20 June 2019, The Tablet
Path to reform can start in Amazon
The introduction of Catholic
Christianity to the tropical mountains and forests of the Amazon river
basin was not universally good news for the indigenous peoples there.
Nor have all the wrongs done to them in the past been righted. But the
programme for this autumn’s synod of bishops from the region –
encompassing Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana,
Peru, Surinam and Venezuela – offers exciting possibilities for a new
beginning.
Media attention has highlighted the proposal, apparently smiled upon in the Vatican, that the law of celibacy might be relaxed to address the severe shortage of clergy in the region, and that married men of mature years and good standing should become eligible for ordination. Yet no less significant is the proposal for a heightened church engagement with, and challenge to, the causes of the exploitation and oppression that are such a burden among the poor of the Amazon, where indigenous peoples predominate. The depredations of the natural environment in unprincipled pursuit of profit – whether for timber, oil, monocrop farming or minerals – have often proved devastating. The Church must stand with them, but to do so, first of all, it has to be among them.
There are remote Catholic communities in the region who see a visiting priest only monthly, others not even yearly. This deprives those communities of sacramental participation in the life of the Church. When a remedy for this deprivation is near to hand, not to adopt it becomes an act of injustice crying out for correction. As the preliminary synod document puts it, “the Church lives from the Eucharist and the Eucharist builds the Church”. And the Church it builds is, in Pope Francis’ words, of and for the poor.
There are shortages of priests elsewhere in the world, not least in the Pacific Islands and parts of Central America, and Pope Francis has already declared his willingness to consider requests from local bishops for some relaxation of the celibacy rule so that married men can be ordained. In fact it is not such a novelty. There are Greek Catholic communities with a long tradition of a married priesthood; and in England and elsewhere, married clergy from the Anglican tradition who have been received into the Roman Catholic Church have been allowed to continue their vocation, after ordination, as priests. Nor was this innovation, agreed by the bishops and approved by Rome, resisted by the Catholic parishes to which they were sent to minister; on the contrary, it has in general been a success.
The preliminary document also asks whether the leadership role and the sacramental role of the priest should be as closely bound together as they have been. Could a parish have a lay chief administrator, while a local elder provides religious services? It is a good question, but many of those who would become eligible for ordination are already assumed to be leaders of their communities. It is essential, however, that they should not be treated as second class by the rest of the Church; and when they raise their voices, in political, moral and religious matters, they should be heard. This by itself would energise the Church as a powerful agent of reform and social justice.
Media attention has highlighted the proposal, apparently smiled upon in the Vatican, that the law of celibacy might be relaxed to address the severe shortage of clergy in the region, and that married men of mature years and good standing should become eligible for ordination. Yet no less significant is the proposal for a heightened church engagement with, and challenge to, the causes of the exploitation and oppression that are such a burden among the poor of the Amazon, where indigenous peoples predominate. The depredations of the natural environment in unprincipled pursuit of profit – whether for timber, oil, monocrop farming or minerals – have often proved devastating. The Church must stand with them, but to do so, first of all, it has to be among them.
There are remote Catholic communities in the region who see a visiting priest only monthly, others not even yearly. This deprives those communities of sacramental participation in the life of the Church. When a remedy for this deprivation is near to hand, not to adopt it becomes an act of injustice crying out for correction. As the preliminary synod document puts it, “the Church lives from the Eucharist and the Eucharist builds the Church”. And the Church it builds is, in Pope Francis’ words, of and for the poor.
There are shortages of priests elsewhere in the world, not least in the Pacific Islands and parts of Central America, and Pope Francis has already declared his willingness to consider requests from local bishops for some relaxation of the celibacy rule so that married men can be ordained. In fact it is not such a novelty. There are Greek Catholic communities with a long tradition of a married priesthood; and in England and elsewhere, married clergy from the Anglican tradition who have been received into the Roman Catholic Church have been allowed to continue their vocation, after ordination, as priests. Nor was this innovation, agreed by the bishops and approved by Rome, resisted by the Catholic parishes to which they were sent to minister; on the contrary, it has in general been a success.
The preliminary document also asks whether the leadership role and the sacramental role of the priest should be as closely bound together as they have been. Could a parish have a lay chief administrator, while a local elder provides religious services? It is a good question, but many of those who would become eligible for ordination are already assumed to be leaders of their communities. It is essential, however, that they should not be treated as second class by the rest of the Church; and when they raise their voices, in political, moral and religious matters, they should be heard. This by itself would energise the Church as a powerful agent of reform and social justice.
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