The 74-year-old priest and intellectual made the remarks in his native Prague at the beginning of Europe's continental stage of the Synod.

Halík, an internationally known author who teaches sociology at the Charles University in the Czech capital, gave a "spiritual introduction" to the weeklong European synodal assembly on the future of the Church.

La Croix: How can the Church be more relevant in our secularised societies in Europe? Should it adapt to societal changes or be counter-cultural?

Father Tomas Halik: The main mission of the Church is evangelization, which consists of inculturation, an effort to infuse the spirit of the Gospel into the way people think and live today.

Without this, evangelisation is only superficial indoctrination.

The Church cannot and should not be part of, or in resistance to, the counter-culture, except in the face of repressive regimes such as Nazism, fascism and communism.

Attempts to make Catholicism - especially from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries - a counter-culture against modern society, culture, science and philosophy led to an intellectual self-castration, causing the estrangement of a large part of the working class, intellectuals and youth.

Fear and aversion to modern culture has led to ex-culturation, contributing significantly to the secularisation of Western society. The efforts of Vatican II to dialogue with modernity and secular humanism came too late, at a time when modernity was already coming to an end.

Postmodern society presents churches with very different challenges and opportunities from those of modernity.

To become a credible and intelligible voice in an age of radical plurality, the Church must undergo a profound reformation - and I hope that the synodal path will be such a reformation.

Don't such transformations risk diluting the Christian message, as the pope seems to fear when facing the most extreme positions of the Synodal Path in Germany?

The Synodal Path in Germany seems to place great importance on changing institutional structures.

It boldly raises questions that cannot be taboo, and speaks of problems for which solutions cannot be postponed indefinitely. I

insist, however, that institutional reforms - like questions concerning the conditions of priestly ministry - must precede and complement a deepening of theology and spirituality.

I recently published a book, The Afternoon of Christianity, in which I reflect on the theology and spirituality of synodal renewal.

I apply a method I call "kairology" - a theological hermeneutic of cultural and societal change, inspired by the Ignatian method of "spiritual discernment."

A distinction must be made between the "spirit of the time" (Zeitgeist), which is the "language of the world", and the "signs of the times", which are the language of God through world events.

Some theologians - such as Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer - questioned whether or not Christianity is a religion.

I believe that the Christianity of tomorrow will be a religion in a very different sense than it was in the past.

The word religion (religio) is derived from the verb religare, to bring together; religion was the integrating force ("common language") of an entire society.

But the word religion (religio) can also be derived from the verb relegere, "to read again".

Christianity should offer a new hermeneutic, a new reading, and a deeper understanding of its own sources - Scripture and Tradition - as well as of the "signs of the times".

The process of secularisation has accelerated in Europe because of the abuse crisis. How can this be seen as a "sign of the times" for the Church?

For me, sexual abuse plays a similar role to the scandals of selling indulgences just before the Reformation.

At first, both phenomena seemed marginal. But both revealed much deeper systemic problems.

In the case of selling indulgences, it was the relationship between the Church and money, the Church and power, the clergy and the laity.

In the case of sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse, it is about the systemic disease that Pope Francis has called "clericalism".

Above all, it is an abuse of power and authority.

The pope calls for the transformation of the rigid system of clerical power in the Church into a dynamic network of mutual cooperation, a shared journey (syn-hodos).

This journey inevitably leads to a transcendence of the Church's current institutional and mental boundaries, to a deeper and broader ecumenism - to a universal invitation to all on the path to the eschatological goal of "universal fraternity".

The great vision of Pope Francis, contained in the encyclical Fratelli tutti, could play a role in the 21st century that is similar to that of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the 20th century.

The future course of the synodal process will show whether the Church offers only beautiful visions to today's humanity (just words, words, words) or whether it will show the courage of "self-transcendence".

Christian identity is not something static and unchanging.

The identity and authenticity of Christianity lies in participation in the drama of Easter - the mystery of death and resurrection.

Many things in the Church must die for resurrection to take place - and resurrection is not a "resuscitation", a turning back, but a radical transformation.

How can a culture of synodality be developed and sustained in Europe, when "national" Churches are part of such different ecclesial realities?

The obsession with the "national principle", whether in the State or in the Church, brings with it the danger of nationalism, of national egoism, one of the diseases of modernity from the 19th century, which is reappearing today as a dangerous temptation containing populism and fundamentalism during the crisis of globalisation.

Nationalism was the cause of two world wars.

And the current third world war, which Russia started with the genocide in Ukraine - a global threat that the West reprehensibly underestimates - is also caused by nationalism, by dangerous Russian imperialism and by national messianism.

Pope Francis makes it clear: a Christian must not be a nationalist.

In my opinion, thinking only within national borders must be overcome by "glocality" (the concept of thinking globally and acting locally).

The synodal transformation of the Church should contribute to the transformation of globalization into "glocalization", thus tipping the balance towards more solidarity, mutual respect and sharing.

• Céline Hoyeau and Malo Tresca
• First published in La-Croix International. Republished with permission.

This was only the second time that Francis has convened the entire College of Cardinals for a discussion on a specific topic. The first gathering was an extraordinary consistory in February 2014 at which Cardinal Walter Kasper delivered the opening presentation.

It was part of preparations for the Synod of Bishops' extraordinary general assembly on family and marriage (October 2014) and the ordinary general assembly on the same topic that was held a year later (October 2015).

Cardinal Kasper's thesis, which advocated some changes in the way the Church deals with divorced and remarried Catholics, did not go unchallenged. A good number of cardinals harshly criticized his position, and indirectly the pope's as well.

Looking at Roman Curia reform

This is one of the reasons Francis waited eight years before again calling together all the members of the College of Cardinals.

The topic of the August gathering was quite different from the one in 2014: the reform of the Roman Curia, which Francis unveiled on March 19 with the publication of the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium.

More than a consultation, which should have happened before the promulgation of the constitution, the meeting was meant to prepare the cardinals for what is already codified in law.

Nonetheless, some further modifications are still possible, given the pope's incremental way of implementing reforms.

Not all the cardinals agreed with important parts of the apostolic constitution, especially with Praedicate Evangelium's passage that separates the exercise of Church governance from sacramental ordination.

This introduces "lay governance" on a theological foundation that contradicts the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) as spelled out in Lumen Gentium.

No high drama this time

But there was no high drama at this meeting as there was at the extraordinary consistory of 2014.

There are three reasons why.

The first is that the reform of the Roman Curia is something quite technical and juridically complex. Its results are yet to be seen and will largely depend on the top personnel Francis appoints, especially the new prefects of the dicasteries.

The cardinals discussed the separation of the power of governance from that of Holy Orders (and so lay people being given senior positions in the Roman Curia), as well as the question of what it means to be a synodal and hierarchical Church. They also focused on the issue of Vatican finances.

These are all important topics, but they were always unlikely to stir strong emotions in many cardinals (and in some quarters of the Catholic Church, especially in the United States) in the same way family and marriage did eight years before.

Outdistancing the opposition

The second reason there was little drama is that, after nine-and-a-half years as pope, Francis has outlived and overcome many of his opponents.

Some of them have died, while many others have marginalized themselves by expressing embarrassingly extreme views on certain political and ecclesial issues.

Since 2014, Francis has created many new cardinals who lead dioceses around the world, and this also influenced the mood of the August meeting.

But there is also a third and more important reason that there were no real fireworks this time — the dreaded "paradigm shift" in doctrine did not take place and those in opposition to Francis have since become convinced that anything the pope has done can be quickly reversed.

The thesis put forth by Cardinal Kasper (not a liberal by any means, judging by his recent criticisms of the German "Synodal Path") was that doctrine is not set in stone.

In his opening presentation at the 2014 extraordinary consistory there was this passage, for example:

"The doctrine of the Church is not a stagnant lagoon, but a torrent that flows from the source of the Gospel, into which the faith experience of the people of God of all centuries has flowed. It's a living tradition that today, like many other times throughout history, has reached a critical point and which, in given the 'signs of the times', it needs to be continued and deepened."

Pastoral practice vs doctrine

Eight years after the 2014 Synod assembly on family and marriage, it's fair to ask whether there has been a recalculation in Francis' roadmap, or what that roadmap was in the first place, or if there has been a lack of theological backing of Francis' pontificate.

"For years, in fact, a theological populism has spread in the Church which claims to defend Francis from the reactionaries by repeating that the pope 'does not touch doctrine', it's only about 'pastoral practice'," Church historian Alberto Melloni so accurately put in an August 26 article in the Italian daily La Repubblica.

"This is an offense against doctrine (which is not a monolith, but a hierarchy of truths), against what is consider 'pastoral' (which is an adjective of the way of being Jesus and not the marketing of the sacred for fools), and against the successor of Peter (who is a teacher of the faith and not a security guard placed in front of a vault)," Melloni wrote (translation mine).

Whenever the pope touched some critical issues for a certain kind of reactionary Catholicism in the West, the pushback from some influential cardinals, bishops, and the Catholic media system has been substantial. They have essentially argued that "no one can change doctrine, not even the pope".

And they have even leveled the subtle, yet unmistakable, accusation that the Jesuit pope is bordering on heresy.

Is it enough to change the pastoral approach without changing doctrine?

This pushback continues every time someone, even from one of the Pontifical Academies in Rome, tries to say something that might be seen as a crack in the doctrinal dam for the post-Vatican II — such as revisiting the meaning of Humanae Vitae.

On the other side of the spectrum, there are some overzealous defenders of Pope Francis who have fallen into that same trap.

For instance, there are those who retreat to the last line of defense in their uncoupling of pastoral and doctrinal change and deny that a Church more welcoming of LGBTQ Catholics implies changes in previous theological and magisterial statements.

The unaddressed — and therefore unanswered — question remains whether it is possible to be a more welcoming Church without a doctrine that leaves no doubt about such acceptance.

We have seen that Francis is not afraid to defend Vatican II from neo-traditionalists, on not just liturgical reform.

But the overall message has become, indeed, defensive. Hence the temptation has been to reduce what Francis does as pastoral, but not doctrinal, especially on intra-ecclesial issues dealing with ministry.

Some of the changes he has made, such as in his decision in January 2021 to open the stable and institutionalized ministries of lector and acolyte to women, are not being enthusiastically implemented throughout the Church — not even in Rome.

Downplaying expectations for change

This question of the relationship between pastoral practice and doctrine does not concern only our understanding of Francis' pontificate, but also the "synodal process" now that it enters its crucial phase, in the next 12 months leading up to the next assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October 2023.

Will the synodal process bring about change in language and style or even a change in substance on some issues? We will have to wait and see.

Two cardinals who have major roles in overseeing the 2023 gathering — Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, and Cardinal Jean Claude Hollerich SJ, the papally-appointed general rapporteur of the assembly — seemed to downplay expectations for major changes during an August 26 press conference at the Vatican.

But in the last few months these two cardinals have defended the freedom and orthodoxy of people to make suggestions in the local synodal process, especially the Germans' "Synodal Path".

In doing so both men have kept a healthy distance from other cardinals and Roman Curia officials that have an interest in silencing the hopes of those Catholics who responded to the synodal consultation.

A false dichotomy

Historians know that it takes a long time for change to come about in the Church.

Francis' pontificate is far from over, and in some sense we are only now beginning to see more support for him in the College of Cardinals, from its members in Rome and those around the world. This was evident from the August meeting.

But the question now is whether the much-needed change, on those issues where the tradition and the magisterium clearly need aggiornamento, will be supported by the courage to refuse the false alternative between pastoral practice and doctrine.

The temptation is to do with Francis' pontificate what has already been done many times with Vatican II — neutralize him by opposing pastoral practice to doctrine.

The problem is that, during this pontificate, those who strongly disagree with Francis — and even those who support him — have repeated this slogan: "pastoral change, yes; doctrinal development, no".

But no one can explain precisely what this means because it is a false dichotomy.

In the history of the Church, pastoral change has always implied and caused doctrinal development and vice-versa.

Different people and different reform groups, have their own take on what, or who, needs reform the most urgently.

I must admit the recent article by Antonio Spadaro on Pope Francis has prompted me to think more about it.[1]

I would like to share some of those thoughts with you.

On a personal level, reform in the church touches both the mind and the heart. On the institutional level, it concerns a very wide range of aspects like doctrinal, moral, spiritual, liturgical, structural and attitudinal.

Much of the effort of reform groups worldwide in recent times has been directed at the pope, bishops, and "the Vatican" since they are the decision-makers.

That is the politics of the issue.

And we can now, after the sexual abuse scandals, include priests in that list.

Let us stand back for a moment, and take a look at the demographics underlying the whole question of church and reform.

I have to speak to my own experience, conscious that others from different age groups, different cultures and different countries will have their own specific take on it.

The percentage of those involved in reform groups in Australia (and NZ?) is, at a guess, about 5% or less.

In the church the hierarchy is less than 1%.

That leaves about 90% of the church to think about.

An unspecified percentage of these are older pre-Vatican thinking and acting people who have no interest in changing themselves and no interest in the topic of changes in the church.

And in their case, change might be impossible, so they will probably go to their graves with their current beliefs and practices.

The rest, perhaps 40-45% might change how they think and what they do, if they were given good reasons to do so.

There are many influences that have brought this about. One obvious one is that they have been neglected since Vatican II, because of the lacuna of adult "growth in faith" programs, and perhaps too, neglected in our current focus of reform.

Antonio Spadaro's illuminating essay on the pontificate of Pope Francis is helpful in many ways.

It is a great help in understanding Francis' approach to change or conversion.

Francis sees conversion applying to everyone in the church. He is reluctant to move forward in synodality until there has been time for discernment.

This explains why when he became pope he did not call for the resignation of those who opposed him but wanted to give all a time to discern.

The analogy that Francis used referring to his method, which caught my eye, was that of litmus paper in a liquid.

When the liquid is acid/alkaline throughout, the colour of the litmus paper will change either red or blue depending on its acidity or alkalinity.

To artificially change the litmus paper is pointless. One has to wait for the whole liquid to change.

To change to married pastors, to ordain women, to welcome LGBTIQ persons into the church, will of itself not bring reform to the church.

Change has to permeate the whole church.

So it is with the Church. Francis wants the church to change.

He rejects cutting off heads and making dictatorial changes because this will be superficial.

Simply ordaining married men and women or making other structural changes will not, of itself, bring conversion.

So with synodality, we have to be patient.

But as the church is a human organization it will always fall short of the ideal.

History shows that sometimes those who cannot change or who disagree with authority will form their own church. Two classic historical examples are: The Old Catholic Church, formed after Vatican I and the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) founded by Marcel Lebebvre in 1970, after Vatican II.

Yet the ideal that we wait until all aboard remains attractive, even if humanly unattainable.

My point is that any reform group should turn some significant attention to the 40-45% of parishioners who might change if things were explained to them.

Perhaps reform groups have focused too narrowly on the hierarchy and neglected the laity.

I have always felt that changing the hierarchy is going to be a huge challenge, but an even greater challenge might well be changing the passivity of the laity.

The image of trying to quickly turn an aircraft carrier around comes to mind.

The laity, after all, have been told for centuries that their job is to "pray, pay and obey".

Or, as someone else has expressed it: the laity has been "parked" for centuries.

My gut feeling is that we have neglected them.

By our words and actions, we could try to re-orient the parish to what is essential. This would be a conversion from the ground up.

There is little to stop us doing this now, not waiting for the Plenary Council or other events.

Francis has given us all the information on that score: Return to the gospels and modify structures that block a return to the gospels (Evangelii Gaudium).

• Take time to prepare liturgies,
• introduce bible studies,
• form book clubs on spiritual reading,
• form meditation groups,
• form groups that visit the sick, and imprisoned,
• invite people to discussion groups on burning issues and current church issues,
• take action regarding refugees and other social justice issues.
• let qualified lay people look after the financial aspect of a parish.
• Reject clericalism in what we say and do, and call no one "Father".

These are all things that could be done locally with or without the pastor. This will turn the litmus paper.

The problem is that today we tend to sit back and wait for others (bishops) to take actions because that is the clerical way we have been brought up. While certainly not giving up on approaching our bishops we must become proactive in things we can do at the parish or diocesan levels.

Having said that, we are impatient beings. We live in a world where change is happening more quickly than in other eras. We are reluctant to wait endlessly for bishops to act.

There is episcopal inertia that infuriates all. We all know examples of this.

We can appreciate that a synod is not a political parliament and that discernment is necessary. For each person to make a speech promoting his/her point of view can mean that neither side is listening to the other.

I think this is what Francis meant when he said there was no discernment at the synod on the Amazon regarding the ordination of married men.

In short, we must keep the pressure on the hierarchy but simultaneously attend to our own conversion and that of the laity around us.

Reform is more than politics, it is inclusive conversion.

• Gideon Goosen is a Sydney-based theologian and author. His latest book is Clericalism: Stories from the Pew.
• First published in Pearls and Irritations

[1] Antonio Spadaro,S.J., ". Francis' Government: What is the driving force of his pontificate?", La Civilta Cattolica, laciviltacattolica.com September 2020. accessed 16.9.2020

As part of the reform, Pope Francis repealed aspects of a motu proprio from Pope Pius XI that set up regional tribunals in Italy.

In the wake of Francis's reforms, the Roman Rota required that 220 diocesan tribunals in Italy be established as soon as possible.

But the Apostolic Signatura, the Church's supreme tribunal, has maintained that the regional tribunals continue to function.

Many Italian bishops favour the continuation of the regional tribunals, which allows dioceses to share resources.

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Two experienced bankers, Italian Carlo Salvatori and German Clemens Boersig, resigned from the board of the Institute for the Works of Religion.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said this followed a "divergence of opinion over the management of the institute".

Fr Lombardi said this was "normal" and "it is an unusual place".

However, a source with knowledge of the workings of IOR, who declined to be named, told Reuters there was frustration at the slow pace of change within the organisation over the past two years.

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Marie Collins, an abuse survivor, referred to commission's proposal that a Vatican tribunal be set up hold bishops to account for their handling of abuse cases.

This was approved by the Council of Cardinals and the Pope, but it stalled.

"It was announced in the press, then it went to be implemented and that's where the brick wall is," she said.

Ms Collins said the same thing happened with the commission's proposals for the training of new bishops.

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The theologians, from throughout the world, issued a declaration at the end of a theological congress in Germany earlier this month.

The title of the gathering in Munich was "Opening the Council - Theology and Church under the Guiding Principle of the Second Vatican Council".

In a five-page declaration, 200 leading international theologians called for fundamental changes in the Church.

Reform of the Roman Curia must be expanded to a reform of the whole church and of church offices, they wrote.

Greater participation must be given to the laity and the synodal structures strengthened, the statement continued.

"Synodality must once again become a structural principle in the Church," the text underlined.

It must be fully implemented legally, must be enforceable and "practised at all Church levels".

Important Church decisions must not be made behind closed doors, the theologians agreed.

The theologians recalled Pope Francis's words that "Everyone must have a say in what concerns everyone".

Christoph Böttinger, a fundamental theologian from Eichstätt who presented the declaration, said it was addressed to all theologians, but also to the general public.

German Cardinal Karl Lehman told the congress that the Church's synodal structures must be strengthened at every level.

The cardinal, who was once an assistant to Karl Rahner, said this "synodality" was more important than possibly holding a Third Vatican Council.

There are great opportunities for the Church in a globalised world as long as it discards its centralist approach, he emphasised.

The council's decrees have not always been adequately applied or implemented, Cardinal Lehmann said.

German bishops' conference president Cardinal Reinhard Marx said Vatican II texts must be used as sources for further developing Church reform today.

In October, Pope Francis outlined his vision of a synodal Church at every level that listens, learns and shares mission.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Bavaria.by

Augustinian Fr Gabriel Daly said the 1968 encyclical by Pope Paul VI which banned contraception had never been accepted by the Church at large.

The priest, 88, said this is in a lecture in Dublin titled "What needs reform in the Church", ahead of the publication of a book he has written.

Fr Daly accused traditionalists of parading Church teaching "unscrupulously as a kind of weapon".

He said to say all popes are bound by "Humanae Vitae" is nonsense, theologically unacceptable and totally out of touch with the modern world.

"Rome's way of dealing with this problem is to refuse to listen to modern theological arguments, and simply to reissue a prohibition by proclamation and without satisfactory argument," he said.

Last year, Pope Francis said the Church's teaching on contraception does not need to change, but must be applied with mercy.

In Fr Daly's address, which also covered the issues of women in the Church and homosexuality, he highlighted how the Church has changed its teachings many times over its history.

He cited Pope Urban II's support for the Crusades and said not even ultra-traditionalists today would regard themselves bound by this.

Fr Daly also said there is no argument against women's ordination that can be taken seriously theologically.

On the issue of homosexuality and gay marriage, Fr Daly said to describe it as sinful, as Pope Benedict XVI did, is to remain "imprisoned in an outmoded kind of thinking which may actually verge on unintended blasphemy against an all-good and all-knowing Creator".

The priest said homosexuality can no longer be credibly regarded as being "against" nature.

His talk concluded with a warning that as long as Pope Francis remains imprisoned in a scheme that binds him to all the teachings of his papal predecessors, then needed reforms cannot take place.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Catholic Herald
• Image: We are Church Ireland

Francis told a national Italian church conference in Florence that Catholics must realise: "We are not living an era of change, but a change of era."

"These times of ours demand that we experience problems as challenges and not like obstacles: The Lord is active and at work in the world."

He spoke against seeking solutions in "conservatism or fundamentalism, in the restoration of obsolete conduct and forms that no longer have the capacity of being significant culturally".

In a 49-minute address, the Pope said Church reform does not end in "the umpteenth plan to change structures".

"It means instead grafting yourself to and rooting yourself in Christ, leaving yourself to be guided by the Spirit - so that all will be possible with genius and creativity."

Pope Francis warned the national church against two specific temptations, tying modern day struggles to two ancient heresies: Pelagianism and Gnosticism.

Speaking to Pelagianism, which holds that humans can achieve salvation on their own without divine help, the Pontiff said that in the modern day it "brings us to have trust in structures, in organisations, in perfect plans, however abstract".

"The norm gives to the Pelagian the security of feeling superior, of having a precise orientation. In this is found its force, not in the lightness of the breath of the Spirit."

Speaking to Gnosticism, which widely held that people should shun the material world in favour of the spiritual realm, Francis identified such thinking today with that which "brings us to trust in logical and clear reasoning . . . which however loses the tenderness of the flesh of the brother".

Francis also gave a meditation on the face of Jesus, and of a God who is emptied, stating that this is also the face of the oppressed which "looks to us".

Outlining three aspects of Christian humanism, Francis asked the Italians to adopt an outlook of humility, disinterest in personal praise or power, and of living a life of the beatitudes.

"I want a happy Church with the face of a mother, who understands, accompanies, caresses," the Pope said.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Catholic Herald
• Image: VoA News

Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga said that anyone trying to do good "will have opposition".

"The books of the Bible said, especially the Book of Wisdom, ‘If you want to follow the Lord, prepare to the battle.' And the Pope is prepared," the cardinal said after a US conference.

"It's a revolution going on (in the Vatican). But a revolution of love, and hope," Cardinal Rodriguez said.

Cardinal Rodriguez also said that the latest reports of excessive spending and political machinations by officials of the Roman Curia only confirm the need to press ahead with an overhaul of the papal bureaucracy.

Two books detailing financial mismanagement and scandals at the Vatican are being published this week.

The Vatican has said the revelations in the books are based on information that Francis himself requested in the early months of his pontificate as he sought to tackle corruption.

Fr Federico Lombardi, SJ, rejected the notion of "a permanent reign of confusion" in the Vatican.

He said that under Francis the reforms are ongoing. Francis "knows the situation, he knows what needs to be done, and how to proceed".

Cardinal Rodriguez — who said he had not yet read the two books — also said in an interview in New York that Francis will not be swayed or discouraged and will continue to clean house in Rome.

A Spanish priest and an Italian laywoman were arrested last weekend at the Vatican after an investigation into "misappropriation and disclosure of classified documents and information".

Both were former members of a commission that Pope Francis set up shortly after his election in 2013 to advise him on economic and bureaucratic reforms in the Curia.

The woman, Francesca Chaouqui, was subsequently released after co-operating with authorities.

She is reported to be a friend of one of the authors of the latest books, but she has protested her innocence.

The priest, Msgr Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, the secretary of the Vatican's Prefecture for Economic Affairs, belongs to a priestly society linked to Opus Dei, which expressed "surprise and pain" at his arrest.

Sources

• Religion News Service
• ABC
• The Tablet
• Image: Huffington Post

Archbishop Georg Ganswein told a German website that to speak of "curial reform" is "somewhat of an exaggeration".

"I personally can see no significant reason which would necessitate a reform of the Curia at the moment," he said.

"One or two changes may be made, but that is part of the normal run of things."

Archbishop Ganswein is also the personal secretary of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

Reform of the Roman curia has become a key theme in Pope Francis's drive for change in the Church.

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The International Network of Church Reform Movements conference, organised by Fr Tony Flannery, is expected to attract 40 representatives.

Fr Flannery said the topics expected to be discussed include the "reform agenda of Pope Francis, the future of parishes and communities, women's equality and how to communicate with the Vatican".

According to The Tablet, among those attending will be Martha Heizer, head of We Are Church Austria, who was excommunicated by the Vatican along with her husband, Gert Heizer, for celebrating Mass without a priest present.

Other participants include Australian Paul Collins who resigned his priesthood in 2001 over the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's censure of his book, Papal Power.

Another attendee will be American Loreto Sr Jeannine Gramick who champions the cause of equal rights for gay people in the Catholic Church, and who has had a long running dispute with Rome.

On his blog, Fr Flannery said this would be the first time "such a large gathering of leaders of the Church Reform Movement have met".

Fr Flannery said the "main focus of the event will be to get to know each other, with the aim of supporting Church reform, both at the level of structures of authority and at the grass-roots".

"This is the first time that this group will come together, so a lot of it will be sharing experiences and ideas on Church reform."

No member of the Irish hierarchy had been invited to attend the conference, Fr Flannery said, adding that the priests attending will be representing priests' associations.

The public is invited to attend the final session of the conference to be held in a hotel in Limerick from April 13-16.

Fr Flannery was banned from ministry by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2012 for his views on the Eucharist and priesthood.

Sources

• The Tablet
• Fr Tony Flannery blog
• Image: Irish Examiner

Catholic Church Reform International has created its own alternative 20-question survey which is open to Catholics worldwide.

The reform network is made up of representatives of more than 100 groups in 65 countries.

At the extraordinary synod last October, bishops created a working document (lineamenta) that included 46 questions on a range of topics, including marriage and sexuality.

In compiling their own reports on those topics, bishops were asked to consult with clergy, laity and relevant institutions.

Part of the reason for the alternative synod survey, the reform group said, is a "deep concern over deficiencies" in the lineamenta questionnaire, which they called "self-defeating".

The group said the latest survey - whether intentionally or not - "seems designed to thwart" an open flow of feedback from everyday families.

"The questionnaire is far too complex and, with its abstract language and juridical views of marriage, it is largely incomprehensible to even the most well educated Catholics. It will not gather the much-need input from Catholic families themselves," they said in an open letter to Pope Francis last month.

The reform group acknowledged progress at the extraordinary synod and its preceding questionnaire.

The reform group's alternative survey closes on March 9, but could be extended if demand is high enough.

The survey asks respondents to rank on a five-point scale the Church's effectiveness on a range of issues including the pastoral care of co-habiting couples, interreligious families, LGBT persons and their families, single-parent families, and couples using contraceptives.

Other questions ask how the Church fares in reaching out to Catholics who have left the Church, and how family relationships can be strengthened.

A report will be sent to the Vatican summarising the responses.

This report will be published on the reform group's website.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

There is as yet no definitive reform plan, and the current proposals are subject to modification.

Pope Francis convened this extraordinary consistory, as the meeting is called, to brief the cardinals on the ongoing work to reform the Roman Curia and to get their feedback.

Some 165 of the 207 members of the college were present when he opened the meeting, among them 19 of the 20 cardinal-designates who were to receive the red hat from the pope at a special ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica on Feb 14.

The pope reminded the college in his opening talk that reform was "strongly advocated" by the majority of cardinals in the pre-conclave meetings.

Its aim is to promote "greater harmony in the work of the various dicasteries and offices" of the Roman Curia "in order to achieve a more effective collaboration in that absolute transparency which builds authentic synodality and collegiality."

The reform "is not an end in itself," he stated; it is "a means to give a strong Christian witness, to promote a more effective evangelization, to promote a more fruitful ecumenical spirit, to encourage a more constructive dialogue with all."

The pope told the cardinals that "it is not easy to reach such a goal; it requires time, determination and above all everyone's cooperation."

It means "we must first entrust ourselves to the Holy Spirit, the true guide of the church, imploring the gift of authentic discernment in prayer." He called for their collaboration and, as at last October's synod, he urged them to speak boldly, with courage and openness.

Cardinals from all continents expressed appreciation for the reforms already achieved or underway in the Roman Curia under Pope Francis, particularly on Vatican finances.

There is a clear feeling among the cardinals that the first Latin American pope is getting the work done, and he has the support of the overwhelming majority of them.

Since the cardinals were meeting behind closed doors, Federico Lombardi, S.J., director of the Vatican Press Office, briefed journalists.

By the second day of the consistory, several cardinals raised the question of the relation between the Roman Curia and the local churches, emphasizing "decentralization" and "subsidiarity." A key question of many has been,

"Where can a question be best resolved: in the local church or in the Roman Curia?" Continue reading

Image: The Spectator

Some of those who spoke at a consistory said there is a need for an enhanced role for laity, particularly women.

Dozens of cardinals spoke about the work of the Curia, and many of them stressed the need for decentralisation and collegiality.

The consistory was discussing proposals for Curia reform proposed by Pope Francis's "C9" Council of Cardinals.

The Pope told the assembled cardinals that reform is not an end in itself.

Rather, it is about promoting a more effective evangelisation, a fruitful ecumenical spirit and a strengthening of unity in the Church, he said.

It is understood that significant reform will not be announced before 2016.

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Fr Tony Flannery, who had been banned from ministry by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was due to meet senior members of the Redemptorist order to which he belongs.

Fr Sean McDonagh of the Association of Catholic Priests, founded by Fr Flannery, was also due to attend the talks.

Fr Flannery was ordered to step down from public ministry by the Vatican in 2012.

This came after publication of his views questioning Church teaching on contraception and the theology of priesthood.

Meanwhile, Fr Flannery is organising a major international gathering of Church reform leaders to be held in Ireland, probably in April.

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Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, who co-ordinates the council of nine cardinals advising the Pope, said reform of the curia is a normal response to changing times.

The current process may feel different because Pope Francis exercises his ministry with a new style, the cardinal said.

Cardinal Rodriguez dated the first modern reform of the Curia to St Pius X at the beginning of the 20th century, the second to Pope Paul VI after the Second Vatican Council, and the third to St John Paul II, with his 1988 apostolic constitution Pastor Bonus.

He said that change would not come overnight, but it would not be dragged out indefinitely.

"Many people are thinking that tomorrow the reform will take place. The last reformation, of Pope John Paul, took eight years!"

"Of course, we're not intending to spend eight years.

"Consultations of that time were not so easy, because they didn't have the Internet.

"Now we communicate and make surveys of the whole Church by new media and that is very good," Cardinal Rodriguez said.

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Some 3000 accounts have been also purged from the bank in the last year, with almost 400 not meeting stricter client criteria, requiring a close link with the Church.

French financier Jean-Baptiste de Franssau has been appointed by Pope Francis to head the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), otherwise known as the Vatican bank.

He replaces German Ernst Von Freyburg, who was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI.

Von Freyburg stepped down as he did not want to be in a full-time role and felt he did not have sufficient experience of asset management.

Both are required as the Vatican bank moves to its next stage of reforms, he said.

Under Von Freyburg, the IOR reviewed client accounts and implemented new procedures designed to prevent scandals and money-laundering.

Secretariat of the Economy prefect Cardinal George Pell introduced the new president and announced other Vatican financial reforms on July 9.

"Our ambition is to become something of a model of financial management rather than a cause for occasional scandal," Cardinal Pell said.

A truly independent auditor-general is being planned for, who can go "anywhere and everywhere" in the Vatican to ensure the entire financial system is operating correctly, Cardinal Pell said.

He also announced some new members of the IOR's board, including Mary Ann Glendon, a former US ambassador to the Holy See.

The IOR's net profit for 2013 was 2.2 million euros, down from 86.6 million euros in 2012.

Extraordinary expenses, losses related to investments in externally managed investment funds and the fluctuation in the value of its gold reserves were cited as reasons.

The IOR also took a 14.4 million-euro hit when it donated securities "with a book value of 15.1 million euros" to "a foundation of the Holy See", according to a press release.

This is thought to refer to an investment in an Italian religious film production company authorised by retired Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, when he was president of a commission overseeing the IOR.

In May, Pope Francis said the matter was being studied.

As of June 30, the IOR had 15,495 clients with assets of 6 billion euros invested.

Sources

• The Tablet
• Catholic News Service
• National Catholic Reporter
• New York Post
• Image: Sydney Morning Herald

Though the pope may never have heard the line, he would know what Groucho meant. Groucho's humour had an instinctive suspicion of any establishment.

Perhaps because he is the son of Italian migrants in Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, felt what it was like to be outside the establishment of his native land.

The outsider Pope

Whether he did or didn't feel an outsider in Argentina, he brings all the marks of an outsider to his life in the Vatican - from being shocked by the papal apartments where he was expected but declined to live, to dispensing with the formality that goes with the papacy, conceived as a role and status in line with that of European monarchs.

Since arriving at the Vatican, Pope Francis has never missed an opportunity to emphasise that office in the Church is not designed for the enjoyment and enhancement of the office holder but so that better and more universal service may be offered to the people the office holder is to serve.

In doing away with a great deal of the Vatican's pomp and ceremony, Pope Francis also has abolished some titles in the Vatican such as monsignor. That title, of course, is the tip of the iceberg.

Pomp and circumstance

The ecclesiastical titles - Eminence, Excellency, My Lord, Your Grace and related aristocratic appellations - are an invention in the Italian states of the 17th century when the Church sought to match the self-aggrandising aristocracy, who used such terms to inflate their significance. Princes, dukes, counts and countesses all started referring to each other - and insisting everyone else referred to them - with ever more florid and self-enhancing references. The Church followed suit.

Pope Francis has sought to eliminate this culture of self-promotion and entitlement by attacking it at its source.

His denunciations of clericalism are frequent, heartfelt and blunt. He describes it as a disease that consumes and kills the Gospel. What is it? At one level it is the disease at work in any bureaucracy or organisation anywhere in the world.

Careerism and loyalty

Careerists set a target for themselves - some desired promotion or title and the associated privileges. They do anything to climb the ladder and get the prize. They remain silent in the face of hypocrisy, injustice, even crimes. And they do so to secure for themselves where they are with a view to where they might go.

They maintain relentless and unswerving loyalty to whomever they must to secure where they are. They pay obeisance to "makers" and "patrons" so that they can continue to enjoy preferment.

There is an even more sinister side to clericalism than these obviously odious features. What clericalism also is about is protecting priests, at any level of the hierarchy and at all costs. And too many priests presume it.

Protectionism

It is why some can be authoritarian and overbearing, exploitative of the good will of lay people and religious (especially nuns), prone to financial improprieties, be dismissive of criticism or engage in sexually inappropriate, sometimes criminal behaviour.

Why? Because they know there is very little accountability in the clerical system and bishops and religious superiors will ignore, cover up or contest legitimate complaints.

What is the motivation of Church authorities? It is an ingrained belief that investigating complaints and finding against a cleric will create scandal, disharmony and conflict.

Unfortunately, this attitude and behavioural pattern goes as high as the pope. In 1922, Pope Pius XI secretly decreed that any charges against a priest for molesting a child was to be handled internally in the Church and under a rule of secrecy, the breaking of which meant excommunication.

'Loyalty' at all costs

Before 1922, if a priest was discovered to be molesting children, he was defrocked and handed over to civil authorities for trial.

After 1922, and as required by all popes since then, all handling of clerics accused of child sexual abuse was to be handled in the Church's courts and as a Pontifical Secret - the strictest kind in the Church.

That secrecy was so strict that the existence of the decree itself was a pontifical secret, known only to bishops who literally had to keep the decree itself and any related cases in a separate safe to which only he and his vicar-general had the key. Any breech of the secrecy about the existence or associated procedures entailed excommunication, which only the pope could revoke.

The law - spelled out in the motu proprio Crimen Solicitationis - was promulgated in secret in 1922 and reconfirmed by St John XXIII in 1962.

The substance of the previous ordinances were issued under another form, with minor modifications but still subject to the absolute conditions punishable by excommunication of "Pontifical Secrecy", by St John Paul II in 1992.

Again in 2010, this directive was further slightly modified by Benedict XVI but with the same "secrecy" provisions that foster cover-ups applying.

Continuing clericalism

The law remains in force today and the whole sorry story of how the popes since 1922 have provided one of the strongest reinforcements of clericalism remains unchanged.

By not involving civil authorities, Church leadership at the highest level substituted a fig leaf of legal accountability for evildoers and reinforced the "special" character of the clergy as one that was beyond the law.

How clericalism worked in this way is spelled out in meticulous detail by Kieran Tapsel in his new book, Potiphar's Wife: The Vatican's Secret and Child Sexual Abuse published in late May.

Francis is the third pope in recent times to ask for help in reforming the office of the Bishop of Rome, following Paul VI and John Paul II.

He has a perfect opportunity in his own hands right now to start the process and take a significant step to demolishing the culture of clericalism he laments by cancelling the pontifical secret for child sexual abuse.

Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and the executive director of ucanews.com

Source: UCA News

Image: UCA News

Throughout the world, but particularly in Ireland, the sense of the end of an era that delivered the largest growth in the history of the Church, something foundational is happening.

In Ireland for 150 years from the Famine in the 1840s, a cast of Catholicism was exported worldwide. It's plain that this phase in the Church's life that seemed as though it would last forever is in fact over.

For example, the Irish Jesuits who sent hundreds and hundreds of missionaries to Asia, Africa and Australia now have more members aged over 90 than they do less than 50 years of age.

They have four under 50 and can only look at "consolidating", also known as shutting up shop.

One British Jesuit told me that on current figures, there would not be a Jesuit in Britain NOT on the aged pension by the middle of the next decade.

It's not as though the statisticians throughout the Jesuits and the wider Church in Australia, Europe and the USA haven't seen it coming and haven't already been advising the Congregational and diocesan leadership for a long time on the unsustainability of various Provinces, dioceses and works.

In Europe though it appears that 'the future has arrived a little earlier than expected', as former Archbishop of Brisbane John Battersby once said of the Archdiocese!

Such has been the case for many congregations of religious women across the world far earlier than for some male clerical religious congregations and for the supply of clergy in dioceses.

For clerical religious, the provision of the sacraments has been an enduring need to meet and one that provided relevance.

That has kept numbers up quite apart from any special focus offered by the charism of founders and their relevance and attractiveness to prospective members.

But not now.

As far as absorbing the impact of these well-known and common experiences, not much work has been done apart from scaling back, sometimes done with an energetic press of the panic button by superiors and bishops to underline the urgency of their actions.

For the rank and file among religious and clergy, even if these realities were not anticipated when most joined their congregations or dioceses, the challenge is great.

The most common reaction is something I have come to call the spirituality and missiology of the last of the Mohicans.

Everyone can see the reality; everyone is reluctant to utter the D word for DEATH; everyone hopes that at least there will be something around for when the inevitable admission to the aged care facility occurs.

'Don't ask me why it's all evaporated; I'll be the last of the tribe and I don't want to have my life complicated by being asked to "please explain". The 'collapse' is the way many respond'.

At the turn of an age, as the early 20th Century French Church historian Peguy once remarked, the Church always arrives a little late and a little breathless. The turn of this one is no different because the reality is that there are no reinforcements coming from traditional sources to support existing ways of delivering the service.

For believers, the future belongs not to fears but to God.

The only authentic and spiritually persuasive response to being in the middle of a change of eras like this is one that allows the Spirit to do what the Spirit does. And what the Spirit does is always surprise.

Discipleship asks that we be attentive to the unexpected ways we may be drawn.

What I find very discouraging about ways of addressing this inescapable reality is the abject failure to see how the mission of the Church is actually delivered today.

Despite our blindness to it at times, God is still vigorously at work.

Only a conception of mission and the resources needed for it entirely reduced to clergy and religious as until recently trained and authorized could see it as something where God hasn't been energetically active.

To borrow from what Bill Clinton did to beat George Bush Senior twenty years ago - "the economy, stupid, the economy!"

The real context for the Catholic Church in Australia and much of the developed world is "the laity, stupid, the laity".

There actually has been an explosion in lay participation in ministry at every level, except the sacramental.

What's needed is to acknowledge that fact.

The acid test of whether there has been any acknowledgement of the facts is whether any real power sharing has occurred whereby lay people have become part of decision making processes of dioceses and congregations.

Lay people and women especially have taken leadership roles in the services that are offered - in health, welfare and educations - because they require a professional expertise that these days the congregations and dioceses don't have among their members.

But do lay people, and women in particular, actually become part of the processes where the most significant decisions are made - on Congregational Councils and in the diocesan bodies often reserved for exclusive clerical membership?

At a strategic and organizational level, acknowledgement of and decisive involvement by lay people in mission, leadership and ministry can go a couple of ways.

One currently proposed response to this change of eras adopted by some in the Church, and reinforced by Emeritus Pope Benedict, is quite happy to welcome this decline in the Church as we have known it.

This 'proposal of decline' as they see it, gives God an given opportunity to scale the Church back to a faithful remnant.

A faithful remnant that would be distinctive because of its orthodoxy and compliance with what Rome and its utterances required under the management of the last three decades.

Shame about the mass of Catholics, you might say. They can amuse themselves. There is the elite and that's all there really needs to be any concern for.

The more recent, but also more ancient, view - proposed by Pope Francis who also accepts a reduced size and presence of the Church as inevitable and perhaps desirable - is to say that elitism is for the birds and what is needed is for the Church to be present and make its contribution as leaven: distinctive, even vital and decisive, but not all consuming and dominating.

The faithful remnant - and not the usual clerical and religious suspects - in this view will be distinctive because it engages directly with the issues and concerns that the average person has, is in the market place and is ready to give an account of the hope they have.

It is not hidden away behind sacristy doors and locked into conversations with the already signed up membership.

However as the present becomes the future, one thing is sure, the latter won't be like the past. We might just be in a situation of such abject poverty and resourcelessness that we can allow God to be God.

Michael Kelly SJ is executive director of ucanews.com

Source: Pearls and Irritations

Image: ucanews.com