Secular criticism of Church ‘prophetic’, says monk

The Church must be willing to accept criticism from the secu­lar world as “prophetic”, a gathering of Catholics seeking to influence public life has been told, writes Christopher Lamb.

“In the past, the Church saw itself as the prophet with authority to criticise the secular power. Now it is the secular power which has taken on the role of prophet to criticise and correct the Church,” Fr Terence Richardson OSB, the prior of Ampleforth Abbey in North Yorkshire, told a gathering of the Catholic Union last Saturday.

Speaking at the event, held at the Benedictine monastery, he went on: “It seems to me that the Church has to be prepared to accept criticism, to hear the voice of the secular prophet and repent. Only if it does that will it have the authority to denounce the evils in our own day.”

Fr Terence said that the Church should recognise the “truth” in accusations – often levelled by those outside the Church – that it covered up child abuse. Although there is no suggestion that Ampleforth covered up abuse, three of its monks have been convicted of child sex offences.