This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.
Michael Commane
I’d imagine there are many people who would say that I am critical of the institutional Catholic Church.
Some years ago a priest, now a bishop, wrote a critical letter to a newspaper about me and what I had written. He also sent the letter to my then provincial. I thought it might have been more productive and proper had he contacted me directly and we could have discussed his concerns.
But that is not how my dear institutional church works. And I know what I am talking about. I have a book-full of experiences to explain and detail chapter and verse what I’m saying.
It seems the hierarchical church refuses to learn. Maybe it thinks it has nothing to learn, but I can’t help but feel in my bones that far too often it behaves in too secretive a manner and certainly is a dab hand at patronising people.
A former work colleague recently approached me.
She grew up in the UK, is a Catholic, as are her parents and siblings. Her parents are of Irish background and their faith plays an important role in their lives.
Indeed, my colleague, who is in her 30s, is a regular church-goer.
She is upset as are her parents. The reason is that their local parish church in England is about to be sold and they feel they have had little or no communication with their diocese.
She and her family are exasperated by the church’s behaviour. ‘Michael, getting answers is like getting blood from a stone’, she explained.
They certainly have had no say whatsoever in the decision the diocese has made. My friend wanted to pick my ‘clerical brain’ as to the protocol when it comes to church-selling.
We both agreed that the local people, the people who have prayed in that church for generations play no role whatsoever in the ownership of the church. That led to a discussion on what actually it means when we talk about ‘the people of God’.
That’s all fine and dandy but when it comes to hard economics that sort of thinking is side-lined and decisions are calculated on spreadsheets and made by the clerical staff in a diocese or a religious congregation.
In our hour-long conversation I got the impression my friend and her family have been told little or nothing about the decisions that were being made at diocesan headquarters.
I found it so sad when she told me that her parents were life-long supporters of the church, attended Mass every Sunday and many weekdays and now they felt they were ‘nobodys’ when it came to the future of their church, the church that they, their families and friends had financially supported for decades.
That’s no way to treat ‘the people of God’.
The institutional church is in freefall. There are indeed small groups of ‘culture warriors’ who think they can get the church to return to its ‘former glory’.
It’s not going to happen.
The future of the church, the people of God, is with and through the people of God. The church is not the property of the clerical class.
Unfortunately that clerical mind-set seems close to impossible to change.
But it has to change. There is an old Latin expression, ‘Ecclesia semper reformanda est’, meaning that the church is always in need of reform.
Was there ever a truer word spoken?
Poor Pope Francis is trying his best but reforming the church must be like attempting to turn an aircraft carrier at sea.
1 comment:
Parishioners have the right to appeal such decisions. It is preferable to do so individually, stating clearly they are parishioners of said parish, they should write to the bishop of the diocese expressing how the closure affects their needs (access to Sunday Mass, etc.). If there is no reply within 30 days, or if the bishop responds insisting he is proceeding with closing the church, the individuals may choose to make "hierarchical recourse" to the Holy See. Most conveniently, this can be done by writing to the Apostolic Nuncio, recalling the same details above, including a copy of the communication already sent to the bishop.
In all of this, the individual must present as an identifiable Catholic, member of the parish and show they will be adversely affected by the actions/decision of the bishop. One begins with the local bishop, and if one is not happy with the outcome (providing the bishop with sufficient time to respond, i.e. one month), one may take it to the Holy See (easiest via the nuncio's office).
It is a waste of time and energy banding together with others to have a petition, or form an ad hoc organisation. Both have no standing in Church law and may be ignored by superiors. The basis is always the individual person and the pastoral cure due them by pastors.
One should also be realistic and consider that structures in the Church are changing in the West and that it is impossible to maintain all churches, chapels and parish structures which existed 20, 30, 50 or 100 years ago.
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