In the wake of Chicago Cardinal Francis George's heinous comments comparing LGBT people to the Ku Klux Klan after a change to the city's Pride Parade route meant it would pass by a Catholic parish as a morning Mass would have been starting, Truth Wins Out (TWO) initiated a petition calling for him to resign. As much as I agree that someone who espouses and even reiterates such a perspective has no business leading one of the largest Catholic communities in the country, I also know that this petition will not achieve the intended result. There will be many important positive outcomes from such an effort, including allowing thousands of LGBT-supportive Catholics to take a public stand on our behalf, and putting Archdiocesan officials on notice that their actions and statements are being scrutinized. But structural issues within Catholicism that are nearly incomprehensible to most Americans--Catholic or not--mean that public accountability tools such as the TWO petition are essentially meaningless to the Catholic hierarchy.
To put it simply, Catholic bishops and cardinals are accountable only to the Vatican. They have absolutely no accountability to anyone in their Diocese. They are appointed by Papal decree, and terminated from their positions only by the Pope. The people whom Church hierarchs supposedly shepherd have no say in whether they are suitable for their jobs, or the length of their tenure.
In addition, the lives and work of these officials provide little if any opportunity for ongoing interaction with "regular people" on a day-to-day basis, so they often have a much distorted sense of our hopes, dreams, struggles, concerns, relationships and spirituality. In my own conversations with an admittedly small number of bishops and cardinals, I've found that they begin from an assumption of authority, rather than from an acknowledgment of our shared Baptism. They believe they have the unquestioned right to set the terms of our discussion. They make pronouncements that belie fact and expect to go unchallenged. When they do this in the public square, as did Cardinal George, the degree to which they are out of touch with their flock becomes glaringly apparent.
In recent years, the lack of familiarity and accountability has been exacerbated by an influx of money from the extreme right wing of Catholicism, particularly from those who seek to limit reproductive freedoms and the civil rights of LGBT people. Funding from the national Knights of Columbus has poured into the coffers of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and into the Catholic lobbying groups in states with marriage equality measures in the legislature or on ballots. The bishops now have a standing committee and staff devoted to "protecting the sanctity of marriage as a lifetime commitment of one man and one woman." Defeating marriage equality measures is listed as the second policy priority of the bishops' conference, topped only by ending access to abortion. Nearly all of this work is being funded by designated gifts, so those with deep pockets are setting the public agenda of Catholic leaders. During this time when so many dioceses are struggling with declining contributions and the costs of sexual abuse claims, this new source of revenue must look very appealing. Many church leaders strive to be seen as worthy, ramping up rhetoric that appeals to the funders, and further alienating those on the other side of these issues.
It truly saddens me that this kind of politics has trumped pastoral care in our Church. Anyone with ears to hear must know that statements like those of Cardinal George are hurtful. However, his focus is elsewhere, so our hope must lie elsewhere.
As more and more Catholics, public officials, and others acknowledge the growing divide between the leadership and the people of the Catholic Church, the true voice and power of our Church must increasingly be seen as resting with lay people. Sadly, we can no longer look to the bishops for moral guidance. In order for the Church to regain its center, the rest of us must find ways to dismantle or disregard structures that reinforce Vatican centrality at the expense of the people of God, separate leaders from others, or respond to an agenda other than that of the Gospel.
So keep the pressure on Cardinal George: as a human being, he should hear from as many people as possible who find his statements offensive. However, seeking change from that quarter seems a futile effort. The change must come from a rejection of current structures and the empowerment of Catholic lay people.
"The change must come from a rejection of current structures and the empowerment of Catholic lay people."
You can "must" all you want, but I see no reason to think it will ever happen. Can you?
This is what I don't get about Catholics. There is an almost infinite number of way to worship and do good as Christians, with every possible degree of lay participation in decision making. The Catholic church is at one extreme end, the most centralized and autocratic religious sect in the entire world. Lay Catholics are like the champion complainers and grousers and "must"-ers, but it doesn't change the fact that they are powerless to do anything about it. Since they refuse to do the one thing that could make a difference (leave in droves), one has to conclude that they like being victims.
And where are the "good" priests? We are told 4% are abusers. Less than 1% take a moral stance and call on their church for honest and honourable behaviour now. That leaves more than 95% keeping their heads down. Perhaps because they know that taking a moral stance will hurt their career
http://bigjournalism.com/jhudnall/2010/02/13/the-child-molester-scandal-that-wasnt/
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/4/5/01552.shtml
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/4/5/01552.shtml
James 22
James22
If so I am not interested.
To the 'laity:"
Stop giving them your money, time or attention. If you need something worthwhile to do on a Sunday, and are ridden with guilt, try volunteering your time at that soup kitchen or the pediatric burn unit you've been driving past each Sunday on the way to hearing about 'god's love for all mankind.'
Despite the claims made by various liberal catholics in the aftermath of Vatican II, the catholic church has never been about the laity. However, as history clearly shows, the church has often been about money and power. If you really want to make them take notice, stop giving them yours. When enough people stop contributing to the cash flow, then you'll see some actual concern on their part.
On the other hand, a better question to ask yourself is why you would want to be a member of this church in the first place.
I've seen it happen several times before. Usually for the reverse reason of the priest being too liberal minded & the weatlthy congregents using their money to bully a priest/archbishop out.
It happened in Seattle about 18 years ago with Hunthousen.