Antwerp Bishop Johan Bonny has published a long letter on the upcoming Synod of Bishops urging the assembly to have the courage to bring the Church’s moral teachings more in line with the lived experience of the laity.
Read the document in full.
10 September 2014, The Tablet
Bishop urges Synod to match Church teaching with laity's lived experience
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This article and the ones preceding remind me of how badly the faithful and so many other Christians are awaiting reform. There are three main sections where Bishop Bonny raises vital and compelling points. Firstly, he demonstrates the need for the Church to be more Christ-like in reaching out to those who need the healing power of the Eucharist. Secondly, he identifies the 'antithetical' operation of the Church currently as it takes a 'like it or lump it' approach, at least at the official and formal level. But thirdly, he identifies the 'credibility deficit' that the Church currently suffers and the crisis of papal authority following the response to Humanae Vitae.
These issues and others are of personal interest to me especially as the Church's official pastoral stance can be so exclusive of those who find themselves in impossible situations. I know priests at the parish level are doing wonderful work but it is long since time that the official teaching of the Church is reformed and inconsistencies in pastoral practice are properly and honestly addressed.
For further reflections on this and other broader topics related to education broadly and Catholic education in particular see www.petereccles.co.uk