Couldn't Make It?

(Submissions, comments and/or inquiries can be sent to leaderpub@voiceofthefaithful.org)

Lay education is busting out all over and for many Catholics, it is impossible to take advantage of all that is being offered. The Boston College initiative of lectures on the Church in the 21st century alone would make a full-time commitment. In an effort to share with readers some of what's "out there," we will serialize coverage of one of the most pertinent of the Boston College workshops - on lay leadership. Donna Doucette from the Paulist Center affiliate has generously offered to recap the day-long workshop of April 3 on "Leadership Issues in The Church Today: Educating for Collaboration and Group Decision Making in a Redefined Church." What follows are the first two installments submitted by Paulist Center, Boston, MA affiliate member Donna Doucette. We will continue in June. The report immediately following Donna's is Cathy Fallon's coverage of a conference held at Fairfield University, CT on May 1.

Earlier in April, some of us from the Paulist Center attended a workshop on leadership issues hosted by Boston College's Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry. The presenters, Br. Loughlan Sofield and Sr. Carroll Juliano conduct the workshops for the Fr. Judge Missionary Cenacle; they were humorous, informative, and so full of ideas that a summary is a challenge.

The focus of their workshop was "Leadership Issues in the Church Today: Educating for Collaboration and Group Decision Making in a Redefined Church." As you may guess from the title, it's a broad topic. So instead of trying to cover everything in a single posting, it might work better to cover the workshop in pieces. Two appear in this issue and the remaining two will follow in June.

In this first posting, I will cover the groundwork Br. Sofield and Sr. Juliano said must go into the foundation for building collaboration, which, they emphasize, goes beyond the idea of lay ministry: "We are talking about lay leadership." (An aside: Br. Sofield at one point noted that in all their travels throughout the world presenting their workshops and collaboration programs, the regions with the most vibrant and vital parishes are the ones with the fewest priests and religious, where lay people run the parish and a priest may show up occasionally to say Mass. One priest was administering to 250,000 Catholics in this manner.)

To begin talking about leadership, they said, you must begin with your model of Jesus and how He leads. He was inclusive; He was humble; He took time for everyone. He calls the Gifted, which in the Church really means everyone, because every one of us has a gift. To participate in collaboration, we should discern the gifts in ourselves and in others and then put those gifts to service for the greater community.

To bring about changes that can lead to collaboration, you must be both direct and gentle, Br. Sofield noted. Too often people in ministry are gentle but never direct. You also must conduct a dialogue with respect. Another key is to remember that all gifts together are necessary. Jesus gathered a GROUP around Him almost from the beginning of His ministry. He did not do everything Himself. "And then after three years, He left them," Br. Sofield said, "He trusted them to continue, to go out and continue to grow and to learn. He did not CONTROL them." (Another aside: During this part of the presentation a number of attendees protested: "But he left the Holy Spirit!" Br. Sofield acknowledged this truth but his focus was on the trust Jesus showed his disciples, trusting them to continue while learning.)

GROUNDWORK FOR COLLABORATION

Br. Loughlan Sofield and Sr. Carroll Juliano noted essential elements for successful collaboration. They said you must begin from a position of mutual respect. If you attach a label to others (e.g., reactionary, liberal, dogmatic, infidel), you will react to the label and not to the person. You cannot collaborate with a label, only with a person.

You also must LISTEN to each person, hear what they actually say rather than what you expect "their type" to say.

In Boston, they added, there are additional obstacles to successful collaboration. We must deal with LOSS (parish closings) and ANGER (from the sex abuses and cover-ups). Anger saps the vitality of any organization. Later in the workshop Br. Sofield described the difference between anger, which may be justifiable, and hostility, which can stem from the anger and pose significant obstacles to collaboration.

Br. Sofield and Sr. Juliano described a model for collaboration, a model that begins with four Cs: Clarification, Conviction, Commitment, and Capacity/Capability.

CLARIFICATION -- Collaborative Ministry involves Gift (identify our gifts, release the gifts of ministry, and then unify); Ministry (the expression of our spirituality); and Mission (action).

Focusing first on our gifts, the presenters noted that each of us brings different gifts into ministry. This is not an old-time, full-time minister, Br. Sofield noted. We are ALL ministers; each of us is "called." Further, when we call people to their rightful ministries, those ministries will take different forms. Some may be carried out within the church or parish, but others will be carried out in daily life, not "in church."

Interestingly, Br. Sofield believes that too many people are concerned about "building a parish." Focusing on only the parish is an inward focus, upon ourselves. We should focus instead on sending people OUT, sending people from the parish out into the world, to bring Christ into the world.

Applying this concept of focusing outward, extending a mission into the world, Br. Sofield said the role of a Parish Pastoral Council should be to CALL FORTH THE GIFTS OF THE PEOPLE and not to be simply an organizational entity. The Pastoral Council, he believes, should pray and reflect on what it means to be "church," on building a strong community. Councils should be asking such questions as: What do we need to do to help people and to meet their needs? Once we know what their needs are, how can we call forth the gifts to meet those needs? So the Pastoral Council should be developing a mission statement.

If you have a strong sense of MISSION, for the parish, he said, then the appointment of a new pastor should not matter because the mission of that parish can continue, fueled by the gifts of its people and the vitality of its mission.

CONVICTION -- Sr. Juliano and Br. Sofield skipped this aspect of the four Cs. There's no need to convince you of the need for collaborative ministry, they said, or you would not be attending the workshop.

COMMITMENT -- As convinced as we are that "something must change," however, nothing will change unless we are also prepared to change ourselves. The most basic change required is that individuals must discern their gifts, respond to a call to use those gifts, and then act.

Having established this framework for fostering a collaborative ministry, the presenters then discussed some of the obstacles we will encounter when seeking collaboration. I will describe those when next I find a few minutes to add to this summary. Donna Doucette [What Do You Think? Write to leaderpub@voiceofthefaithful.org]

Bridgeport Diocese Conference Fairfield University, May 1, 2004

Roving correspondent Cathy Fallon reports:

More than 100 people came to the blossoming campus center of Fairfield University in Fairfield, CT on a beautiful May day to listen to Church historian David O'Brien talk about what's next for Voice of the Faithful, to hear the shocking stories of two victim/survivor members of SNAP whose witness ignites us to prayer and action, and to hear the insights of David Gibson, author of The Coming Catholic Church.

Joe O'Callaghan, chairman of the Bridgeport Voice of the Faithful affiliate, opened the meeting. He reported that each of the Connecticut bishops had been sent a letter requesting that parishes offer one Mass of atonement and repentance each month. Negative responses had come from each of the bishops. The Bridgeport Affiliate had raised $10,000 last year for its self-administered Voice of Compassion Fund that was distributed to four area charities. They hope to raise $12,500 in the coming year to be distributed to five charities.

David O'Brien, Church historian from Holy Cross College urged that every VOTF member read and become familiar with the Review Board report, which he called "an historic text, a new benchmark." The report detailed the cover-up, secrecy and payoffs of the bishops who failed to hold themselves accountable. There needs to be more study and data analysis of the data in the Report, O'Brien noted. We should take the time to sit down and write letters demanding continuing audits; fraternal correction simply won't work.

VOTF must continue to listen to victim/survivors, support priests of integrity, work for structural reforms and monitor local compliance with safe environment programs. O'Brien finds hope in some bishops acknowledging acts of abuse as crimes and sins. We should help the bishops understand that their own "zero tolerance" policy for priests must extend to bishops. The scandal will not become history unless and until bishops commit to meaningful reform, vigilant enforcement, and ongoing audits. O'Brien thinks VOTF could work on a policy for bishop selection by the laity.

O'Brien noted that priests throughout the country need to organize themselves to find their voice. Professional lay ministers are also unorganized and need to develop a strong voice of their own. Among O'Brien's recommendations are these:

• Organizing the unorganized would be doing the Church a great favor. He recommended being in dialogue with religious order priests, brothers and sisters. The internet may be a way to begin, but nothing beats face-to-face listening sessions. He suggests that we ask priests and professional lay ministers what we can do to help them.
• Try to contact some of the 63 members of the USCCB National Advisory Council that meets twice a year to advise the bishops. What do they do? How were they selected? When do they meet? Build a relationship with the Catholic Common Ground Initiative, now chaired by Abp. Daniel E. Pilarcyk of Cincinnati.
• Try to help the press understand what is going on. They can be helpful.
• Overcome the laity's collective culpability for silence in response to the crisis in the church. The laity must mobilize to protect and commit to ongoing protection of our children.

The first afternoon panel included three survivors: David Cerulli, New York State Coordinator of SNAP; Michael Powel, from Florida; and Landa Mauriello-Vernon, new coordinator of SNAP in Connecticut, who has developed two SNAP chapters in four months. One of her groups has 36 members, and victims are still coming forward. Cerulli reported that SNAP chapters are developing in Rockland and in Long Island. SNAP now has five full-time employees and plans to restructure the organization at their June meeting in Colorado.

SNAP is also wondering what the consequences are for bishops who have covered up or moved priests around. "If zero tolerance applies to priests, why not to bishops?" he asked. Why, Cerulli wondered, is Bishop Lori still keeping Msgr. Martin Ryan as pastor of a church in New Fairfield, CT after two credible allegations have been filed?

The testimony of Michael and Landa greatly moved everyone in the audience. Michael has lost two brothers - one to HIV, and the other to suicide - as the result of abuse that he and they suffered at the hands of priests. Michael's pain is palpable as he speaks of his treatment for brain cancer - truly, too much sadness for one man to bear. Landa was abused not by a priest, but by a nun at the parochial school she attended. The perpetrator tried for a year to seduce/induce this young woman to join the convent. Each of these survivors received appreciative standing ovations, and many in the audience waited in line to embrace them, to thank them for sharing their searing stories and to assure them of their prayers.

The second afternoon panel introduced David Gibson and Bruce Russett. Gibson, author of The Coming Catholic Church, converted to Catholicism in 1989 after working for Vatican Radio in Rome for five years. Gibson says he is encouraged by looking back to early 2002 and seeing how far VOTF has come. Sometimes it's hard to be a person of faith in such a chaotic world where many denominations are splintering (Zionism from Judaism, for example).

Gibson questioned where is Voice of the Faithful now? Whither are we going? He likens us to pilgrims on a journey. He noted that in the past, religious orders were the agents of church reform. More and more the laity is being heard from. VOTF itself is interesting. It is organizationally adopting the Roman Catholic model - making strides in developing parallel structures with the church - affiliates in parishes. Another way of looking at VOTF is as an advocacy group model - activist, lobbying as a matter of conscience.

Still another way of looking at VOTF is as a corporate model of integration and expansion into existing church commissions and committees.

Additionally, Gibson said, a fourth paradigm might be worth considering. VOTF has the capacity to become like the University of Phoenix for the Church by emphasizing lay education. He proposed a VOTF On-line Institute. He suggests we could become the AARP or the AAA of the Catholic Church providing a nonpartisan means of communication and education, having experts offering seminars. He suggests aligning with (or looking at) the RENEW program of Plainfield, New Jersey. Dues to support the Institute might be $25/ year for individuals, $500 for a parish.

Bruce Russett of Yale University, co-editor of the Proceedings of the 2003 Yale Conference on Governance, Accountability and the Future of the Catholic Church called the Catholic Church the mother of all international relations. He noted that Voice, in speaking up and insisting on being heard, requires long-sustained efforts.

After the conference ended, a Mass was said in the beautiful campus chapel - a perfect ending to an inspiring day.

[What Do You Think of David Gibson's idea for a VOTF On-line Institute? Write to leaderpub@voiceofthefaithful.org]

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