Crisis in the Church
April 2010
We are all aware of the ongoing revelations concerning paedophilia and child abuse within the Roman Catholic Church. The responses to these revelations vary from outright disbelief to extreme disgust.
The following is my own opinion on the matter and I give it to you for what it’s worth.
I have known two such people personally. The first was in my class of 41 students in the seminary. We went through seven years of preparation together and were ordained on the same day. Years later it emerged that even at that stage he had made subtle approaches to various students, who at the time, did not realise the meaning of these approaches.
This man is no longer a priest, and ‘hear say’ has it that he is in hiding from the Irish police somewhere in South America.
The second was a year ahead of me in the Seminary. He was in his late twenties or early thirties when he joined. Years later accusations were made against him and he is presently serving a jail sentence.
Both these men were serial predators and did enormous damage. Looking back with hindsight it is my opinion that both of these men were strongly inclined towards, or addicted to, this sort of activity long before they entered the seminary.
I now consider our churches reaction to the present and ongoing revelations.
Again I emphasise that this is my personal view and understanding of the matter.
For me there are two catholic churches. The prophetic church and the political church.
The prophetic church is the church who’s sole concern is the teaching and living out of the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Its primary concern is the physical and spiritual wellbeing of its members. This is the church you find in most parishes throughout the world. This is the church we have in Corsham.
The political church is the church that governs and runs an independent state called Vatican City. It has its head of state, its ministries, its security and its network of embassies and ambassadors in almost every country in the world. In the church they are just called by different names. The power of this political entity is enormous worldwide and it keeps strict control of all its subjects by carefully picking and monitoring all those in positions of authority. All of the persons in authority at the centre of this political church are ordained priests but are also, to a greater or lesser extent, career politicians. They are picked for their loyalty to the Vatican State and for their vigilance in fostering its political power and influence.
Despite its concern with its political power and its reputation, the political church is necessary for the existence, growth and survival of the prophetic church. Without the visible, organised institution and structure of the political church the prophetic church would be a largely incoherent, fragmented and unfocused collection of groups seeking God in their own way; each with its own set of values.
Tension always exists between these two wings of the church. The prophetic wing, want to rush ahead with very little thought to continuity or stability. The political wing, want to advance much more slowly and cautiously while building a structure and support system as they move forward.
The political wing because of its structure and support system is always the more.
powerful. When in balance the interaction of these two wings is good and fruitful.For a period of years during and after the Second Vatican Council they were in balance but in recent years and for many centuries before Vatican 11 the political wing was in control.
Therefore when the problem of child abuse arose the political wing of the church, which has an excellent communications and information gathering system, was immediately aware of it. Being political and focused on the preservation and good name of the church institution, its reaction was political - ignore it and hide it. When this was no longer possible a move was made into damage control mode; this involved firstly denying knowledge of it, then apologising to the victims, and then the sacrifice of some fairly important people - all be it not very important people - by resignation. If this does not work you will see the resignation of more and more important figures in the church institution.
You can see how closely the reaction of the Government of this country to the expenses scandal parallels the reaction of the Government of the church to the abuse of children scandal. They are both political entities and therefore tend to react in the same way when threatened.
While this predictable reaction of the political church to internal and external threat disappoints me it does not surprise me.
What surprises and angers me, and many of you also, is the continuing preoccupation of Church leadership with preserving the political institution and its system of government and control, on which their power and careers depend. This is not only an insult to the victims of child abuse but also to you and I who regard the Catholic Church as our Church. It is this political structure and the total control it imposes that is at the very root of the present problem. The game of ‘who knew what and when did he knew it,’ I find deeply insulting. (Echoes of Nixon and the Watergate scandal in America). I have no doubt in my mind that everything was known in The Vatican from the very beginning and that local church authorities were acting in accordance with instructions from above.
It is this Vatican institution, its system of government and insistence on total control, which caused the crisis in the first instance. Firstly by its preference in promoting a certain type of person into positions of authority. Secondly by its preoccupation with the welfare of the institution rather than the welfare of its members. And thirdly by its inability to put individual justice before the corporate good name. These are the causes that need to be addressed, but so far there seems to be no understanding of this or else an unwillingness to correct them.
In short, at the present time, the concerns of the prophetic church need to be given priority over the concerns of the political church.
I think the time has come to let our voices be heard, the voices of the ordinary members of our church, both laity and clergy, for we are today’s and tomorrows prophets.
It is no longer sufficient to sit back and see how they will handle it because they have shown an inability to handle it with the humility, compassion and justice that is required.
The Catholic Church is also our church and many of you will share in my disappointment and concern.
Now, we (you and I) are being told to pray and make atonement.
No wonder we are angry and upset.