FATHER FIGURES
Last fall The Dallas Morning News reported on a trend that has been apparent for some time among younger American Catholic Priests. In a reversal of classic generational roles, they are more conservative than the older, more liberal Priests who were ordained in the 1960s and 1970s. In many ways they seem intent on undoing Vatican II. They want to restore the authority of the clergy and “educate” the laity to respect that authority. I find the trend worrisome, not the right response to the troubles we have seen in recent years. I believe excessive authoritarianism is part of our problem. We’ve got serious issues here and we need a discussion, not a lecture.
Surely, no one would suggest that we transform the Church into a Jeffersonian democracy. But a laity educated in our society, having learned to challenge civil authority, cannot be expected to give clerical authority a free pass. We cannot be expected to let go without question policies, decisions, or even moral judgments that don’t pass our notions of reason or justice. When we see something wrong we will speak up and expect the clergy to hear us out. I’m afraid these new conservatives will drive the American Church into the irrelevance that an earlier generation drove the Western European Church to, precisely the problem Vatican II was called to address.
Nor does anyone expect our clergy to sit idly by and watch their congregations descend slowly into debauchery. We expect them to speak up when they see moral weakness or error, whether we entirely agree or not. We expect them to teach. That’s what they are there for. We can, should, and do look to them for moral guidance. But the days when we do that without question are over and that is as it should be. It would be a good thing if those days were also over inside the clergy. It is a virtuous Priest who is obedient to his Bishop, and a virtuous Bishop who is obedient to his Pope. But it is no virtue to blindly follow superiors when they are wrong, not in business, not in government, not even the army, and not in the Church. Priests must make their voices heard on the most pressing issues facing them. Please, let’s don’t go back to the day when they simply submitted under the principle that God’s Vicar on earth, along with his surrogates, could never possible be wrong.
Western Europeans left the Church in frustration. Americans, for now, are staying but protesting loudly over what we see as abuses of power and wrong headed decisions. In our private lives we listen, but go our own way. In matters of Church policy and clerical behavior our voices are growing louder. I believe the volume will continue to increase until the voices get through. American laity doesn’t just want to vent. We have something to say and we demand to be heard.
One more thing; we tend to place our clerics on pedestals, my Church perhaps more that most, but I suspect the same is true of Rabbis, Imams, and religious leaders in other faiths. I am no exception. The Priests I know are among those men whom I hold in highest regard. But putting them on pedestals is idolatry. The idea that Priests can do no wrong is one that has had terrible consequences. We should never forget that they are men, subject to the same human frailties as us all. When they prove to be human we should not allow our faith to be shaken. Men can be wrong.
Surely, no one would suggest that we transform the Church into a Jeffersonian democracy. But a laity educated in our society, having learned to challenge civil authority, cannot be expected to give clerical authority a free pass. We cannot be expected to let go without question policies, decisions, or even moral judgments that don’t pass our notions of reason or justice. When we see something wrong we will speak up and expect the clergy to hear us out. I’m afraid these new conservatives will drive the American Church into the irrelevance that an earlier generation drove the Western European Church to, precisely the problem Vatican II was called to address.
Nor does anyone expect our clergy to sit idly by and watch their congregations descend slowly into debauchery. We expect them to speak up when they see moral weakness or error, whether we entirely agree or not. We expect them to teach. That’s what they are there for. We can, should, and do look to them for moral guidance. But the days when we do that without question are over and that is as it should be. It would be a good thing if those days were also over inside the clergy. It is a virtuous Priest who is obedient to his Bishop, and a virtuous Bishop who is obedient to his Pope. But it is no virtue to blindly follow superiors when they are wrong, not in business, not in government, not even the army, and not in the Church. Priests must make their voices heard on the most pressing issues facing them. Please, let’s don’t go back to the day when they simply submitted under the principle that God’s Vicar on earth, along with his surrogates, could never possible be wrong.
Western Europeans left the Church in frustration. Americans, for now, are staying but protesting loudly over what we see as abuses of power and wrong headed decisions. In our private lives we listen, but go our own way. In matters of Church policy and clerical behavior our voices are growing louder. I believe the volume will continue to increase until the voices get through. American laity doesn’t just want to vent. We have something to say and we demand to be heard.
One more thing; we tend to place our clerics on pedestals, my Church perhaps more that most, but I suspect the same is true of Rabbis, Imams, and religious leaders in other faiths. I am no exception. The Priests I know are among those men whom I hold in highest regard. But putting them on pedestals is idolatry. The idea that Priests can do no wrong is one that has had terrible consequences. We should never forget that they are men, subject to the same human frailties as us all. When they prove to be human we should not allow our faith to be shaken. Men can be wrong.
posted by Onfoot at 7:33 AM
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