22 November 2008
Church in the World?Listen to your lay people?, Pope tells US bishops18 September 2004
POPE JOHN Paul II has told more than 30 US bishops that they should adopt a more collaborative style of governance in the wake of the sex-abuse crisis. He said many of the bishops had spoken to him of a 'crisis of confidence' in church leadership provoked by the abuse scandals, and said there was a 'general call for accountability in the Church's governance on every level and in the relations between bishops, clergy and the lay faithful'. But the Pope also cautioned bishops against exercise of episcopal authority which, in the name of efficient administration, 'can run the risk of distancing the pastor from the members of his flock, and obscuring his image as their father and brother in Christ'.
The Pope's remarks, made on 11 September to bishops from New Jersey and Pennsylvania on their five-yearly ad limina visits to the Vatican, carefully balanced both 'conservative' and 'progressive' critiques of the US bishops. Lay reform groups have blamed the sex abuse crisis on clericalism and lack of accountability to lay faithful, while conservative Catholics have attributed it to bishops' 'bureaucratic' style of governance.
The Pope's address also expressed a core concern of the Vatican's during the crisis, which exploded in the United States in January 2002 and has dominated Catholic news stories there ever since. The Vatican has been anxious at what it sees as a gradual eroding of episcopal authority as a result of sex-abuse litigation. Vatican officials have fought policies and decisions that had the potential to reduce the discretion and authority of the bishop. Consultation, the Pope said, was 'an intrinsic exercise of episcopal authority and a necessary means of strengthening that authority'.
The Pope said the crisis had the potential to purify the Catholic Church's mission in the United States. 'The painful period of self-examination provoked by the events of the past two years will bear spiritual fruit only if it leads the Catholic community in America to a deeper understanding of the Church's authentic nature and mission and a more intense commitment to making the Church in your country reflect, in every aspect of her life, the light of Christ's grace and truth,' he said.
But bishops should also remember that the apostolic authority they exercise is a form of service, inspired by and modelled on the service of Christ, who washed the feet of his disciples, the Pope went on, adding 'Bishops need to be esteemed as successors of the apostles not only in authority and sacred power, but above all by their apostolic life and witness.'
Vatican anxieties at the erosion of episcopal authority have been heightened by a ruling this week against the archdiocese of Los Angeles which will force it to surrender confidential personnel records, including communications between bishops and priests which are protected in canon law. The archdiocese was resisting a 2002 subpoena by a Los Angeles grand jury which is hearing charges of sex abuse against two diocesan priests. The judge in the case rejected the archdiocese's argument that the constitutional separation of Church and State prevented interference in the internal workings of a denomination. Lawyers acting for claimants in 520 civil cases are hoping that the documents will prove that the archdiocese shielded priests it knew to have a history of abuse of minors. A similar ruling by judges in Boston unleashed the flood of civil cases that led eventually to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law.
Boston archdiocese is meanwhile facing lawsuits from some of its own lay people, who are resisting the closure of their parish. Earlier this year Archbishop S?an O'Malley announced that Boston was shutting a sixth of its 357 parishes, partly because of demographic shifts and a shortage of priests, but also because of financial difficulties 'not directly connected to the clergy sex-abuse scandal'. One of those selected for elimination was St Albert's, the smallest of five parishes in Weymouth, a suburb of Boston. At the official closure on 1 September, Fr Ron Coyne, who was one of the priests who called on Cardinal Law to resign, handed over the church's keys to the regional vicar. But since the final Sunday Mass parishioners have maintained an 'eternal prayer vigil', or sit-in, and are filing for an immediate injunction against the archdiocese's seizing or selling of any parish assets.
Ownership of parish assets is a matter of dispute. The archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, which in July filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11, is insisting that parishes hold the title deeds and cannot be forced by the bankruptcy court to help pay off any archdiocesan debts. Archbishop John Vlazny has argued that he has no legal access to parochial assets, but the claimants contend the contrary.
A recent study said more than 10,600 children had reported being molested by American priests since 1950. The Church in the United States has paid nearly $700 million in damages to abuse victims, including some $85 million paid out by the archdiocese of Boston, where the scandal first hit the headlines.
In Rome, the Pope sought in his address to encourage the US bishops. He said he was convinced they could help lead the Church in the United States through a period of renewal. Throughout history, good governance by bishops has helped the Church 'preserve her integrity, independence and fidelity to the Gospel in the face of threats from within and without', the Pope said, adding 'I am convinced that today, as at every critical moment in her history, the Church will find the resources for an authentic self-renewal in the wisdom, vision and zeal of bishops outstanding for their holiness.' |
