisters just who was boss around there. Vows of obedience, chastity, celibacy and poverty were never vows made to the leadership of the Catholic church.
(Fr.) BILL BRUNNER, SCC
Jefferson, Iowa
Peter J. Riga’s article, “What Catholics could learn from the Mennonites” (NCR, Dec. 22) invites a direct answer. Catholics could learn that the Gospel precedes the church. Jesus’ command to his disciples was to bring the Gospel to the world. The church was founded not by Jesus but by the early Christians as the vehicle to effectively preach the Gospel. This fact, often forgotten in the need to preserve an existing church structure, was brought out clearly in the Second Vatican Council in the document on mission (Ad Gentes). Its first chapter begins with the words, “The pilgrim church is missionary by her very nature.” The church does not simply include the preaching of the Gospel as one of her duties. The church only happens when it is proclaiming the Gospel. In this, the Catholic world could learn from the Mennonites because the Gospel is not simply a verbal message but rather a way of life, which words only reinforce. Spreading the Gospel is effective only when it is a way of life. That is the message the Mennonites continue to show us. In the same issue of NCR, you gave us an example of how this can be done in the life of a Maryknoll missioner, Fr. Bob McCahill. Where Christians like Bob are, there is the church, par excellence.
LARRY BOUDREAU
San Antonio
During the last few years working in the church, I heard on several occasions from bishops, priests and others that the next big scandal would be related to finances and financial accountability. The comment seems to have set off a flurry of diocesan activity of buying computer software that would keep parishes in line, tracking the payroll and benefits of employees as well as the background screening results of thousands of people who work and minister in the church. Although parishes are somewhat autonomous, some sort of central monitoring isn’t a bad idea, particularly in light of the recent article concerning Villanova University’s research claiming that 85 percent of U.S. dioceses report embezzlement (NCR, Dec. 29). The application of sound business practice in the church should be the norm and not the outright theft that Joe Feuerherd implies in the article.
Although I wonder about his interpretation of the report findings, I agree with the implication that we are facing a tremendous institutional dilemma. It’s not so much the dishonest church employees or volunteers who are the immediate cause. It’s who is watching the store. If future scandals are related to finance and financial accountability, it will be difficult to defend ourselves when we regularly put men in charge of substantial human and fiscal resources with no training or aptitude for the responsibilities. Many are resentful or defiant when it comes to that side of their pastoral responsibilities. We seem to constantly build and rebuild systems to compensate for varying degrees of mismanagement, negligence, and malpractice without addressing ways of proactively correcting the root causes.
TOM SCHROEDER
Clearwater, Fla.
Letters to the editor should be limited to 250 words and preferably typed. If a letter refers to a previous issue of NCR, please give us that issue’s date. We reserve the right to edit all letters. Letters, National Catholic Reporter, PO Box 411009, Kansas City, MO 64141-1009. Fax: (816) 968-2280. E-mail: letters@ncronline.org (When sending a letter via e-mail, please indicate "NCR Letters" in the subject line. We've installed a new spam filter on our letters e-mail account. If it's not clear to us that yours is a letter, we might delete it.) Please be sure to include your street address, city, state, zip and daytime telephone number
National Catholic Reporter, February 16, 2007