The Congress takes place from May 22 to 26 in Rome near Vatican City.

A global event, the Youth Ministry Congress will focus on innovative leadership styles and strategies in youth ministry under the theme "Synodal Youth Ministry: New Leadership Styles and Strategies".

Youth Ministry Congress details

The Youth Ministry Congress is bringing together delegates worldwide to discuss Youth Ministry's current state and future.

Wilson, chair of the Council for Young People of the Catholic Bishops of Aotearoa New Zealand, expressed his enthusiasm about the broad range of topics.

"I find the range of topics very interesting, particularly the session on the reality of today's youth in a post-pandemic world" he told CathNews.

"The Congress will delve into youth leadership that is both missional and synodal" Wilson noted. He highlighted the practical discussions anticipated in supporting young leaders through synodal ministry methodologies.

Beacon of global youth engagement

Wilson described the Youth Ministry Congress as a "beacon of global youth engagement".

He emphasised its importance in exploring the "Christus Vivit", Francis' seminal document aimed at energising young people

Wilson commented with some alarm that Christus Vivit is now five years old.

Wilson is a married father of three and a Master of Ecclesiology student.

Crazy world - crazy challenges

Jessica Jackman, a primary school teacher and the newly appointed director of Hearts Aflame, is another New Zealand delegate representing New Zealand.

Hearts Aflame is a Catholic summer school for young adults, known for its active involvement in nurturing the Catholic faith among youth.

"It never ceases to amaze me how we can come from such different languages, cultures, continents and experiences and yet unite in the joy of encountering Jesus and worshipping in Holy Mass.

"I am really looking forward to encountering other young Catholics who are passionate about sharing Christ with our new generations and hearing from them about different ways they are creative in sharing the Gospel" said Jackman.

Jackman told CathNews that being young and Catholic is a joy and a gift in Aotearoa today.

"When I look around at the craziness of today's world, it is such a privilege to have been given the gift of Faith, which gives me hope for a future in Christ and the certainty of being loved by God.

"We recognise this gift has been handed on by the mahi of generations of faithful Catholics in our land."

Peer mockery and the courage of witness

Jackman says living a faithful Christian life in New Zealand is not easy.

"We are constantly challenged in our beliefs and actions by our peers and the media, but I do believe our generation is really privileged to grow up guided by the teaching of a succession of saintly popes and a church which recognises the importance of supporting young adults through events like World Youth Day.

"We have had to fight, and be fought for by the Church, to keep our faith, and this means that your average practising young Catholic in Aotearoa really knows what they believe and genuinely wants to love God and fight for holiness, even in the face of mockery from our peers."

Jackman told CathNews that reaching and witnessing to young people takes courage and needs resources.

She highlighted a particular challenge in Catholic schools, of reaching out and witnessing to those who have been baptised but haven't yet discovered the joy of being loved by Christ and chosen to follow Him.

Audience with Pope Francis

Another of the highlights for the delegates at the Youth Ministry Congress will be an audience with Pope Francis on May 25.

Sources

• Supplied: NZCBC
• Supplied: Wilson and Jackman

The comments come from Hans Zollner SJ, a distinguished psychologist with a doctorate in theology.

He made the comments in an interview with Infovaticana.

"Celibacy is not a direct cause of abuse; what can become a risk factor is a ministry poorly lived and not fully accepted," says Zollner.

He says it is a misconception to think that abolishing celibacy would put an end to abuse in the Church.

Zollner, a former member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, also serves as the director of the Institute of Anthropology at Rome's Gregorian University.

"All scientific reports, including those commissioned by non-Church institutions, conclude that celibacy in itself does not lead to abuse.

"Therefore it is wrong to say that with the abolition of celibacy, there would no longer be cases of abuse in the Catholic Church" he emphasised.

He said the core issue is an abuse of power.

Zollner places the focus on the celibate's leaders, the demands of the apostolate and an individual's inner life balance.

"If a priest lacks balance in human, spiritual and professional aspects, that inner void and unfulfilled desires can lead him to commit abuse" he explained.

The psychologist also dismissed the idea that there is a simple, one-to-one relationship between homosexuality and abuse.

"Human behaviour is complex and many male child molesters do not identify solely as homosexual" he said.

He referred to the 2011 U.S. John Jay Report which categorises such individuals as 'occasional abusers' and notes that instances of abuse against girls have risen with the advent of co-ed schools and an increase in female altar servers.

On the subject of the profile of abusers within the Church, Zollner identified four recurring psychological patterns: the narcissistic abuser, the obsessive, the insecure, and the true pedophile - as defined in psychiatric terms.

Commenting on the seminary training of priests, Zollner highlights the critical role of seminary formation and education.

"It's essential that seminarians not only acquire knowledge but also life skills.

"They need to be fully prepared to lead a balanced life and to excel in their future ministries," he said.

Zollner says that victims and survivors need a support network comprised of empathetic listeners and professionals from various fields.

"Those who have suffered should seek justice and surround themselves with people who can genuinely assist them in healing," he recommended.

Source

• CNA

The diocesan documents were synthesised at a national meeting held in Wellington in June.

The introduction to the national document says participants throughout the country "spoke positively and with love about the place the Church has in their lives.

"They want the Church to be a life-giving and active presence in the world, an outward-looking servant Church; a welcoming, inclusive and transformative presence for individuals and communities.

"They see the synodal process itself being as important as the outcome, because in listening to one another the Holy Spirit is present," the introduction says.

However, this experience was not universal.

"For some people, especially those participating as individuals rather than in groups, the process provided an opportunity to express anger, cynicism, hurt and rejection of the Church due to past experiences.

"The Church was named as a place of alienation and irrelevant, especially in its teaching on human sexuality.

"The responses from those who feel ignored, excluded or who have been deeply hurt made painful reading, but their desire to be part of a welcoming Catholic community was clear.

"Their responses are valued and we are learning from them," say the bishops.

New Zealand's Catholic Bishops Conference (NZCBC) says six themes have emerged from the diocesan phase of the 2023 Synod on Synodality.

These are: inclusion, gathering, leadership, education and formation, mission, and synodality and change.

Points from the six main Aotearoa New Zealand themes:

• Inclusion: We want the Church to be a non-judgmental and safe place of welcome and belonging. Church teaching which excludes some people from the Eucharist is causing pain and hurt. Awareness of those who feel marginalised or excluded can lead to new attitudes and action. Action on inclusion must be part of our synodal journey.
• Gathering: There is great love for the Mass, but also concerns about inclusion and lay participation. A new English translation of the Roman Missal is needed. Homilies must help people to encounter Jesus in the reality of their lives. If lay people are allowed to give homilies, they must have good formation. Small groups for prayer, formation, scripture study and mission to build community are needed.
• Leadership: Collaborative ministry should become the norm, with greater sacramental involvement for lay people. Co-responsible leadership with barriers to lay participation in decision-making removed. Women participate equally in decision-making and have greater participation in liturgical roles.
• Mission: Formation is needed for mission, and help with engaging in mission collectively. Ecumenical activity and interfaith dialogue need to be embraced as part of mission. Shame related to abuse in the Church makes evangelisation difficult. Prophetic leadership is needed in the community on social justice, ecological and bicultural issues. The only public voice of the Church for many is on euthanasia and human sexuality.
• Education and Formation: Further formation is needed for both lay people and clergy in discernment and synodality. There is a need for catechesis in Church teaching. Education and formation in safeguarding is essential for both lay people and clergy. Seminarians' formation should involve more community engagement and include biculturalism and cultural sensitivity. Both clergy and laity need formation in collaborative ministry and co-responsible leadership.
• Synodality and Change: The Synod process is exciting and transformative. We want to bring back those who are missing. Synodality and discernment can help us change while holding on to what is central to our faith. We want to learn to journey together in a synodal way.

The national document has been sent to Rome as part of the Pope's synodal path to the Church's future, which will culminate in the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome in October next year.

Similar national documents have been compiled by bishops' conferences around the world.

They will be used by the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops to draft a working document in preparation for the October 2023 synod.

Bishops' conferences will also take part in "continental" gatherings, in New Zealand's case a gathering of Oceania conferences which will include Australia and Pacific island states.

Source

• NZ Catholic Bishops Conference
• National Synod Synthesis

For many of us in the Church and across society, we don't much care about that subject; we long ago made peace with being parts of communities, organizations, nations and even families where we just get on with our lives and leave running the show to those who like to be in charge of things.

But now in the Church, each of us is being presented with the challenge and opportunity to take a larger part in setting the course and managing the conduct of the very thing we are already part of — the Church.

Even in those parts of the Catholic Church where Eastern Church precedents make for different patterns of liturgy and Church structure — the Syrian tradition in India, for example — the pattern of governance is under pressure.

Our response is based on a vast slew of experience of participation in communities and their governance.

Some of it is relevant and some of it is completely irrelevant to today's challenges and opportunities to set the course and manage the conduct of our life in the Church.

For example, today we can assume greater managerial responsibilities commensurate with our qualifications and experience in particular areas of missionary or apostolic activity, whether or not we also hold or have ecclesiastical status as, for example, a cleric may enjoy.

And then there are those tasks and responsibilities that require the munus or office authorized by the clerical state.

That is exactly where the trouble starts for the exercise of governance in the Catholic Church.

Despite all manner of exhortations to share in and participate in the governance of the Church, it is simply and practically impossible without the munus that comes with orders.

Some of us live in democratic, participatory societies. Many more among us live in societies that are authoritarian and centrally controlled political entities. Very often throughout history, that experience has mistakenly been adopted as normative for church governance.

No listening; no inclusion of those on whom the changes had an impact in the decision-making process; top down, command and control management was common in medieval societies and was adopted in the Church, with ecclesiastical rationalizations providing for an operating structure that actually had no theological mandate.

An alternative collegial structure was common enough in the Middle Ages too and led to the creation of the kinds of collaborative governance better known as capitular, collegial or even conciliarist structures that still persist in religious orders and congregations that elect their leadership on a regular basis and also legislate for the conduct of their lives together in the chapter.

These are all forms of collegial, collaborative, participatory leadership.

Now, under the present pope's leadership but drawing on the encouragement and structure suggested by Vatican II, we are building a life of leadership by a synodal form of governance.

But what exactly does that mean?

It has been suggested that synods can be constructed and operated as the Church's response to democracy. But that's not really the case.

The two main forms of democracy at work or available in the world are representative democracy and participatory democracy.

Representative democracy is more common and has elected representatives voted into assemblies to legislate what those they represent consider most desirable; then, when their job is done, they can be replaced by other representatives.

Participatory democracy can only work with smaller populations where all those with a stake in the legislative outcome get to cast a vote on what that outcome is to be.

Synods are very different because only people of a certain status in the Church get to participate and not all those participating get to have an effective say in what is decided.

Sometimes, the best that many in a synod without a deliberative or decisive voice or vote can hope for is consultative status.

So, synods are not democratic. The Australian Plenary Council was like that.

The Australian Plenary Council was something like the British House of Lords whose members are not elected by anyone but constituted by birth rights or because of a status granted by the Crown — a peerage.

Synod "fathers" are all males and are in their places by virtue of their ordained status in the Church.

Most, it seems (as in Australia), are nominated by bishops and appointed, not elected.

The reach and significance of this status are plainly restricted and circumscribed and one would be hard-pressed to find the ordinary operations of a synod in the Catholic Church to be anything more than a very small step along the way to fixing the challenges to governance.

Anglican Church governance is more developed in its use of synods and we have lots to learn from them.

They aren't the last word because they reflect the church and society in which they were formed. But they would be a good place for Roman Catholics to start to learn how other voices than bishops might be heard, which is what the formalities of the Catholic process mean - bishops appoint the members of the synod and will ultimately vote on any recommendations.

The Anglicans have three houses — bishops, clergy and laypeople — established for their decision making; they have borrowed from the Orthodox and Lutheran churches.

It will now fall to Roman Catholics to learn from these other churches how to go about structuring and harmonizing these various voices for more effective governance.

Clearly, Catholics have a long way to go if they aim to catch up with Orthodox, Anglican and other Protestant structures and processes that have been developing as Catholics have put ever more trust in doing it all from Rome over the centuries.

But Catholics can't stay where they are.

They will just get bogged down in their own frequent failures to meet the challenges of the times.

• Michael Kelly SJ is a media professional with 40 years of experience in writing and reporting, editing and publishing, TV and broadcast radio production in Asia and Australia. For 10 years he led Asia's leading Church media organization - UCA News. Currently, he is the English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical La Civilta Cattolica.
• First published in UCANews.com

"Second-class membership for women anywhere is unjust," she told Flashes of Insight on Wednesday.

Asked by host Joe Grayland if the relationship of women and the Catholic Church is a problem, she replied she did not choose to see it this way and simply called the relationship of women and the Catholic Church "a matter of justice".

Ayers said that God is made known to us in all our relationships and in examining these we are told that women are fully human.

She says that the Catholic Church is no longer prophetic for women and that civil society is.

"The evidence in New Zealand of women in leadership, in the highest jobs in the country underscores that civic society is ahead of the (Catholic) Church".

It is a point echoed by Palmerston North catechist and theologian, Kate Bell, who is concerned the Church is so far behind.

"It is the (Catholic) Church that has the problem. It has not been able to comprehend and stay on board with the fact that women are baptized.

"The Church fails to understand that in the power and the validity of baptism we are made into Christ", she said.

Bell says that society has not got it all right either and the church could provide some really interesting critique.

It is a point picked up by Elizabeth Young, theologian, pastoral worker and chaplain in Forbes, Australia.

Young says the Scriptures, Proverbs, legitimize women's leadership in for example business.

She says Jesus call to people was not limited; that it was inclusive.

She told Flashes of Insight that Jesus called women, men, those from various cultural backgrounds, young and old and not Christian stereotypes because he called unlikely people too!

For Young, the challenge is how can the Church embody and exemplify this ‘reign of God' in civil society.

Like Bell she wonders how the Church can, today, challenge society.

Fiona Dyball from the Liturgy and Faith Formation office of the Australian Catholic Bishops told the conversation of the importance of understanding discipleship.

"If we are following Jesus, we follow what Jesus did, and Jesus chose and called women all over the place to receive the good news, to spread the Gospel and be Jesus witnesses", she told the conversation.

She says she is reminded of the fantastic work the Sisters did and how empowered they were.

"They just made pathways and did it through partnerships and by forming relationships."

A fan of Pope Francis who is really setting the say, Dyball says she is however looking for more public encouragement from some of the male leaders in the Church.

Far from seeing the cupboard bare, Dyball says she sees women in the Church ministry who are prophetic but sees there is still plenty of room, in the spirit of Vatican II, to ‘open the windows'.

"They are the Church - co-responsible with bishops, priests, and religious for Christ's mission on earth" writes Martin Work in "Laity" an introductory observation prefacing Apostolicam Actuositatem. (The decree on the laity).

We are the People of God the decree states.

Because of the first sacrament of initiation, all of us stand on the same Baptismal platform, different but equal in the same priesthood of Jesus.

When introduced to the world on the Vatican balcony in 2013, Pope Francis couldn't have demonstrated this point better, he asked the people to bless him.

Other Popes have blessed the people!

During the debate that eventually formed the document called Apostolicam Actuositatem, a layperson noted that we laypeople have existed since Jesus lived in Jerusalem.

"Been on the back burner" he said, "until this decree on the laity when it was shoved onto the front burner and came to the point of boiling".

That was back in 1964!

Those laypeople, like us today, lived ordinary lives, yet were called to move into ministries to build the infant church.

Paul, (Acts 18:3) was a tradesman and Lydia, (Acts 16:14) an astute businesswoman.

Both were called to evangelization.

Peter, (John 1:44) involved in the fishing industry was called to lead.

The nameless Samaritan woman (John 4:29) who had no problems cross-examining Jesus, went on to evangelize.

Baptism into the Christian Mystery of Redemption is not for oneself, nor one culture. It's for all.

Our mission is to recognise those around us who may be searching for Jesus died, Jesus risen and Jesus with us.

We are, by the obligation of Baptism, missionary disciples.

The Vatican Council is pointing us towards, and God's Holy Spirit is calling us, to reshape the church.

Could the circumstances we face today, with more parishes than priests, be the situation that could truly realize the original intention of the Council those 6 decades earlier?

The ordained and non-ordained working beside each other in a joint relationship of co-responsibility in a shared leadership model, bringing to reality the place of the laity?

Pope Benedict told the International Forum of Catholic action in August 2012:

"Co-responsibility demands a change in mindset especially concerning the role of lay people in the church. They should not be regarded as ‘collaborators' of the clergy, but, rather, as people who are really co-responsible for the church's being and acting.

"It is therefore important that a mature and committed laity be consolidated, which can make its own specific contribution to the ecclesial mission with respect for the ministries and tasks that each one has in the life of the church and always in cordial communion with the bishops".

Over recent years the non-ordained have assumed greater responsibilities in education, administration and sacramental programmes.

In my view, it is the area of lay leadership that needs to break new ground with a genuine commitment from the ordained and non-ordained to

• leadership,
• engaging ecumenically,
• advocating for those considered to be of little account,
• ensuring that language is inclusive,
• assimilation of immigrant spiritualities,
• guaranteeing personal safety,
• supporting those involved in social justice issues, and
• accompanying anyone seeking full integration into parish life, all of which calls for the mature use of our spiritual gifts.

There is a sense of urgency to step up the dialogue, to begin to visualize, deliberate and strategize.

This is everyone's business.

We just can't wait to see what happens.

We need to begin now to identify our leaders, to form them to preside over liturgies, to baptise, to lead funeral services and facilitate marriages.

We need to look around now to recognise those amongst us, who have the gift of leadership.

Maybe it is the parent whose youngster gets grizzly, the parishioner who is obviously moved by the Sunday readings, or the one who sits in the same back row Sunday after Sunday!

• Sue Seconi is a parishioner in the Palmerston North Diocese.

But there is also evidence church attendance can be good for your health — unless, that is, you are a woman at a church that bars women from preaching or other leadership roles.

A new study published in the American Sociological Review has found that women who attend churches with such restrictions report worse health than those who attend churches with women in leadership roles.

The study suggests sexism can counter some of the health benefits associated with religion, said co-author Patricia Homan, an associate professor of sociology at Florida State University.

"Women who attend sexist congregations have the same health as those who do not attend religious services at all, and have worse health than women who attend inclusive churches," said Homan.

A number of past studies have shown that taking part in religious services and belonging to a religious community can be associated with better health outcomes.

Regular worship attenders are less likely to smoke, may be less likely to use drugs and may live longer than those who don't attend services.

That health effect of religion appears to be tied to active participation in a church. Those who have religious beliefs but don't attend can report poorer health outcomes. (Atheists, by contrast, also seem to report better health.)

Gender discrimination, on the other hand, can be associated with poorer health outcomes.

In a previous study, Homan looked at the effects of what she called "structural sexism" at the state level.

She found that states that had fewer women political leaders, larger gaps in wages and workplace participation between women and men, and a larger percentage of conservative Christians had higher levels of chronic health issues.

For this new study, Homan and her co-author, Amy Burdette, a professor of sociology at Florida State, wanted to see if sexism counters the health benefits of religion.

To do this, they drew from two nationally representative sources of data: the General Social Survey and the National Congregations Study.

The GSS collects data about religion, gender, marital status and health, among other factors.

The National Congregations Study collects data about local congregations, including data on the roles women are allowed to play in those churches.

The samples collected by the two studies are linked.

In 2006, 2012 and 2018, the GSS collected data about how often respondents attended religious services, then asked attenders to identify their specific congregation.

That data was used to create a nationally representative list of congregations for the NCS.

The researchers looked at three different measures of sexism, using four questions included in the 2006 and 2012 waves of NCS: Could women teach a co-ed class, could they preach at the main worship service, could they serve on the governing board of the church, and could they be the main leader?

Those questions were used to sort into what the researchers called either "sexist" or "inclusive" congregations.

Churches that banned women as the main leader (50%) were labelled as sexist.

So were congregations that only allowed men on the governing board (14%).

Homan and Burdette also looked at all four questions — and rated congregations on how many restrictions on women were in place. Those with more than two limits on women were labelled as sexist.

They then matched churches in both the sexist and inclusive categories with health data about individuals who attended those churches from the GSS.

The GSS asked participants to rate their overall health using this question: "Would you say your own health, in general, is excellent, good, fair, or poor?"

Their answers were then rated on a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being poor and 4 being excellent.

Women in inclusive churches had an average self-reported health score of 3.03. Women in sexist congregations had an average score of 2.79.

That difference is equivalent to a person having at least three years of additional education (which has been shown to impact health) or at least 15 years' difference in age, said Homan.

"We found that only women who attended inclusive congregations got that health benefit from religious participation," Homan told Religion News Service.

And the more restrictions there were on women's participation in the life of a congregation, the worse the reported health outcomes were.

There was no conclusive data showing whether or not sexism had any effect on men's health in the study.

The role of women in churches has been the subject of a national debate over sexism in religious groups.

Southern Baptist Bible teacher Beth Moore made national headlines after telling RNS she no longer identified with that denomination after years of controversy over sexism, abuse and racial divides in the church.

Homan said she has a great deal of respect for Christians who hold so-called complementarian beliefs — the idea that men and women are equal in God's eyes but have different roles in the church and at home.

She grew up in a Southern Baptist family and attended complementarian churches for years as an adult and had a good experience.

The study also seemed to draw a line between complementarian beliefs and sexist structures in religious groups.

"Complementarianism provides a clear guide for the acceptable roles of men and women within gender-traditional religious groups, but the reality is more complicated.

"Rather than being simple-minded victims of patriarchy, numerous studies show that conservative religious women display a great deal of agency within church and home," the authors wrote.

Homan said her research of sexism and health outcomes at the state level prompted her to follow up with the study in religion and health and she can't deny what they found: Policies and practices that limit women's participation can undermine the health benefits associated with church attendance.

"The full equal participation of women in church and society is important for the health and well-being of everyone," Homan said.

• Ahead of the Trend is a collaborative effort between Religion News Service and the Association of Religion Data Archives made possible through the support of the John Templeton Foundation. See other Ahead of the Trend articles here.
• First published by RNS. Republished with permission.

"The countries with women as presidents or prime ministers have on the whole reacted better and more quickly than others, making decisions swiftly and communicating them with empathy," he says.

By way of example, Francis cites the success in New Zealand, Germany, Iceland, Taiwan and Finland.

This observation has led him to increase the number of women in decision making roles in the Vatican. Women are "much better administrators than men," he writes.

In his new book, Francis suggests "the perspective women bring is what the world needs at this time."

"Allowing women's perspectives to challenge existing assumptions" in the Church, is something he has tried to focus on as Pope, he writes.

Throughout his pontificate, Francis says he has sought to appoint women to leadership positions - in the Roman Curia and in advisory, board level positions on Vatican bodies.

"I chose these particular women because of their qualifications but also because I believe women in general are much better administrators than men," he says.

"They understand processes better, how to take projects forward."

Francis is often criticised for not doing more to include women and for using outdated or non-inclusive language.

He makes it clear that female leadership in the Church cannot simply be equated with what happens in the Vatican or on "specific roles."

Leadership should not be equated with inclusion into the ranks of the clergy, he says.

"Perhaps because of clericalism, which is a corruption of the priesthood, many people wrongly believe that Church leadership is exclusively male," he writes.

"But if you go to any diocese in the world you'll see women running departments, schools, hospitals, and many other organisations and programmes; in some areas, you'll find many more women than men as leaders."

"To say they aren't true leaders because they aren't priests is clericalist and disrespectful."

Francis' new book is his latest attempt to try and influence the world's post-pandemic response.

In his view, the worst reaction to the passing of the pandemic would be a return to "feverish consumerism and forms of selfish self-protection" instead of protecting the environment.

He offers an alternative future - one of people-focused politics concentrating on communities, with new inclusive forms of globalisation and a Universal Basic Income.

He also has sharp words for cultural warrior Catholics who "turned into a cultural battle what was in truth an effort to ensure the protection of life."

He also calls out anti-maskers, labelling them as "victims only in their own imagination."

Regarding the debates about pulling down statues during this year's antiracist riots in the US, Francis writes that he applauds the defence of human dignity in the protests, but objects to attempts to "purify the past" by "amputating history."

Better to learn from the shame of the past than to try to "cancel" it, he says.

Source

• The Tablet
• Image: Los Angeles Times

At the bottom of a wooden amphitheatre, the man with salt and pepper hair puts his hands on his hips.

With a Roman collar around his neck, he continues to give instructions from behind his black face mask: "Plant your feet firmly on the ground, rotate your body, and shake your hands."

The some 40 people in the audience imitate his motions like good sports.

They are priests, male and women religious and even lay people employed by the Church who have come for a week-long leadership training workshop.

It took place from October 19-26 at the General Curia of the Society of Jesus, just a stone's throw from St. Peter's Square.

The man who is directing the course is Father David McCallum, vice-president of Jesuit-run Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York.

A graduate of Columbia University, he draws directly from methods imported from business schools, many of which are run by his fellow Jesuits in the United States.

"What is the dream of your dicastery? Of your congregation?" he asks the group.

"The temptation is to shrink dreams. These dreams continue; they are Jesus' dreams," he says.

"Now is the time to make decisions"

The week-long training session is in English. Three weeks earlier, the Jesuits held the initial session in Spanish.

Most of the Catholic leaders in attendance hold major positions in the Roman Curia, the so-called Vatican Bank or religious congregations. But what are they looking for in these training sessions?

A better method for making decisions, several of them say.

"We have worked a lot on personal discernment, but we still need to discover what this means for a group or an institution," explains Victor Assouad, general counsellor for the Jesuit superior general for Western Europe.

Father Assouad is one of those taking part in the training.

"The epidemic is a time for change," he continues.

"There is a chance here to come out of it all different. Now is the time to make decisions," the priest says.

He's quite comfortable with the word "leadership", although he admits that it can "embarrass many people in the Church."

"Detectors of Grace"

The aim of the organizers, above all, is to find ways of decision-making that are both effective and adapted to the Church.

"There are two ways of doing things in religious congregations," explains Father McCallum.

"We can either say God will provide and wait for the rest to follow, or we can pay a lot of money for consultants to come up with some kind of business plan, as though it were any kind of business. Neither option is satisfactory. So, we try to define a middle way," he says.

"Our specificity is that we take into account vulnerability," Father John Darvis, one of the trainers, points out to the participants.

"We must be aware of everyone's shadow side, not forgetting that it exists," he cautions.

Father Darvis also urges those present to be "detectors of grace".

"For years, the Church has been a very good detector of disgrace and faults, especially in the field of sexuality. We must not stop there," he tells them.

"We have to be open to improvisation"

Above all, the organizers also want to implement "subsidiarity", an old principle of canon law regularly put forward by Pope Francis.

"Train your collaborators, support them, don't give them missions that exceed their capacities," Father Darvis says. Continue reading

Yet in his 13 years in the president's chair at Liberty, Falwell has slowly expanded his influence from Liberty University's campus to the national political scene and shown that leadership can be leveraged for good or cause great harm.

Currently on a leave of absence from Liberty University because of some controversial social media posts, Falwell has also demonstrated that as a leader's influence grows, so must his or her commitment to integrity.

Unfortunately, in many cases, the longer leaders remain in leadership, the more relaxed they become about their principles and convictions.

• They lose sight of their original purpose, living disconnected from what they preach to others.
• Words do not match actions.
• Private lives do not match their public life.
• The next scandalous headline is just waiting to be written.

Every leader gets to choose when, and if, they will face their own humanity and commit to leading with greater integrity.

The sooner that happens, the better.

Healthy leaders do the hard work to get their baggage down to carry-on size, which prepares them to handle greater influence.

Unhealthy leaders, on the other hand, choose to ignore their integrity gaps: the expanding distance between what they preach and how they live.

For those leaders, it's a matter of time before they — and those in their wake — pay the price.

Christian organizations often suffer integrity gaps harder than others, as respect for leadership can override accountability.

Many churches and Christian nonprofits leave their leaders to wrestle on their own with personal ego, addiction to power, or unresolved trauma.

Some of these organizations actively dismiss anyone who dares to question the integrity of a high-profile leader.

They put leaders on a pedestal, leaving them isolated and vulnerable.

Pastors, school presidents and other high-capacity leaders can be vulnerable, as we all are, to blind spots, temptations and minimizing their own stories, especially when their performance is impressive.

Many leaders use achievement and performance to distance themselves from their own stories and in this way, power can become a form of addiction, shrouded in deep shame.

And inevitably, a leader's unresolved brokenness will leak out.

The problem isn't the fact that leaders are human; the problem is not being honest about a leader's humanity.

Churches and Christian organizations must stop ignoring red flags that indicate leadership integrity gaps.

These red flags are often hiding in plain sight:

• A leader cannot be questioned and refuses to allow disagreement.
• A leader is excused or given a pass for bad behaviour solely because of his or her leadership position.
• A leader has a continually rotating team and few long-term relationships.
• Rumours of a leader's misconduct go unacknowledged or unaddressed.
• A leader is privately "talked to" about an integrity gap — with no plan for accountability.
• A leader who has harmed others is quickly restored to leadership — with no plan or time for repair and healing.

Leaders can shrink their integrity gaps.

Organizations can create environments of truth and grace that hold leaders accountable.

When leaders do err, a healthy system of truth and grace offers a process for repair, healing and accountability.

Christian leaders need more training around healthy relationships, abuse and trauma-informed theology, and practical steps to greater accountability.

Change is possible.

Join us in the mission to see greater leadership integrity, less harm to followers, and fewer church scandal headlines.

• Jeff Mattson and Terra Mattson are founders of Living Wholehearted, where they coach leaders and counsel individuals. Their forthcoming book is "Shrinking the Integrity Gap: Between What Leaders Preach and Live."
• First published in RNS. Reproduced with permission.
• The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of CathNews.

Not so severe as to threaten his life or his capacity for conversion, but severe enough to require his permanent retirement from office.

I wonder how many similar prayers are offered, from the rising of the sun to its setting, for a visitation of ill-health upon pope or president, prime minister or pastor?

Five hundred years ago, with a candour that might surprise us, Cardinal Cajetan asked how the members of the church might lawfully go about removing a hypothetically wicked pope (the pope at the time was Julius II, "il papa terribile"; his predecessor was a Borgia and his successor a Medici).

Cajetan argues that, unlike a heretical pope, a wicked pope could not be deposed by a council (as some wished) but he encourages both clergy and princes to offer "resistance and impediment to the abuse of power."

On top of this, however, he scolds his audience for neglecting the most effective means available to them: intercessory prayer.

Non-confidence votes, impeachment hearings, recall votes, and the like, have their place in the attempt to remove wicked leaders, but efforts should be focused on prayer—a divinely-sanctioned means of imploring divine providence.

Cajetan is confident that "if it is necessary for the Church's well-being that such a pope should be removed […] without doubt prayer would remove him."

I have looked through the missal and found no examples of prayers for the removal of leaders of Church or state.

We ask that "Christ may guide the minds of those who govern us to promote the common good according to his will," and that the shepherds of our souls "may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd," but we never ask God to remove any who may be unfaithful, corrupt, or incompetent.

This timidity is not known to the Psalmist, who trusts that "the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the righteous" (Ps 125:3), nor to the Virgin Mary, who rejoices that the mighty are toppled from their thrones (Lk 1:52).

Ours is not the first age to be painfully and undeniably aware that our leaders are not always shepherds after God's own heart (Jer 3:15).

In private, believers may seek all kinds of remedies, some more edifying than others. How might the public words of the liturgy address and even shape this issue? Continue reading

• Image: Pinterest

He appeared to be doing a great job leading, but he wanted to do better.

I always admire someone who wants to improve.

His question went like this. Knowing what you know now about leadership, what would you say are the biggest traps to avoid?

What are the worst leadership traits that you've seen limit a leader's potential to lead well?

That's a hard question because depending on the circumstances, I think there could be many different answers.

You can have some bad traits and perhaps still see some success as a leader, but they are still bad leadership traits - the worst.

And they keep one from leading well.

Eventually, they may derail a leader if not addressed.

There are many I've observed. I've seen laziness, for example, cripple a leader. But, with the right team around him or her, even a lazy leader can experience success.

I thought of incompetence, but I have seen some dumb leaders (like me at times) smart enough to surround themselves with wise people. But what about the worst?

So, I've narrowed my list to the following 5 of the worst traits I've observed personally. Feel free to disagree or add to my list. I certainly don't have all the answers.

5 of the worst leadership traits

Avoidance - The leader who ignores problems invites trouble to the church or organization.

Problems never go away on their own. They fester and eventually explode.

It may take a long time for them to be exposed, but they will eventually catch up with the leader.

Yet I have seen some leaders survive a long time while avoiding the real problems.

Control - Inflexibility on the part of a leader limits the church or organization to the level of performance solely by the leader.

That's always bad.

Even if the person is a genius, there's a lid placed upon the organization or church's future.

People feel squashed of their potential and under appreciated, producing half-heartedness and poor morale.

Who needs that?

But there are still growing organizations with controlling leaders.

Pride - Perhaps the worst trait I've personally observed is the arrogance of a leader.

It turns people away in disgust when they hear a leader brag on all his or her accomplishments.

The braggart feels good but is never as popular as he or she perceives.

I've found if a leader is really good at what they do, they won't have to tell others about it. Continue reading

• Ron Edmondson is CEO of Leadership Network. Previously, he was a pastor, revitalizing two churches and planting two churches. He has also been a church leadership consultant.
• Image: CrossMap

Launched last week, the Institute engages and supports young women in evangelisation, vocational discernment and professional advancement.

"There are plenty of leadership programs in the private sector; there is no reason we can't do it with a faith component," the organisation's founder and executive director, Elise Italiano, says.

"At a time where millennial women are disaffiliating from the Church in increasing numbers, it would be really important for the Church to turn its attention to shoring up the faithfulness of the women who do want to serve the Church, so that they can carry on the legacy of faithful women who have gone before them," she says.

The Institute aims to continue that legacy by confronting two major challenges young Catholic women: disaffiliation from the faith and Church, and a lack of integration of their gifts in areas of Church ministry. These

In addition, the Institute says the Church's vision for women's dignity and development will form the baseline from which it will develop its young leaders' programmes.

Two related programmes will form the basis of the Institute's work.

• The Catholic Young Women's Leadership Forum; this will be held every two to three years. Discussions will include vocational discernment, post-missionary work, and secular professional careers. The forum will feature keynote speakers, spiritual accompaniment, plus networking opportunities, in addition to specific workshops and speakers.
• The "Art of Accompaniment Mentoring Program" for alumnae of the Leadership Forum will be launched.

After the Leadership Forum, GIVEN will release digital webinars to assist with ongoing formation and to "extend the exploration of topics covered at the forum."

The mentoring programme aims to build a network of female leaders who will meet with forum attendees on a one-on-one basis and provide them with personalized accompaniment.

Source

• America Magazine
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Crux

The topic given to Bishop Charles was: "Icons of Christ: developing personally and professionally as leaders of local faith communities for the new evangelisation.

Bishop Charles noted that leadership is currently a hot topic not just in the Church but in society generally given generational sub-cultures impacting on methods of communication and engagement. Among the particular challenges facing priests and parishes is growing communities - the people of God - in a time of increasing individualism.

There is a strong cult of people ‘doing me' rather than us, yet the covenant relationship of God with the world through history has been a journey from I to We.

Among the sources of leadership that Bishop Charles explored with the Sydney clergy was the central place of the Chrism Mass in the life of a diocese and its bishop, priests and people.

Drawing on the Chrism Mass gospel reading where Jesus is chased from the synagogue out into the lanes and fields of Capernaum, Bishop Charles invited the priests to reflect on where and to whom the sacred oils lead them as evangelisers, healers, and anointers or facilitators of the divine life.

He suggested that while the oils may appear like a channel of priests' ministry - which they are - they are first and foremost instruments of the Holy Spirit who is constantly at work among in the world.

Maria Cavallaro, senior PA at the Sydney archdiocesan curia, commented that the priests' assembly was "filled with joy." In thanking Bishop Charles, she said: "I am so grateful to see happy smiling men filled with hope".

Source

Supplied: Amamanda Gregan New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference

There are times, however, when they're called upon to be the ones in the spotlight.

Perhaps they ran for an office in a volunteer group and, much to their surprise, actually won the election.

Now they can no longer be the power behind the throne; they actually are forced to sit on that throne.

Having succeeded in what perhaps they most wanted to be able to do, which is to have an impact on their organization, they must now figure out how they're going to occupy the position of prominence that their role requires.

They shiver at the thought of being forced to run a meeting with no choice but to give rousing speeches, oversee the order in which people speak, ask people to volunteer for committees, take on new tasks, and even- worst case scenario- ask for monetary donations.

Queensland University (Australia)'s Andrew Spark and colleagues (2018) investigated the role of "forecasted affect," or predictions of future feelings, in the emotional lives of people seeking to occupy leadership roles.

They reason that for people high in introversion, it's the thought of having to put themselves out there, rather than the act of taking charge, that most fills them with dread.

In the words of the authors, "introverts tend to believe (or ‘forecast') that acting extraverted will be more unpleasant than it actually is" (p. 84).

Needless to say, this can keep them from attempting to achieve positions of leadership, but it can also make their lives miserable when they find themselves with no choice but to occupy those positions.

There's a reason that people high in introversion could fear being placed in positions of leadership. People high in extraversion, the opposite of introversion, are most likely to be candidates for leadership positions, or what the Australian authors call "emergent leadership."

Leadership is, as the authors argue, an essentially "extraverted" task, and even if not all extraverts make great leaders, to be able to get out in front of others and take responsibility for the group's success means that you have to be willing to be bold and energetic.

Extraverts may have many leadership strengths, but so do introverts.

Introverted leaders are more likely to empower those they lead, are less likely to try to dominate those who work for them, and allow for greater communication among team members.

As the authors note, introverted people can be great leaders, but their tendency to focus their attention inward rather than outward can stymie them and keep them from taking advantage of the actual strengths they would show in leadership positions.

Unfortunately, such attitudes can set up a vicious cycle in which those high in introversion avoid taking on leadership positions, never learning just how effective they could actually be in those roles. Continue reading

• Image: Office Vibe

"And if you find in your examination of conscience that you have not prayed for your leaders, bring it to confession. Because not to pray for leaders is a sin."

The Pope said that we must pray for those who govern - even if they make mistakes, even if we agree with their politics.

"We can't leave our leaders alone. We need to accompany them with our prayer".

"Pray, and do penance for leaders. Intercessory prayer, as Paul says, is such a wonderful thing. It is to be done for all."

At the same time, he called on leaders to pray too. "If leaders do not pray, they close themselves off in a self-referential circle or in that of their party, a circle from which they cannot escape."

He said those who are atheist or agnostic must "confront themselves with their conscience, with the wisdom of their people".

Pope Francis' appeal in came in his homily at Casa Santa Marta on September 18.

His homily was based on the Mass readings of the day in which Saint Paul advises Timothy to recite prayers for those in authority (1 Timothy 2;1-8).

In the Gospel, a centurion prays for the healing for his servant (Luke 7; 1 -10) and ponders on how he carries out his duties as a leader.

"This man felt the need for prayer, not because it was a last resort but because he knew that there was someone above him, another who is in charge," the Pope said.

Read the Pope's homily

Source

• La Stampa
• Crux\
• Image: TVNZ

She is as the inaugural Brian Picot Chair in Ethical Leadership, which is within Victoria Business School's School of Management.

She joins five other Professorial Chairs at the Business School who lead research on important contemporary issues in specialist areas of digital government, public finance, business in Asia, economics of disasters and restorative justice. Continue reading

He has been selected by a panel of judges as Youth MP for Mangere for Youth Parliament 2016 from a strong pool of 7 students who competed for the role.

Youth Parliament gives young 121 young Kiwis the chance to learn first-hand about how New Zealand's democracy works.

Christopher is an outstanding communicator with high level of cultural intelligence and oratory skills, " Sio says.

"He is respected by his peers and the wider community and has a strong sense of social justice values.

"He is passionate about Mangere, and youth and I want to work alongside and support him so that he and his peers find their voice and fully participate in the decision making processes of our community.

"We need Christopher and all our youth to find their political voice and to be involved in politics to defend those in our communities who are vulnerable and can't help themselves. We need Christopher and all our youth to stand up for equality and social justice in our communities."

"I was very impressed with the calibre of applications I received. I was touched by the candidates' passion about a variety of youth issues and their eagerness to represent their community at Youth Parliament 2016," Sio said

"I wish I could include them all."

The Selection Panel also selected two other runner-ups this year - Haris Murtaza from Al-Madinah School and Chunte Delores Su'a from Southern Cross - who will join the Youth MP in Wellington if sponsors can be found for them.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• campaign.labour.org.nz

During a visit to Turin, the Pope said in a speech he didn't want to promote a "functionalism" of women's roles in the Church.

"The woman in the Church has the same work . . . that the Madonna had with the Apostles on the morning of Pentecost," he said.

"The apostles without Mary wouldn't work. Jesus wanted it this way."

There is currently only one woman serving at leadership level among the various church offices at the Vatican.

During his visit, the Pope prayed before the Shroud of Turin.

Continue reading

Speaking in a Lenten talk in Country Kerry, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin's warning also extended to those he called the Church's "self-appointed spokespeople".

"Where the Church argues from general principles, there is inevitably the feeling on the part of others that it is somehow against the concrete individual men and women who have a different viewpoint," the archbishop said.

"This is made more complex if Church leaders, or self-appointed Church spokespersons, use language which is insensitive and over judgmental," he added.

The Church must voice its criticism "in language which respects her Master, Jesus Christ", he explained.

Jesus "never criticised those with whom he may have disagreed about their morals, except with those who were hypocritical . . .".

Archbishop Martin observed that "all too often the hypocrites in Jesus' judgement, it is clear in the Gospels, were the religious leaders".

Archbishop Martin said he is struck by the way Pope Francis operates, in contrast to the model he had just outlined.

"Pope Francis seems to be able to speak clearly about doctrine, and yet respect and embrace those who cannot find their way to follow that doctrine," the archbishop said.

"His starting point is usually not that of being head of the Catholic Church, but that of being a sinner."

Pope Francis, he said, "has the ability to see that truth and mercy are not mutually exclusive in absolutist terms".

"Pope Francis does not think in the black and white categories that we tend to.

"He sees that most of us live in the grey areas of life where compromise may often be almost inevitable."

Archbishop Martin cited the way Francis sees Christians who may live together before marriage, or who live in civil marriages.

The Pope sees that such persons "may indeed share more of the vision of Christian marriage than we often think", the archbishop said.

"We will attain more by reaching out to them rather than by simply condemning."

In May, Ireland is to have a referendum on legal same-sex marriage.

Sources

• Irish Times
• The Guardian
• Image: Irish Central