Now we need courage

By Russell Pollitt SJ

In his Chrism Mass homily this year, Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg spoke out strongly against the ongoing sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church.

The archbishop, using strong imagery, suggests that clergy under such circumstances might feel more like Judas Iscariot who betrays the Lord for thirty silver pieces or Peter who lives deeply buried in denial. He said: “This is a time of crisis. But it is also a time of opportunity.” I was left wondering whether or not we, the Church, have the willingness and openness to grasp the opportunity he speaks of.

The painful revelations of abuse suggest that the Catholic Church is in crisis, a crisis that goes well beyond the borders of the affected countries. As Archbishop Tlhagale pointed out, it affects us all. How long before the American or German story becomes our story?

It is also a crisis that goes well beyond sexual abuse, to a system of secrecy and denial. That must be confronted; we cannot deny this any longer. More and more stories, such as the sordid life of Fr Marcial Marciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, expose the cancer of secrecy and denial. The revelations of clergy sexual abuse are a manifestation of a plethora of problems that lurk beneath the surface.

In a time like this, courage and vision are needed to help us face the problems and seize the opportunity that lies within our grasp. It troubles me that we, the Church, might be tempted to think we can “weather the storm”. Perhaps we will, but what would the long-term cost of that be? We cannot rebuild from wreckage.

What do we have to do if we are going to lift our heads from deep denial? It seems to me that we are going to have to courageously face a number of issues: the balance of power in the Church, lay participation in decision-making structures, the role of women and, especially, our attitudes towards human sexuality. These issues, though difficult, demand open and frank discussion.

The modus operandi of our Church is still autocratic; power is vested in a few and there is no real consultation with the wider Church community. The vision of Vatican II was a much more active and participative Church. The experience of recent years suggests the opposite in areas such as collegiality, liturgy and inter-religious dialogue.

A number of theologians have lost their ardour for theology because of the unwelcome climate in the Church. They do not feel that they can grapple with the issues that contemporary men and women face and in so doing contribute to the development of theology.

Theology is dynamic, not static, and it needs to grow and expand in depth of understanding. Moral theologians struggle the most. Good theologians seeking to grapple with issues that have been raised in other academic disciplines, such as psychology and sociology, face resistance. Some of these theologians have not been given a voice or, at worst, have been silenced. There seems to be a reluctance to engage with them. Where there is no engagement, there cannot be any growth in depth of understanding.

The majority of the faithful, especially women, are still kept out of the decision-making processes of the Church, and yet most decisions influence the lives of many women religious and lay faithful.

It is interesting to note that many male religious orders have had cases brought against them for abuse; fewer women religious. Despite this, it is the women religious in the United States who are being “investigated” by a Vatican-ordered visitation. And the women religious who are being visited against their wishes reportedly have been asked to consider paying the travel expenses of their visitors.

Surely we cannot bat away a serious discussion about the role of women in the Church for much longer. Every year the Easter Octave presents us with countless accounts of women who proclaim the risen Christ after encountering him. Just recently I was saddened to hear the story of a blind-deaf priest, Fr Cyril Axelrod CSsR, who was not allowed on to the sanctuary at a Chrism Mass (a Mass celebrating the priesthood) because a woman accompanied him as his guide/interpreter. Fully vested he was led (with his guide) into the body of the Church. The reason? A woman could not be on the sanctuary.

Stories like this are not good news to men or women. They demand that we examine the way power is used, and that we look sincerely at the deep-seated unhealthy attitude we have towards women.

There are other developments which are also of concern and point to a deeper crisis. Some in the Church seem to be determined to force our liturgy back into a bygone era. The reinstatement of the Tridentine rite (and its accompanying lace) signal that we are entering a time of “restoration”, and not a time of depth in understanding and growth. The Tridentine rite is symbolic of an inactive and non-participative Church; the clergy are at the centre of everything — it’s a model that will no longer work, a model that has failed and cost us dearly.

If in no other area, the current crisis should force us to explore at least our attitude towards human sexuality. Our moral authority has been eroded in the area of sexuality and we can only restore this when we have confronted the damaging attitudes we hold on to that have perpetuated the crisis.

Archbishop Tlhagale admits our position has been compromised: “The upshot of this sorry state of affairs is that we weaken the authoritative voice of the Church… We become incapable of criticising the corrupt and immoral behaviour of the members of our respective communities.” To restore our moral authority we have no choice but to face the difficult issues; sexuality is probably the most difficult of them all.

In the February 13, 2010 edition of the British Catholic journal The Tablet, Gerry O’Hanlon wrote: “What has happened in our Church as a result of this problematic relationship between sex and power is that there has developed a culture of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’.”  We cannot deny that there is a problematic relationship between sex and power in the Church.

The recent scandals sound the horn loudly and we dare not pretend we are deaf anymore. With courage we need to engage ever more stringently and with intellectual rigour, fearlessly facing the most neuralgic attitudes and positions we hold on to about human sexuality.

Many of the issues pertaining to our understanding of sexuality are complex, but we can no longer afford the cost of not facing up to them. They are not going to go away, and to think that they are is certainly being Peter deep in denial.

Archbishop Tlhagale calls on priests to rebuild the battered image of the Church. Rebuilding means that we must first clear the ruins and inspect our foundations. The whole people of God should be involved in this building programme, priests and bishops alone cannot do it.

Such a programme of reform will take considerable courage and a real openness to developmental change, and not simply restoration. The past can no longer redeem the present, new wine skins are needed for new wine. Our regret and sorrow for what has happened will be measured by our willingness to act courageously and bring about much needed institutional change.

Peter was buried in denial, but we can take courage because that was not the end of the story for him, it need not be for us either.

Fr Russell Pollitt is a Jesuit based at Braamfontein parish, Johannesburg.