More on the education question...
Thursday, 8th March 2007

Dear friends,

Readers of OnLine Catholics and the secular media will be familiar with the exposures of Melbourne priest, Fr Eric Hodgens, into a number of appointments and resignations in the Catholic Education system in Victoria late last year. In recent days Fr Hodgens has made further criticisms in a new blog he has started called "Catholic View". Fr Hodgens' commentary makes for interesting reading in view of the recent discussion that has been underway in the Catholica forum. Here's a sample from Fr Hodgen's latest criticism...

“Catholic bishops are renowned for lack of accountability to their clergy and church members. Church law, based on a monarchical model, protects their autocracy. This gives many of them an unwarranted self-assurance often leading to inadequate consultation and unwise decisions. This is the main explanation of the incompetence bishops showed in handling the paedophilia scandal in the USA and Ireland and now the collaboration scandal in Poland. Ironically this behaviour, which is second nature to them, is considered unethical in today’s world of business and administration. They need to learn morality from the secular world.” [The full text can be found at www.catholicview.typepad.com/]

I must say it is hard to fathom the logic of the recent appointments made by the Archbishop and the seeming desire to get rid of the former Director of Catholic Education, Susan Pascoe, who was widely respected in Catholic Education circles around Australia. What has been going on here: has it been driven by some personal animosities or favouritism; or has it been driven from some hope of greater political advantage to the Catholic Education system; or has it been driven by some desire to bend the Catholic Education system more closely to the will of the Archbishop? Whatever the answer to those questions these developments in Victoria do give cause for considerable disquiet.

At the same time though one also senses a very healthy development in that our ecclesial leaders today are being gradually forced to be far more accountable to the communities they serve just as royalty, secular governments, business leaders and virtually all people who are given a position of trust by the community are called to greater accountability. If the abuse scandals have driven one message home it has been that our ecclesial leaders are not given some carte blanche authority by God alone. Ultimately they are also accountable to the ordinary faithful who make up the Body of Christ whom they are meant to be serving. The days of the Divine Right of Kings have long passed and the days when ecclesial leaders can act as though the only authority they are answerable to is Almighty God are also fast passing into history.

On a brighter note altogether it is good to read Archbishop John P Foley's views published in CathNews this morning. Archbishop Foley, who is President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, is making a long overdue criticism of Catholic communicators as "lacking in imagination". [See CathNews story HERE.] He goes further than that though, and in something that echoes strongly with the point made by Peregrinus in his reflection yesterday, he argues "Certainly, it is necessary to identify the evils in society and warn people against them, but our major effort should be in proclaiming the knowledge and love of our merciful saviour, Jesus Christ". I would argue that if the Church is to again become relevant in the minds of this now vast section of the flock that has left in the Western world, she needs to do an audit of precisely what message overall is being broadcast out into the world. Do we, overall, present a message of a vengeful, condemning God; a message of a God who wants us all to act as sychophants, goody-two-shoes and hoop-jumpers; or is the "Good News" Jesus asks us to pass on to all people a picture of a loving and merciful God?

Best wishes for a great day wherever you happen to be ... in life, and in our world,

Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher
Catholica Australia