The Plenary Council Second Assembly is now over and the commentary on its hits and misses has begun. Australian Catholics sister publication has published a couple of articles on the Council, including ‘What did the Plenary Council achieve?’ by Paul Collins and ‘Church reform is systemic not personal’ by John Warhurst.
In Australian Catholics winter 2022 edition, Jesuit Communications head of publishing Michael McVeigh asked ‘Where will the Holy Spirit lead us?’ in respect to the Plenary Council. Jesuit Communications is keen to hear from those invested in the Catholic faith and its role in Australian society about their view on the Plenary Council and where the Holy Spirit led. Please email [email protected] with your thoughts.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Was the Plenary Council a grab for power?
At the conclusion of the Plenary Council Professor Greg Craven wrote in the Weekend Australian that, ‘a minority of self-serving lay Catholics appears hellbent on wresting control from the bishops’. As an active Catholic I take exception to this unproven claim.
Professor Craven’s claim is, at best, a hypothesis that flies in the face of the reality that a majority of Australian Catholics are sorely disappointed in our bishops for their failure to lead and be accountable. This is not the same as seeking to wrest control from the bishops.
Time will tell, but my impression as an outside observer, a mere active parishioner, is that the bishops continue to be weak in their responses to the challenges brought to the table during the just concluded Plenary Council.
The reluctance of the bishops to follow Pope Francis in calling out clericalism, taking responsibility for defending the indefensible in their support of paedophile priests, contrition for the Church’s role in facilitating the stolen generation of indigenous children, and in standing firm against merciful, contrite and sensitive inclusion of the marginalised into full communion within the Body of Christ weakens the Australian Catholic Church and moves the Church further and further from the ‘field hospital’ concept promoted by Pope Francis.
The issues faced by the Australian Catholic Church in its thwarted dialogue with ordinary Catholics is not a matter of power, but a matter of doing and being seen to do what is right to address the injustices that the Australian Church has embraced and appears reluctant to redress. It is not difficult to discern what Australia’s Catholics crave; it is a church visibly creative, compassionate, merciful and loving able to be there for those in need, seeking each day to further their personal relationships with their God. Unlike the sacramental traditions of Catholicism, clericalism has no important place in this journey. Catholics at large do not support the adherence of almost all of Australia’s bishops to old clericalist modes and perspectives. The bishops do not need to give up power to do the right thing. Catholics want them to lead by doing the right thing.
Professor Craven fails to see that in clinging to old ways, ways that led to the injustices noted above, change must come from the bishops. It is the Bishops who must recognise and accept, and be seen to recognise and accept, that the wrong thing has been done in the past.
Change is essential, the distribution of power notwithstanding.
Prof. Joe Remenyi
Nazareth Parishioner, Torquay Vic.
There is a tradition of women speaking out
Scholastica of Nursia OSB, Hilda of Whitby OSB, Hildegard of Bingen OSB, Catherine of Sienna OP, Teresa of Avila OCD and Mary McKillop rsj are all saints.
Four of them are canonised and the other two, Scholastica and Hilda of Whitby, are ‘recognised’ saints. (Hilda attended and spoke at the Synod of Whitby in 653). Both Hilda and Hildegard were Abbesses over men’s monasteries as well as women’s.
Three of these women, all nuns, have since been declared doctors of the Church. All of them challenged abbots, bishops, priests and popes to make radical changes, asking them to listen to them and to hear what they were saying; challenged them to be prepared to accept a different perspective.
Is it not then part of our Tradition, a Tradition spanning 14 centuries, that there are situations where women need to respectfully and courageously challenge their brothers to listen to them and to be open to a different perspective?
If this is so, why such an outcry about women in the Church speaking out? I feel confused.
Sr Antonia Curtis OSB
Benedictine Abbey Jamberoo NSW
Jesuit Communications reserves the right to edit any submissions for clarity, legal ramifications, length or general taste at the editor’s discretion. It also reserves the right to refuse to publish submissions for the same reasons. All letters must be signed. Published submissions do not necessarily reflect the views of Jesuit Communications or its staff.