EDITORIAL Holding out hope for reconciliation
There was always a certain
inevitability to the clash set off at Corpus Christi Parish in Rochester, N.Y.,
last August when its charismatic pastor, Fr. James Callan, was notified that he
would be transferred.
Callan had led a spectacular renewal of an inner-city church that
had all but collapsed.
There was also always an edginess to the place, a pushing at
boundaries: Pastoral associate Mary Ramerman led Communion services dressed in
alb and half-stole; Callan blessed gay unions; and the community announced that
all, regardless of denomination or belief, were welcome to receive
Communion.
In the air there was always a wondering about when it would
go too far.
Deep in my heart I always knew this day would come -- and
was always hoping it wouldnt, Callan said (NCR, Aug. 28,
1998) when notified of the transfer. We used to joke about it, and the
longer I stayed here, I think, the more everybody hoped that Bishop [Matthew]
Clark would just keep covering. Hes always been good [at] holding the
umbrella over us -- I hope he continues doing that.
Clark has done more than hold an umbrella. He is that rare church
leader these days, unafraid to advocate for women in the church and other
causes unpopular in Rome. He is one of the few bishops with the courage to
conduct services for gays and lesbians and their families, making himself a
target of the far right. He does not go about wielding an ecclesial club,
pronouncing mass excommunications. If anything, he is forbearing to a
fault.
But, as he said in a recent interview, there were limits to what
he could support. In meetings with priests, with Jim present, I have
said, I want to back you in all ways that I can, but please do not take
me to places that I cannot go.
And Callan clearly did. He jumped the boundaries he had been
pushing against. Perhaps Callan, Ramerman and others who have broken from
Corpus Christi to set up a separate community have no recourse, in conscience,
but to do so.
There is, however, another model of dissent, one that remains
faithful.
Perhaps no better example exists than another priest of the
Rochester diocese, Fr. Charles Curran, who lost his position at The Catholic
University of America in January 1987 because of his dissent from some church
teachings on sexuality.
Yet Curran elected to stay.
His own words on the matter are instructive. In his 1986 book
Faithful Dissent, he writes, I have been tempted in the past, but
not for long, to think that belief in God would be so much easier if it were
not mediated in and through the human as in Catholic ecclesiology. However, the
human aspect is so important, though at times it can get in the way.
As human, the church is also sinful, Curran states. Yet the
Holy Spirit is God with us in the church. In recognizing the sinfulness of the
church, we must be conscious of the danger of our own self-righteousness, for
we, too, are sinful human beings who never respond fully to the gospel. There
will always be tensions in this pilgrim church. ... All of us at times
exacerbate these tensions. So with this realistic understanding of the church,
I am able to accept what is happening to me.
For many reasons, we are not a congregationalist denomination;
matters become something other than Roman Catholic -- good though they may be
-- when groups split and go their own ways.
Our hope is this group will deeply reconsider the path it is
taking and find some way back to reconciliation.
National Catholic Reporter, April 16,
1999
|