Unfulfilled Promises of Vatican II- Part III (an editorial)

By Edward M. Thompson
continued

Question # 2: On the parish level, would effective lay involvement in the administration of a parish have allowed bishops to move abusive priests from one parish to another? In my view, this abuse of power would not have occurred because lay leaders would have asked for the full work history of Father X and why he was now in our midst. Can you imagine a bishop trying to "get rid" of Father X to another parish if he knew the parish laity would strenuously object? The answer is obvious. Effective lay involvement would thwart any attempts by the bishop to move these abusers around, so, ergo, only silence and obfuscations occurred when Father X was transferred. In some ways, the institutional Church was (is) like some police departments. When you have a problem person, just send him (her) to the far reaches of the department (diocese) and, as they used to say " no one would be the wiser."

There is precedent for a managerial lay board in Catholic parishes in this area. As far back as 1785, lay trustees managed the administrative obligations of its parishes in pre-diocesan New York and the City of Brooklyn. This system, not without its own conflicts, continued until 1855 with the ascendency of strong administrative bishops, like Bishop John Hughes in New York and Bishop John Loughlin in Brooklyn. Then, as now, the number of priests available was insufficient, so the laity took the initiative with the founding of parishes, such as St. James Church (now the Pro-Cathedral) on Tillary Street , Brooklyn in 1823. Famous lay leaders such as Peter Turner and Cornelius Heaney of Brooklyn committed their full resources to establish this first parish and other parishes in the early days of the American Catholic Church. In fact, Peter Turner also founded the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum in 1829, the beginning of Catholic child care in the United States. Cornelius Heaney, an affluent lay Catholic from New York moved to Cobble Hill, Brooklyn in 1835 and was responsible for the founding of Brooklyn's second Catholic parish, St. Paul 's on Court Street. Heaney was also the benefactor of the Brooklyn Benevolent Society in 1845 whose mission was the care of poor children and widows. In 1853, the Diocese of Brooklyn was established which included all of Long Island until 1957, when the Diocese of Rockville Centre was formed.

I am not suggesting, however, that the Church return to a system of trustee-ism in our parishes. It is obvious that the institutional church is not a democracy. What I think we need today is a loving system of mutual respect for the rights and obligations of the bishop, his pastors and the laity. First and foremost, lay leadership in each parish needs to be enlivened with real control over administrative matters especially finances. Then there needs to be an atmosphere of trust among bishops, pastors and lay advisers, today sorely lacking in many dioceses. Finally, the bishop needs to empower each parish to fulfill its mission without excessive episcopal interference.

No one needs to win the argument about whether the documents of Vatican II have been fulfilled or not. Since that heady, expectant time of John XXIII, there has grown up in the American Church a terrible polarization of those who believe Vatican II and its implementation went too far and those who believe that the long-awaited changes have still to fully play out in the lives of Catholics around the world and especially in the American Church . What we need to do is come together as a pilgrim church, knowing that our mere human efforts are doomed to fail... unless we have Christ to help us. St. Paul said it well: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)

Edward J. Thompson, Sr. is a graduate of the DRVC Pastoral Formation. After some 35 years in the business world (General Manager for Keyspan, Inc) he became Executive Director of the U.S. Catholic Historical Society. During that time, he began doing oral histories of bishops, priests, and laity in the Church on their lives and ministries. So far, he has completed about 300 recorded interviews for three Dioceses. He is currently working on an OH program for Molloy College in Rockville Centre. He enjoys writing about the people of the Church, many of whom he thinks “lead heroic, selfless lives.”