| The Church I’d like to see |
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The church I’d like to see, writes Pat Lemasney, is one that encourages active participation by all the baptised and that nourishes its members through the sacraments and scripture.
What does church mean to me? To begin with, church to me does not mean a building or an institution. Rather, I view church as the whole believing community of baptised people, journeying together, pooling their God-given talents, and trusting in the Spirit.
Is this the church with which I am familiar in my daily living? Sadly, although I have experienced such a model of church, it would not be the norm. Far too often and for too many Catholics, the model of church foreseen by Vatican II has never materialised. Post-Catholic Ireland Redemptorist priest John J. O’Riordain, in his book Irish Catholic Spirituality, states that "It is probably safe to say that most of the leaders and image-makers and trend-setters in Ireland today have no adult intellectual grasp of their faith..." If this is so, and I believe it to be true, is it any different for the rest of us? I hardly think so. Fr O’Riordain goes on to alert readers to the dangers posed by an over-dominant church institution, where the institution weakens and even devours the faith, following which the institution collapses. On a more optimistic note, Fr O’Riordain suggests that this, in turn, is followed by a renewed preaching of the Good News. This has been the experience in much of continental Europe, so there is no reason to believe that it will be any different in Ireland. Whatever about Fr O’Riordain’s proposition, I am convinced that, in the past, our faith foundation was not sufficiently sound to sustain us when the destructive winds of consumerism and materialism began to blow. In the pyramidal structure that was the pre-Vatican II Church, the voice of the lay-person was rarely heard. Despite the vision of the Second Vatican Council in welcoming lay people into a more active participation in the church, change has been slow in coming. Management of change Add to this a degree of unawareness and mis-information, often due to a lack of adult religious education and poor communication, and we see how difficult it is to bring about any change. Factor in the perceived authoritarianism of some priests and bishops, and it makes it easier to understand how difficult it is to make progress. There is no simple answer. But I am convinced that the answer begins in parish, with the community that makes up the living parish. Our role as baptised Catholics is to become actively involved in living the Good News. But I suspect that the Good News for many - ordained and lay - has become less than challenging. It is no longer a source of passion and zeal. If the message of the Good News is no longer challenging, if it fails to produce a sense of passion and excitement in us all, then one has to ask the question why? Does the problem lie with the leadership of our church? Is the leadership failing to communicate the message in a world that bears no comparison to that of a pre-Vatican II church? Is the message so tough that many potential followers just walk away, as they did in Jesus’ time? Or are the troops simply no longer listening? It seems to me that we have, to a large extent, lost our sense of direction. I believe we have allowed the difficulties posed by falling vocations, clerical scandals and diminishing numbers of worshippers to dominate our discussions. These matters, of course, need to be faced up to. But, important though they are, I view them as symptoms of a deeper malaise that needs our urgent attention, but they are not the core of the problem. The real problem All of that was turned on its head after the Second Vatican Council. But the impetus was soon lost because of the lukewarm way in which the Irish church implemented its recommendations. Yes, we saw the introduction of Ministers of the Word and Eucharist. We observed altars being brought closer to the people. But in many cases the experiments with temporary altars have never progressed beyond that. The harnessing of all the gifts and talents of the parish communities which was envisaged is still a long way from being fulfilled. Parish Pastoral Councils are still a rarity in many dioceses. We wring our collective hands when we speak of a shortage of priests. Yet all the charisms needed to bring a parish to life are there in the worshipping community. But a climate needs to be created where the priest is willing to invite his parishioners into a meaningful sharing of parish responsibilities, not the token duties of collecting, cleaning and decorating. Of course it needs to be said that the parish community has to be responsive to this invitation to share. There is no place for false modesty or lack of co-operation. Adult religious education The spiritual vacuum of which I speak has also produced a return to a brand of spirituality which, at best, might be called ‘pious’ and which attempts to quantify God’s mercy through the repetition of formulaic prayers. When we reflect on the richness of our church’s heritage in terms of scripture, the sacraments and the liturgy, one wonders why there appears to be such a need to seek spiritual nourishment everywhere. Could it be that our neglect of scripture over the years has starved us of a meaningful relationship with our God and left us seeking this relationship in other places? Might it be that the church’s neglect of the sacraments has equally starved us of a worthwhile rapport with our God and with His Son, Jesus Christ? Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff maintains that modern humanity "may well have become blind and deaf to symbols and sacramental rites that are now stiff and anachronistic." He goes on to claim that "We cannot hide the fact that in the Christian sacramental universe there has been a process of ritual mummification." These are harsh words indeed and, in the nature of things, we might as church wish to deny the charge. But our churches are emptying, vocations are diminishing, the older generation wish for a return to the ‘good old days,’ and our young people are either seeking spiritual nourishment elsewhere or are simply walking away. What kind of church? This article first appeared in Reality (May 2001), a publication of the Irish Redemptorists. So what kind of church would I like to see? I’d like to see a church that fully embraces all its followers, encouraging their gifts and talents. I would like to see a church that was more courageous and less defensive. I would like to be part of a church that resolutely put behind it the many scandals that have plagued it and accepted fully all its responsibilities in that sphere. I would like to see our church bring our rich sacramental rites to life and make them meaningful for those who participate, especially the Sunday Eucharist. I would like to see a church that takes seriously its task of evangelisation and pre-evangelisation. The Lord said "It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners." (Mark 2.17) It is too easy to take the soft option and cater for the virtuous. The church I’d most like to see would cater for all, saints and sinners alike. We have no shortage of either. I have already suggested that the faith foundation of the past has been found sadly lacking. While huge strides have been made in some parish communities to provide adult religious education, it has been totally neglected in others. I am convinced that this vacuum has facilitated in the proliferation of moving statues, bleeding statues, tearful statues and other phenomena of doubtful veracity. I have never understood this connection with the Christian message other than the need of many people for some supernatural sign. Surely, it should be sufficient for us followers of Christ to meet our mentor in the Eucharist and in Scripture.What is the core of the problem? I suggest that the theology behind our pre-Vatican II church led to a church where the followers were encouraged to ‘pray, pay and obey.’ Serious thinking, searching and (God forbid!) questioning were not encouraged. My generation (I have passed the three score and 10 year mark) were actively discouraged from questioning in case our faith became undermined. Our prayer life revolved around the rosary, the many sodalities and confraternities and, of course, the Latin Mass.The management of change is a science in itself. It is claimed that 40 per cent of people are totally opposed to change, any change. Another 40 per cent will reluctantly consider change. That leaves only 20 per cent, two people in 10, who are open to change. So where lies the problem? In the Ireland of the Celtic Tiger, described by Labour Party leader Ruairi Quinn as ‘post-Catholic Ireland,’ have we abandoned gospel values? Is the church seen as irrelevant? Have we all become totally apathetic? |