Another Voice

Following up on my thoughts last week about the importance of ENCOUNTER, I am writing this week to invite you to share some thoughts with me.

Please write – you can send your thoughts to me at jadleuven@gmail.com – I would appreciate your telling me who you are and whether or not you want your observations identified or simply listed as anonymous.

I want to know what YOU think are the important issues for Christianity today. Your concerns. Your hopes and wishes. I will publish what I consider the most thoughtful and/or original pieces that come my way…..or I may summarize if I get a lot of responses.

In October 1517, Martin Luther issued his own observations about Christianity in his day……..

I await your observations.

Jack

During a mid-day prayer service with American bishops, on Wednesday September 23,  at Washington’s St. Matthew Cathedral,  Pope Francis told the U.S. bishops that they should not close in on themselves but engage in dialogue as promoters of a “culture of encounter.”

Good advice for all bishops, for all popes, and for all of us: building bridges, learning together through constructive dialogue, as we engage in and promote a culture of encounter.

Interested in trends and movements, I see at least four areas for a contemporary Roman Catholic cultural encounter: a polarized church, institutional discomfort with an historical-critical understanding of scripture and tradition, an institutional blindness toward women priests, and a questionable institutional environmental morality…..Of course there are many other areas for “encounter.”

A POLARIZED CHURCH

Writing in the Boston Globe on September 21 (“Pope Francis’ balancing act”), historian Gary Wills observed that there are now two Roman Catholic churches and each is in some degree alien to the other: “our church” which is people-oriented and “the other church” which is hierarchy-oriented.

Our church wants married priests (72 percent in a March 2014 Pew poll), wants women priests (68 percent), and uses contraceptives for family planning (77 percent). The “other church” remains opposed to these realities. Priests in “our church” know that their parishioners do not agree with the official positions of the “other church,” but they do their best to listen, support, and minister to them. Priests committed to “other church,” as Wills notes, “do not look around at their congregations. They look up at the hierarchical ladder they mean to climb. They are not pastors but careerists.”

AN INSTITUTION DISCOMFORT WITH HISTORICAL-CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING

Our religious knowledge, ideas, and beliefs are not static. One cannot correctly understand Sacred Scripture without an historical-critical understanding: how the culture, language, and life environment of people back then affected the meaning of the texts back then.

But this holds true as well for all official doctrinal pronouncements. They too need to be understood in their own historical contexts, over the centuries.

We do not have the same cosmology, philosophy, or cultural world view of the churchmen who wrote the Nicene Creed, for instance. We really could use a contemporary creed. (In one of my theology classes, I asked my students to write their own creeds. The results were wonderfully uplifting because they gave witness to genuine belief.)

When it comes to an historical-critical understanding of Catholic belief, “other church” people really need some in-service updating. I have often thought that bishops (including popes of course) should be required to take and satisfactorily pass a certain number of continuing education courses every couple years, in order to maintain their certification as trust-worthy and knowledgeable leaders in the church. If they don’t pass, they could be given a year’s leave of absence for further study, or be simply asked to retire.

All doctrinal formulations are provisional. They worked yesterday. Some work today. Others need to be reformulated in the light of contemporary theological understanding and the continuing growth in human understanding. Contemporary people, for instance, would not follow the advice of a medical doctor anchored in nineteenth century medical practice and understanding. Why then should it be good religious practice to follow the prescriptions of church leaders still anchored in an antiquated culture, language, theology, and world view?

AN INSTITUTIONAL BLINDNESS TOWARD WOMEN PRIESTS

In his apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), Pope Francis wrote: “The reservation of the priesthood to males, as a sign of Christ the spouse who gives himself in the Eucharist, is not a question open to discussion.” Here of course we need a bit of historical-critical reflection.

Certainly the historical Jesus did not ordain any women. On the other hand, he didn’t ordain any men either. A man of his time, the idea of ordination probably never entered Jesus’ mind. We do know that in the early church those who presided at Eucharist were the leaders of small Christian communities. We know as well that among those leaders were men and women. Just as we know that among Jesus disciples were men and women; and among the early apostles there were men and women.

Of course women presided at Eucharist in the early church. And of course they do so today.

Women’s ordination is a contemporary reality, as it should be. It is a reality that institutional leadership needs to “encounter,” acknowledge, accept, and promote. With all due respect to those who still repeat it, asserting that women cannot be ordained ministers (priests) is an ignorant observation. And we all know that such ignorance is never bliss.

A QUESTIONABLE ENVIRONMENTAL MORALITY

Pope Francis has been a strong advocate for human responsibility for the environment. He regularly urges the world to phase out highly-polluting fossil fuels. In his encyclical Laudato  si’ (dated 24 May 2015 but officially published on 18 June 2015) he stressed: “We know that technology based on the use of highly polluting fossil fuels … needs to be progressively replaced without delay.” Some of his fellow U.S. bishops, however, are still not getting the message.

According to Reuters (see September 22, 2015, “In clash with pope’s climate call, U.S. Church leases drilling rights.”), in the very heart of U.S.A. oil country, several dioceses and other Roman Catholic institutions are leasing out drilling rights to oil and gas companies to bolster their finances. In the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, for instance, church officials have signed three new oil and gas leases – and this after Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical.

A Reuters review of county documents in Texas and Oklahoma has found 235 oil and gas leasing deals signed by Roman Catholic Church authorities since 2010. These two states, most recently, have been at the forefront of a boom in U.S. energy production. Church authorities receive a royalty ranging from 15 to 25 percent of the value of what is taken out of the ground. Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul S. Coakley signed the most recent deal on September 3, 2015, giving privately held oil company Comanche Resources rights to operate on 160 acres in Major County in exchange for 18.75 percent of the value of the oil and gas produced.

During his September 23 address to the group of about 300 U.S. bishops, Pope Francis told the bishops to dialogue fearlessly. Indeed, we must all do that if we will promote “encounter.”

Genuine dialogue only happens, however, when the dialogical partners accept two principles of co-operation:

(1) No one is excluded because of gender, sexual orientation, or theological stance.

(2) No one has all the truth.

We dialogue because we humbly acknowledge that we still have a lot to learn from the other, about the other, and about ourselves.

This week end….A very brief meditation before the pope arrives in the USA

He is 94 years young and one of the very last of the “Jadot bishops.” Francis A. Quinn was bishop of Sacramento from 1980 to 1994 and gained a reputation for his concrete and practical pastoral ministry and strong support for lay leadership. Just a few days before the arrival of Pope Francis in Washington DC, Bishop Quinn wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times — “How the Pope Might Renew the Church,” September 18, 2015 — that the Roman Catholic Church should consider optional celibacy for priests, the ordination of women, and allowing Catholics who are divorced and remarried to receive Communion.

In an interview published in America magazine – “California Bishop Voices Support for the Ordination of Women,” September 18, 2015 — Quinn spoke with unabashed frankness about the changes he would like to see.

“I personally think the Spirit is calling women to be deacons and priests, but the Spirit hasn’t yet communicated it to the teaching church….I can’t see any reason why women shouldn’t be priests,” Bishop Quinn said. “The church would benefit greatly.” Quinn acknowledged that he has had “personal ideas” about the ordination of women for decades; but in the past he “would never preach about it or say it publicly,” since Pope John Paul II had taken it “off the table.”On several occasions, Pope Francis has reiterated the position of John Paul II. In his apostolic exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis wrote: “The reservation of the priesthood to males, as a sign of Christ the Spouse who gives himself in the Eucharist, is not a question open to discussion.”

Francis Quinn, however, is now courageously saying to Pope Francis and to his other brother bishops that it is time to put women’s ordination back on the table.

In Acts of the Apostles (2:17) we read: “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”

Bishop Quinn has good dreams for the church but he is greatly concerned about the future of the church and its young people. They too need a vision. An increasing number of young people either belong to no church, are agnostic, or have an overly individualist spirituality, without understanding the need for community. “The main challenge facing the church today is not simply to resolve questions like celibacy,” Bishop Quinn wrote, “but to relearn how to communicate a deeper, more intelligent, more relevant religion that leads to a life of acceptance and love.”

Holy Wisdom for sure……..Thank God for Bishop Francis A. Quinn!

Pope Francis, drawing on an old RCC tradition, is proclaiming a Jubilee Year of Mercy. It will begin officially on December 8, 2015 and conclude on November 20, 2016. “I am convinced,” Francis said, that the whole church…will find in this jubilee the joy to rediscover and render fruitful the mercy of God, with which we are all called to give consolation to every man and woman of our time.”

The year-long jubilee, according to Vatican officials, will include a number of individual “jubilee days,” for groups such as religious men and women, deacons, priests, catechists, the sick and disabled, teenagers, and prisoners. (Nothing has been said about “jubilee days” for gays, divorced and remarried, nor for those excommunicated because they support women’s ordination.) Young people, however, will be able to celebrate their own special jubilee days with Pope Francis at World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, at the end of July 2016.

The last big Jubilee Year was 2000, but as Robert Mickens observed in the National Catholic Reporter (March 16, 2015) it was not all that great. “If John Paul II’s intuition was to usher in an era of mercy and forgiveness,” Mickens observed, “he lacked the physical and mental energy as well as the necessary support of his closest aides to do so with any real creativity or boldness.”

Maybe Francis will do better this time around? I hope so and have some positive suggestions.

The notion of a Christian jubilee year goes back to the Book of Leviticus (see Leviticus 25:8-13). It called for a jubilee year every fifty years, in which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgiven, and God’s mercies would be especially demonstrated.

The first Christian jubilee year was proclaimed in 1300 by Pope Boniface VIII, for pilgrims visiting Rome and offering the full pardon of all their sins, if they visited the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul and fulfilled other requirements. The granting of special indulgences was always a key feature of earlier jubilees. (It is hard to say today just what exactly an indulgence means. I will bypass that topic this week.)

Clearly what Pope Francis has in mind for the upcoming Jubilee Year of Mercy is that the institutional church and individual Christians extend forgiveness, compassion, and a welcoming back to the church of those who for various reasons have been excluded or have felt abandoned.

I have twelve suggestions (just like there are twelve gifts of the Holy Spirit) for the Jubilee of Mercy. In every diocese, starting with the Bishop of Rome (i.e. Pope Francis) I suggest that bishops go out of their way to accomplish the following:

1. For those excommunicated for their active support for women’s ordination, the bishop will lift the excommunication and welcome back to the church those women and men who had been thrown out.

2. For those excommunicated for their active support for same-sex marriage, the bishop will lift the excommunication and welcome back to the church those women and men who had been thrown out.

3. For those children not allowed to attend parochial schools because their parents are a gay couple, the bishop will order that no parochial school in his diocese will continue to exclude these children. He will apologize for earlier exclusions or expulsions.

4. For those who have been fired from their teaching positions or from parish ministries because they entered into a same-sex marriage, the bishop will announce a major change in diocesan policy and welcome back those women or men who had been fired.

5. For those divorced and remarried but not accepted as full members of the church, the bishop will welcome them back to the church, and he will authorize that their second marriages be accepted and blessed.

6. Recognizing the importance of being generous and merciful toward the tens of thousands of nonfunctioning married priests, bishops in the Jubilee of Mercy will allow and welcome back to full ordained ministry those men who wish to do so.

7. Recognizing the importance of qualified ordained ministers, bishops in the Jubilee of Mercy will begin to ordain already ministerially qualified married men.

8. Recognizing the importance of opening ordained ministry to women, bishops in the Jubilee of Mercy will begin to ordain women to the diaconate.

9. Recognizing that bishops must break out of the trappings of power, authority, money, and privilege, bishops in the Jubilee of Mercy will establish a “Jubilee Committee” of lay and ordained advisors to determine how bishops can best do this.

10. The Jubilee Committees in every diocese will supervise the removal and selling of outrageously expensive episcopal croziers, miters, crosses, rings and other episcopal ornaments. Money will be used to support refugees.

11. As a symbol of the needed change, and respecting Pope’s Francis’ frequent admonitions that bishops adopt a simpler life-style, all bishops will immediately cease wearing ornate Renaissance robes; and they will cease using all medieval episcopal titles of power and privilege.

12. Titles of “eminence” or “excellency” will no longer be permitted or used. Bishops will be called “bishop” or “archbishop” or “cardinal.” The preferred title will be either “father” or “reverend.” For example, people will begin to speak about “Father Timothy Dolan the Archbishop of New York.”

In 2007 about 24% of Americans identified themselves as Roman Catholic. Today that figure is 20% and some studies say it is even lower than that. Of those roughly 20%, just 17% are practicing Catholics. One of the largest religious groups in U.S. society is now the group of former Catholics. And that number is growing: Four-in-ten (41%) of U.S. Roman Catholic adults under age 30 say they could easily see themselves leaving the church.

A Jubilee of Marcy, as I outline it above, might change the statistics. Whether it does or does not, the patterns of Roman Catholic life in the United States need a major overhaul because it is the just, appropriate, and authentically Christian thing to do.

Jubilee Committees now have two months to get their plans in motion. Then… let the Jubilee of Mercy begin! 

Back next week. Enjoying Labor Day weekend with family and friends.

Almost fifty years ago, a young fellow from Michigan went to study theology at the Catholic University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands. His academic advisor was Edward Schillebeeckx, the well-known Dominican theologian. Schillebeeckx was masterful; but he gave the young man many headaches and some sleepless nights.

Thanks to Schillebeeckx, I began to question my belief in God, my undersigning of Jesus Christ, my understanding of divine revelation, my ministerial career, and my own identity as a person. I walked out of his classes each week with more questions than answers. One day, after class, I confronted Schillebeeckx and told him that, thanks to him, I was questioning everything! He chuckled and said: “Then perhaps I am a good teacher. Now you must be a good critical-thinking student and pursue the answers.” For me that was a moment of grace. I gradually began to realize that questioning is a virtue.

Socrates said: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” I learned from Schillebeeckx, and many others over the years, that far too often unexamined belief, sanctifies ignorance and leads people astray. We read distorted-religion stories in the news each day: Islamic fundamentalists in Syria, doing God’s will, raping and decapitating “infidels;” Roman Catholic bishops in Nigeria, safeguarding Catholic belief by condemning homosexuality and supporting Nigerian legislation criminalizing it; and in Kenya Roman Catholic bishops telling their people to boycott immunizing children against polio. The bishops, in their consecrated ignorance, argue that the polio vaccines were secretly designed to stop Kenyans from being able to have babies. They said similar things when the government began a campaign to immunize people against tetanus. Not so holy ignorance really.

Is something true because people believe it, want to believe it, or have vested interests in believing it? I ask this question about contemporary church leaders but also about contemporary politicians with presidential ambitions.

Far too often, people who reject critical thinking become slaves to their own unreflected conformity and then endeavor to en-slave others.

Slaves don’t ask questions……Slaves to the church consider it their duty to NOT ASK those questions that might give the church or church leaders “a bad name.” For decades, slaves to the church (bishops, priests, lay institutional administrators) refused to acknowledge and effectively deal with clerical sexual abuse. Other slaves to ecclesiastical conformity refuse to question the church’s official opposition to women’s ordination, finding it more comfortable and more secure to not rock the ecclesiastical boat.

Many people, who are slaves to power and position, are unable or unwilling to ask the questions that might render themselves powerless. One evening, after dinner, a bishop friend and I were talking about religious experiences. I asked my friend (he is still a friend and now an archbishop) “when was the last time you really felt close to God?” At first he didn’t respond; but I asked him again with honest sincerity. He thought. His eyes began to water a bit. Then he looked at me and said: “forty years ago when I was a newly ordained priest. I was in love with God.”  “And today?” I said. He thought for a while then rather sadly said: “Everything has changed…I owe my soul to the company store.”

Questions…….for church leadership men and women:

1. In my ministry do I build bridges between people or construct barriers, by reinforcing old prejudices or creating qualitative classes of people?

2. Do I strengthen or weaken a basic sense of trust and relatedness to people?

3. Do I encourage and promote other people’s personal responsibility; or do I block it, because I find it personally threatening?

4. Do I oversimplify the human situation or do I help people deal with life’s often tangled complexity?

5. Do I encourage intellectual honesty and stimulate interest in learning and exploring?

4. In what I say and do as a church leader, is my primary concern surface behavior — good PR packaging for the church — or the underlying welfare and health of the people to whom I minister?

5. In what I say and in my own behavior, do I emphasis love, compassion, and growth? Or do I promote fear and anxiety?

6. Do I cry and laugh easily?

7. Can I ask for personal forgiveness when I fail; and can I forgive others unconditionally?

Questioning is a virtue. It opens us to authentic life and genuine Christian belief.

Jesus of Nazareth of course was a good questioner. Just a few examples from the Gospel According to Matthew:

1. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? (Matthew 5:46)
2. If you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? (Matthew 5:47)
3. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? (Matthew 7:3)
4. Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? (Matthew 9:4)
5. Do you believe that I am able to do this? (Matthew 9:28)
6. What did you go out into the desert to see? (Matthew 11:7)
7. If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?  (Matthew 12:11)
8. Who is my mother, and who are my brothers? (Matthew 12:48)
9. Why did you doubt? (Matthew 14:31)
10. Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? (Matthew 15:3)

Due to a Micrsoft 10/Wordpress/JDick problem,  some people received multiple listings today….Sorry about that! I know it is annoying!
What I intended to send was this:

——

Seduction by Religious Fever and Fervor

AUGUST 20, 2015 J. A. DICK

    
Each day we learn of the fierce fanaticism of the Islamic State. As I write this, the morning news reports that 82-year-old Khaled Asaad, who worked for about 50 years as head of antiquities in Palmyra, Syria has been beheaded by ISIS militants and his body has been hung on a column in a main square of the historic site. His crime: idolatry by managing Palmyra’s collection of “idols.” To date ISIS has carried out sweeping anti-idolatry campaigns, laying waste to vast amounts of precious artefacts in the areas of Syria and Iraq under its control.
Nevertheless, young people from England, Europe, and the United States are joining ISIS in ever increasing numbers. Efforts by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria to recruit young Americans are raising concerns with U.S. law enforcement, warning of the effectiveness of their fundamentalist social media message, which urges young people to travel to Syria and engage in jihad. According to a United Nations report, more than 25,000 foreign fighters have now travelled to join militant groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
Countries around the world are being confronted by the reality of their young people eagerly trying to get to Syria and Iraq to play their part in the establishment of the “caliphate” ISIS is seeking to establish. The process has been going on for some time. Last October for instance, three teenage girls from Denver, sisters aged 15 and 17 and a 16-year-old friend, were apprehended in Germany, en route to Syria. And there are many others….
But why?
Certainly conditions of poverty and feelings of cultural alienation are strong factors in motivating some young people to join ISIS. They believe it will give them a greater sense of self-worth and a better life. Their ignorance is their bliss.
On the other hand, there are a number highly educated young people from around the world, with strong self-images, who are enthusiastically joining ISIS. A few weeks ago I read about three 15 & 16 year old girls from London England — all at the top of their class — who have traveled to Syria to become “ISIS brides.” Islamic State fighters want young “unblemished” girls for their wives. For these new brides, their ignorance, I suspect, may be a rather temporary bliss.
It is easy to label would-be recruits to ISIS as naive and misguided. The ever-increasing number and diversity of youth willing to join, however, leads one to ask deeper and more uncomfortable questions.
What is happening in OUR neighborhoods, communities, schools, and parochial outreach for young people? Islamic fundamentalism, channeled to young people via a very well organized and youth-focused propaganda network, is highly appealing and seductive. Young people are being seduced by the appeal of an all-life-encompassing fervent fundamentalism that denigrates the “decadent” West.
For young people, being recognized and validated by others is very important. And they have a strong need to belong. ISIS propaganda and propagandists enthusiastically befriend and welcome new recruits, promising instant affirmation and supportive community engagement.
Young people find assurance and security in such fundamentalism:
For people who feel unimportant fundamentalists say: “you are important because you are God’s special messengers.”

For people who are fearful, fundamentalism says: “you can’t be saved without us…join and be saved.”

For the confused, fundamentalism says one doesn’t have to think about doctrine just believe and obey.

Questioning is dangerous and disloyal.

Fundamentalist membership makes a recruit feel good about himself or herself.

It is self-stroking. If one is following the path of truth, self-doubt is silly.

Fundamentalism justifies hatred of one group of people for another;

It believes that God hates those who do not conform to their worldview.

ISIS soldiers have no qualms about killing non-Muslim men and boys or raping “infidel” women.

Fundamentalism exempts people from responsibility for situations or actions that cause guilt and shame.

Fundamentalism says: “if you are one of us, you are OK. No questions asked.”

Fundamentalism excuses people from honest self-examination.

It justifies their prejudices, zealotry, intolerance and hatefulness.

Regardless whether it is Islamic, Jewish, or Christian fundamentalism, all religious fundamentalism is fundamentally flawed because it takes one element of the truth and proclaims it as the WHOLE TRUTH. Religious fundamentalists place such a high priority on doctrinal conformity and obedience to doctrinaire spokespersons that they sacrifice the very values so basic to the world’s great religious traditions: love, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance and caring. In their overwhelming seriousness about religion, fundamentalists do not hesitate to intervene in political and social process to ensure that society is forced to conform to the values and behaviors the fundamentalist worldview requires.
And so what do we do for young people who experience lives of pain, emptiness, hopelessness, violence, addiction, and self-harm?
What mission and vision can we offer them that attracts and appeals to their youthful zeal and energy?
Doesn’t Christianity have a better and far more healthy and humane answer to the mysteries of life

than ISIS fanaticism…..

Shouldn’t we be working to promote healthy religion?
In many ways, the ball is really in our court.

Despite a drop in a recent opinion poll, Pope Francis is still wildly popular in the United States. He delights Democrats with his teachings on climate change, social justice, and immigration. His continuing stress on the Roman Catholic Church’s traditional opposition to abortion and his de facto opposition to same-sex marriage comforts Republicans.

In just a little more than a month the Bishop of Rome will meet with President Barack Obama at the White House and give a first-ever papal address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress. Francis is expected to urge lawmakers to act on climate change, a move almost certain to come under attack from some conservative politicians, who oppose his intervention in the debate. Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, a Catholic, said right before publication of the pope’s environmental the encyclical that he doesn’t “get economic policy from my bishops or my cardinal or my pope.”
In any event, following the pope’s historic address to Congress, according to House Speaker John A. Boehner, Pope Francis “has expressed an interest in making a brief appearance” on the Capitol’s West Front — the iconic facade facing the National Mall where presidents have been inaugurated since 1981. After DC the pope will go on to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly; and then to Philadelphia to help wrap up the World Meeting of Families.

Historic events for sure; and I have no doubts that Pope Francis will have strong observations about climate change, economics, poverty, and immigration. And it is all very interesting, as the United States gears up for the 2016 presidential election. No doubt candidates in each party will use papal rhetoric to support their causes.

But what happens when the papal plane has lift off and Francis returns to Rome?
One of the first things of course is paying the bills for papal security, clean-up, and returning streets, parks, and buildings back to normal. As an older theologian, however, my concerns are more about the post-Francis-visit U.S.A. church agenda.

According to the Pew Research Center, the Christian share of the U.S. population is declining, while the number of U.S. adults who do not identify with any organized religion is growing. The Roman Catholic Church loses more members than it gains at a higher rate than any other denomination, with nearly 13 percent of all Americans now describing themselves as “former Catholics.” The number of religiously unaffiliated adults in America has increased by roughly 19 million since 2007. There are now approximately 56 million religiously unaffiliated adults in the U.S.; and this group — sometimes called religious “nones” — is more numerous than either Catholics or mainline Protestants.

Some of my friends scoff when I say that a great many “unaffiliated” describe themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” I don’t scoff for a second. I think millions of Americans (like many of my colleagues, students, and friends) are searching for a taste of the Divine. They are looking for depth in their lives and a genuine Christian faith experience. And they are not finding it in the institutional church.

We need to focus on spirituality rather than continually pontificating about abortion and same-sex marriage. We could learn something from contemporary spiritual masters like Joyce Rupp and Ron Rolheiser. Perhaps the U.S. bishops should dedicate one of their semi-annual meetings to “exploring a contemporary American spirituality.”

The other part of the Pew Research Center report that keeps me scratching my head is about young people. They are the largest group turned off by the church and dropping out. And they will not be returning if and when they start having babies.

In every parish and every diocese — and wherever bright and idealistic young people congregate — we should start listening sessions. We need to hear them speak about their experiences, their questioning, and their search for meaning and depth in their lives. And then we need to appropriately respond, with fresh ideas, creative liturgies, and renewed parish structures and programs.

I applauded Pope Francis when he said about homosexuality “who am I to judge?” But there is a lot judging going on in Francis’ church. Catholic schools and parishes — often following orders from the local bishop – continue to fire gay teachers and employees. Some anti-gay episcopal rhetoric is not only offensive it is downright demeaning and cruel.

We need to concretely support and defend gay people working for the church and in civil society – not just say kind things about “’respecting them as people.” I have worked for the institutional church (high schools, universities, and seminary) for about forty years. The institutional church’s homophobia is ironic to say the least. There are lots and lots of gay bishops and priests out there. Most of them are very fine people. I really wish they would simply have the courage to come out. I think they would get standing ovations in their cathedrals and churches. Honesty and humility.

The shortage of ordained ministers (priests) in the church has now moved beyond the crisis point. It’s like our churches are burning and our leaders don’t want to call the fire department……or our parishes are entering cardiac arrest and no one dares call an ambulance. Pick your own analogy. The situation is grim. And it is crazy. A group of courageous and pastorally minded bishops could start solving the problem tomorrow by ordaining already qualified people. They could also welcome back a large number of those very qualified ordained ministers who left ordained ministry to get married. They could also start ordaining women deacons.

And about women. The clock is ticking for ordained women in the Roman Catholic Church. At some point it has to happen, because it should happen, and is already happening in “Catholic” communities cut off from the larger institution. If the church doesn’t change its archaic views on women, it risks becoming a religious institution that survives on the fringe of an open-minded and progressive society.

In every parish and in every diocese we need to have study sessions and discussion groups about women in the church and in ordained ministry: yesterday, today, and tomorrow. And again… We need some courageous and pastorally minded bishops who will start ordaining women right now. If they are called to Rome and disciplined, brother bishops must defend them and come to their support. It is a correct and appropriate thing to do.

My last comment this week is about sexual abuse. The problem is far from over. (And it is hardly limited to the USA.) Many of the bishops who have allowed it to happen are still functioning in their dioceses. It is an old sin and an old crime. As David Clohessy, director of SNAP, reminds us made so far Pope Francis has offered a lot of reassuring talk but taken little meaningful action about removing bishops who allow abuse. In our parishes and dioceses we need to study, inform, and set up action committees to get something done.

The pope back in Rome must set up a process to hold complicit (sexual-abuse-allowing) bishops accountable. He has SAID he’ll set up a process. So far he has not yet done so. If not dealt with dramatically and effectively, clerical sexual abuse will be the undoing of the Roman Catholic Church.
Understandably people will be cheering and applauding Pope Francis in Washington, New York, and Philadelphia. They are also the people who must assume responsibility for the church when Francis goes back to Rome. The primary responsibility rests with us and concrete action begins at home.

sorry about more than one posting today ….. working with new program