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Service or Power
By Archbishop John Bathersby, published in The Courier Mail, 22 April 2002
ON Thursday I returned from an Archdiocesan Priests'
Assembly at Caloundra.
Planned several years ago as a lead up to the first
Archdiocesan Synod in 2003, the assembly attracted the largest gathering
of priests since the assembly of 1983. Numbers were almost the same,
boosted this time by a significant number of order-based priests.
Despite a scarcity of young priests, and a disproportionate number
of older ones, the gathering was filled with hope and optimism.
Falling Church attendance and worldwide sexual abuse scandals hung
like a cloud over the discussions but did not destroy a sense of
optimism about the Church's future mission.
Nevertheless the recent resignation of Catholic bishops over sex
scandals in America, England, Ireland, Germany, and elsewhere has
certainly shaken the confidence of priests and people alike, leaving
us all wondering what on earth has gone wrong.
A prominent Catholic lay man said to me recently: "Archbishop
it will take the Catholic Church 20 years to recover from this scandal".
I thought his timeframe optimistic. At the same time there is an
enormous willingness today by bishops, priests, and lay people to
tackle the Church's challenges effectively, especially those of
sexual misbehaviour. Unless that problem is faced openly Church
attendance will continue to decline and Church witness will fail,
despite the good work that the Church has done and continues to
do in the midst of society at a religious and social level. The
problems of the Church are not the problems of a few but the problems
of all.
Sexual misbehaviour is by no means a simple problem. It is complex
and multi-faceted, one part, I believe, of a larger problem that
demands urgent attention. Effective disclosure of criminal behaviour,
adequate and generous treatment of victims, intensive screening
of and adequate preparation for ordained ministry and religious
life, comprehensive education about and prevention strategies in
families, and effective protocols, are all needed if there is to
be an adequate response to this most horrible of crimes.
But perhaps a greater need, and I can only speak from a Roman Catholic
point of view, is for the Church to have a good look at itself,
not only the adequacy of its structures and the integrity of its
ministers, but most importantly the soundness of its theology.
It seems to me that the problem of the Church is not so much one
of predatory sexuality but of power, which has a subtle tendency
to convince religious leaders that they are free of the constraints
that binds lesser mortals, because of their elevated calling.
Sadly such delusions often lead to inappropriate exploitation in
areas of sexuality.
To try to overturn such attitudes the Church must return to its
origins, to Christ and the style of leadership He advocated for
His followers. His most significant gesture, found in the Gospel
of John, shows Him washing the feet of His disciples. It is a most
powerful symbol for Church, and indeed all leaders, but sadly one
that although recognised is often neglected.
A tension between service and power was present even among the apostles
and seems to have existed in the Church ever since, not at all helped
by the Christian conversion of Constantine in the fourth century.
The recent Second Vatican Council tried to remedy the situation
when it proposed a theology of Church as "communion" and
"people of God", where leadership was not over and above
the community but rather at its heart.
It is a lesson that Church people find difficult to understand,
because once inappropriate power is grasped it is extremely difficult
to relinquish. Nevertheless there are significant signs of hope
and the presbyteral gathering at Caloundra during the week was such
a sign. Until one learns the servant model of leadership espoused
by Christ the Church will continue to be afflicted by problems that
undermine its mission of good news.
For me that is the very heart of the problem that confronts the
Church today, whose probing by the media no matter how aggressively
should not be resented but welcomed. After all, the Church does
claim the high moral ground of good news, and some of the news coming
out of the Churches at the present time is decidedly not good.
If the Church wishes to engage the world, as I believe it must,
then it needs to come warts and all and should not resent disclosure
of its dark side. For too long some Church people have used inappropriate
models of leadership whose weaknesses are only now becoming manifest,
sadly in the most sensitive area possible, the violation of children.
For me that is the crux of the problem, partially revealed by the
close attention of the media at the present time, in which I believe
the Holy Spirit is not absent.
Until the Church moves closer to the ideal chosen by Christ and
elaborated more recently at the Second Vatican Council, then it
must do everything in its power to overcome present problems with
all the honesty, transparency, and resources that it can muster.
To do anything less is to betray the mission of Christ who came
that all people, especially the little ones of the world, might
have life and life in its fullness.
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