Posted on 03/15/2005 11:27:35 AM PST by corpus
The laity must get more involved in the governance and operations of the Catholic Church, leading theologian says
The Roman Catholic Church is at a critical juncture, one that requires radical and fast-moving reform, according to an American theologian.
"I think we have 20 years and then we've lost everybody," said Paul F. Lakeland, who was interviewed by phone from Fairfield University in Connecticut, where he is professor of Catholic Studies.
On Thursday, Lakeland brought his message to Buffalo for the conference "The Liberation of the Laity," also the title of his book, named by the National Catholic Press Association as the best theology book of 2004.
Held at Christ the King Seminary, the event was co-sponsored by the Diocesan Office of Church Ministry. "This is the first time I've come to this kind of assembly since I've been in Buffalo," said Bishop Edward Kmiec, who welcomed the 183 participants representing staff and volunteers from around the diocese. "I want to affirm you in your ministry. You have something you love and you want to share it."
Before he left, Kmiec added: "I wish I could go around and shake hands with all of you ... but I have to go to work."
Lakeland said this was the first time he'd spoken at the invitation of a diocese. "I hope it won't be my last," he added.
For too long, Lakeland said, the laity has been treated as if it's the "apostolate of the second string. Then when the starting team gets tired, the coach turns to the bench and says, "Get out there and do the best you can.'"
But the laity and the church deserve better treatment than that, Lakeland suggests, theologically based on their membership in the church, which begins with Baptism.
The main problem affecting the contemporary church, Lakeland said, is that it operates out of a structure of oppression. "One thing that's clear is that the laity has no official role in leadership or governance," Lakeland said. "I'm not saying that the bishops are running around and hitting people over the head, but people are kept in infantilized positions.
"It's different than it was at the end of the 18th century when the dominant structure of the American church was lay trusteeship where parishes were owned and managed by a corporation of lay people, but we got away from that because Rome got nervous when they fired pastors," he said.
Lakeland said he doesn't want to pit people against each other or say that there are "bad people and good people," but he wants to see the church structure revamped and revitalized.
"There isn't a place to even have civil discourse," said Lakeland. "You can have as many good ideas as you like, but if you can't get through the system, you'll have little impact."
For starters, he suggests that the laity become conversant with church history to learn how the institution operated in the past. For example: clergy were once allowed to marry; members once owned and ran parishes; communities of faith helped select their bishop, who remained with them.
"It's not that we can pluck things from the third century and say that they'll work now," said Lakeland, "but at least we can know that some of these things have been done and they aren't against the nature of the church. It's very freeing to have that kind of information."
Lakeland said that the laity can be the "teachers of accountability," adding that the system of having a lone priest living in a rectory and being accountable only to himself can too easily give rise to such abuse, to alcoholism and to other problems.
Lakeland alleges that had the laity been more vocal and held the clergy accountable - "to at least live up to the demands of secular society" - the sexual abuse scandal could have been considerably lessened.
But for too long: "It was as if the laity had been put in a lock box in the theology room with a note: "not needed for the voyage,' " he said.
That has left the church with members who haven't acted as adults. "We are children of the Lord," said Lakeland, "not children of the Bishops.
"Becoming adult is a major theme. Adults, in the end, have to make their own decisions. They pay serious attention to the church, give the church benefit of the doubt, but in the end they go where they go."
"If we can't present younger members with a church that allows them to be adults, then they won't come trotting back," he said.
Lakeland offered suggestions for ways in which laity could become more involved: a periodic performance review of clergy and bishops; learning church history; integrating seminarians into the life of parishes; expressing their opinions to their pastors; participating in the selection of pastors and bishops; supporting colleges, universities and other places where a free exchange of ideas is allowed; giving preferential treatment to women in responsible roles within the church; open meetings by the National Council of Bishops.
One encouraging change Lakeland sees is the 45,000 lay ecclesial ministers (pastoral ministers and directors of religious education, for example) who have taken on roles once reserved for priests.
"Parish clergy understand the need for more lay involvement and the bishops may understand it, but they are more close-mouthed about any structural changes," Lakeland said. "It's tough to get bishops to open up on these issues because they tend to look over their shoulders to Rome. And even if they think "maybe,' they say "no.'"
In Lakeland's view, it's an unstoppable process that married men will become priests, as some already have done by joining from other denominations. "It's only a few," Lakeland said, "but it's evidence that the church thinks it's perfectly possible."
The second group to be re-admitted, he believes, will be priests who resigned. "Many would be more than willing to return to the ranks and that would be a short term solution to the shortage, but Rome is unlikely to do that quickly because they think of them as abandoning that which should not be abandoned."
Lakeland said that a majority of church-going Catholics approve the ordination of women. "So, you can draw your own conclusions," he said. "Either the pope isn't teaching properly or is not teaching the proper thing."
Lakeland said that lay involvement is not a panacea for all the problems confronting today's church, but he thinks that the laity is poised and prepared to take a much more responsible role.
"Protestant churches do lay involvement much better," he said. "My Protestant friends tell me horror stories and say they hope we know what we're getting into. But I say it's better to have the problems of adults than the problems of children.
"What's central to the church isn't the structure - it's that the church should be a community of equals," he said. "And I don't think there will be any significant change unless ordinary people make changes right in their own parishes."
"Have you ever read the bible? That was just the most asinine question yet."
Which question were your refering to? I asked two questions in my last post. Please cite where in Scripture it says the "[B]ible comes from the inspired word of [G]od"? I will save you the time, because the Holy Bible does not say it because the word "Bible" is not in the Holy Bible! It is the Catholic Church that claims the Holy Bible comes from the inspired word of God.
Did you not know the apostles and evangalists wrote many other books that are not in the Holy Bible? How come they are not in there? Who decided which writings were to be part of the Holy Bible? I will save you some time again - the Catholic Church decided in the 4th century which books were inspired and should be included in the Holy Bible. Look it up for yourself.
Christ said "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I shall build my church." How come he did not say the Bible was what He would build His church on? (Why did He not say Wesley for that matter)? After all, St. Paul has many more writings in the Holy Bible than St. Peter.
From an Orthodox point of view, this is quite an affirming article. I say affirming because it rather encapsulates what I have been thinking has been going on in the Latin Church since Vatican II. The professor gets it right when he refers to the ancient role of the laity within the ecclesiology of the early One Church. He seems to be calling the Latin Church back to what is still the ecclesiology of Orthodoxy. But you know, like with so many of the Vatican II calls to more ancient forms, he almost immediately distorts it beyond recognition. This man isn't writing of the ways of the Church which exists in the world but not of it, but rather of some funhouse mirror version, more concerned with ordaining priestesses and personal fulfillment than anything else. Its the same thing as the NO procession with the gifts, a degraded form of the Great Entrance of the Divine Liturgies of St. Basil and St. John Chrysostomos, or the "Petitions of the People", unchanged for 1700 years in those Liturgies, but changed every day in the NO liturgy to advance whatever is the current PC theme of the day in any given parish, or the use of the Psalms and OT reading within the NO Mass instead of in the Orthros, in proper form and sanctity prior to the Liturgy. But these people always assure the Faithful that they are returning to the ancient Church forms. And then, to top it all off, they cite with approval to Protestants!!!
The glorious and surviving, vibrant roots of the Latin Church are still flourishing in the East. Don't let characters like this professor fool any of you. You're being fed lies.
A majority of German Catholics supported the Hitker regime or were willing to tolerate it.
He knows that if liberals like him cannot secure change in 200 years, they have lost.
You are right about the superficiality of the reforms of the new mass, but already in the 4th Century the Latin church had a liturgy different from that of the east.
I love The Journey Home! EWTN and books with conversion stories really helped my Dad decide to convert 3 years ago (along with prayer, of course!). :-)
I also meant to say that I am one of those Gen X'ers that "feel robbed of their ancient traditions and roots."
"The younger catholics, who still practice their faith, feel robbed of their ancient traditions and roots."
Look at the so-called "conservative" "Catholic" universities like Stubenville. How about those youth that attend World Youth Day. Lakeland was at my "Catholic" university (Seattle U) about a month ago, and this is how the majority my fellow students think and act. I did not attend his conference at SU, but his attitude/"theology" of ordaining women, allowing married men to become priests, democratizing the church, etc reigns supreme at SU. Just check out a "Catholic" campus student newspaper. Unfortunately, virtually nothing is known of their roots beyond VII.
Fairfield University (which claims to be among the nation's foremost Jesuit universities) is a typical "Catholic" school. Here is how they describe themselves: "Fairfield University is a comprehensive Jesuit higher education institution that prepares undergraduate, graduate and continuing education students for leadership and service in a constantly changing world." Seattle U's Mission Statement reads as follows: "Seattle University is dedicated to educating the whole person, to professional formation, and to empowering leaders for a just and humane world." What about preparing students for eternity?
Thankfully, it sounds like you have brought up your daughter to know the difference, no doubt with good catechism, good literature, and a proper liberal arts education. You should be thankful she is one of the few, because I simply cannot find it at SU.
Lol! You should only know her! My daughter is adopted and I raised her as a single parent when her 'adoptive father' chose NOT to adopt her. She is one of the most contentious individuals I have ever met!
At the beginning of 11th grade, on the final stretch of Religious Education beginning in Grade K, she dropped out of the program! The pastor asked me to teach one of the Confirmation classes (she was not in my group). She was embarrased but said nothing; she simply dropped out of the program. I was literally between a rock and a hard place. Watching my students make their Confirmation was a singularly painful day as my daugher, for whom I made this personal sacrifice, was not amongst the confirmandi.
Many Rosaries later, she agreed to rejoin the next Confirmation Class. In November 2003, under a full 'red' moon, my daughter presented herself to the bishop for the Sacrament of Confirmation. She chose the name 'Trinity' because it was 'cool'. ROFL! God does indeed have a sense of humor.
Trust me on this one, my daughter is not a conventional thinker. She has a learning disability that seems to have given her wisdom. She voted for George W. Bush in last year's election, because "she disliked Kerry who made a mockery of the Catholic faith".
She is less than angelic but a solid citizen and "defends the Catholic faith", even if she doesn't adhere to its tenets. She is a work in progress and God, in His divine mercy, has blessed her abundantly, even if she doesn't see that.
You and me both, samiam. You and me both.
Regards,
It's "pedophile", by the way, not "petifile".
Oh. ComplexUnion182 got the zot. Never mind.
"Please, just read your bible and you will see the many contradictions the Catholic faith hides behind"
OK, you piqued my interest. Explain to me these contradictions.
Regards
"when Jesus was baptized was he spritzed in the river or completely submerged?"
Is it safe to say you are a Protestant? If so, why are you so fixated on rituals? Who is doing the work, God or man?
Regards
This idiot is just another democratizer who wants us to vote on what's a sin and what isn't. He's full of the same old crap: more altar girls, more Sexxtrordinary Ministrixes, more WorshipTainment, have dioceses elect their bishops, blah blah blah. If this were a civilized world he would be chained up in a dungeon somewhere surrounded by guys in cowls. "Do I smell smoke?"
Just ignore him and wait for the Holy Spirit to wash his dopey "movement" away.
So who was it that did the actual posting?
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