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In the VineyardMay 2005"My real program of governance is not to do my own will, not to pursue my own ideas, but to listen, together with the whole church." Pope Benedict XVI at his installation “What the Church needs today, as always, are not adulators to extol the status quo, but men whose humility and obedience are no less than their passion for truth; men who brave every misunderstanding and attack as they bear witness; men who, in a word, love the Church more than ease and the unruffled course of their personal destiny.” Josef Ratzinger from "Free Expression and Obedience in the Church" during his work at Vatican II, 1963, later quoted at the beginning of Christianity and the Religions: From Confrontation to Dialogue by Jacques Dupuis, SJ, (2000). In the plethora of media coverage of the new Pope, one finds a curious but familiar phenomenon. At the dawn of this new papacy, we hear repeated expressions of both gloom and relief from all quarters of Catholic America. Liberals are disappointed. Conservatives are jubilant. Centrists are taking a wait-and-see approach. Bottom line – this Pope and concerns over his past orthodoxy or prospects of his adopting an entirely new papal persona, are red herrings. The question Catholics should be asking today is the question all Catholics should have been asking for at least the last three years: What kind of Church do we want? Readers know from coverage in these pages that parishes and many state legislatures are noisier with the sound of Catholics speaking out. During the revelations of sexual abuse by clergy and a hierarchical cover up, many saw the ailing Pope as the problem. Others cited bishops’ autonomy, clericalism, sexism, lack of collegiality – the list is truly endless. Again, the bottom line: The reasons for the Church’s failures are not going to disappear simply by identifying those reasons, so – what kind of Church do we want? The world’s civilized minds are embarrassed by the routine of silencings and book “bannings” – even certain subjects are banned from discussion (which has only drawn attention to the folly of doing so.) All of this advances the reality of ferment. We ask: How long can the surface withstand the upheaval beneath? What can we hope for by way of dialogue if we factor in the recent dismissal of Tom Reese, editor of America magazine, following so quickly the “discipline” against Roger Haight? Surprisingly, there is some quantifiable hope, if these last three years tell us anything. While most Catholics would no doubt welcome any initiatives our new Pope might take toward calming our rumbling landscape, there is a refreshing understanding among us that the Pope is not the Church. The message is getting out – the laity, too, are called to speak and to act and to do so in love and in all places. Look around – things have changed. Our faith has found tens of thousands of us taking already challenged calendars and creating a space for the Church we want today and for our children. This issue of In the Vineyard is only one snapshot of who we are (voices of many faithful Catholics), what we are doing (bearing witness), and where we’re going (Indianapolis, for starters!) What kind of Church do we want? Come to the VOTF Indianapolis convocation July 8-10. Voice of the Faithful will get specific about the Church we want, beginning with accountability, which, like charity, begins at home. Remember Rilke’s words: “All will come again into its strength … longing for what belongs to us and serving earth, lest we remain unused.” Peggie
L. Thorp NATIONAL NEWS
VOTF welcomes
our new Executive Director Ray Joyce and his family; there are
50 candidates for 26 seats on the new National Representative
Council – elections to be held by June 1; USCCB meeting
is set for Chicago, IL June 16-18. EYES ON ROME: Pope
Benedict XVI’s past, part progressive and part doctrinaire, raises
interest in how much, and which part, of that past the pope has
brought with him to the seat of Peter; America magazine
editor Tom Reese “resigns”; be sure to read Kris Ward’s Rome
journal covering her 12 days in Rome for VOTF; SNAP’s
Board is offering a creative way to help SNAP members to finance
their attendance at their June 10-12 Annual National Conference
in Chicago, IL.
Kris Ward
identifies
direct communication avenues to the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith. REGIONAL NEWSThe Long Island Press named the Long Island Voice of the Faithful as one of the fifty most influential organizations on Long Island. The LI VOTF “Project Millstones” is gaining more attention; VOTF Boston is considering a fourth goal for their affiliate; VOTF Rockford, IL isn’t waiting for permission to use Church property; members of NH VOTF and other concerned Catholics in NH have spent eighteen months trying to arrive at a substantive reply from Rome with regard to their own bishop and his auxiliary. In the absence of that response, they have gone public and have posted on a web site the chronology of their efforts; VOTF-Maine is pleased with the high court ruling that allows the hierarchical staff of churches to be held accountable in Maine Courts for repeatedly delivering sexual predators into unsuspecting communities. Milwaukee priests may be subject to searches – what’s wrong with this picture? EVENTS, ETC.SHOWTIME’s “Our Fathers” film based on David France’s book about the sexual abuse crisis premiered in Boston. Its schedule as well as the schedule for “Holy Water-Gate: Abuse Cover-up in the Catholic Church” is available; take the Boston College survey on the Church in the 21st Century initiative; Sr. Mary Aquin O’Neill, RSM, PhD on the April 24 “Meet the Press” program, was asked whether or not the ordained priesthood should be open to women. Her response broadens the discussion. LETTER TO THE EDITOR – a VOTF member reflects on a recent panel discussion with four priests; where’s your letter? Send to pthorp.ed@votf.org PRAYER A Pentecost prayer from Christine Schenk; Jack Rakosky paraphrases a Rule of Benedict prayer in reflection of the VOTF mission COMMENTARY – • “Josef Ratzinger, the Progressive” – a perspective on the young Josef Ratzinger from Leonard Swidler; Gaile Pohlhaus on Pope John Paul II, “The Personalist Pope” • SNAP’s David Clohessy and VOTF’s Paul Kendrick respond to James Keenan’s paper on “The Ethical Rights of Priests” • “Silence: Golden No More” – on Tom Reese’s resignation from America magazine • “Communicating with Bishops” Part I – from Fr. Tom Doyle Exchange of the month: On “Real Time with Bill Mahar” one of the guests was Mario Cuomo, a Catholic and former governor of New York. Mahar: What is it with you Catholics? You resist all the church teachings but you all love, love, love the church! It’s like buying a loaf of raisin bread and picking all the raisins out of it. Cuomo: That’s because it’s about the bread. NATIONAL NewsIndianapolis Convocation Update Our keynote speaker in Indianapolis is the Church historian Francine Cardman from Weston Jesuit School of Theology. Francine is an Associate Professor of Historical Theology and Church History. Her expertise in early Church history, early Church leadership, the history of Christian spirituality, and ecumenism promises to inform and energize. The title of Francine’s talk is “Re-membering the Church: Participation and Structure Then and Now.” I asked Francine for her thoughts on that hyphen and her reply “re-minds” all of us that we are both old and new in this faith. “Re-membering: 1) to call to mind, to know again, to make a part of oneself in being and doing; 2) to bring together again, to rejoin separated parts or members, to re-form and reintegrate, to renew and make whole. Re-membering is an organic process of incorporating past and present, the many and the one, both in oneself and in other bodies of which we are a part. Re-membering the Church recalls who and how we have been, reviews who and how we are, and re-visions who and how we might be as Church. The process of re-membering the Church calls into communion the lost and silenced voices, the forgotten possibilities, the necessary alternatives from every age so that we might faithfully pray, think, and witness together as Church for the sake of the gospel and the life of the world.” As we have been saying, you will want to say that you were “there” when Voice of the Faithful gathered in Indianapolis in July of 2005. Register and check out additional details on the Convocation pages at www.votf.org. “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do” Since distributing the Convocation program, members and registrants have been intrigued by the Saturday afternoon breakout sessions. We thought it a good idea to provide some guidance on the format of these breakouts and answer some of the very practical questions that have surfaced. So, below is our first Q& A assembled by Aimee Carevich in the Parish Voice office. If you have additional questions, please go to the web site and identify the contact person (under Contact Us) most likely to be able to help you OR write to pthorp.ed@votf.org. 1) How many breakout sessions can I attend during Saturday afternoon? Every attendee will choose only ONE of the nine breakout sessions to participate in for the time between 2:20-5:10pm on Saturday July 9th. Please indicate your first choice session on your registration form. Each person will receive confirmation about the group to which they have been assigned at the registration table in Indianapolis. We will make every attempt to assign people to their first choice sessions, but we may need to make adjustments due to space constraints. 2) Why can't we participate in more than one breakout session when we care about more than one of these issues? At conferences and conventions (sponsored by VOTF and other organizations), the intention is for the membership to absorb information from speakers and trainers and take it back home with them. At that kind of event, you want to learn as much as you can, and that means attending as many sessions as possible. At our convocation and leadership meeting in Indianapolis, the intention is slightly different - for the membership to do the work of VOTF visioning and strategizing. The convocation committee has identified these nine breakout questions as topics people care deeply about, but we need to know what outcomes we should seek as a national organization, and how we might get there. This will take the full three hours and will involve both small and large group discussions and decision-making. To have people move from one breakout session to another will only postpone our ability to make decisions, and make it very difficult to emerge with clear, concrete resolutions for the Sunday plenary. Therefore, we encourage each of you to choose the topic you are most passionate about and dig in! We need you! The full Convocation program is on the web site, along with accommodations, registration and suggested reading information. *****The Convocation Committee welcomes greeters, lectors, singers and Eucharistic Ministers. You are needed! If you would like to be part of VOTF’s “prayerful voice,” please be in touch with Susan Troy at prayerfulvoice1@yahoo.com *****Voice of the Faithful is eager to have women and men religious join us in Indianapolis, as so many did in our early days! Please contact Evelyn Mercantini at esmerc48@comcast.net for special registration information. Nominees for National Representative CouncilAs many already know, the current Representative Council has voted to re-constitute itself as a more truly National Council. We have divided the country into 14 regions, following the USCCB division. Nominees have been sought from each region and are listed by region. Elections will take place by June 1, and members will vote only for candidates within their own region. VOTF MEMBERS – HEADS UP!! You will be receiving the list of candidates for the new National Representative Council, identified by region, and links to their statements during the week of May 23 so that all voting is tallied by June 1. [On the listings below, the parenthetical numbers alongside the states represent the number of seats available for that region.] Region 1 – ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT (5) Donna Doucette, Ron DuBois, Mary Freeman, Pat Gomez, Ed Greenan, Mike Duhigg, Elia Marnik, Jane Merchant, Bob Morris, Bob Ott, Margaret Roylance, Anne Southwood, Jack Whelan, Tony Wiggins Region 2 – NY (3) Dan Bartley, Mary Pat Fox, Phil Megna, Tom Myles, Sheila Peiffer, Ed Wilson Region 3 – NJ, PA (2) Bud Bretschneider, William Cully, Brenda Hackett, Susan Smith Region 4 – DC, DE, MD, VA (2) Evelyn Mercantini, Rich Moriarty, Bob Stewart Region 5 – AL, KY, LA, MS, TN (1) Anne Harrison, Cal Pfeiffer, Susan Vogt, Region 6 – OH, MI (2) Mary Collingwood, Edward Friedl Region 7 – IL, IN, WI (2) Janet Hauter, Mary Heins, Stephanie McElligott, Genevieve O’Toole Region 8 – MN, SD, ND (1) Shari Steffen Region 9 – IA, KS, MO, NB (1) David Biersmith, Bob Kaintz Region 10 – AR, OK, TX (1) Mark Bennett, Joe Turner Region 11 – CA, HI, NV (2) Jim Jenkins, Mary Jane McGraw, Hugh O’Regan, Kathleen Schwartz Region 12 – AK, ID, MT, WA, OR (1) Eileen Knoff Region 13 – AZ, CO, WY, NM, UT (1) Frank Douglas Region 14 – FL, GA, NC, SC (2) Dee Esteva, Margaret Lynch, Rosa Maria Montenegro VOTF Names Executive Director – I am pleased to announce that Ray Joyce has accepted the position of Executive Director. He will begin serving in that role on May 9, 2005. Ray is a seasoned manager with 25 years experience primarily in the nonprofit sector. He has spent the last 12 years at the WGBH Educational Foundation, one of the nation's foremost public broadcasting stations. While at WGBH, Ray managed services and programs of varying size and complexity, led strategic planning, fundraising, operations and marketing activities, volunteered for leadership roles in diversity and mentoring initiatives and distinguished himself as a change agent whose interpersonal skills have been lauded by his colleagues. Early in his career Ray worked in high technology, served in the Peace Corps as a small business volunteer and led a college's development effort. He also holds a B.A. from Merrimack College and an MBA in Public and Nonprofit Management from Boston University. Ray and his wife Michele have two young children. They are members of St. Zepherin parish in Wayland, MA where Ray served as chair of the stewardship committee, which focuses on sacrificial giving as well as increasing volunteers' commitment of time and talent. He and Michele co-chaired the parish's renovation campaign alongside pastor Fr. Paul Berube and Frank & Bea O'Connor to raise more than $1 million to completely refurbish the church building. As a Merrimack college alumni council member Ray helped initiate alumni spiritual retreats. Additionally, Ray has attended self-directed retreats at a local Trappist monastery and participated in Cursillo. Ray continues his involvement at St. Zepherin with the RCIA team
and as a Eucharistic Minister. He and Michele also put their faith
into action through Habitat for Humanity's programs in Romania
and Tucson and Merrimack College's campus ministry efforts in the
Dominican Republic. Talking with the Vatican - submitted by VOTF vice-president Kris Ward: The Vatican indicated in conversations during the interregnum, the time of the Vacant See, and the early days of Pope Benedict XVI, that reasoned and informed communications from the laity are considered within the Congregations of the Curia. The cases for the defrockings of priests against whom there are credible allegations of sexual abuse of children and minors are sent by bishops to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. During the past year, two canon lawyers from the United States were added to the staff to help with the workload. Please consider using your voice and the combined voices of your affiliate and region to enter into communication with the Congregation regarding cases in your diocese that have been sent to the Vatican and are awaiting action. During the time I was in Rome, I delivered letters from survivors in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati with the belief that the Congregation needs to hear the voices of the survivors themselves as decisions are made concerning the cases. Follow-up to these letters will also be done. Here is information on how to communicate with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: Father Augustine J. De Noia, O.P. is the Under Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctine for the Faith. He is an American. If you are able to receive Vatican Radio broadcasts, interviews with Father Augustine are being broadcast this week through www.vaticanradio.com The Secretary of this congregation, Father Angelo Amato, may become a principal aide to Pope Benedict XVI as he was at the Congregation. He has been seen close to the Pope during public appearances since his election. There is speculation that San Fransico Archbishop Willaim Levada is being considered as a candidate to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Monsignor Charles J. Scicluna is the Promoter of Justice in the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. Wiritten communciation may be addresssed to Father DeNoia and Monsignor Scicluna. The mailing
address is: The minimum postage is 60 cents for one ounce. The fax number from the United States is; 011.39.06.69.88.34.09 (fees will depend on your telephone service). Additional information regarding communications with the Congregation for Bishops concerning vacancies in bishoprics will be available through In the Vineyard and also in discussion at the Indianapolis Convocation July 8-10. You won't want to miss it! SNAP National Conference, June 10-12 – Message from SNAP’s Board The board of SNAP met this week and decided that although we do not have general scholarship money this year, we would like to offer another way to reduce fees for members of SNAP. If a member sells an ad for the SNAP ad book, which will be published at the conference, they can request that 50% of the ad sale be reduced from their conference fee. In other words, if a SNAP member sells a $100 ad, they can request from the ad book coordinator that $50 be taken off their conference fee. The entire $100 conference fee can be waived if $200 worth of ads are sold. Of course, the checks for the ads must be received by SNAP before the discount can be applied. All ads are due May 25th, so this fundraiser is time limited. Go to the SNAP web site for additional information at www.snapnetwork.org. Bishop accountability has never mattered more – go to www.bishopaccountability.org and sign up for their newsletter The Monitor. EVENTS, ETC.VOTF
New York, NY and clergy to offer "Parish Encounter: USCCB Meeting Scheduled for June 16-18, Chicago, IL From the USCCB web site at www.usccb.org The agenda will include discussion and vote on the 5th Edition of the Program of Priestly Formation, discussion and vote on the adaptations of the Order of Mass, a statement of renewed commitment to Catholic elementary and secondary schools, a pastoral letter on World Missions, and discussion and vote on the revised Essential Norms and the revised Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The bishops will spend a half day on prayer and discussion on the theme of Evangelization and Catechesis. Only the mornings of Thursday, June 16, and Friday, June 17, will be open to coverage by the news media.
Boston College is conducting a survey through June on its Church in the 21st Century program. If you are familiar with the program and/or have participated in its offerings, you can take the survey here.
EYES ON ROME Tom Reese, editor of America magazine, resigns under order of the Vatican – NYT coverage and NCR coverage at and Boston Globe May 10 coverage at and don’t forget Catholic News.
Meeting the Press Sr. Mary Aquin O’Neill, RSM, PhD, Director, Mount Saint Agnes Theological Center for Women, was asked by Tim Russert on “Meet the Press,” Sunday, April 24, 2005, “Do you think women should be able to be priests?” She replied, as do many who favor gender balance in the priesthood, that she hadn’t reached that conclusion. In her remarks, Sr. Mary added, “…my concern about it is that too much of the argument makes it seem that in order to prove our equality, we must be ordained. And that would mean that the ordained are somehow higher and better than the laity. That's a theology I do not accept. I believe that one of the most important things for this church now is to really act on Christifideles Laici, where we were told there's a complementarity between the laity and the ordained. Complementarity means one cannot trump the other. And so, in all the questions that the church faces, the laypeople and their experience and their insights have to have an equal place at the table with those who are ordained. It may be that we decide to ordain women. It may be that we decide to ordain married men. As Thomas Cahill said, he wants the church, the assembly, to be involved in it, and so do I.” For a full transcript of the program, click here. The Boston showing of SHOWTIME’s “Our Fathers,” which was based on David France’s book about the sexual abuse crisis, offered a Q&A opportunity at the film’s conclusion. Attendees heard over and over again a plea from survivors and survivor support groups to focus on legislative changes in statutes of limitation that, in effect, keep victims silent and perpetrators on the street. Click here for SHOWTIME’s program schedule and additional information on the film “Our Fathers.”
COMMENTARYJosef Ratzinger the Progressive What follows is an excerpt from a message distributed by Leonard Swidler to VOTF leadership. Joseph Ratzinger published an article in the first issue of my Journal of Ecumenical Studies (1964) as a peritus at Vatican II. He was a moderate progressive then. Also, a little later he joined the faculty at the University of Tubingen where I earlier got my degree in Catholic theology (1959) and along with the rest of the faculty signed a joint article arguing in favor of the election and limited-term of office for bishops. Excerpts appear below. From Bishops and People, Edited and Translated by Leonard Swidler and Arlene Swidler, The Westminster Press, Philadelphia Copyright © MCMLXX, Leonard Swidler On
Authority: 4. Contemporary man sees office as a function of society; authority, it follows, is recognized only insofar as it is prepared to justify itself through performance. The man who makes any kind of regulations today must always reckon with the fact that these regulations will be criticized. He must offer convincing reasons for his regulations. This is completely obvious to the politician and the statesman. In many cases a constantly reconsidered stance must replace custom-honored decisions. What seem to be obvious routine affairs can suddenly become problematic. A clear command will necessitate an explanation. A command will make sense only within the frame of a well-considered master plan. Dynamic guiding principles will achieve more than a rigid order. On
Church Structure: On
Bishops: We take no position, therefore, on the custom of the past. We do not say that the church was forced at the time of Constantine into a social order that can only be condemned. We see adequate sense throughout this historical development. The historically minded person should not apply the criteria of his time to other times. But he may demand that in the area of ecclesiastical sociology no decisions that are relative be given permanent, binding character. 3. It cannot be disputed: The present regulation that bishops be named for an undetermined time or for life conceals grave dangers…. This is our suggestion: The term of office of resident bishops should in the future be eight years. Another term or a prolongation of the term is possible only as an exception, and only for objective, extreme reasons stemming from the political situation within the church…. Against this suggestion will arise a series of doubts that must be seriously discussed one by one. ALFONS AUER, GÜNTER BIEMER, KARL AUGUST FINK, HERBERT HAAG, HANS KÜNG, JOSEPH MÖLLER, JOHANNES NEUMANN, JOSEPH RATZINGER, JOSEPH RIEF, KARL HERMANN SCHELKLE, MAX SECKLER, PETER STOCKMEIER with BISHOP JOSEF SCHOISWOHL and LEONARD SWIDLER A Response to James Keenan’s “The Ethical Rights of Priests” from Maine VOTF member Paul Kendrick of Maine and David Clohessy, Executive Director, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) In the April 2005 edition of In the Vineyard, Rev. James Keenan, S.J. was right on target when he pointed out that the Report on the Crisis in the Catholic Church in the United States by the National Review Board offers "no equivalent policy of zero tolerance for bishops or provincials" who aided, abetted, protected and covered up for priests who sexually abused children and young people. Moreover, the Report argues that bishops "must show that they are willing to accept responsibility and consequences for poor leadership," but the report falls short of offering concrete expressions of how that responsibility ought to be expressed. In his essay, Keenan argues, "Fairness cuts two ways. If a zero tolerance policy is applied to priests, where is an analogous policy for the bishops?" We agree. In September 2004, The Voice of the Faithful National Representative Council responded to the question of bishop accountability and the consequences of negligent leadership by affirming that "no bishop or other hierarch who, knowing of the sexual abuse of minors by any priest, has failed to remove the priest from any exposure to minors or to take any other effective step to protect the people of God, or who has concealed the risk of abuse presented by such priests from the people to whom such priest was assigned to minister, should be permitted to hold any position of ecclesiastical leadership in the Church." Keenan argues that zero tolerance is unfair and unjust as it applies directly to priests who abuse minors. He writes, "Zero tolerance recognizes no relevant circumstance of any kind, nor any due proportionality, the very factors that make treatment 'fair.' If zero tolerance is not fair, then how can it be just?" In essence, Keenan is arguing that the consequences for a priest who sexually abuses a child must be measured by certain relevant criteria, thus rendering certain acts of child abuse as acceptable while certain other acts of child abuse would disqualify the priest from ministry. However, Keenan's measurement of "relevant criteria" ignores the long-term effects of sexual abuse on a child or young person. Long term effects of child abuse include fear, anxiety, depression, anger, hostility, inappropriate sexual behavior, poor self esteem, a tendency toward substance abuse and difficulty with close relationships (Source: Browne & Finkelhor, 1986). It also ignores the likelihood of re-offense. Keenan makes three key points to support his argument:
Prevention or Punishment? Unfortunately, by mischaracterizing the intent of "zero tolerance," Keenan's "fairness" argument falls apart. Like many priests, Rev. Keenan considers zero tolerance to be punishment for wrongdoings. Thus, he questions why mitigating factors (number of victims, severity of the abuse, how long ago the crimes were committed, etc.) are not considered in determining whether or not a priest should continue in ministry. The purpose of zero tolerance is not primarily punishment of the priest as it is protection of the common good, i.e., protecting children against the threat of repeat-abuse (recidivism). While it may be less likely that a cleric who has offended for a short period of time will offend again, the words "less likely" raise a concern. It is very difficult to determine whether offenders who have participated in therapy have deeply benefited from counseling, creating yet another argument in favor of zero tolerance. It's An Old Allegation It has been documented that most victims do not report their abuse until years after the abuse occurred. Many cases are decades old. Thus, when an accusation of sexual abuse is alleged against a well-liked and popular priest, parishioners tend to rally around the priest, defending his many years of faithful service to the Church. The parishioners may also argue that there are no other allegations against the priest. (It is interesting to note that it is always "our priest" who will never abuse a child again.) Unfortunately, in most states, expired statutes of limitation have prevented many priests from being arrested, there is not a criminal trial and no jail time is ever served. By conspiring to cover up and keep secret the past abuses of priests, church officials have obstructed justice. Church public relations officials often mischaracterize and minimize the abuse by telling us that "Twenty years ago, Father engaged in the 'inappropriate touching' of a minor." Translation for the faithful: "It is an old allegation. Father's 'sexual misconduct' was an aberration, an isolated incident. It will never happen again. Do not be concerned." If, instead, public relations officials told us what really happened, we might read far more graphic statements about previous accusations including child and statutory rape, sodomy and endangering the welfare of a child. Risk Management People often say, "If you are a Christian, don't you believe in redemption? Don't you believe that people can change? Don't you believe in forgiveness?” Yes, of course we do. But how can we ever be certain that a person who has sexually abused even one minor will never abuse again? What guarantees do we have? Do we take the abuser's word for it? Of course not. Instead, we act responsibly and err on the side of caution. What about an abuser who has received long-term psychological treatment? Residential treatment is the discovery phase. It is the beginning of a lifetime of daily maintenance for the abuser. The offender must never be far from a support network. He must live one day at a time not abusing a child. He must remove himself from access to children. He alone is responsible for his daily recovery. There are no guarantees. Those in authority must take appropriate steps to ensure that children are safe. Half measures will not be effective. Protecting children from a sexual abuser isn't always about being right. Mostly, it's about risk management. Kids need help protecting themselves from cunning, convincing, charismatic, and charming sexual abusers. A person who sexually abuses a child or young person gives up his right to ever again have unsupervised access to children. Is zero tolerance "too blunt an instrument for universal application?" If our intent is prevention, then we think not. The risks to children and young people are too great. Sexual abuse has the capacity to permanently alter a child's well being. It is non-erasable. It affects the healthy lives of young and old, poor and rich, successful and struggling. What loving mother or father would entrust their child to any person who has sexually abused a minor? If the owner of a day care center knew that one of his employees was sexually abusing a child and did nothing to prevent or stop the abuse, the operation would be shut down and criminal charges would be filed. If a high school principal knew that one of the teachers was sexually abusing a student and did nothing to prevent or stop the abuse, charges would be filed and neither the principal nor the teacher would ever work in a school system again. Zero tolerance isn't about hate, it's not about revenge; rather, it's about making sure that kids are protected from sexual abuse. It's about not taking chances. Silence: Golden No MoreThe recent dismissal of Jesuit Fr. Tom Reese from America magazine follows pretty quickly on the heels of Fr. Roger Haight’s “discipline,” both of these actions imposed directly by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith during and immediately after the long tenure of Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. What are we to make of what appear to be “early warning signs” in this new papacy? Not much, some might say. After all, silencings, book bannings and excommunications are old news. What has happened to Frs. Haight and Reese seems to be “more of the same” on the slippery slope journey begun many centuries ago when Catholics did more accepting and the Vatican did more controlling. A majority of American Catholics today simply ignore non-doctrinal Church teachings that don’t make sense – in other words, certain teachings fly in the face of the “sensus fidelium.” Meanwhile, the Vatican continues to issue disciplines, reward its favorite sons, maintain a divide between the ordained and non-ordained, and generally move through time with impunity all the while dropping sound bites about a “smaller, tighter” Church. This is pretty much the ride that silence offers – non-stop all the way to sexual abuse by clergy. On the other hand, one cannot ignore the new “kids on the block” who have a passion for the Church of our Brother equal to any in Church leadership. Here we have another “early warning sign.” Voice of the Faithful and other Catholic reform groups are increasingly vocal in pointing out the obvious – all that hierarchical glitter isn’t gold at all. Until the abuse crisis and its cover up were made public, Catholics had been snookered by the pomp and the holy politics of distance. The distance, however great it remains, isn’t what it used to be. We can thank the Americas of our time for helping the laity, and indeed many clergy, to bridge much that has divided us from each other as well as from Church leaders. Whether we agree with the Church or not on the many issues around which there has been no genuine dialogue, we must speak with each other. When that fails, we must at least have each other within hearing. In America magazine, Tom Reese honored voices from both sides of an argument. To do less is beneath all of us. It will be interesting to see what other Catholic editors will have to say on the subject of silencings in our Church. It will be more interesting to see what the rest of us have to say – and where we will say it. Somewhere between the routine of silencings and “disciplines” by the Vatican and the noise of closing parish doors across the US lies the future of the American Catholic Church. That future rests on the company we want to keep, including what we read. What do you think? Write to pthorp.ed@votf.org. PLT Pope John Paul II: A Personalist Philosopherby Gaile Pohlhaus, Villanova University Karol Wojtyla was born in 1920 to a former school teacher and an administrative officer in the Polish army. His mother died shortly before Karol turned 9 and his brother died nearly four years later. Karol’s father raised his son with strict discipline but died before the future pope was ordained. A brilliant student, Karol was a philosopher who wrote his habilitation under Max Scheler, a disciple of Husseral, the father of phenomenology, which Karol grounded in the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. In lay person’s terms phenomenology is the study of essences as they present themselves to consciousness using pure descriptions. This led Karol to formulate his personalist philosophy. According to Christopher West, the preeminent commentator on Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, “personalism treats ethical questions from this insider’s point of view; as persons we are conscious of our acts.” And so the philosopher Karol Wojtyla who became the Pope John Paul II treated moral life from his own “insider’s” point of view, the point of view of a young man who grew up through adolescence without a mother or sister in his home, in a country first overrun by Nazi’s and then controlled by Communists and who turned in 1941 to an underground education in the Catholic church for ordination. Karol Wojtyla was a complex person; a philosopher who would use pure descriptions to talk about Love and Responsibility as a philosopher and Theology of the Body as a pope; a man who was known for his devotion to Mary of Nazareth under many titles; and a leader who was beloved by many and followed completely by few. In Love and Responsibility Karol Wojtyla used this personalistic norm – the only proper response to a person is love; negatively put a person must never be used as a means to an end. He would go on to say “personal order is the only proper plane for all debate on matters of sexual morality.” However, he would insist that this would not separate us from objective truth. This brings us to the Pope’s views on woman. As a personalist he is looking for the essence which he then universalizes. Drawing from several sources written by the Pope , Christopher West devotes a whole section of his commentary on the Pope’s Eulogy of Femininity: (CW, 121)
Given this philosophical, personalistic, phenomenolistic understanding of woman it is not surprising that for the Pope function follows form. The essential form of woman is to (potentially) give birth, thus this is how her life is to be ordered. He says “Feminine and masculine are different in a way that enables true community.” “Without the difference of the sexes an incarnate, life-giving communion would be impossible.” There is an intentionality that is important in sexual intimacy, that allows for the male to make a donation to the female that she willingly accepts. This particular view of woman reinforces the view of woman as passive. In Mulieris Dignitatem the Pope stresses the need for women to be treated equally in the workplace with respect to wages and dignity as a human being but he repeatedly focuses in on woman’s first vocation to be mother either actually or symbolically, a role he sees modeled in Mary of Nazareth. In the end it is the view of woman outlined above that leads the Pope to assert: “I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful. ” The form of woman is different from the form of man and since Christ was a man, woman cannot properly model him as priest. This despite the fact that the very first person who could truly and completely say “this is my Body, this is my Blood” was Mary of Nazareth. 2 Ordinatio
Sacerdotalis, “On Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men” Mulieris
Dignitatem, “On the Dignity and Vocation of Women” Redemptoris
Mater, “The Mother of the Redeemer” Foreshadowed
in the Pope’s very first encyclical : Redemptor Hominis, “The
Redeemer of Man” A Message from Fr. Tom DoyleI was asked a question at a VOTF gathering recently, about the productivity of continued confrontation with bishops as opposed to dialogue. My response: I believe that building bridges and honest dialogue is essential for the future of the Catholic Church as a Christian community. It certainly is more important than feeding anger by engaging in diatribe, violent confrontation and the like. BUT....the mistake is lumping all "confrontation" into the same category. True dialogue can deal with confrontation because confrontation means honesty, and there is much to be confrontative about in today's Church. True communication excludes the capitulation insisted upon all too often by Church leaders. True communication means that many of the empty presumptions and accusations be abandoned. It also means a recognition of the right of all Catholics to think. True communication in today's Church must take into account the sad fact that VOTF, SNAP and other affiliated groups are regularly slandered and discriminated against simply because they are acting like Catholic adults. Sad too is the fact that priests and deacons who have been openly supportive of VOTF and SNAP have been unjustly penalized by uncaring and unthinking bishops. I believe that it is a grievous mistake to back away from honestly challenging our ordained leaders over many or all of the major problems facing our Catholic community. I have learned over many years that clericalism is a virus that has infected us all. It takes much effort to face and eradicate it but it must be done. Clericalism takes many forms and one of them is the fear that if we challenge we will offend the bishops. Clericalism is in control if we succumb to the old behavior of being docile and obedient whenever we are in communication with the clergy. Clericalism is in control if we fail to see the most ignored, disenfranchised and marginalized person or group in the Church as equal in importance to the men who sit in the highest positions of power. God bless. Tom Doyle Communicating
with Bishops – Part I
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