In this detailed commentary Fr Daniel Donovan endeavours to break apart the nature of the crisis in participation and morale being experienced by the Church, both locally and internationally, at the moment. It is a potentially explosive analysis with his revelations of a recent Open Letter to the Priests of the Archdiocese of Sydney from Dr Dennis Dubro, the former Bursar at the Opus Dei-managed Warrane College whose letter "warns of the dangers of Opus Dei and its unbridled activity and power in the structures (and worship) of the Local Church". Fr Donovan is concerned at the appeasement that seems to be underway at a high level in the Church for dissident elements who at every turn have endeavoured to undo the work of the Second Vatican Council. Fr Donovan charts how at a number of significant levels there has been a decisive shift away from the spirit and intent of what the collective Church Fathers charted as the future for the Church at the Second Vatican Council. He concludes by arguing that the responsibility of the Church's bishops is "to uphold with courage and imagination the work of Vatican II so that God's Spirit might continue to renew the whole earth" and not be engaged in this constant "appeasment of the disaffected".

"Crisis of belief in Christ" or "Crisis in Leadership"?

Over recent years there has been a mantra acclaiming that there is a crisis in the church. There has been a tendency among the hierarchy from the Vatican down to the local bishops to describe it as a "crisis of faith" or a "crisis of belief in Christ." While it is true that Church authorities are correct in identifying that there is a crisis, they are incorrect in naming it as a crisis in faith or in belief in Christ. The real crisis is in leadership. People want a bishop and indeed a hierarchy which has a vision and creative imagination. The Church is the people of God with a mission to be in the world as a sign of "the permanent presence of Jesus" (Evangelii Nuntiandi [EN] #15). If the Church is to achieve this mission then its leaders must be able to nourish the community and to build it up for service. Following the initiative of Jesus, the Church must serve and be prepared to "lay down its life "for the ransom of the many" (Mk 10:45). A servant Church demands pastoral leaders.

	Ecclesia semper reformanda est … the Local Church is always in need of reforming and re-orientation by the Spirit.

The Chinese word for "crisis" is composed of two characters the first of which means "danger" and the second "adventure." Thus a crisis contains both danger and adventure and the resolution of these two provides a dynamic which finds itself at the heart of pastoral leadership and a corresponding ecclesiology. The local Church is the people of God who journey in living faith toward the Kingdom and therefore the Local Church is always in need of reforming and re-orientation by the Spirit. Ecclesia semper reformanda est, was the traditional maxim which expressed this truth. During Vatican II, the Church underwent a process of reorientation to build up the community for service opening the Church up to the needs of the world (Mt 25:45). The Church's power was to be the Holy Spirit "who blows where he pleases" (Jn 3:8). Church authority, on the other hand is meant to be service (Lk 22:24-27).

Therefore the Church must be a pilgrim who does not settle in the past which is the inheritance of all members of the Church but journeys under the power of the Spirit with hope toward God's future. Recently, the article on Facing the People, (Catholica 4th July 2007), reported that Pope Benedict XVI was considering a new order of the Mass, a Latin rite to attract back to the Church the "disaffected." The article explains that there are about 600,000 Catholics and 400 priests involved in these groups and societies. However should the Pope decide to create this new order of the Mass then he is establishing a very dangerous precedent for the Church generally. There are many more than 600,000 Catholics throughout the world who have been forced out of the Church because of their marital status. The numbers of "disaffected Catholics" who have joined the Hillsong church because they are not able to practise their faith in the Catholic Church. "Disaffected priests" who have left the ministry are prevented from even doing a reading in the liturgy. Disaffected women who are unable to be ordained. Therefore if the Pope is committed to providing for those disaffected who want the Latin Mass then he must demonstrate the same concern for those who are similarly disaffected but for other reasons.

Vatican II established that it is inappropriate to create "new rites" even when such rites were designed for the greater benefit of specific groups within the community. One such group is children. Vatican II, considered the possibility of developing a rite of eucharist for children. The discussion of this topic ended with the rejection of any consideration of a new rite for children. Rather it was argued that the eucharist is an ecclesial action even when it was celebrated with a specific group for example children. Therefore the Directory for Masses with children, adapted the official rite which is contained in the Sacramentary of Vatican II.

The Directory clearly, enunciates three principles to be observed in Masses with children. Firstly, adaptation: it is a Mass "with" children not "for" children. Therefore it is intended that while the rituals, rites and prayers can be adapted to foster the children's "authentic, conscious and active participation" (DMC#12) it will always involve the community. Two types of celebration were established for Masses with children: those Masses in which there were many adults and few children, such as on Sunday or a major feast. The second celebration was of Masses in which there were few adults and many children such as school Masses. Yet even in this second type of celebration, the Mass was to retain its distinctive character as an ecclesial action. The adults present must take active parts so that the children can experience the communal nature of the Mass and its many ministries. Children needed to experience that there were many ministries but one act of worship (General Instruction for the Roman Missal [GIRM] #5, Directory for Masses for Children [DMC] #12).

Secondly, the principle of participation requires that the adapted rite would allow the specific group to enter into the meaning of the rituals, rites and prayers at their level of development (DMC#2, 12). Active participation requires that the group would be prepared for the celebration through appropriate catechesis and that the celebration would be followed by a further catechesis in order that the children might gain greater spiritual benefit from their participation in the paschal mystery (DMC#8) and would gradually develop a "living faith" which works through love (DMC#55).

Thirdly, the Directory identifies the principle of formation. Through their involvement with the Christian community and sharing in its worship, the children are nurtured and educated in their faith. Through baptism the children become members of the Christian community and gather with their parish family to praise and thank God for the great gifts of creation and salvation in Jesus. Long before the children can explain the mystery which they celebrate they are being formed. Gathered in the community, the smells, sounds, gestures, colours, music, etc begin to impress the children's senses through the liturgy's "inherent power to teach." Children begin to develop the sense of belonging to God's family and a sense of the sacred.

Here is a wonderful example of formation in the following true story. One Sunday a mother had to take her two year old son to Mass because her husband was away. All parents will know the "terrible two's". Usually, the parents attended different Masses so that their son stayed at home. On this particular Sunday the responsorial psalm was the Twenty-third psalm and the people were singing, "The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want". Suddenly, the mother noticed that her son was listening most intently. When the verse was sung for the third time, the child shouted "yes there is! I want a train set!" Formation! Sure was. The adults were singing words but the child focussed on the meaning. Why have a Shepherd-Lord if you do not express your needs to him?

Meaning and Language

It is the purpose of the liturgy, to consecrate the community which gathers in the Spirit and in obedience to the command of Jesus to "do this in my memory." Eucharist is about life. The rhythm of the liturgy itself supports this link: the Spirit gathers the people in from daily life and work (Introductory Rites) and then in the Spirit the people are sent forth (Concluding Rite) to be and live eucharist in the world until they are again gathered in to celebrate the mystery of Jesus in word and sacrament.

In the film, The Breach, which is a true story based on the life of Robert Hanssen who was in charge of the Russian desk at the FBI. Hanssen was a devout catholic who attended daily Mass (and Latin Mass on Sunday). Yet the meaning of eucharist escaped him, his life was completely quarantined from the meaning and purpose of his liturgical participation. Because of his position in the FBI, Hanssen had access to the classified secrets of the United States Government and he passed on this material to the KGB. Hanssen's treachery resulted in the death of at least 50 agents whose identity was revealed in the traded documents.

Words and language are symbols which convey meaning. It is very hard to translate meaning from one language to another. It is hard to capture the exact nuance of "words" in translations and not infrequently, the translator provides an interpretation of the text rather than its exact meaning. For example, in French the saying, cela va sans dire is fine but when translated into English literally as, that goes without saying, the meaning and impact of the original French idiom is lost. For this reason, Latin liturgy is fine for Latin speakers whose reality is the Latin culture. However, it is inappropriate to impose a Latin liturgy upon a Church in a modern cultural milieu. Liturgy draws upon the popular culture and the life experience of the celebrating community and therefore should be celebrated in the mother tongue. Monsignor Dupanloup who was a prominent bishop at Vatican I (1870), stated that "no one should be asked to pray in any language other than his (her) own."

While it is true that language is analogical and is a means to an end rather than the end itself. This is not to say that some of the Gregorian Chants and Latin hymns are never to be used in worship but it is to stress that the liturgy is more than language. Liturgy is about meaning and relevance of that meaning to life. Likewise it is imperative that in this day and age that the Church be allowed to move ahead into the new Pentecost in which the Holy Spirit will gather all people to hear and tell the wonderful deeds of God in his or her own language (Acts 2:12). To go back to Latin would create a clerical liturgy once more and exclude the people from gaining the maximum benefit and meaning from the liturgy. The celebrating community itself is the living tradition (EAW#28), and the language used should allow the community to gain the maximum spiritual benefit from their celebration. This would have been a useful insight for Robert Hanssen in his spirituality (DMC#55).

Unknown Woman Disciple and Meaning in Mark 14

Mark's Passion Narrative begins with an interesting scenario of a woman coming into Simon's house where Jesus is having a meal at Bethany. The woman goes up to Jesus and anoints his head with a "costly nard" (Mk 14:4). Jesus is most impressed with her action and tells those present that wherever the gospel is preached that her action would be told "in remembrance of her" (Mk 4:9). This woman disciple is contrasted by Mark, with two of the male disciples, Judas (Mk 14:10-11) who betrayed Jesus and Peter (Mk 14:26-32) who denied Jesus. Mark also, includes the institution of the eucharist in this context (Mk 14 22-25).

The point of the story is that the unknown woman by pouring the oil over Jesus' head recalls the ritual by which the priest, prophets and kings were anointed for mission in ancient Israel. By her action, the woman reveals Jesus' mission, as God's suffering Messiah/Servant. She lifts the pall of secrecy which has shrouded his ministry throughout Mark's gospel (Mk 3:21) and even in his last hours, Judas and Peter still lack this specific insight. The unknown woman grasps the meaning. God's Spirit has broken into time through Jesus and "the Good News will be proclaimed to all creation" (Mk 16:16). In the context, Mark shows that the eucharist extends this meaning as Jesus pours out his covenant blood "for the salvation of the many" (Mk 14:26).

The Relationship between the Universal and the Local Church…

In the Apostolic Exhortation, On Evangelisation in the Modern World (Evangelii Nuntiandi [EN]) Pope Paul VI describes the relationship between the Universal and the Local Church. It is clear that there are not two Churches but rather that the Local Church is the incarnation of the Universal Church. Thus the Pope writes:

Nevertheless this Universal Church is in practice incarnate in the individual Churches made up of such and such an actual part of mankind, speaking such and such a language, heirs of a cultural patrimony, of a vision of the world, of a historical past, of a particular human substratum. Receptivity to the wealth of the individual Church corresponds to special sensitivity of modern man. (EN#62)

Let us be very careful not to conceive of the Universal Church as the sum, or, if one can say so, the more or less anomalous federation of essentially different individual Churches. In the mind of the Lord, the Church is universal by vocation and mission, but when she puts down roots in a variety of cultural, social and human terrains, she takes on a different external expression and appearances in each part of the world.

Clearly, people experience Church in their local community which participates in the vocation and mission of the Universal Church. However within the Local Church there must be, as the Pope points out, many models, many ways in which people from a particular country, language, culture, historical background, world view and identity live the reality of Church. Today this reality is under attack as the local bishops are becoming more and more disconnected from their people. There is an all consuming obsession by the hierarchy with the Universal Church and a neglect of the Local Church. As the priest numbers continue to dwindle and grey, bishops should be imaginatively searching for new structures and ways to meet the pastoral needs of the new millennium. Unfortunately, there has been a rather knee jerk reaction with the emphasis on the ordained ministry alone. For example, priests from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds with different experiences of Church are placed in Australian parishes. As a result the Australian character of the parish undergoes a metamorphosis, as the parish is informed by the spirituality and customs of the clergy. Frequently, these parishes become centres for specific nationalities with the resulting disaffection of the Australian parishioners. There is a need to consider the liturgical and spiritual character of the Local Church and to undertake a whole review of ministry but this will never be done, while the focus is only on "ordained ministry. There is much to be learnt from those parishes which have had a lengthy history of lay leadership.

In the forty-two years since Vatican II, local communities have developed more inclusive liturgies according to the principles of adaptation, participation and formation which were enunciated above. Unfortunately, these liturgies are spied upon by the more conservative groups who frequently do not belong to the community on which they are reporting. Generally, this spying is followed up with reports to the local bishop who will approach the priest and community to answer the charges reported. However, it is common practice that the community is not given the name of those making the allegations.

Local Church and Structures…

Not only is the specific identity of the Local Church struggling with the influx of clergy from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds but there is the very specific model of Church in Opus Dei. This is a particular concern as the Opus becomes more prominent in the Local Church. The recent Draft pastoral plan for the Archdiocese of Sydney fails to guard the integrity of the Local Church. Committees, offices and commissions which will determine the pastoral and liturgical landscape of the Archdiocese. This structure allows for the effective control and shaping of the Local Church according to Opus Dei design. In his book, Their Kingdom Come: Inside the Secret World of Opus Dei, Robert Hutchison writes,

Opus Dei operates in an almost medieval vacuum. Because of its insufficiency of its institutions the Vatican is not equipped to regulate a worldwide conglomerate. Canon law was never designed to govern an organization whose roster of activities is unknown to a majority of its members. The Vatican's lack of oversight gives Opus Dei unrestrained freedom; its incorporation as an enterprise of pontifical right provides it with the necessary standing to function in other jurisdictions without submitting the sum, or even certain of its parts, to the laws and regulations of those jurisdictions. (p.414)

How can Local Church survive without strong leadership by the local bishop? Yet local bishops seem to be more concerned with pilgrimages and free coffee shops, rather than the real issues in parishes. The recent Draft Pastoral Plan for the Archdiocese of Sydney represents a clear failure in facing the real issues in pastoral planning as the Church moves into the new millennium. The plethora of committees, offices and commissions would simply ensure that there could never be any serious input from parishes and that there would never be any relevant outcomes. The document presents an ecclesiastical version of "big government" or should it be "yes, bishop?" The details for Church life expressed in this document are "good ideas" which lack substance and any relevance to active participation or the daily life of God's people.

Hutchison raises another problem concerning the role of the Opus Dei Prelate in Church structures. In effect, the prelature is a Church within a Church. Dr Denis Dubro writes in an open letter (19th May 2007) to priests in the Archdiocese of Sydney that Opus Dei "…employs all the methods and techniques of a cult" (p.2). Dubro, warns of the dangers of Opus Dei and its unbridled activity and power in the structures (and worship) of the Local Church. In fact, Dubro states quite emphatically that Opus Dei should be "a separate church".

Maria del Carmen Tapia writes in, Beyond the Threshold: A Life in Opus Dei, of the penchant of Opus Dei to insinuate itself into the structures, agencies and the daily life of the Local Church through rather questionable strategies. Dubro is more precise when he labels these strategies and techniques as "orchestrated public shows," presenting Opus Dei as simply helping members to "live a more spiritual life (Dubro p.4). Such an image of Opus Dei is dispelled when its strategies and methods are more critically examined. Hutchison (Their kingdom come: p.258), provides some vivid accounts of these strategies at work when he details the events surrounding the expulsion of Maria del Carmen from Opus Dei by its authorities. The beleaguered woman was required to confess her guilt and when she did not comply, she was accused unjustly of serious misdemeanours and Mgr Escriva promised that he would undertake "extra flagellation for her salvation."

Since the Opus Dei is allowed to continue to proselytise from within the Local Church and to swell its numbers with bishops, priests, religious laity and young people from the parishes, there is a major structural concern. What is the role and the power of the Prelate vis-à-vis the role of the Pope? While Pope Benedict XVI is the head of the Church, is he not shadowed by the Prelate of Opus Dei, Monsignor Javier Echevarria? Is not the new rite of the Mass (Latin), intended to placate the Opus Dei? Can the Pope rein in the power of Opus Dei? Under what conditions could the bishops, clergy religious and laity who are members of Opus Dei be expected to be loyal to the Prelate and not the Pope? People in the Local Church have a right to answers to these and similar questions from their local leaders or bishop and there is a corresponding duty on the leaders to provide the answers. Otherwise the Local Church will be absorbed into the Opus Dei structure and model of Church in much the same manner as multi-national companies consume local businesses.

Gerard Henderson writing in the Sydney Morning Herald (19th June 2007) used the analogy of the Church as a company and the bishop as "a chief executive officer." Henderson by using this analogy seeks to defend the right of the bishop to speak out on community issues and of course, this right has never been denied but Henderson fails to state that his analogy also, implies that the bishop is duty bound to protect his company (Church) from take over bids from multi-nationals. This is the real pastoral need today as the Local Church struggles to retain its own identity against Opus Dei and other such movements imported from other cultures.

Vatican II envisaged a process of inculturation by which the Local Church would gradually, bring faith and culture into a dynamic process which would promote the mission of the Church within that cultural milieu. Pope Paul describes the Church as "a precious living heritage not in order to keep it hidden but to communicate it" (EN#15). The Church itself is the "living tradition" and through the Spirit will guarantee its authenticity throughout the world.

In a lecture delivered at Weston, the Jesuit School of Theology, in Cambridge Massachusetts shortly before his death, Fr Karl Rahner referred to work of Vatican II as a "quantum leap" the likes of which had not been experienced in the Church since the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15). At Jerusalem, the fledgling Church made a break with Judaism and declared that faith in Christ and not the practices of the Law brought salvation. Rahner explained that Vatican II made a similar leap to abandon the Euro-centricity and became a world Church which embraced all cultures.

Many of the disaffected, after the Council of Jerusalem remained in the community and continued to hamper the work of Paul among the Gentiles converts by their insistence on the acceptance of the Jewish Law. After Vatican II, there was a similar retention of the disaffected within the Church and like the Judaisers in the early community, they challenge the shift toward inculturation of the Universal Church in the Local Churches and world cultures. Today the responsibility of Church leaders, is not necessarily to appease the disaffected, but to uphold with courage and imagination the work of Vatican II so that God's Spirit might continue to renew the whole earth.

Further Reading:
Dubro, D (2007)* Open letter to the priests of the Archdiocese of Sydney

Hutchison, R. (1977) Their Kingdom Come : Inside the secret world of Opus Dei, Great Britain: Corgi Books.

John Paul II,** Ecclesia in Oceania (EO), On Jesus Christ and the Peoples of Oceania: Walking his way, telling his truth, living his life,
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_20011122_ecclesia-in-oceania_en.html

Tapia, M del C, (1999) Beyond the threshold: Life in the Opus Dei, New York: Continuum Publications Co.

Pope Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, Apostolic Exhortation of Paul VI On the church in the modern world, Sydney: St Pauls Publications.

General Instruction on the Roman Missal (GIRM) this is the introduction to the Vatican II Sacramentary. This is the book which the priest uses for the prayers, eucharistic prayers etc at Mass

Directory for Masses with Children (DMC) this is the adaptation of the GIRM for parents, teachers and pastors who need to prepare and implement liturgies with children

Environment and Art in Christian Worship (EAW) this is a document of the United States Catholic Conference which highlights the community as the major symbol of the presence of Jesus.

These last three documents are available in:

Lysik D., (Editor, 2004) The Liturgical Documents: A parish resource, Chicago: Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications.

*Dr Denis Dubro was a member of Opus Dei for seventeen years. He was a bursar at Warrane College at University of New South Wales in Kensington. Denis was expelled from Opus Dei for his questioning and failure to accept the views of his Director.

** Note the different approach to the Local Church and its relationship to the culture from the approach in Evangelii Nuntiandi by Pope Paul VI in which the Pope describes the Local Church as the Universal Church putting down roots in a variety of cultures (EN#62). Pope Paul in this same paragraph explains that a Church which is "toto orbe diffusa" (spread throughout the whole world) is an "abstraction if it did not take body and life through the individual Churches." This is the risk for the Australian Church today. The document Ecclesia in Oceania (EO) followed the Synod which put pay to the Australian identity of the Local Church and has resulted in a new wave of conservative clergy coming as missionaries to serve the parishes in major cities. Combining parishes and the different experiences of "being church" has resulted in disaffection among Australian catholics. The problems of the "Australian Church" have been exacerbated today by an ever widening "disconnect" between the people and the hierarchy. It seems that the time has come to revisit the basic truth that the Church is always in need of reform and implementing the real insight of Paul VI (EN #15) when he stated that: "The Church is an evangeliser, but she begins by being evangelised herself. She is the community of believers, the community of hope lived and communicated, the community of brotherly love; and needs to listen unceasingly to what she must believe, to her reasons for hoping, to the new commandment of love. She is the People of God immersed in the world and often tempted by idols, and she always needs to hear the proclamation of the mighty works of God".

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.

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]