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The Bishops' new initiative on evangelisation — will it work?
Dear Friends,
I'm taking a bit of a lay day today from doing the layout for a lead commentary. In it's place I bring you a post I wrote early this morning on the forum that has been generating a lot of feedback through my inbox. I take that as some indication that it might be appreciated by a wider audience. Enjoy!
 I've just had the benefit of reading a copy of the Bishops' Pastoral Letter which will be released in a week or so's time in the course of a major advertising effort to reach out to the 86% - those who still think of themselves as Catholics but who don't do much about it by way of participation. I have to say I think it is a beautifully worded document and at the heart of this message is this important sentiment: "The right approach is essential. Only slowly can one broach the delicate questions of faith and conscience with those we are seeking. Jesus himself, the Good Shepherd, is surely the model for us in this regard. The approach will often take the form of allowing them to tell their story in a context of sharing our faith. Whatever form it takes, it should arise from their need, not ours." [Emphasis added]
This endeavour has been mooted for some time, most recently in the report from the May Plenary of the Bishops' Conference.
I also had a look at the website of the National Office for Evangelisation, www.evangeliseaustralia.com, which will play a central role in this new initiative from the Bishops.
Let me try and be completely honest in my assessments, and predictions, about this initiative. Self-evidently a lot of careful thought has gone into this initiative by what looks to be a significant body of intelligent people. I do like the wording of all the communication materials I've been able to view. I think this initiative will end up having a measureable effect across this nation. In the end though I also suspect it is going to be marginal in terms of the scope of the dis-evangelisation that is being re-dressed.
I honestly feel sorry for all the people who do labour so hard to make these sort of initiatives work. At the end of all the effort though I think the larger problem of why the institution cannot "move forward" lies not within the province of the Australian ecclesial leadership. Yes, we can all cite cases of where so and so was upset by this priest, or that nun, or that bishop or because, as Adel Ghali disclosed in his interview with me some priest was trimming his fingernails while listening to confession. In my experience and conversations with many people of all ages, and in different situations, the consistent reason that comes across as to why people are pissed off with the Church is not significantly related to how the institutional Church presents itself in Australia with the possible exception of how a certain person who is perceved as the Primate puts himself across. That person though does embody the bigger problem of why the Church is perceived to be "on the nose" at the international level. As the President of the ACBC, Archbishop Phillip Wilson, wrote in his recent response to Paul Collins and the petitioners, "The matters which you raise in your letter . are also largely beyond our competence as a national Conference of Bishops within the universal Church." I honestly think that applies also on this bigger canvas of "evangelisation" or "reaching out to the 86% who, for whatever reason, have become disenchanted with Catholicism".
A decade or two ago some research was done into the effectiveness of Catholic schools in this nation trying to understand the dynamics that made for good Catholic school communities. One of the things that consistently shone through in the research was the critical importance of the role of the leader of each school community, the Principal. She or he "sets the tone" for each community. I honestly think the same applies at the international level. It is the leadership in Rome that "sets the tone". They establish the wider canvas as to how "Church" is perceived in the world. Despite all the hoopla that surrounded the late JPII and his acting abilities and his ability to get his face in the media I honestly believe that in the big picture he helped turn off more people than he turned on. Benedict is a different personality but he essentially has the same problem. In fact I would argue that it has been an endemic problem for close to two centuries now with one or two exceptions. In a nutshell, we have had abysmal leadership at the very top for a long, long time. They speak a language that does not communicate to the real heart of ordinary men and women. It communicates to the real heart of a tiny subset of the human population and they seem to believe that if they can communicate successfully to that tiny subset of humanity then by some magical mathematical process this "success" can be extended to every other subset in the human population. The evidence is irrefutably there now that it cannot. If you keep banging the same drum that only appeals to that tiny subset of humanity you will eventually drive everybody else "up the wall and out the friggin' door". And isn't that precisely what has happened?
I would respectfully suggest to Archbishop Wilson, and to the other Australian bishops, it is simply not good enough to tell the likes of Paul Collins, and through him the petitioners and the wider Australian Catholic population, "The matters which you raise in your letter . are also largely beyond our competence as a national Conference of Bishops within the universal Church". You need to be forcefully saying that to the leaders in Rome who effectively "call the shots" and "set the tone" as to whether Catholicism in the world is going to move forward or whether it is going to continue to decline until it truly is a remnant.
I fully agree with our Bishops when they write in their pastoral letter that is coming out: "Many of us, bishops, priests, grandparents, parents and others feel a deep personal pain, anxiety, even guilt at this loss [of those who have drifted out of the pews]". When the shit hit the fan in my life I seriously considered "giving up" also. In the end what has kept me going is that I do believe Jesus Christ has a wisdom to offer humankind that simply exceeds all human understanding. I am really pissed off though that our Church has been allowed to descend to this diabolical position where many of my contemporaries as parents, despite following all the rules our Popes and leaders told us to follow, it made no difference much in the lives of our children. We don't think our kids are wrong. I know from the conversations I have with many parents. We very much understand why our children have chosen as they have. We empathize with them even if we might disagree with the choices they might have made.
What I think the broad Australian Catholic population is most looking for are pastoral leaders with balls. Men who will stand up against the political bully boys who think they have "all the answers to everything". We want pastoral leaders who represent their flocks, who empathise with our challenges and hurts, and who can convey our feelings "up the line" to the ultimate leadership who do determine ultimately if our needs are truly responded to or otherwise. I honestly think the best way to re-evangelise the Church in this country is if our bishops collectively showed some leadership and in very calm but clear language conveyed to Pope Benedict your honest appreciations as you pick them up from the conversations with the members of your flock. Australian Catholics are sick to death of this Church which seems to be constantly wanting to appease the political inclinations of the Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney or the Editor of AD2000 even if a lot them probably wouldn't recognise the Cardinal if they tripped over him and certainly the vast, vast majority wouldn't even know what AD2000 was. We seek an institutional leadership that will lead us to "the truths that really matter" - the Divine insights that make each of our lives meaningful, whole, pure and peace-filled. The majority of Catholics I meet are simply not interested in playing this constant game of trying to prove that we Catholics are the only one's on earth who know God's laws about abortion, euthanasia, ivf and stem cell research and everyone else are sinners, nincompoops or "the damned" because they do not agree with our teachings. They are NOT "the truths that really matter". The "truths that really matter" are the decisions we have to make as parents that bring equilibrium, meaning and salvation into the lives of our families. The "truths that really matter" are the decisions we have to make as individuals that bring equilibrium, meaning and salvation into our personal lives. We seek spiritual guides who can help show us how to make these decisions in our lives.
We don't want endless lectures trying to teach us the Ten Commandments. By and large most people know them and they "switched off" decades ago whenever they hear some "Catholic leader" rabbiting on as though the population of the world are all imbeciles who do not appreciate the importance of the base moral codes as exemplified by teachings like the Ten Commandments. What parents want to know is how do we teach our children to discern "the most truthful" moral course of action in the myriad challenges they face in their lives. How do we teach them how to make their lives meaningful, fulfilled, happy and in spiritual, emotional, physical and mental equilibrium and balance. Those are "the truths" that ultimately matter. The vast majority of Australian Catholics are simply not interested in running around playing this perpetual game of trying to put other people down in order to prove that we're the only ones who know the rules, we're the only ones who are going to be "saved", we are the only "chosen people". <Link to the forum string if you'd like to add your own comment>
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