Sunday, April 24, 2005

W. Edwin Smith / The Detroit News Lucy McMurtrie says the Catholic Church is too corporate and needs to open itself up. Norah Duncan IV urges more direct communication with the faithful.

The Detroit News

The News invited a group of Metro Detroit Catholics to discuss the future of their church since a new pope was selected. The following are excerpts:

News: What is the biggest challenge facing the church?

Duncan: Because there is diversity, it is maintaining the unity of the church and being very clear what the church stands for, what it teaches.

McMurtrie: The church should not be wishy-washy. But it also needs to lose some of its corporate, hierarchical atmosphere. There is such a heavyhandedness at the top that is detrimental to the individual Christian's growth and to the church.

Petty-Terrell: We really need to overcome the negative stigma and say the church doesn't breed sex abuse personalities but that some people come to that type of an environment.

McGuire: Many of the abusers who have been caught do not have the spirit of the Catholic priesthood. The greatest single challenge is renewing the priesthood.

Miller: The greatest problem the church faces today is a continuation of arrogance. Who are those with the arrogance to shut off debate, to silence the dissenters, to bring in ecclesiastical totalitarianism?

Day: The greatest challenge is unity and the lack of courageous leadership. I have that disunity in my family because the reinforcement of Catholic education has not been there from courageous leadership.

Szydlowski: One of the problems the Catholic Church faces is when individual dioceses try to be all things to all people. Be very clear on the teaching and that will inspire people to the priesthood.

Schultz: The greatest challenge in North America is to tell all nations about Jesus Christ.

Priests

News: How can the problems facing the priesthood be solved?

Miller: There is a shortage of priests. To solve that shortage, one must look to artificial restrictions we've placed on the priesthood and ask if they're necessary.

One obvious area is the requirement of celibacy for ordination. The Eastern Rite is under the pope, and it does ordain married priests. We also know we've accepted priests who have converted after they were married from other religions.

We should also go back and examine the ordination of women. I don't think it serves us well to exclude half of our population from the priesthood. ... If you were to make the priesthood a vocation of ministering rather than administering, we would attract many more people.

Szydlowski: One of the most simplistic but effective ways of bringing members into the priesthood is simply by priests mentioning it during their masses: word of mouth and advertising. Say this is a very fulfilling life. As far as celibacy, it is a sacrifice. But in comparison to what Christ went through on the cross, it is a small price to pay.

Day: Priests come from families and from the gift of the sacrament of marriage and the gift of married couple's sexuality. And it's obvious today in our culture and the size of families that Catholic couples are saying no to the greatest gift they're given in their marriage. We are not welcoming that which is most important to our Lord.

McGuire: The most important thing with regard to the priesthood is just renewing a correction notion of what the priesthood is, and then a lot of the other stuff falls into place. With regard to celibacy, Steve Miller is right: It's a discipline. The church doesn't claim it's a doctrinal matter. However, it's a discipline that has a lot of tradition behind and which worked very well for a very long time -- over 1,000 years. If it's not working, we need to ask ourselves: Why? The answer seems to be tied up with the issue of sacrifice.

Petty-Terrell: Historically, priests were allowed to marry. One of the reasons that was changed was the priests, the wives and family were starting to take the property that once belonged to the church. Priests should have that choice (to marry). Deacons can marry and you're seeing a greater population of deacons now.

McMurtrie: I do believe women should be deacons. And I do believe we should have married clergy -- that should be optional. The statement that this is what we've done for thousands of years -- don't ever tell me we've always done it that way. I mean, we've had slavery.

Duncan: Wouldn't it be interesting if there were family vocation weekends when a parent could escort a son to a seminary, and it could be a sign of support for the vocation and the wishes of the son to become a priest. I think it's all a part of the family.

New pope

News: What do you think of the new pope, Benedict XVI, who used to be known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger?

Duncan: I wasn't surprised. Many of the ideas articulated by Pope John Paul II were discussed with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. And I'm comfortable with that.

McMurtrie: Some have said they knew he had once been more liberal during the Second Vatican Council. Perhaps his conservatism was because of his position of having to be the authority to defend church doctrine. So it's hard to know what his true colors are.

Petty-Terrell: His election was good for America because of his German background, and Germans make up the largest demographic group in America.

McGuire: I was happy with the choice. What the people in my generation have been strongly desiring is a renewal of the church as a very clear moral voice and properly instructing Catholics on what their religion is.

Day: I think he really is a man for the times. We have been confused as Catholics. I think Pope John Paul II laid the framework, and we're going to have the framework implemented.

Szydlowski: Two things make me feel comfortable with the new pope. One are the comments on the moral relativism that has permeated society. I think he will be a voice of strong leadership in the Catholic Church, which is very much needed. I also liked his comments about reaching out to non-Catholic Christians. Hopefully, he bring some unity going forward.

Miller: It's too early in the reign to know the man we've elected pope. If we're talking about the Cardinal Ratzinger who was involved in the Second Vatican Council, I would be very encouraged. If we're talking about the Cardinal Ratzinger who was the enforcer of the faith, I would be very discouraged. Any effort Cardinal Ratzinger has made to silence dissent or discussion is silencing the voice of the Holy Spirit. Hopefully, that won't occur.

Schultz: Materialism and globalized capitalism are the opiate of the masses of the day. And I was encouraged by the homilies delivered by Cardinal Ratzinger. I think he sees that as the enemy of the Catholic faith, which it is, and he is ready to confront that.

School closings

News: Dioceses, including the one in Detroit, have been closing schools in the cities because of declining enrollment? How should the church deal with this situation?

Schultz: The Catholic schools are a very useful tool for the evangelization of the world. To the degree that they can be saved, they should be saved.

Miller: A concern of mine is that our church and possibly the Detroit church has become a church of edifice rather than a church of community. If we consider the amount of money that was raised to renovate the cathedral, if we consider the amount of money that was raised and sent to Washington, D.C., to build a physical memorial to our last people, and we compare that to the amount of money that is being put into Catholic education in the Detroit area, I'm appalled.

Did we ever hear an appeal to save Catholic education in this city? Not once that I can think of. If you ask, you have a better chance of succeeding.

Day: It's not enough people having enough children. It's communities falling apart. We didn't mention people moving away. You leave the bishop and hierarchy in pretty rough shape if there aren't the people to attend the school and if there isn't the community that wants to stay together. It's people in the church who have caused what happened.

McGuire: The answer is a return to fidelity, to everything what the church teaches. The laity will support a Catholic school system when they can trust it, where their children will be raised to live good Catholic lives.

Petty-Terrell: Prioritizing the budget is very important. When you look at the reports about the money that goes out to relief groups, the Catholic Church is extremely generous. We don't have a lot people with big families any more. We need to recognize the family as being important.

McMurtrie: I think my church spends its money wrongly. I think my church is guilty of abandoning the city. I think people are selfish. People aren't having big families. It's such a multifaceted problem.

Duncan: I know from the inside that there was quite a consultation process that began five years ago at least. It was a matter of people just calling the church's bluff on the situation, when there were opportunities for them to do something to save Catholic education, consolidating various schools.

They closed St. Martin de Porres High School, my alma mater. But also know that I was never asked for money by de Porres High School. There was never a development system in place as there is at Catholic Central and Brother Rice to assure the continuation of Catholic education in the city.

Changing the church

News: What would be the one thing you would like the Catholic Church to change?

Duncan: How it reaches the laity. There's such a filtering process. In this day and age, there should be a better way of communicating with the people, the person in the pew.

McMurtrie: I wish that it would study the Scripture more -- from the top on down to myself -- and seek humility, compassion, generosity and love and put that into practice. And then they would see the Christians, how they love one another.

Petty-Terrell: I would like to see the church relax some of its restrictions -- for example, giving the option of priests to marry. And I'd like to see the leaders of the church be more embracing of diversity. There seems to be a divide, at least in America racially, and I'd like to see people walk the talk.

McGuire: I'd like to see stronger guidance from Rome. A lot of the bishops have not been faithful to their vocation. We see that in the sex abuse scandal. We see that in the watered-down doctrine.

Day: Require all married couples be instructed on the gospel of life. Second is to teach Humanae Vitae (an encyclical by Pope Paul VI in 1968 on abortion, contraception and other life issues) beginning in the eighth grade in all Catholic schools and be taught for four years.

Szydlowski: I'd like to see the Catholic Church really enforce its teachings. There are a lot of liturgical abuses going on -- eliminating the word "men" from the liturgy because it's politically correct.

Miller: We have to get rid of the arrogance of thinking we know God's will and listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit expressed through its whole church, not just those people in the hierarchy.

Schultz: I converted to the Catholic Church because a friend dragged me kicking and screaming to the traditional Latin mass, where I saw the sacredness which the Catholic Church understands reflects the sacrifice of Christ in the mass. Many people from my generation are calling out for the restoration of the Latin mass.

Fuller Version


paul.schultz@post.harvard.edu.