
The Archdiocese
of Sydney recently circulated a Draft Pastoral Plan for public discussion.
A pdf copy of the draft document is available on the Archdiocesan website.
The feedback being picked up by independent religious journalists and
commentators around Sydney is that at the parish level there is disquiet
about the draft plan. Fr Daniel Donovan, a lecturer at the School of Religious
Education at ACU National was approached by a number of parishes to provide
a critique of the Draft Plan. His conclusion is that the draft is seriously
flawed and needs to be taken back to the drawing board for a major re-write.
He argues the document is theologically flawed and needs to pay far greater
heed to official Vatican documents and the accepted teaching of the Catholic
Church. In his critique, Fr Donovan cites a number of significant Vatican
level documents which would urge a different approach to be taken to what
has been proposed in the Draft Pastoral Plan for Sydney. What follows
is the critique Fr Donovan has provided to the parishes that requested
it.
A critique of the Draft Pastoral Plan for the Archdiocese
of Sydney...
-
Theological weakness: The mission
statement presents an ecclesiology which has no Christological foundation.
Jesus is sent by the Father to proclaim that the kingdom and salvation
is God's offer of grace and mercy to all creation (EN#6-10,
2 Cor 5:12-15). Surely the mission statement for any Pastoral
Plan should be based on the initiative of God. The Church is born of
this evangelising activity of Jesus and the disciples (EN#15).
The Church in turn is sent forth to proclaim the "mighty works
of God" constantly needs to be evangelised through "conversion
and renewal" if evangelisation is to be credible to the wider community
(EN# 15). Evangelisation is therefore never
an "individual and isolated act" but is always "deeply
ecclesial" (EN#60). Evangelisation and
eucharistic participation "an ecclesial act" (GIRM#
5) are intimately connected as the gathered body of Christ is
commissioned and sent into the world to serve and live eucharist (Mk
10 45-50).
- An alternative Christological
foundation: A suitable Christological basis for a Pastoral
Plan should be as follows: God, the Father of mercies, through the life,
death and resurrection of the Son has sent the Holy Spirit to transform
humanity through an "interior renewal and radical conversion"
(EN# 10). From this divine initiative there
flows the great sacrament of the whole Church which continues to be
"responsible for the task of spreading the Gospel" (EN#
60) and transforming society in the power of the Spirit (EN#27).
- Ecclesiology must be rooted in
Christology: All ecclesiology must be rooted in Christology
otherwise there is as Aloysius Pieris
points out "...ecclesiology ... runs the
danger of allowing the church to overdevelop as a massive euro-ecclesiastical
Body, that conceals Jesus, its head." Pieris'
critique applies to the present Pastoral Plan
Draft which substitutes a bureaucratic-ecclesiastical Body
which conceals Jesus by excluding the people (Mt
18:20).
-
Inculturation vs Enculturation:
On p.10, the role of the Episcopal Vicar for the Clergy has the task
of "INCULTURATION" of the new clergy. This is a theological
concept and refers to the incarnation of the faith within
culture. This means that it describes the interaction between faith
and culture. "ENCULTURATION" on the other hand, is a sociological
term and refers to the process of
assisting a person from another cultural background to accommodate to
a new cultural milieu. It would seem that the latter, rather
than the former term, is intended here.
- Christian education and sexual
development: The section on Christian education and sexual
development is vague and uninformed. Surely the family rather than the
Church should be involved in the personal development programs? Generally
the section on marriage needs more depth.
- Needs to be founded in Church
documents and thinking: Church documents need to be used
more meaningfully. For example, the use of EN#27 does not define evangelisation.
The paragraph makes the point that evangelisation is not simply to be
identified with human liberation. Evangelisation proclaims salvation
which goes beyond human liberation to "transcendent and eschatological
salvation".
- A "listening" hierarchy:
Much of the Plan has shades of the Opus Dei especially in the areas
of education, youth formation and sacramental and human development
programs. A major failure of the Plan is that it has failed to take
note of the various movements (Opus Dei, Neocatechumenal Way etc and
their infiltration of the Archdiocesan structures and ministries. There
is also, a need to provide a suitable process for critiquing structures
and providing just outcomes. There must be developed a "listening"
hierarchy who are able "connect" with the broad masses of
the faithful and their issues rather than endorsing the agenda of the
various movements.
- Empowering of the community under
the Holy Spirit: The whole Plan must be shown to be an empowering
of the community under the Holy Spirit. There is no mention of the Spirit
in the Draft document.
- This document needs a serious
re-write: My recommendation would be for the Draft to be
returned to the committee for a serious rewrite. There is a need to
represent the needs of the people and not simply those of the clergy.
REFERENCES:
EN = Evangelii
Nuntiandi
GIRM = General
Instruction on the Roman Missal
Aloysius Pieris, Christ beyond dogma: Doing Chrisiology
in the context of the religions of the poor, in Louvain Studies 25
(2000) 187-231, p. 199.
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Fr
Daniel Donovan is a lecturer in the School of Religious Education
at the Strathfield campus of ACU National. He has a long history
in the education of primary school teachers in Religious Education.
He has given special attention to teaching beliefs and values courses,
and to field supervision of students in practicum. Further details
about his research interests and contact details can be found on
the ACU National website at rel-ed.acu.edu.au/ren2/staff.html.
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What are your thoughts on this commentary, and on the Draft Pastoral
Plan? You can contribute to the discussion in our forum.
©2007
Daniel Donovan
[Index of Commentaries by Fr Daniel Donovan]
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