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SS. Simon
& Jude
westland, MI
wednesday,
september 17, 2014
Introduction Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
Good afternoon,
and welcome to another presentation by the Elephants. Our speaker today is Fr. Donald Cozzens from
John Carroll University in Cleveland.
Don spoke to us a few years ago, and is here with us again. First of all, a little bit about his
life. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and
attended Catholic schools there. And in
fact, when he was in first grade - I read this about him - he said, "I
knew from the first day in the first grade that I wanted to be a parish priest." When I read that I kind of laughed, because
you heard the joke about God? “You want to make God laugh? Plan your life.” Well, Don did; he becomes a parish priest. He was ordained in 1965, and became a parish
priest, but only for six years. His long
life as a priest has included being a teacher, a pastoral psychologist, a seminary
rector, and vicar for clergy in the diocese in Cleveland. So much of his life
has been in ministry to priests; and he is very, very familiar with the priesthood,
its problems and successes, and so on.
He has become kind of an expert on the Catholic priesthood and has
published a number of books that started with The Changing Face of the Priesthood.
Then he wrote Sacred
Silence: Denial and Crises in the
Church: Faith that Dares to Speak, Freeing Celibacy; and then the book that
probably has brought us together today, Notes
from the Underground .
A review of the book by Fr. John McElby, a priest from Philadelphia, described, he says,
"Right off the spiritual journey of Fr. Donald Cozzens, priest of the
diocese of Cleveland, is a roller coaster ride a cry of the heart; a new
personal crises, which began in the 1980s, and worsened with the ongoing revelations
of secrecy, incompetence and dishonesty of Church authorities around the pedophilia
crises.” He quotes Don as saying,
"I came to feel, and soon came to think, that I belonged to an underground
Church, disoriented, slightly out of place, and much of the time unsure of my
identity as a priest.” The reviewer, Fr.
McElby, says, "Give or take five years, I am the same age and vintage as Fr.
Cozzens. A younger set of priests calls us, or at least some of us, Vatican II
priests; and so we are brothers of a curious state of misplaced enthusiasm.” (Laughter)
I must say, that happens here in Detroit too. But now Fr. Cozzens comes back to us to speak
with new enthusiasm in which he will share with us about his pope: New Pope; New Hope: New Notes from the
Underground. I'm happy to welcome
Fr. Don. (Much laughter) (Applause)
New Pope; New Hope:
Out from the Underground Fr. Donald Cozzens
Thank you, Bishop Gumbleton, for those
gracious words. I knew two things in the
first grade. As Tom indicated, I wanted
to be a priest, and I was in love with Joanne Mahoney; (Laughter) and she was
in my homeroom for twelve years, first grade through high school. Talk about the agony and the ecstasy. (Laughter)
But Joanne is happily married now, and I’m happily ordained. I believe I can put it that way. Thank you for inviting me back. It is a pleasure to be with you good people. I believe this is my third meeting with the Elephants
in the Living Room; and you have truly grown in size, and in wisdom, and in
grace; so I'm delighted to be with you this afternoon.
And I'd like to begin with a question: Now that the Jesuit from Argentina, Jorge Mario
Bergoglio, is Pope Francis, the Bishop of Rome, can we, should we, expect a Catholic spring? My remarks this afternoon will take a stab at
answering that question. I'm setting the
bar rather low, taking a stab, because of the complexity and the countless
unknowns that go into any possible response to the likelihood of a Catholic spring. But I will nonetheless take a stab at
responding to the question of a possible Catholic
spring now that Francis is Bishop of Rome and our pope. To say that the Church is in trouble - and
here I am speaking primarily of the institutional or hierarchical Church -
might be understood as a gross understatement.
It's in trouble! It's in big
trouble! Some say it is in crises,
especially in Europe, where commentators speak of the Church as dying, if not
dead, for all practical purposes. And
the same commentators and public intellectuals don't hesitate to describe
Europe today as post-Christian. Here in
the U. S., we feel the tremors of the shaking of the Church's foundations, if
the Church hopefully is not dying.
I'm just going to mention some of the
factors shaking the foundations of the Church:
• The horrible sexual
abuse scandals of the Church embedded by the authorities more concerned about
avoiding scandal and protecting the Church's assets than the welfare of young
Catholics.
• Then, the
staggering financial scandals.
• Arrogant bishops,
calling for the investigation of Catholic sisters, while holding themselves
above accountability for their own malfeasance.
• The absence of
women in positions of Church leadership.
• Dramatic drop in
Catholic worship.
• More and more
lifelong Catholics are not turning to the Church to marry these days; and they’re
not turning to the Church to bury their family members.
• And then, our
half-full seminaries.
The litany of lament could go on; but, I think,
it is good to remember the Church has always been in trouble in some fashion or
another, from its beginning 2000 years ago, and in some fashion or another, it
always will be in trouble. But we could
also point out that the Church has been in trouble, especially since it became
the establishment religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century. At that time Church leaders adapted the
structures of Roman governance, and bishops donned the vestments that copied
the dress of Roman Senators. Popes
established papal courts, and thought and behaved like monarchs, and even
emperors. As many of you know, in the 5th
century, after taking on the invading Huns Pope, Leo the Great took on the
titles of Pope and Supreme Pontiff. And later on, in the 11th century, Pope
Gregory the Great assumed supreme secular power, as well as religious power. The Church has been in big trouble ever
since. And yet, the troubles we are
facing today aren't the worse troubles the Church has encountered. We need but think of the Crusades, the
Inquisition, the staggering corruption of the Renaissance papacies, and other
examples of a Church in need of reform and renewal.
As long as I am on this brief historical
sidebar, let me mention four popes we don't hear about these days:
• St. Anastasias
• St. Innocent
• St. Hormisdas
• St. Silverius.
I mention these men, because these popes
are among the 39 married popes from our past.
(Murmurs) Moreover, Anastasias
was the father of Innocent; and Hormisdas was the father of Silverius.
(Laughter) Can you imagine their wives
at the marketplace? (Much laughter) “My husband was a pope. My son is now the pope. Top that if you can.” It's interesting - and I know I have a number
of brother priests here this afternoon - I never heard about these men in the
seminary. (Laughter) I never heard that there were at least 39
married popes. We don't want to mention
that today; it might confuse us. (More laughter) But let's go back to the present. Today's troubles are our troubles; and we have a responsibility to address them as adult
disciples. And so, the leadership of
Pope Francis is a bright beacon of hope to many of us caught up by the vision
of the Second Vatican Council.
Here's why Pope Francis gives me hope. It's not only his disarming simplicity and
humility, his down to earth pastoral instincts, his honesty and his integrity. These characteristics are important; in fact,
it's hard to exaggerate their importance.
They have caught the attention of a rather cynical media as well as the
attention of countless Catholics. If the
medium is the message, Francis' humility and simplicity have prompted us to want to listen to him. He has captured our attention. I'd like to
highlight here what I think are a few of the most telling and promising aspects
of Francis' vision for reformed and renewed Church:
•
First: Pope Francis is willing to turn the light of
the Gospel on the Church itself.
Not an easy thing to do. The Lutheran theologian Paul Tillich - some
of you have heard of him - pointed out how difficult it is for the Church to
turn the light of the Gospel on itself.
Here's what Tillich wrote: "If the Church does not subject itself
to the judgment, which is pronounced by
the Church, it becomes idolatrous to itself.
Such idolatry is its permanent temptation. A Church which tries to exclude itself from
such a judgment loses its right to judge the world, and is rightly judged by
the world." Then Tillich added
these painful words: "This is the tragedy of the Roman Catholic Church.” We take the light of the Gospel, and we judge
the world by it; but we seem slow to turn that same light on ourselves, and
judge ourselves by it; and so the world is judging us. Francis understands that the world is indeed
judging the Church; and the worlds verdict is cutting to the heart of the Church's
integrity. So in his extraordinary Apostolic Exhortation: The Joy of the Gospel,
Francis writes, "Since I am called to put into practice what I ask others,
I too must think about a conversation of the papacy." So we have Francis turning the light of the Gospel
on the papacy itself. Unheard of! Can we
imagine a day when Church authorities might say about a given teaching , “We
were wrong about that.” I think Pope
Francis can.
• Second: Francis would like us to teach the truths of
our religion with greater humility.
I believe he is
uncomfortable with "absolute dogmatic certainties.” Here Pope Francis suggests he is familiar
with the South African theologian, Fr. Albert Nolan, a Dominican, who wrote in
his book, Jesus Today, these striking
words: "Upsetting for some people is the undermining of their long held
certainties. The challenge they face may
not be that of changing one idea for another; but rather, that of replacing
certainties with uncertainty. Obsession
with absolute certainty is yet another form of slavery. It is a way of finding security without
having to put all our trust in God."
Pope Francis gets this. While
upholding Church teachings, he is putting pastoral compassion and healing mercy
ahead of dogmatic teachings. Here
Francis is in step with Pope Benedict XVI, who said that Christianity is not a
law to be obeyed, but a presence to be embraced, a presence to be seized. That's what Christianity is about. It's a relationship with this presence, this
mysterious presence that we call God.
• The third aspect of
Francis' Papacy that I'd like to emphasize is his prophetic imagination which
breaks into our own sleepy imagination like a splash of cold water hitting us
in the face.
Francis pays his
own hotel charges after being elected.
He lives in a hotel rather than in a palace. He cold calls ordinary people. He creates a new form of communicating with
his people and non-believers, what we might call the apostolic interview. He kisses the deformed, and washes the feet
of young women. He leads by example, and
is not slow to correct bishops, who believe they have a right to live like
royalty. Francis' prophetic imagination
is awakening the imagination of Catholics everywhere. Is it possible we are witnessing the first
blooming buds of a Catholic spring?
If you would imagine this! An internationally televised, Pontifical Mass
in St. Peter's Basilica. I imagine that, where half of the altar servers are
young women and girls, and prominent among the mitered bishops in the sanctuary
are the women major superiors of the religious orders with headquarters in
Rome. Among the male deacons ministering
at the basilica's high altar, we observe women deacons. The congregation rises for the Gospel Acclamation;
and a woman deacon proclaims the Gospel and preaches the homily, naming God's grace
and power to lift up the powerless and downtrodden, a homily that speaks of
God's humility, even as the assembly worships in the baroque's splendor of
Catholicism's mother Church. Imagine that! (Applause)
Imagine this! The Vatican press office releases a pontifical
letter to the Catholic world in which the pope names four women to the College
of Cardinals, (Laughter) representing Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe. While withholding ordination either as
priests or bishops, the Pope has granted the newly named cardinals full voting
rights at the next Papal Conclave. Imagine that! (Applause)
And imagine this! The Vatican press office
announces that a leaked report of the secret committee of theologians and canon
lawyers convened by the pope to determine the apparent theological problem in
Canon 277 needs to be corrected. - Now Cannon 277 is something we all
know. I'm sure we don't; but let me tell
you. (Laughter) Cannon 277 requires celibacy for Latin Rite priests, and reads
as follows: "Clerics are obliged to observe perfect and perpetual
countenance for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven; and, therefore, are obliged
to observe celibacy, which is a special gift from God, by which sacred
ministers can adhere more easily to Christ with an undivided heart, and can
more freely dedicate themselves to the service of God and humankind.” End of the Cannon. Now the theologians and canonists were
instructed to determine if it is within
the discretionary power of the Church to legislate a gift, a
charism from God. The cannon states
explicitly that celibacy is a special gift from God. Does the Church have the right to propose
that God will bestow the special gift of celibacy on every candidate for the
Latin Rite priesthood? In other words,
does the Church have the power to mandate celibacy for Latin Rite priests, if
celibacy is a gift? - Someone answered
no. - Thank you.
My hypothetical
committee concluded that the Church does have the right to require celibacy, as
it has for Latin Rite priests since the 12th century, but that it is
theologically problematic, and possibly arrogant, for the Church to claim that
it knows upon whom this gift will be bestowed.
The canonists recommend to the pope that if he wished to maintain the
discipline of celibacy for the Latin Rite, the phrase "which is a special
gift from God" should be deleted from Cannon 277. They further recommend that, if the pope was
convinced that celibacy is indeed a gift from God, that it should be left to
the individual seminarian to prayerfully discern if he has been blessed with
this charism. From this perspective
clerical celibacy should not be canonically imposed for the simple reason that
gifts cannot be imposed by legislation. (Applause) The committee, it was noted, raised a
theological question that was clearly outside the charge given it by the pope. Is it not possible that God would grant to an
individual a vocation to both the sacrament of Orders and to the sacrament of
Marriage? Apparently, God did, and
continues to do so in Eastern Rite Catholic Churches. (Laughter) Imagine
that!
And imagine this ! The Vatican sponsors an
international symposium of the world's most distinguished moral theologians to
review the Church's theology of human sexuality. More than half of the symposium’s
participants are lay, married scholars.
Speaker after speaker criticizes the act centered approach to sexual
ethics that has held sway in Catholic circles for centuries. The majority of theologians propose that the
fundamental criteria for taking the moral measure of sexual behavior should be to
determine if it is loving, respectful, mutual and life giving. From this perspective the theologians
question the current teaching that every sexual behavior, fantasy, or desire
outside of marriage is always objectively, mortally sinful. The participants applaud the Church's
teaching office for affirming that, by its very nature, sex makes promises; that
casual and recreational sex negates the spiritual and bonding potential of loving
sexuality in marriage. The symposium
members are unanimous in condemning the violence of sexual abuse, sexual
trafficking, and all forms of exploitation of children, women and men. And finally, the symposium participants
recommend that the pope establish a special commission to review the teaching
that all forms of artificial contraception are always intrinsically evil. Imagine
that!
Well, let's put our
imagination on the shelf for a minute.
Here's why I am cautious about Francis inaugurating a Catholic spring. There are formidable obstacles holding us
back from a Catholic spring and
pushing us in the direction of the cold and dark days of a metaphorical
Catholic winter. I'll mention three of
these formidable obstacles:
• First of all the
very structure of the Church. The Church's
structure, originally modeled after ancient Rome's genius for political control,
later modeled to compete with the great national monarchies of the West, has
been in place for centuries. So the Church's
structure was built after studying the political structure of the Roman Empire. It's been in place for centuries. And, at least from the Middle Ages, the
present structural organization of the Church, consisting of dioceses and
parishes, is fundamentally a feudal system.
I argue, it's the last feudal system in the West. We might think of the pope as the sovereign
and bishops as his vassals. Likewise, we
can consider diocesan priests as vassals to their liege lord, their
bishop. From this perspective, a diocese
and a parish can be thought of as benefices, as fiefdoms. In feudal systems the first virtue demanded
of a vassal is loyalty to his liege lord.
For the vassaled bishop his loyalty is first to the pope as Bishop of
Rome. For the vassal priest his loyalty
is to his diocesan bishop. Now, loyalty
to the pope and loyalty to a bishop is fundamentally a good thing. But as bishops and priests our first loyalty
should be to the Gospel; it should be to Christ. But we’re human beings and as a vassal, a
bishop knows that the pope has a great deal of control over his life. And as a diocesan priest, I know that my
bishop has a good deal of control over my life: controls where I live, where I
work, how I dress; controls my sexuality, a lot of control. And then, as Pope Francis has pointed out, we
know there is careerism today in the ranks of the clergy and the episcopacy,
human enough. I priest friend of mine,
who is a psychologist, said, "You know, clergy have two major human energies
to deal with: the energy of sexuality, and the energy of ambition.” Now, officially, our ordained ambition is to
be the ordained minister God is calling us to be. It's simply to be a good priest; or in the
case of a bishop, to be a good bishop.
But ambition is a neutral kind of drive.
It doesn't have to be looked at with grave suspicion. But we have to repress our ambition pretty
much in the way we are called to repress or suppress our sexuality. Can you imagine a talented young priest who feels
he has the ability to be a wonderful chancellor, or seminary professor, or
auxiliary bishop, going into seeing his bishop and saying, "Bishop, I'd
like to apply to be a bishop. Where are
the forms that I fill out?"
(Laughter) It doesn't work that
way. Well how does it work then? It works in invisible ways; and I am going to
leave you to imagine how that might be worked out. (Laughter)
And I hope you sense that I'm saying this with a great deal of
compassion for my brothers in ordained ministry. Most of us, most of us, simply want to be the
ministers God has called us to be.
That's true of the majority of us.
But there are some of us, maybe in all humility, who say, "I have
been blessed with a lot of gifts. I don't need to name them. I think you can
see them. How do I get in line for a
promotion?" (Laughter) By the way, the idea of transparency and
accountability in a feudal system is simply never considered. Feudal systems don't reflect on
accountability and transparency. You are
to trust the liege lord. And by the way,
if we consider the bishop a liege lord, and the priests vassals, what do you
think we should call the laity?
(Laughter) Do not let me offend
you; but, serfs? But, see, a feudal
system doesn't work when the serfs are educated. (Laughter) You are educated;
and you read; and you think. Now this
feudal system that I have been describing has worked rather well for the Church
for centuries. It's not working anymore;
and yet there are some of us who think, because it has worked so well in the
past, it should continue to work in the future.
We now see some of the historical reasons why it is so difficult to be
even constructively critical of a bishop or a pope. How difficult it is to speak to power, to
speak truth to power, especially Church power!
Now it’s true that Francis is attempting to change that dynamic. He is actually creating opportunities for
believers and non-believers to speak openly and honestly with him; and Francis
is inviting us to speak the truth and love to power. That could be a sign of a Catholic spring. But recently I heard of a diocesan bishop who
told a group of his pastors - he said this with a certain amount of pride - he
said, "I am a Pope Benedict XVI bishop, I am not a Pope Francis bishop.” If he thought that, if this bishop thought
that, the fact that he said this to some of his priests is very telling.
• And then, here is
another reason. I'm not really sure
we're headed to a Catholic spring;
and that's what I am going to call a theology of security. Modernity and our secular society have made
the hierarchical Church as nervous as it was at the time of the Protestant
Reformation. In this condition of
anxiety and fear, religious faith has been reduced to religious belief. This is an important distinction between
faith and belief. I've developed it in
the book that Bishop Gumbleton mentioned, Notes
from the Underground, at some length; but I don't have the time to do that
here. Let me just say this about that
distinction. Our Church authorities want
to be crystal clear about what must be believed, and who is in, and who is out,
in terms of Church membership. In a
theology of security, ascent to dogmas and doctrines, along with moral
rectitude, especially in sexual matters, are the distinguishing marks of a real
Catholic. Often here we find orthodoxy
masquerading as faith. But faith, we
know, is primarily and fundamentally relational and transformative. Faith is better understood as courageous
trust that life is meaningful; that God is good; that Jesus is the Christ; and
that the Holy Spirit is here in this space, on this earth, and in this
universe. I remind myself of this
relational, existential dimension to faith by making a silent one word
substitution when I recite the Nicene Creed.
"I trust in one God, the Father Almighty. I trust in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only
son of God. I trust in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord and giver of life.” Faith, as I
am speaking of it here, is fundamentally a cry of the heart, a brave act of
trust in the hidden God, a ready to risk all conviction, that through God's
grace, we are in a profound and mysterious relationship with the Divine, with
each other, and with all of creation; that we are God's beloved; that we are
saved. But that kind of faith is hard to
measure. It makes some people
nervous. And if there are Church authorities,
and if they are Church authorities, these nervous people, only strict doctrinal
compliance can ease their fears and insecurities. And so orthodoxy masquerades as faith! The Vatican's doctrinal hardliners fear that
Francis is blurring the dogmatic and doctrinal truths of Catholicism; and they
are ready to fight for the integrity of the
faith. These guardians of belief
don't quite accept Rabbi Abraham Heschel's simple, but profound, insight,
"God is greater than religion.
Faith is greater than dogma.”
• The third reason
for being wary of an imminent Catholic
spring; and that is what I am calling a culture of privilege. It is hard not to be seduced by
privilege. Those who enjoy privilege
can't imagine being without it. It is
very soon taken for granted. Privilege
is one of the deepest roots of classism, racism, sexism and patriarchy. We ordained have to remember that. Pope Francis certainly does. But many of his brother bishops don't get
it. These bishops prefer to see
themselves weighted with a heavy responsibility to defend the Church from the
forces of materialism and relativism.
The privileges these prelates enjoy, they believe, are meant to free
them up for this noble defense. While
some bishops are downsizing and trying to simplify their lifestyles, other
bishops are ordering gold mitres.
Privilege, like power, is difficult to surrender. So we would be naive not to see, now and in
the months ahead, considerable pushback to Pope Francis' initiatives of reform
and renewal.
Finally, and now
let me move to the end of this talk, I'd like to propose three possible
scenarios that we might see play out in the months and years ahead.
1.
The
first reflects what I have already mentioned: a Catholic
spring.
2.
The
second we can call a Catholic thaw.
3.
And
third a Catholic winter.
• So the Catholic Spring. In this scenario Pope Francis' authenticity,
his pastoral vision and prophetic imagination, lead to a reformed Roman Curia,
a more humble college of bishops, and an honest listening to lay Catholics,
especially women, and to religious, and to priests. The Catholic voice regains much of its lost
credibility. There is a ring of truth
and integrity as it shares the light of the Gospel and the Church's teachings
on social justice and the dignity of human life. The vision spirit and hope embedded in the
documents of the Second Vatican Council finally come to full bloom. Marginalized Catholics, divorced and
remarried, gays and lesbians, among others, discover they are truly and deeply
connected to the Holy Communion we call our Church. Under the pastoral leadership of Francis, the
Catholic world offers a light of hope and new direction to our broken and
violent world. The Church itself bears
witness to the joy of the Gospel. The
Vatican and its curial offices become friendly, less stuffy. Bishops and priests give off the smell of the
sheep. The Church moves slowly, but
steadily, towards becoming a humble Church of the poor and for the poor. A fresh theology of the priesthood
acknowledges the negative ecclesial effects of mandated celibacy, and argues
that all qualified, informed, baptized Catholics may be called by the Church to
the diaconate and priesthood. While
certainly not Camelot, the Church's Catholic
spring continues to be surprised by the Spirit of God alive in the world.
• The second scenario
is what I am calling a Catholic fall. And
by a Catholic fall I am proposing
pretty much the present state of affairs.
It's what writers speak of as the Francis effect. Certainly the climate is different since
Jorge Bergoglio was elected Pope almost a year and a half ago. As the editor of Time Magazine, Nancy Gibbs, put it when naming Pope Francis their Person of the Year for 2013, "He
hasn't changed the words, but he's changed the music.” But many remain skeptical. Can Francis really reform the curia? Does he have the necessary support for his
renewed Church from cardinals and bishops, from powerful Church people who are
convinced the Church remains a static and perfect society, simply in need of
some fine tuning? In the thaw Catholics
remain hopeful, but wary.
• And then the third
and final scenario: the Church Catholic
winter. I resist going in this
direction, but it is certainly possible.
There are powerful people, ordained and lay, who do not share Francis'
vision for renewal and reform. Instead
of renewing the Church, they believe that he is weakening it both doctrinally
and morally. And I'm suggesting this
might be their strategy. Francis is 77
years old, and has suggested, I've heard, that he might consider resigning when
he turns 80. These powerful people are
ready to wait him out. The pope
succeeding Francis, they reason, might see things more their way than his. They remind themselves that the majority of
younger priests today are more traditional and conservative than the generation
of priests shaped by Vatican II. These
traditional priests will be our pastors for the generation to come. And, moreover, they know most of today's
bishops, having been appointed by Pope John Paul II, then Pope Benedict XVI,
are men more comfortable with maintaining things the way they are. These powerful bishops believe they know how
to deal with lay reform groups and movements.
To their minds, the picture I am painting here of a Catholic winter is their idea of a Catholic spring.
So can we
anticipate a Catholic spring? Yes we can!
Will it come to pass and guide us into the future? I hope to God it does, though I wonder. But I do rejoice in the present Catholic thaw,
and I remind myself that it's the Spirit, who is loose in the world, that is
guiding the Church and holding her in Holy Communion. It is the Spirit that is holding us and
guiding us. And as important as bishops
and popes are, it is the Holy Spirit that is holding us and guiding us.
I'd like to close
with words from the seventeenth century Christian humanist and scholar,
Erasmus. These words always bring me up
short. Erasmus said, "Still, I put
up with this Church, until I see a better one; and she must put up with me,
until I myself become better.” Thank
you very much. (Applause)
Transcribed by
Bev
Parker
20141006
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