CHRISTAIN FAITH IN THE POSTMODERN WORLD

[Refer WAACSA [KZN]  Event Notice)

In his talk at the Dominican Priory in Pietermaritzburg, Augustine Shutte, first gave those present a brief outline of the movement: We are All Church SA (WAACSA). He is a member of the Cape chapter.

 As a member myself and a concerned Catholic for the purpose of revitalizing the vision and spirit of Vatican II, I set down my view of Shutte’s advice for the initial way forward.

The soundest advice to us all was how leadership of WAACSA are advocating the fledgling movement’s focus to be on coming together, once a week, for the purpose of bonding spiritually, learning about the history of our religion in order to understand the mind-changing phenomenon that this surprising ecumenical council turned out to be. Never in the history of the Church has there been a Council that made such a tremendous impact in all areas of our faith. In other words, we would be small cells within the larger Church, trying to live out a better way of being church together. There is no intention to tackle what we perceive as the shortcomings in the teaching authority of the Roman Catholic Church.

The talk on Christian Faith in the Postmodern World, began with a brief overview of the development of religion from primitive times, to the Axial age, and so on to what is now known as the era of modernism or the Age of Enlightenment. 

Augustine says the postmodern world is characterized by four developments especially favourable to the expression of Christian faith and to living it out in the spirit of the new directions initiated by Vatican II. He based the rest of his talk on four conceptions that were starting to take root in the consciousness of the world. These are: the evolutionary view of the world including human history and culture (not just on Darwin’s field of evolution); the conception of God as that of god’s immanence in world-process, especially in human life; the insight that authentic human self-determination can exist only in relationship to the other; and finally, the value of science and technology for making the global village a hospitable home for the whole human family.

What I personally appreciated was:

• The clear description of the purpose and vision of Vatican II Council and especially the points taken from the subsequent document known as the Constitution of the Catholic Church: Lumen Gentium.
• That Human Freedom to choose is the source of human dignity and the very standard of judging the mission of the Church in the World; Also the point about the laity being the principle agents of the Church’s mission and co-creationists with God, because the fact of evolution causes us always to bring something new into existence.
• The new idea, to me, of Evolution beginning in the mind of GWF Hegel, the German Philosopher, in  the early part of the 19^th century which embraced not just human development but human consciousness and culture etc. broadens my conception of evolution greatly. Evolution has shown that it is something bringing something new into existence.
• That Faith is a personal relationship with God, not just belief in God and the development of our unique expression in living out our Faith is our Religion.

Finally, he recommends a highly accessible book for the lay person by Brian Swimme: The Universe Story.

Following is a copy of his letter published recently (06.06) in The Southern Cross.

WAC clarification IN recent months there has started up in South Africa an organisation that aims to recall the Church to the Second Vatican Council’s programme for renewing the Church so as to make it better able to serve humanity in our contemporary world. It is called We Are All Church (South Africa) and is affiliated to the international body IMWAC (International Movement We Are Church). Misunderstandings concerning the nature of the Roman Catholic Church and its teaching and practice abound, both within the Church and outside it, and part of our work is to dispel these. There is one mistaken perception of this kind that is so fundamental that I would be grateful if you would publish this letter in order to correct it. In its most authoritative document Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, the Second Vatican Council solemnly proclaimed that the only absolutely necessary condition for salvation (union with God in heaven) was trying to live a good life according to your own conscience.

It begins its list of those who can be saved with members of the Roman Catholic Church. But it also declares: “He is not saved however who, though he is part of the body of the Church, does not persevere in charity.” It then goes on to include members of other Christian bodies of all sorts together with, in the famous paragraph 16, Jews, Muslims and members of other religions and, finally, even atheists. In the typical florid language of Vatican document s it proclaims: “Nor does divine providence deny the help necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God, but who strive to live a good life thanks to his grace.” It would be good for Catholics to always keep this in mind. It would make them less anxious about preserving the traditional doctrines and practices of their own Church and more open to other religions and to those with no religion at all, able to feel solidarity with everyone in our common need for God. It would also help them to be properly critical of Christian bodies that teach that all non-Christians (and some Christians too) cannot be saved. Augustine Shutte, Cape Town

Church as dysfunctional family

The Washington Post – On Faith

The Catholic Church: A dysfunctional family?

As a family, the Catholic Church has some “dysfunction.” So remarked Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, during his inaugural address as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). In using what he wryly called “talk show vocabulary,” Archbishop Dolan attempted to open up discussion not only about why Catholics leave the church but also about the church’s mission in a purportedly “post-ecclesial” American society.

Archbishop Dolan’s remarks defied some expectations and fulfilled others. But there was a fundamental issue underlying everything—it was hinted at, alluded to, but never fully articulated. Just as one would expect in a dysfunctional family.

Archbishop Dolan’s election as president as of the USCCB came as a surprise. He vaulted over the conference’s vice-president, Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, who would ordinarily have been chosen on the basis on seniority. This led some commentators to surmise that America’s bishops had elected a “culture warrior” to do battle against dissenting Catholics and a faithless society.

In content and in tone, Archbishop Dolan’s address was not a call to arms to fight an external threat. Instead, it was an invitation to look inward. His remarks began by focusing on the phrase “love for Jesus and His Church must be the passion of our lives.” This love must be reclaimed at a time when fewer people realize that “Jesus and His church are One.” A challenging task, as Archbishop Dolan made clear, especially since the Catholic Church is perceived as a church of “sinners.”

Instead of taking refugee in the equivalent of a rhetorical bunker, Archbishop Dolan readily admitted the sinfulness of the church’s members. Indeed, it is precisely because we are all sinners that we need the church: not just as teacher, but also as community. The talk was interspersed with references to Graham Greene and Dorothy Day, who both explored in their writings how and why the church persists in spite of, and yet because of, its failings. Dysfunctional it may be, but the church is nonetheless a family—both earthly and supernatural.

Archbishop Dolan most certainly defied expectations that he would become a modern day crusader, armed to defeat the church’s enemies. He did fulfill the expectations of those who pointed to his thoughtfulness and affability.

Archbishop Dolan avoided focusing exclusively on the contentious issues besetting American Catholicism: abortion, birth control, gay marriage, and ordaining women. Clerical sexual abuse was not mentioned explicitly, but it did provide a clear subtext. Archbishop Dolan attempted to bolster the morale of his fellow bishops, while at the same time calling them to reflect deeply on the current state of affairs in which not a small number of Catholics have decided that they no longer want anything to do with the church.

But here there could have been another point—it was there, just under the surface, struggling to get to the light.

Many Catholics still love the church. It’s just that we feel that the church doesn’t love us.

Usually, blame for this state of affairs is placed directly at the feet of bishops—Archbishop Dolan admitted as much during the course of his speech. But I would say that those who identify the hierarchy as the sole problem are replicating a very hierarchical view of Catholicism that ignores the deep dysfunction at the core of much of Catholic life in the United States.

If the church is truly a family, then it’s not all about “Dad.”

I know many Catholics who have left the church—friends and family members, teachers, and professional colleagues. Many find difficulty with Catholic doctrine. Many have found that the cover-up of sexual abuse confirmed their deepest suspicions about how power and authority are exercised by clergy and in Catholic institutions.

But underlying it all too often is a love for the church that is not reciprocated by fellow Catholics.

New parishioners often find themselves unnoticed, and long time parishioners find themselves forgotten. Those with a non-Catholic spouse find no provisions made for welcoming them. Catholics in professional contexts find themselves caught in a culture war in which both sides refuse to recognize the other as “Catholic.” The examples are endless, but they all point to a love, and a need for love, that is not fully understood or recognized. Rank and file American Catholics can’t blame this all on the hierarchy, because we are the problem as well.

The beauty of Catholicism—its theology, spirituality, and ritual—comes alive not as an administrative project implemented by religious bureaucrats. Instead, this beauty is realized in how Catholicism is lived by laity, religious, and priests together as Catholics. Likewise, the dysfunction of American Catholic life—its hypocrisy, faultfinding, and coldness—becomes truly unbearable not at the top, but down below.

When you love the church, sometimes it just hurts too much to stay in it.

American Catholics like myself who remain do so because we have found communities--sometimes large but most often small—in which we can share the love that Catholicism can inspire and make us feel. These communities are often rather tenuous creations, having been stitched together from the tattered fabric of American Catholic life. I do not think that Archbishop Dolan would fundamentally disagree with the majority of these observations, since his speech did open a space for considering such issues honestly and openly. We American Catholics often don’t love one another enough. And when we do love one another, as in any other dysfunctional family, it’s usually in all in the wrong ways.

Mathew N. Schmalz  | Nov 16, 2011 12:31 PM

REFORM MOVEMENTS

IRISH TIMES

Reform group urges ‘holy disobedience’

By Seán McCárthaigh

Saturday, November 19, 2011

AN organisation of Catholics opposed to the direction of the Church under Pope Benedict XVI has called on other followers to engage in a campaign of "holy disobedience".

The group We Are Church is formally re-launching after 14 years in existence. It expressed deep concern about the intransigence of the Pope in addressing the need for major reform in the Church.

It claimed the forced imposition of the new Roman missal, in the face of strong reservations from groups like the Association of Catholic Priests, was further evidence of such intransigence.

The organisation said the Pope’s views were in direct conflict with the vast majority of Catholics and it was Pope Benedict who was "out of step".

We Are Church said it had five main objectives to reform, including the ordination of women priests, the removal of the vow of celibacy and the establishment of an inclusive Church which would welcome gay and lesbian followers and divorcees.

Spokesman Brendan Butler said its sister organisations in Germany and Austria were already proving themselves as a force for change in the Church.

We Are Church, established in Austria in 1995, set up its Irish branch in 1997 and has about 100 members.

Mr Butler claimed the Vatican’s attempt to suppress legitimate discussion was "reprehensible" and should not be tolerated.

"The enforced silence, especially of theologians, is a punishment more associated with authoritarian governments than with a Church committed to the Gospel," he said.

Mr Butler condemned Church leaders for merging parishes due to the shortage of priests rather than open up ministry to women and married priests. "It seems the Church authorities would prefer parishes to die," he said.

The group claimed the refusal by the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, last year to allow women to become deacons was another example of the Church’s "misogynistic attitude".

Mr Butler said bishops had an "endemic paralytic fear" of facing the current crisis in the Church because of the absolute obedience demanded by Pope Benedict.

Mr Butler said the group had not formed any view on withholding donations to the Church or the recent decision to close the Irish embassy to the Vatican.

The group will hold an advent assembly in the Tara Towers Hotel, Booterstown, Co Dublin on Sunday, November 27 at 3.15pm.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/

Catholic reform movement issues 'call for holy disobedience'

Saturday, November 19th, 2011

On Friday, the Irish branch of the international Catholic reform movement, We Are Church, launched a grassroots campaign for Church reform with a ‘Call for Holy Disobedience’.

At a press conference in Dublin, We Are Church Ireland (WACI) spokesman, Brendan Butler, said the group’s five reform aims include the removal of compulsory clerical celibacy; full participation of women in all aspects of church life, including priesthood; and the building of a more inclusive Church that would welcome gay Catholics and those in second relationships.

Calling on all committed Catholics to join the group in exercising ‘holy disobedience’, Brendan Butler said, “We will not be cowed down by threats of excommunication.”  Phil Cullen told ciNews that the members are “not dissidents and will not be pushed out of the Church.”

WACI will hold its first public event, an Advent Assembly, on Sunday November 27.  The “inclusive liturgy” will, according to Butler, “be an expression of the five aims, in the same way as the Austrian priests will use every occasion to promote their disobedience.”

However, he underlined that it would not be a Eucharist.

It coincides with the official introduction of the new translation of the missal, a move WACI described as a, “forced imposition,” and, “another example of how the Vatican operates as an ivory towered centralised authority.”

Brendan Butler told ciNews that the group, which has 125 members and was established following last February’s anniversary conference of Pobal Dé, said they rejected the new translation’s use of “sexist, archaic and irrelevant language” and added that the Advent Assembly would not use such language.

Though WACI is a lay group with some members drawn from other groups including Pobal Dé, Voice of the Faithful, BASIC and Leven, there are already a number of priests and at least five or six nuns who are also members and who support the group’s five aims.

Describing the Church in Ireland as, “in a state of crisis,” Brendan Butler said Irish Catholics are appalled at the recent clerical sex abuse scandals and especially by the cover-ups by bishops and senior clergy.  “We despair of any meaningful reform coming from the hierarchy in Ireland or the Vatican,” he continued and added that it was time for lay Catholics to organise themselves and demand the necessary structural changes to save the Church “from a slow death.”

Bishops and theologians, he claimed, are operating in a culture of, “endemic paralytic fear,” and, “absolute obedience to the Pope and even papal opinions.”

“This absolute obedience is not to God but to the preservation of an institution.”
The WACI spokesman accused the Church leadership of abusing the vow of obedience “in a tyrannical manner to suppress legitimate discussion” with priests and religious fearfully of being silenced or excommunicated.  He added, “We have seen our national Bishops’ Conference insulted by Rome over their opposition to the forced imposition of the new missal.”

Referring to the vocations crisis in the Church, WACI said the Church authorities’ response, especially to the shortage of priests, was to, “limit the celebration of the Eucharist by combining parishes, thereby refusing to see it as one of the signs of the times and an opportunity provided by the Spirit of God to encourage women to the priesthood,” and tap into the, “reservoir of priests who have left the priesthood and subsequently married.”
Referring to retired bishop of Derry’s Dr Edward Daly’s call for an end to compulsory clerical celibacy in his autobiography, Brendan Butler said, “There are obviously a lot of people in the church, ordained and not ordained, who back this but are so afraid to say it.”
“It is a justifiable fear because look at what happened to the Bishop of Toowoomba and one theologian here whom I can’t name – he has been silenced in a most terrible way.  Sisters and priests have lacked a support structure up to now.  If anything happens to any of our sisters who are members of our group, we will certainly take a very active protest on that,” he warned.
We Are Church began in Austria in 1995 and with the establishment of the International Movement of We Are Church in Rome 1996, the campaign subsequently spread throughout Europe, the US, Latin America, Africa and Australia.

We Are Church Ireland was set up in 1997 when a national core group was formed and this group has stayed active over the intervening years.

WACI is committed to the renewal of the Roman Catholic Church on the basis of the Second Vatican Council.  Members are seeking to bring about informed dialogue among the people of God on their five objectives:

1. Equality of all the baptised where decision making is actively shared by all, with appropriate structures for this;
2. Full participation of women in all aspects of church life, including priesthood;
3. Recognition of the primacy of an informed conscience;
4. Removal of the obligation of clerical celibacy and a positive attitude towards sexuality;
5. An inclusive Church, open and welcoming to all, which does not marginalise people who are divorced, in second relationships or gay.

by Sarah Mac Donald

http://www.cinews.ie/article.php?artid=9309

Letter published in The Southern Cross towards end May

Mugabe receiving Communion

The Church’s inclusive approach to Mugabe receiving Communion (SC 11-17 May) is very compassionate, but is it just? Just to those who are regularly excluded from Communion, like divorcees and those in gay relationships, who may lead an exemplary Christian life in all other respects? Or just to the Zimbabwean people who have experienced genocide during Mugabe’s presidency, and the Zimbabwean Bishops who have protested it? Does this not smack of the double standards that Jesus deplored?

Brian and Francoise Robertson

We are Church, South Africa


Herebelow, is a response from one of our members to a letter from Cardinal Napier, published in the Mercury Newspaper recently. Cardinal Napier was responding to the incident of Mr Mugabe being accepted as partaking in the Eucharistic.

The Primacy of Conscience makes best sense in smaller communities of faith

Our bishop, Cardinal Napier, well reiterates the position of the Catholic Church on the primacy of conscience, with regard to the matter of Robert Mugabe being accepted at the communion meal at the Vatican City (The Mercury, 5^th May). This was one of the emphases at the Second Vatican Council (1962-5), which was called precisely to refresh the church, to bring it up to date, to move away from the legalistic thinking in terms of who’s in and who’s out, which had tended to dominate thinking since the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. That meant seeing the church not so much as a “perfect society” but as a communion (indeed a sign not only of union with God but “of the unity of mankind”), its unity coming not from the Pope (at any rate he is not in a position to go against a general Episcopal council) but from the eucharistic celebration. The existence of the Vatican as an independent state is pretty much of an historical anomaly, misleading people into thinking that the head of the Vatican defines the unity of the Catholic church, as the CEO of a multinational corporation but with the added burden of adhering to rules of international diplomacy, which resulted in Mugabe attending the beatification ceremony for John-Paul II.

It is clear from the response of ordinary Catholics in their letters to The Mercury that they agree something is wrong. The Vatican council gave priority to the church seen as “the people (laos) of God” over the church as a hierarchy of authority. Because of their faith all believers share in the priestly ministry of Jesus, as well as in his prophetic calling (called to criticize the bishops (“overseers”, in the original) when this is necessary), and also in the kingly role, sharing in the making of decisions. This was called the apostolate of the laity, the laos, the people. Of course the outdated rules (though at the time, quite sensible) regarding who can be ordained to the priesthood (celibate men, only) have prevented this new vision of how the church is structured coming into effect, although the Council’s acceptance of married clergy in the Eastern churches would seem to allow for this idea to apply to other local churches making similar rulings.

The centralization of authority in the church, made possible in the nineteenth century by increased means of communication – the railway, to begin with – is at odds with a much longer tradition. The churches, more authentically, are local, but form a universal, world-wide network. The integrity of the sacraments, defined as signs or symbols which effect what they signify (they really do have a real influence, a central role, in how things turn out), is always a matter of responsible discernment, of conscience – whether one is speaking about the eucharist, or marriage, for example. Such discernment can only properly take place when the community is small enough – the present state of the marriage tribunals and so on with sets of procedures and rules which need to be ticked off (something like “performance management” procedures which seldom are effective in making a better institution) is far removed from the vision of the Vatican Council. In line with this vision, and given the changed culture that we live in, and the drying up of the numbers of those who feel called to the celibate life (priests are now often “imported” from other areas and cultures, to counter this), as well as our greater appreciation of sexuality and marriage in integral human growth, and widespread education, including theological education, a rapid change in the rules for priesthood in the church is needed, to make these smaller parish communities feasible.

A large number of Catholics world-wide (beginning in Austria in 1996 in response to the sexual abuse scandals among clergy), including hundreds of university professors of Catholic theology, have committed themselves to bringing these ideas back to central place in the dialogue in the church. The South African branch of the international movement “We Are Church” was launched in November 2010 and the first meeting of the local branch was recently held at the Dominican Centre in Pietermaritzburg. Anyone interested to join, or to participate not as a member but would like to associate themselves with the movement, should contact Rosemary at rosemarymcs@iburst.co.za or else myself at giddyj@ukzn.ac.za.

Patrick Giddy

School of Philosophy and Ethics

Howard College

UKZN


https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B5SuiBEtvlYgNTIwM2UxZTItMGVkNC00YTFlLTkzYTktNjViNDRkYjcwZDQ0&hl=en_GB

Original Letter but edited before publishing in local media newspaper (KZN)

The Primacy of Conscience makes best sense in smaller communities of faith

Our bishop, Cardinal Napier, well reiterates the position of the Catholic Church on the primacy of conscience, with regard to the matter of Robert Mugabe being accepted at the communion meal at the Vatican City (The Mercury, 5^th May). This was one of the emphases at the Second Vatican Council (1962-5), which was called precisely to refresh the church, to bring it up to date, to move away from the legalistic thinking in terms of who’s in and who’s out, which had tended to dominate thinking since the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. That meant seeing the church not so much as a “perfect society” but as a communion (indeed a sign not only of union with God but “of the unity of mankind”), its unity coming not from the Pope (at any rate he is not in a position to go against a general Episcopal council) but from the eucharistic celebration. The existence of the Vatican as an independent state is pretty much of an historical anomaly, misleading people into thinking that the head of the Vatican defines the unity of the Catholic church, as the CEO of a multinational corporation but with the added burden of adhering to rules of international diplomacy, which resulted in Mugabe attending the beatification ceremony for John-Paul II.

It is clear from the response of ordinary Catholics in their letters to The Mercury that they agree something is wrong. The Vatican council gave priority to the church seen as “the people (laos) of God” over the church as a hierarchy of authority. Because of their faith all believers share in the priestly ministry of Jesus, as well as in his prophetic calling (called to criticize the bishops (“overseers”, in the original) when this is necessary), and also in the kingly role, sharing in the making of decisions. This was called the apostolate of the laity, the laos, the people. Of course the outdated rules (though at the time, quite sensible) regarding who can be ordained to the priesthood (celibate men, only) have prevented this new vision of how the church is structured coming into effect, although the Council’s acceptance of married clergy in the Eastern churches would seem to allow for this idea to apply to other local churches making similar rulings.

The centralization of authority in the church, made possible in the nineteenth century by increased means of communication – the railway, to begin with – is at odds with a much longer tradition. The churches, more authentically, are local, but form a universal, world-wide network. The integrity of the sacraments, defined as signs or symbols which effect what they signify (they really do have a real influence, a central role, in how things turn out), is always a matter of responsible discernment, of conscience – whether one is speaking about the eucharist, or marriage, for example. Such discernment can only properly take place when the community is small enough – the present state of the marriage tribunals and so on with sets of procedures and rules which need to be ticked off (something like “performance management” procedures which seldom are effective in making a better institution) is far removed from the vision of the Vatican Council. In line with this vision, and given the changed culture that we live in, and the drying up of the numbers of those who feel called to the celibate life (priests are now often “imported” from other areas and cultures, to counter this), as well as our greater appreciation of sexuality and marriage in integral human growth, and widespread education, including theological education, a rapid change in the rules for priesthood in the church is needed, to make these smaller parish communities feasible.

A large number of Catholics world-wide (beginning in Austria in 1996 in response to the sexual abuse scandals among clergy), including hundreds of university professors of Catholic theology, have committed themselves to bringing these ideas back to central place in the dialogue in the church. The South African branch of the international movement “We Are Church” was launched in November 2010 and the first meeting of the local branch was recently held at the Dominican Centre in Pietermaritzburg. Anyone interested to join, or to participate not as a member but would like to associate themselves with the movement, should contact Rosemary at rosemarymcs@iburst.co.za or else myself at giddyj@ukzn.ac.za.

Patrick Giddy

School of Philosophy and Ethics

Howard College

UKZN

Letter to Editor of the Southern Cross

Dear Editor

The article Bishop removed over women priests, celibacy (11-17.05) refers.

Having read from a wide variety of sources regarding this ousting by Pope Benedict XVI of Australian Bp William Morris, I gained insight into several interesting facts.  His 2006 Advent letter reflects the deep concerns of a Good Shepherd; the question of rules regarding ordination of priests was widely discussed for more than five years – even beyond Bp Morris’ diocese and indeed, he states ‘internationally’! He received support from the President of the Australian Conference of Bishops and has the support of a considerable number of clergy. Roman authority has ousted the Shepherd but the need to dialogue will go on. He is a man of courage and clearly believes in the primacy of conscience.

Thus we say: all praise to the good Bishop for getting people thinking sensibly about what could be done to make the churches flourish better. Why should anyone in the catholic church feel that responsible dialogue about the rules for priesthood would threaten the integrity of the faith? Surely a local bishop is best placed to see what needs urgent discussion. Much more threatening to the faith is the suppression of such dialogue. Every time one sees what could be done (especially someone in authority) but remains silent about it, one diminishes oneself a little bit. A psychologically unhealthy pew-Catholic is the result.  One could also say that the Body of Christ is betrayed by silence.

The Arab Awakening was predicted by no one but pressing down the lid cannot stop the pot boiling over.

J P Giddy

R Gravenor

WACSA KZN

[not yet published in Southern Cross at 22^nd June 2011]

NEWS FLASH

Ecumenical News International News Highlights 5 April 2011

Survey finds discontent among Australian Catholic priests

Sydney (ENInews)--Many of Australia's 3000 active and retired Catholic priests are critical of their bishops and admit they do not believe crucial church teachings, according to a survey to be released this week. Dr. John O'Carroll, a communications lecturer at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst and colleague Chris McGillion, who coordinates the university's journalism program, sent the survey to 1550 active and 160 retired priests, and 542, or about 32 percent, responded. They they conducted 50 face-to-face interviews and are publishing the results in a book, "What Australian Catholic Priests Really Think About Their Lives and Their Church." [505 words, ENI-11-0169]