An anonymous comment left of this blog last evening reads: "The points you make show that you have very little understanding of what the Church is".
Its content and anonymity is in so many ways a metaphor for what is amiss in the Catholic Church in Ireland.
Once it is enunciated that 'you have very little understanding' then one is immediately put in her or his box.
It is a powerful silly put-down line that some church people have used for generations upon generations. It is as if they have confidential information about truth and God that is exclusively their property.
Of course it is profound humbug and arrogant piffle. It is a great line to protect oneself, to cut oneself off from the world - indeed, the world in which the Advocate is present.
It is ironic for someone to talk about a lack of understanding re the church on a day when the Irish police are about to launch an investigation into the behaviour of Irish priests in Africa.
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5 comments:
I would reformulate that anonymous comment as:
You have very little understanding for what some people seem to hold the Church to be.
Which would be something, Michael, I think you could affirm. After all, what sane, mature person could have any understanding for a concept of an institution built on secrecy, privilege (and manifold forms of abuse thereof), suppression, repression and obscurantism?
How can I say yes to this and remain a priest in ministry?
A conundrum
Oh, I don't know, Michael. My comment referred to the concept of the institution these people have, not necessarily to the institution itself.
Though, of course, the institution in its concrete form is strongly influenced by prevelant concepts and is given concrete expressions based on such concepts. The current liturgical "reform", exemplified by the new missal is an example of this. And, sadly, is an expression of particular theological concepts, going all the way to Ratzinger, who has criticised the ethos of the Church as being too "horizontal," at the expense of the "vertical."
There are very serious questions of theological vision behind this - a renewed emphasis on blood, sacrifice and the need for atonement before a just God in preference to the paradigms of hope, love, forgiveness, fellowship and solidarity placed in the forefront by Vatican II.
So the struggle for the soul of the Church continues. If you want to carry it on, I suppose you have to believe in the unpredictable, anarchic, renewing power of the Holy Spirit.
Personally, of course, having "lost" the faith years ago, I have long given up the struggle! :-) But I remain as an interested, very partial observer and am cheering you on from the sidelines!
Because it seems (at least tangentally) relevant, here's something from the Dalai Lama I just came across:
"Whatever path our activity takes, if our intention is to make ourselves useful to others, there is a good chance our conduct will be useful; whereas activities generally considered to be good, such as the practice of religion, risk causing more harm than good if they are not motivated by a desire to help our fellow beings."
That is an interesting comment.
It has often struck me that if we priests are not interested in people, then it is really all a puff of smoke.
And it is also interesting becasue it seems that the crazy conservative/pseudo conservative grouping in the church apear to have no interest in people. It's all to do with the angle of your arms at Mass and the colour and style of vestments.
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