This document expresses the view of the writer alone,
and not that of Voice of the Faithful.

TOWARD VOTF'S GOAL # 3:
THE NEED TO KEEP EDUCATING OURSELVES
AND TO KEEP GROWING SPIRITUALLY

By Anthony Massimini

As VOTF works to restructure the church, we grow in our appreciation of the need to keep educating ourselves theologically and to keep growing spiritually.

Two recent articles, and the presentation by Fr. Donald Cozzens at Boston College, illustrate my point. The first article includes some comments from students of Magdalen College, a Catholic college that says it teaches in accord with the Magisterium of the church. The second article is the one in the Boston Pilot and other diocesan newspapers, in which George Weigel and Fr. Richard Neuhaus made accusations against the priests who signed the letter asking Cardinal Law to resign.

One Magdalen College student is quoted as saying, "If the laity start trying to decide who should be bishop or pope or priest, that's an inversion. The child can't run the home. I think you'll find more division in the church if you have the laity running the church."

Now, college students have to get things only 70% right in order to pass, but I suspect that this statement represents what this student is being taught at this college. First and foremost, he sees the laity as children. He seems unaware of the teachings of Vatican II that call on the laity to grow up and accept their rights, responsibilities, and even obligation to participate in the governance (cf. Canon 129) and operations of the church. Second, he sees the laity as wanting to run the church. This view is notable because it is often untruthfully used against VOTF. We have to keep learning how to be adult Catholics, and we have to keep insisting that we don't want to run our church-we want to participate in it in full accord with the gifts the Spirit gives us. Correspondingly, we want our priests and bishops to put away their pagan power and privileges and do their Christ-appointed job as servant/leaders.

Another quote from another student, "You can't separate your obedience to the bishop from your obedience and responsibility to Christ. It's not the bishop's own merits that give him authority. It's God's grace."

This student seems unaware that some bishops told abused and raped victims to be silent for the good of the church. This sinful demand for obedience was hardly to be identified with obedience to Christ. For another example, in 1832, Pope Gregory XVI denounced freedom of conscience as a kind of madness, and also denounced freedom of the press and the separation of church and state. This was 40 years after the American nation had written these values into its constitution. During this time, all American Catholics who were faithful to these values were disobedient dissidents. Earlier, this same pope had condemned railroads and street lights. Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) believed that democracy was an illegitimate form of government and that Jews were a dangerous force to be controlled. To automatically and blindly identify a bishop's will with Christ's is not only immature, it is also dangerous and akin to blasphemy. Here we can see clearly how important it is to educate ourselves in the true teachings of the church and in our ability to discern the Spirit of Christ as we work to restructure the church.

Now let's get to George Weigel and Fr. Neuhaus. Weigel was reported to say he didn't know anything about VOTF, but that it is the last hurrah of the liberal reform movements. Such an illogical statement should be enough to disqualify him from serious consideration, but he is so well known that we have to pay attention to him-and learn from him. He is also reported to have said that Cardinal Law resigned solely because Law himself decided that he could not effectively lead the Archdiocese of Boston. To Weigel, Law's resignation was strictly a matter between Law and the Pope. The laity and priests had nothing to do with Law's resignation. Nor, apparently, did they have anything to do with discerning the truth of the matter. Weigel sees Law and the Pope as "the Church," and he sees them, i.e., the Church, as disconnected from the laity and priests. Actually, he places Law and the Pope above the Church, which is another way of placing both of them outside the Church. He thus breaks apart the living Body of Christ, logically, therefore, rendering it dead. To him, the Church is not the expression of the one, harmonious Body of Christ on earth; it is Humpty Dumpty, after the fall. VOTF, in contrast, is working to bring new and more vibrant life to the one, whole, interconnected, living Body of Christ.

Fr. Neuhaus blames the whole abuse scandal on the loss of morality and says that the answer is to reinstate morality. (Does anyone doubt that there was a moral collapse?) We can best understand his position by an analogy. Imagine going to your doctor and hearing him/her say to

you, "The reason why you got sick is that you lost your health. So if you want to get better, you have to get your health back. That will be $50.00." You then ask, "But aren't you going to diagnose my illness? Aren't you going to use all your education and experience to find out what went wrong and why it went wrong? Aren't you going to treat my illness in all its details?" Your physician answers, "Just get back your health." Would you pay him/her?

In the Boston Globe's piece on the Pilot article, both Weigel and Neuhaus throw accusations against the 58 priests who signed the letter asking Law to resign. They openly attack the priests' personal morality and fidelity. In Logic 101, this is a good example of an ad hominem attack (an attack, not against the other person's position but against the other person him/herself). Such an attack is not only a logical fallacy; it is also morally and spiritually inexcusable. Weigel and Neuhaus go so far as to claim to have "knowledge" of the priests' personal motives. These two men "know it all."

Further, they speak as though the moral points that these priests had discussed or expressed opinions about have all been definitively answered by "the Church." But the laity and priests have not discussed these points at all-in fact, they have been forbidden to discuss most of them. The whole church has not yet participated in the discussion of these points. Therefore, the whole Church doesn't yet know what it believes about these points. And, according to Vatican II's teaching on the sensus fidelium, the bishops and popes really shouldn't be teaching anything about these points. They should, instead, be calling for a full and open study and discussion by the whole Church, so that the whole Church can "test the Spirit," discern the truth and see what it believes about these points. In the world in which Weigel and Neuhaus live, Vatican II never happened. It's still the 16th century. The bishops and Pope are still "the Church." And the Church is still a pyramid of top-down, unquestioned authority. VOTF, by contrast, does not take any position in these matters but is working to ensure the full participation of all the laity in the discussion and discernment process, as the Church teaches. What does that chef on TV say? "Let's bump it up a notch!"

The 58 priests who signed the letter (like all priests) are first and foremost baptized members of the People of God. They have all the rights, freedom and obligations of baptized Christians. Their promise of obedience to their bishop is conditioned by their prior responsibility to obey the Gospel and the Spirit of Christ-which they discern by prayer, study and their best possible informed consciences. Weigel and Neuhaus are really attacking these priests for being good Christians. (I say all this with no implication of judgment against the priests who did not sign the letter. They were as free as the priests who did sign it.)

The sad part of all this is that Weigel's and Neuhaus' attacks were published in official Catholic newspapers, apparently with no theological or spiritual explanation. For many Catholics, what appears in the diocesan newspaper is received as coming from the bishop. It carries authority. Weigel and Neuhaus certainly have a right to have their opinions, but The Pilot has a responsibility to inform and educate the people of the diocese in a way that shows the true teachings of the church.

As VOTF now moves into its second year of existence, we are ready to move forward and continue our growth in an adult and effective spirituality-both within the Church and in educating ourselves about the structures, teachings, and dynamics of our Church, and to the world. The task is made more difficult by the sad fact that there are bishops and pastors who are refusing to help us in the learning and growing process. But we have abundant resources (the VOTF members near Boston College are especially blessed!) and we can do the job-and even help our bishops and pastors do their job.

Restructuring the Church means the re-visioning the whole church. Fr. Donald Cozzens' presentation at Boston College, for example, was a major contribution to our re-visioning the seminary training and lives of our priests-an important part of the Church that the laity must be involved in, since restructuring the Church involves reinventing the laity's relationship with our priests and bishops, in full accord with church teaching. We need much more of just this kind of education. Cozzens pointed out that at ordination, the bishop calls out each candidate's name, and he answers, "Adsum," ("Present. I am here!). Cozzens said that the priests and bishops now have to say "Adsum" to the Gospel, to conscience, and to our Church, i.e., to the laity. Great idea! And we have to answer back, "Adsum," we are here, we are adults, we are ready!" In this way, VOTF will continue our blessed work of helping make our Church the People of God that Christ intends it to be-both for itself and for the world.