Competing visions: despair or hope?
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
NCR Staff Rome
The Catholic church is in a
worldwide wait.
Thats the sense one gets from this second European Synod of
the 1990s. Outside the synod hall and in sidewalk cafes, among church leaders
from different places and points of view, there seems a consensus that few new
initiatives can be expected in the twilight of John Pauls papacy. The
church is in a holding pattern, anticipating the new energy that comes from a
change at the top.
So far, observers say, this synod is quite different from the two
that immediately preceded it - the gatherings for Asia and Oceania. Bishops
from those regions, many unaccustomed to the global stage, had the audacity (or
naiveté) to openly call for reforms such as relaxation of clerical
celibacy or local flexibility on liturgy and language.
European prelates, veterans of the ways of Rome, have been more
circumspect. Even those who support radical change say so only obliquely, using
lofty language about vision and style rather than tackling concrete matters of
ecclesial policy.
Its not that the church leaders gathered in Rome Oct. 1-23
are simply marking time. From the relationship between church and world, to the
way power is shared (or withheld) between Rome and the bishops, important
questions are on the table.
The unspoken assumption, however, is that these discussions will
not lead to dramatic action under present management.
In part, therefore, this synod functions as a dress rehearsal for
the next papal election. Churchmen from Europe as well as the Roman curia have
a forum to speak to the world, as Vatican-watchers strain to hear who sounds
papabile - like a candidate for pope. Every speech on the synod floor is
being read, at least in part, as a statement about where the church ought to
head in its third millennium.
Close attention reveals some key differences. Perhaps the most
elemental is one of mood.
The contrast appeared in the opening days in two much-discussed
interventions (the technical term for a speech) by Cardinals
María Rouco Varela of Madrid, Spain, and Godfried Danneels of Brussels,
Belgium. Both men make many short lists of papal candidates.
Both began with the hard realities facing Catholicism in Europe:
Low rates of Mass attendance, a severe priest shortage, a culture based more on
the pleasure principle than Christian morality, and a welter of new religious
and spiritual movements competing with - and often surpassing -- the
church.
For the 63-year-old Rouco Varela, appointed the synods
relator, or chairman, by John Paul, these trends add up to an atmosphere
of despair; for the 66-year-old Danneels, they represent a chance for new
life.
Rouco Varela delivered the opening address of the synod on Oct. 2.
He referred to a situation of hopelessness in the developed world.
Human beings have rejected God to construct a social order on their own terms,
which he labeled an ideology of immanent humanism.
It has, he said, led to nihilism, relativism and cynical hedonism.
Byproducts also include internal dissent and a tendency to confuse Christianity
with a social movement, Rouco Varela said.
Though Rouco Varela did point to some positive signals for the
church in Europe - such as strong sales of the new Catechism of the Catholic
Church in the mid-1990s - most observers felt his assessment was quite
pessimistic.
On the morning of Oct. 5, Danneels mentioned the same indicators
of decline but gave them a brighter spin. What has happened to the church in
Europe has been a shock, he said - but like a jolt to the heart, it can lead to
revival.
For example, Danneels said, growing religious pluralism has forced
the church to enter a new dialogue with other religions. Believers must
re-think what it means to say that Christ is the only mediator of salvation. It
is a new question requiring a new answer, he said.
Far from being a threat, Danneels argued that such questions are
the ones that bring growth. They are blessed questions, he said,
and Christians should thank the epoch for posing them.
Referring to Catholicisms loss of prestige in Europe,
Danneels suggested that God is trying to teach the church humility. How
can that be negative? he asked.
Sifting through the dozens of interventions, three other themes
have surfaced repeatedly: the question of whether the churchs
post-Vatican II social engagement has come at the cost of spiritual depth; how
the church can claim authority in a pluralistic culture; and the success of new
ecclesial movements such as Focolare, Communion and Liberation, and the
Neocatechumenate.
Some bishops believe that as the church has become more focused on
the social and political quest for justice, it has forgotten how to offer
people the things that nourish the inner life - prayer, asceticism, devotions
and the doctrinal foundations upon which they are built.
Christianity has become for many merely a strategy for
better organizing the things of this world, Rouco Varela said in his
address. He rejected the development: So-called orthopraxy is
not possible without true orthodoxy.
The point was echoed by Frances Bishop André Fort,
who warned that the church must not present a human condition amputated
of its eschatological dimension. Both he and Rouco Varela called for more
emphasis on preaching the resurrection and eternal life.
Italys Archbishop Ennio Antonelli added in a press
conference that people need meaning more than food, and the church risks
stressing the latter at the expense of the former.
Other prelates, however, have reaffirmed the social gospel.
Several have argued that the church must urge compassion for immigrants. Coming
just after one European nation (Austria) voted in historically large numbers
for a far-right party running on an anti-immigrant platform, the appeal had a
special resonance.
Archbishop Fernand Franck of Luxembourg devoted his intervention
to this question, arguing that Europe must not turn itself into a fortress. He
urged Christians to look to the Trinity as a model of diversity. Bishop William
Kenney of Stockholm, Sweden, argued that the church will lack credibility if it
does not intervene on behalf of Europes most vulnerable new
residents.
Several speakers worried that the new Europe is being built on
inadequate moral foundations, alluding to abortion, suicide and declining
fertility rates. The last point has led some participants to suggest that
Europe is dying.
The call to foster a moral sense in Europe has raised the question
of how the church should evangelize. It has turned into a question of
authority.
Bishop Javier Echevarría Rodríguez, head of Opus
Dei, called for a new Romanity in the church -- which he defined as
a clear and unreserved loyalty to the Holy Father. Rodríguez said that
without unity, Catholicism will not be attractive.
Others, such as Irelands Bishop Joseph Walsh, put the accent
elsewhere. Quoting Italys Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, Walsh said
effective evangelizers must be men of the street - close to the
people.
Perhaps the most eloquent intervention along these lines came from
Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, head of the Dominican order and rumored to be among the
candidates to replace the deceased Cardinal Basil Hume as head of the English
church.
Just asserting the authority of the church ever more
strongly, Radcliffe said, is not the answer. People will either
resist or take no notice. Instead, he called for the church to reason
with people, to walk with them and to welcome them.
He mentioned women, the poor, immigrants, the divorced, those who
have abortions, prisoners, people with AIDS, homosexuals and drug addicts as
groups to whom the church should extend hospitality.
The final goal, Radcliffe said, is not for people to accept the
authority of the church, but to become authorities themselves.
A third motif has been the new movements such as
Focolare, Communion and Liberation, and the Neocatechumenate.
Cardinal Miloslav Vlk of Prague in the Czech Republic devoted his
intervention to this theme, arguing that through these new forces, the
Holy Spirit is giving the people of God a new face, new dynamism and new
vitality. Though applause is taboo in the synod hall, members of the
movements who were present burst into cheers.
Other speakers echoed Vlks comments.
John Paul is well-known for his embrace of the movements. Chiara
Lubich, head of Focolare, is among the papally appointed auditors of this
event, as are Jesús and Juana Carrascosa of Communion and Liberation and
Kiko Argüello, founder of the Neocatechumante.
No dissenting notes have been heard in public. Privately, however,
some bishops worry that the movements - some seen as conservative, some as
secretive and resistant to episcopal oversight - have been encouraged at the
expense of pastoral initiatives aimed at the broad mass of Catholics.
The ice was broken Oct. 5 on a topic widely held to be among the
top priorities for bishops around the world - collegiality, or the question of
the proper distribution of power between Rome and the local churches.
Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Germany referred in his intervention
to the mounds of paper that flow from the Roman curia. We
must ask, he said, does paper bear fruit? He called for a new
partnership between the curia and the local diocese.
Among Vatican-watchers, it is seen as significant that Meisner -
among the most conservative bishops in the synod - raised the collegiality
issue. It suggests the concern cuts across the usual ideological divisions.
For daily coverage of the European Synod, go to
http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/documents/eurosyndindex.htm
National Catholic Reporter, October 15,
1999
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