Peace talks in Rochester
By ED GRIFFIN-NOLAN
Special to the National Catholic Reporter
As Rochester Bishop Matthew Clark
prepared to announce the selection of a new pastoral administrator for Corpus
Christi parish, signs were emerging that the conflict enveloping the church
since mid-August may be headed toward resolution.
Pastoral associate Mary Ramerman met with Clark for an hour Sept.
29 and said afterward she was feeling very hopeful. Because of her
role in liturgy, and her use of a stole that some view as priestly garb,
Ramerman has become a central figure in the controversy. In a telephone
interview shortly after her session with Clark, Ramerman said that it was a
very good meeting that produced a great dialogue.
We agreed to work together to work with the parish through
these issues, Ramerman said. He agreed to come meet with the parish
and staff.
In a written statement, Clark characterized the meeting as
cordial and positive, adding that he is hopeful that progress
will continue to be made. Neither Ramerman nor Clark was willing to
discuss specifics of their conversation.
The session comes just five days after Fr. Enrique Cadena, the
sole priest on the bishops transition committee at Corpus Christi,
resigned from the group. Cadena has worked on and off at Corpus Christi for the
past 12 years. The committee was appointed to prepare the parish for a new
pastor and to assure future compliance with the bishops guidelines on
three issues: the blessing of gay unions, women wearing sacramental robes and
non-Catholics receiving the Eucharist.
Cadena, according to published reports, resigned because he
believed that the diocese was not open to dialogue. He feared that he would
soon be asked to participate in firings of his friends and associates,
including Ramerman.
Diocesan Vicar General Fr. Joseph Hart asserted that the diocese
has no intention of firing anyone or forcing staff out of their jobs.
Cadenas decision to step down from the transition team, said Hart, does
not affect his work at the parish.
The conflict at Corpus Christi surfaced in August when Clark
removed Fr. James Callan after 22 years as pastor. During his tenure Callan
brought the 110-year-old parish back from the dead and expanded its ministry to
embrace the marginalized in the city, including gays and lesbians, women who
felt ignored by other churches and non-Catholics. As many as 3,000 people
attend Mass at Corpus Christi each weekend, and thousands participate in eight
different outreach ministries.
What began as a parish battling to retain a beloved pastor
escalated into an ecclesiastical tug-of-war between a bishop known for
progressive views and a parish that had gone beyond what even he would allow.
Callan blames Rome for Clarks stance. Clark has maintained all along that
the decision to remove Callan was his alone.
Until Clarks meeting with Ramerman, positions appeared to be
hardening. The transition team had been holding continuous meetings with staff
and parishioners with few signs of progress. The parish issued a
Statement of Faith in August, staking out ground on all three
issues clearly at odds with the bishops position. Weekly parish meetings
and standing-room-only crowds at Masses have affirmed that stance.
Charlotte Bruney and Kathleen Cannon are the remaining members of
the transition team. Bruney is a pastoral administrator at St. Vincent de Paul
Church in Churchville, N.Y., and Cannon is diocesan director of parish support
ministries.
Though she still fears a split in the church, Bruney holds out
hope for compromise. This is a very special, precious community,
says Bruney, who came to the diocese in May from Hartford, Conn.
They are a praying people, and that is the hope, that
something creative will come out of this. But I tell them that part of praying
is openness to the fact that you may not have all the truth. They feel that to
compromise is a question of their own integrity, that to change would be to
destroy their very selves.
In an interview the day before the Ramerman-Clark meeting, Bruney
said that the possibility that the parish would separate itself from the
diocese is a very real danger.
But to continue to defy the bishop leads them to that point.
They continue to talk about this being their crucifixion, and I remind them how
hard Jesus prayed that if there were any way this cup could pass from him, let
it be done. There is a certain rigidity here that sometimes almost reeks of
fundamentalism. When they quote from the Bible, they tell you that they know
what Jesus wants. Some of us think that maybe Jesus is a little more
complicated than that.
One point of unity, ironically enough, may be Ramerman herself.
When asked about the possibility that Ramerman might be dismissed, Bruney says,
I hope it wont come to that. It would be a great loss. I listened
to her preach (last) week, on the story of Lazarus. Ninety-five percent of
priests who preached that gospel could look to her for lessons on how to do
it.
The outlines of an agreement that would avoid a split within the
diocese but allow Corpus Christi to continue its ministry is by no means clear.
Just hours before her meeting with the bishop, things were so polarized that
Ramerman described the bishops transition team as an occupying
force in the parish house, and tension was high.
On Oct. 24, the parish will be celebrating Callans 24th
anniversary of ordination, on the feast of St. Francis. Callan, who is on
temporary assignment in the small town of Elmira, will be in the pews.
Ive been asked by the diocese to come to the party but not to
celebrate Mass, he said.
Ramerman plans to speak to the congregation about her meeting with
the bishop. In the coming weeks there will be a series of three meetings, each
one bringing in outside experts to talk on the three major points of
contention.
The parish staff has suggested that a mediator be brought in to
assist with ongoing discussions, a step diocesan officials have welcomed.
This agreement in itself, says Ramerman, is a hopeful
sign.
Bruney, who has long worked for the cause of women in ministry, is
still working, praying and hoping for some sort of compromise. It is very
ironic that the ultraconservatives who have been writing to the Vatican and
sending videotapes are sitting back and watching the liberals tear one another
apart. Those of us who believe in the issues that this parish stands up for but
not the methods it is using are very saddened by this.
National Catholic Reporter, October 9,
1998
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