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Making
the Church our own ... is it possible?
Dear friends,
Overnight
I've received some advance news of a new book written by a good friend
and fan of our small endeavour, Len Swidler, Professor of Catholic Thought
& Interreligious Dialogue at Temple University in Philadelphia. Professor
Swidler has been one of the leaders internationally in the Church of the
endeavours to see the reforms instituted by the Second Vatican Council
faithfully implemented. It's been a largely losing battle given the strength
of the countervailing forces that have slowly gained the ascendancy since
that Council to "reform the reform" and take Catholicism down
to some remnant of what it once was, and what it has the potential to
be.
Here's the cover of his new book. The name speaks for itself:
 I
have to confess I am becoming more pessimistic by the minute that there
is much hope at all for the Catholic Church as we've known it ever again
serving the vast masses of humanity let alone the vast masses having a
sense of ownership of the institution again. Across the Western world
eighty-five percent of the baptised on average have ceased to consider
they have any meaningful ownership of their Church other than a vestigal
sense of membership when they are asked to state what religious affiliation
they have on a government census.
Who cares? The bureaucrats that run the empire enjoy very comfortable
lifestyles these days, jetsetting around the world on their credit cards
made out in the names of poverty, chasteness, obedience, and meakness
or niceness. Even though the institution is a shadow of what it should
be, there's still plenty of dining to be done in the company of the rich
and powerful and little incentive to be preaching the "Good News"
of Jesus to the powerless, the defenceless and the marginalised. Many
of those in positions of power seem overwhelmed not by any sense of judgment
that God might have on their stewardship of the institution but overwhelmed
by the judgments of their peers and how they might be written up in the
history books. Out in the paddocks themselves the quiet pleadings of those
seeking meaning, companionship and communion or communio are trampled
on by the boisterous and pathologically insecure "bovver boys and
girls" who are constantly trying to prove that they are not insecure
and they – or the institution they seem to believe they "own"
exclusively — has all the answers and that all the questions about
life and meaning have been answered by their fundamentalism.
On the website of independent publisher, Rowan and LIttlefield (Professor
Swidler's book is published by Sheed and Ward), you will find a
sample chapter of what he has to write. I found it fascinating
and informative getting a greater grasp of this long battle that has raged
in the Church for nigh-on 400 years between those who essentially see
their Church as an end to the search for certitude and those who see their
Church as the means to an end — the ultimate answers that subsist
in the Godhead of the Divine alone.
Professor Swidler has been an untiring advocate for greater democracy
in the Church and argues that from its earliest foundations the Church
did have a democratic structure (albeit that it would not have been perceived
that way in our modern understanding of the word) in the way bishops and
priests were appointed by their local communities. He urges that we need
to get back to this model of Church. I have to say I am pessimistic that
the institutional Church can be reformed "from the ground up".
Most people I talk to simply have this sense of utter powerlessness against
the forces of bureaucracy and total disinterest from the centres of power
within the now rapidly dwindling institution on the one side, and, on
the other, the constant bleating of the "bovver boys and girls"
in the flock who have forced everyone else out the gate of the sheepfold.
I'm increasingly coming to the conclusion that what is more likely to
happen is that the institution as we have known it is about to wither
on the vine in much the same way that we saw the passing of feudalism
and the Divine Right of Kings. I have greater faith in the workings of
the Holy Spirit than I do in the manouevering of bureaucrats or the insecure
"bovver boys and gals". What is going to be fascinating to watch
over the next few centuries are the ways in which the winds of the Holy
Spirit may blow. What is patently clear is that the majority of those
who have left have not swapped Catholicism for Godlessness. They continue
to hunger for liturgy and meaning in their lives. If the institution is
incapable of delivering it in language that meets the needs of the people
the people will eventually create new structures which do meet their deepest
spiritual needs and yearnings. The only question that needs to be resolved
is how the Holy Spirit might resolve the issue of Apostolic succession
and which structure will enjoy the blessing of the Dove floating above
it? It's a pity none of us are going to be around to see the eventual
outcome. Our choice comes down to which side of the heavenly balcony we
purchase our ticket for to watch the eventual finale. The stakes are high
— and Eternal whether we are pope or peasant.
You can pre-order a copy of Professor Swidler's book on-line at the website
of Rowan and Littlefield and get a 15% discount on the already dirt cheap
price of $US14.95. I've ordered it through this source and the total cost
in Australian dollars including post and handling is approximately $AU24.57.
<Click
here to read more reviews and to order>
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