It has been a very busy week in the Church. Noteworthy events include the consistory creating 21 new cardinals on Saturday, September 30; the publication on Monday of two sets of dubia by Cardinal Raymond Burke and four other cardinals on doctrinal questions in anticipation of the Synod; the release yesterday of Laudate Deum, a new apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis on the climate crisis, expanding on his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’; and, also yesterday, the opening of the October Assembly of the Synod at the Vatican.
Dominic de Souza and I spoke about a few of these topics in this week’s episode of the debrief, so if you want to get caught up (to Tuesday, anyway), our video should help bring you up to speed. Additionally, Nathan Turowsky provided a very helpful “first look” at Laudate Deum, featuring key highlights, themes, and quotes from the exhortation. Because so much is going on, I thought it would be helpful to put together a “link-around” of a few items you may have missed in the past few days.
Ideologies, Agendas, and the Synod
First, forgive me as I begin with a little bit of self-promotion. Today, the Synodal Times published a commentary I wrote about why it is necessary to set aside ideologies and agendas if the Church is to solve our crisis of credibility and to evangelize effectively in contemporary Western Culture. Excerpt:
If the Synod is steered by an ideological agenda, left or right, then it will fail in its purpose. The fact of the matter is that nothing the Church has tried has been able to stem the steady exodus of Catholics from the Church.
Projects including lay ecclesial movements, well-meaning but often hollow attempts to make the faith more “relevant” for young people, and traditionalist efforts to emphasise Latin liturgy and moral doctrines have not balanced out the damage done by the abuse crisis, corruption, mis-management, and a Church whose moral doctrines are increasingly at odds with those of our civilization.
There is no project or program that will save the Church from itself. We need divine intervention. Pope Francis has said that the Holy Spirit is the “protagonist” of the Synod, and that the purpose of the Synod is to listen for and to discern the movement of the Holy Spirit in the Church. In order for the Synod to be successful, participants must ultimately set aside their own agendas and prayerfully ask where the Holy Spirit is leading us.
Protection of the vulnerable
In advance of the consistory for the new cardinals, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) issued an open letter in response to the hierarchy’s ongoing failure to provide justice and support to survivors of abuse, to hold abusers accountable, and to eliminate the lack of transparency (including cover-ups and failures in communication). As an organization that is part of the Roman Curia, but which is independent from it, the PCPM is tasked with holding Church entities accountable, ensuring that the Church at all levels is implementing and following safeguarding policies and protocols, and providing support for victims/survivors.
The new letter expresses the frustration of the Commission members in response to ongoing abuse scandals and the mishandling of cases, including the highly-publicized controversies surrounding of two clergymen abusers: the artist and former Jesuit Marko Rupnik and French Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, neither of whom received punishments that reflect the “zero-tolerance” approach that Pope Francis has pledged that the Church intends to uphold. The PCPM’s letter begins with the expression of “deep sorrow and unwavering solidarity first and foremost to the victims and survivors of so many despicable crimes committed in the Church.” The letter is framed as a “Call to Action” and decries the ongoing failures of the Church in handling abuse cases:
We hear and are disturbed by reports of the actions of individuals holding responsible offices within the Church, the cries of those impacted, as well as the legacy of atrocious behavior associated with lay and other movements and so many areas of the Church’s institutional life. We are profoundly shaken by the immense pain, enduring suffering and revictimization experienced by so many, and we unequivocally condemn crimes and their impunity perpetrated against so many of our brothers and sisters. We reaffirm our steadfast commitment to work to ensure, as much as possible, such heinous and reprehensible acts are eradicated from the Church.
Recent publicly reported cases point to tragically harmful deficiencies in the norms intended to punish abusers and hold accountable those whose duty is to address wrongdoing. We are long overdue in fixing the flaws in procedures that leave victims wounded and in the dark both during and after cases have been decided. We will continue to study what is not working and to press for necessary changes so that all those affected by these atrocious crimes get access to truth, justice, and reparation. We also pledge to use our role to press other Church officials with responsibility to address these crimes to fulfil their mission effectively, to minimize the risk of further transgressions, and secure a respectful environment for all.
Read it all. Cardinal Sean O’Malley also posted the letter on his blog, along with other news from the PCPM’s assembly, including a summary of the meeting and an address by Pope Francis.
There is a concern by observers in and around the Vatican that if certain abusers are shown special treatment and if their cases are not addressed decisively, the mishandling of abuse could overshadow the Synod in the media. More importantly, if Church leadership continues to act inconsistently in their response to cases of abuse and punishment of abusers, Catholics and others will be led to conclude that Church leadership is not serious about the scourge of abuse, let alone justice, support, and protection for the vulnerable.
Pre-Synod Retreat
In the days leading up to the Synodal Assembly, Pope Francis arranged for the participants to enter into a retreat-like atmosphere of prayer, preparation, and reflection. He asked the English Dominican Fr. Timothy Radcliffe to lead the reflections. I have found them enlightening and edifying. These reflections are all posted on the Vatican News site, but I didn’t see them posted together anywhere with links to all of them and in the correct order (Meditation 4 isn’t even numbered on the Vatican News site). I decided to list them all together with links so you can access them easily:
Meditation 1: ‘Hoping against hope’
Meditation 2: ‘At home in God and God at home in us’
Meditation 4: ‘Conversation on the way to Emmaus’
Meditation 6: ‘The Spirit of Truth’
Additionally, over the course of this retreat-like preparation, one of the Synod’s participants, Bishop Anthony Randazzo of Broken Bay, Australia, celebrated Mass on the Memorial of the Guardian Angels on Monday evening. He preached the homily for the synod members, and this was also published on the Vatican News website.
Image: Vatican News.
Mike Lewis is the founding managing editor of Where Peter Is. He and Jeannie Gaffigan co-host Field Hospital, a U.S. Catholic podcast.
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