ARTICLES
March 2002 ARTICLES
Contents © 2002
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
A Cardinal Synod
Is the Archdiocese Planning a Forum for Dissent?
By Christopher Zehnder
If it happened in Holland, why not in L.A?
Some called it another curial grab for power when, two years ago, the head of a Vatican congregation forbade a bishop in the Netherlands to hold a synod in his diocese. According to the February 2001 National Catholic Reporter, M.P.M. Muskens, bishop of Breda in Holland, announced his plans for a diocesan synod for the year 2003, the 150th anniversary of the Breda diocese. According the Reporter, Bishop Muskens said the synod would discuss "such themes as living the faith, the Eucharist, collaboration among priests and laity in response to the priest shortage and the role of the layperson in the church." Though, it appears, the Holy See did not at first object to the Breda synod, Archbishop Giovanni Battista Re, head of the Congregation for Bishops, told Bishop Muskens to call it off. Archbishop (now Cardinal) Re gave no public reason for his action.
Why did Archbishop Re veto the Breda synod? Citing "observers in the Netherlands," the National Catholic Reporter said "the Vatican seemed worried about a possible reassertion of the polarization that characterized the Dutch church in the 1970s." Noted for its dissent, the Church in Holland was a wild place in the immediate aftermath of Vatican II. The Dutch Nieuwspoort Magazine, describing an anthology of articles about the post-conciliar Dutch Church written by the Italian journalist Luciana de Vries, said she described "actions for the abolition of the celibate [sic]," "high pitched discussions about the appointment of bishops, the new attitudes towards homosexuality and the efforts to renew liturgy." The De Vries anthology even had an article on "nudism and priesthood." Though, under Pope John Paul II, the appointment of more orthodox bishops has brought considerable calm to the Dutch Church, the old problems might lurk only below the surface. "Is history going to repeat itself?" asked Nieuwspoort Magazine. "The problems bishop Muskens from Breda has been facing lately when trying to organize a festive synod in his diocese were rather ominous."
A diocesan synod, according the Canon Law, is "a group of selected priests and other Christian faithful of a particular church which offers assistance to the diocesan bishop for the good of the entire diocesan community." Since it is concerned only with establishing law for a particular diocese, a synod cannot treat of matters subject only to the decrees and teachings of the universal Church. The 1997 Instruction on Diocesan Synods, issued by the Holy See's Congregations for Bishops and for the Evangelization Peoples, said as much. "In view of the bonds uniting the particular Church and her Pastor with the universal Church and the Roman Pontiff, the Bishop has the duty to exclude from the synodal discussions theses or positions -- as well as proposals submitted to the Synod with the mere intention of transmitting to the Holy See 'polls' in their regard -- discordant with the perennial doctrine of the Church or the Magisterium or concerning material reserved to Supreme ecclesiastical authority or to other ecclesiastical authorities." [Emphasis in original.]
Would the Breda synod have provided a forum for dissent from the universal magisterium? Is this why Archbishop Re nixed it? This, at least, seems to be the suggestion offered by some.
Though a continent and an ocean away, Los Angeles seems dangerously near to Breda. Like Bishop Muskens, Cardinal Roger Mahony has himself called for a diocesan synod, to be held in 2002/2003. Though the archdiocese has held "speak-up sessions" to give the laity a part in determining what pastoral concerns the synod will address, it seems that the synod agenda is already pre-determined (see our article on these sessions, "Should the Church Get With It?" December 2001 Mission.) Indeed, Cardinal Mahony, it seems, had laid out the path the synod will follow in his 2000 pastoral letter on ministry, "As I Have Done for You." In the pastoral letter, the cardinal himself emphasizes the centrality of the letter for the upcoming synod. "In preparation for the Synod," writes Mahony, "I urge each and every priest, deacon, religious and baptized Catholic within the archdiocese to take to heart the words of this pastoral letter."
The pastoral makes it clear that a major emphasis of the Los Angeles synod, like the one in Breda, will be on lay ministry as an answer to the priest shortage. In describing a model parish, St. Leo's, in the year 2005, the pastoral calls for "a major reorientation in our thinking about ministry as well as in our ministerial practice." The pastoral addresses the need for a lay ministry that "is not a stopgap measure," but an integral part of Church life. It also calls for "greater collaboration and inclusivity in ministry in the Church of the new millennium."
But will the Los Angeles archdiocesan synod become a forum for dissent as the Breda synod might have been? Last October, Cardinal Mahony held his yearly meeting with the priests of the archdiocese. According to observers of the event, in discussing the synod with the cardinal, some priests in attendance asked if the synod would address such subjects as priestly celibacy. The cardinal, said observers, did not defend clerical celibacy, but noted that since it was a matter under the purview of the universal Church, it could not be addressed by synod decrees. He reportedly mentioned, though, a "companion document" to the synodal decrees that would document support for such issues as the abolition of mandatory clerical celibacy. Would this "companion document" be a means of "transmitting to the Holy See 'polls'" about issues under the authority of the universal Church?
Some indication of the direction the Los Angeles synod could take might be gathered from the membership of the "Synod Ministry Team." The "Team" is divided into two groups, each of which, in different ways, will help prepare for the synod. The first group is the "Synod Steering Body." According the archdiocesan website, this group "gives direction to pre-synodal planning, provides administrative and geographic networking, assesses planning progress and ensures Synod processes are given high priority." According to one archdiocesan source, the steering body is mostly symbolic. The auxiliary bishops and other archdiocesan officials compose it. The real work of the synod, said the archdiocesan source, will be done by the second group of the Synod Ministry Team -- the "Synod Preparatory Commission."
The Synod Preparatory Commission, according to our archdiocesan source, includes members chosen by the cardinal and the bishops, as well as others chosen by parishes and deaneries. According to the archdiocesan website, the Preparatory Commission "assists in preparing for various steps of the Synod event"; "gives counsel relative to major direction and processes in Synod preparation"; "engages in discernment processes to assist in formulating the questions for Synod deliberation; "extends the importance of the Synod into the greater Church"; among other duties. Cardinal Mahony presides over this commission with his five auxiliary bishops.
The inclusion of Dr. Michael Downey in the Synod Steering Body might give some indication of the theological direction of the synod. Dr. Downey is a well-known theologian who specializes in spirituality. He is also the cardinal's chief theologian. In his book, Learning to Speak of God, Downey gives his take on the meaning of the name "Father" as applied to God. For Downey, though "God is revealed in history in the names 'Father,' 'Son,' 'Spirit,'" more recently "persuasive cases have been made for refraining from calling God 'Father.'" "Retaining the names 'Father,' 'Son,' and 'Spirit' as the normative way of speaking of God, even while recognizing the truth expressed in other ways of speaking of God, calls for a deeper understanding of the story to which these divine names are inextricably linked."
Could the "other ways" of speaking of God include calling God "Mother"? It seems it may, for Downey. "Calling God 'Father,'" he writes at the beginning of the first chapter of Learning to Speak of God, "is a way of naming our relationship to God. This unfathomable mystery of life pouring itself forth is as much Mother as Father, while at the same time neither Father nor Mother." Downey, here, seems to say that the name of "father" as applied to God is our way of naming God, derived from our experience of human fatherhood, rather than God's way of naming Himself and of expressing who He is. Downey, here, seems to be in conflict with St. Paul who speaks of the "Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" as He "from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth receives its name." (Ephesians 3:14)
Downey's theology seems to reflect certain strains of feminist theology and spirituality. In an article, "Current Trends Understanding Christian Spirituality: Dress Rehearsal for a Method," published in the Fall 1991 Spirituality Today, Downey says "the emergence of a specifically feminist spirituality" is "one of the most significant, albeit unanticipated, results of the Second Vatican Council." Likewise, he writes, "the struggle for peace and justice has drawn attention to the experience of persons and groups at the margins of social and religious bodies, be they persons of color, the physically and mentally disabled, the divorced and remarried, persons in the Third World, gays and lesbians, or the economically oppressed. The experience of such persons, and of the countless women who have often been invisible and powerless in church and society, has become an increasingly important, indeed indispensable source for reflection on the nature of authentic Christian experience and praxis."
Another member of the Synod Steering Body is Tod Tamberg, archdiocesan media representative and formerly editor of the archdiocesan newspaper, The Tidings. While Tamberg was editor, The Tidings began running a weekly column by Notre Dame University's Father Richard McBrien, a well-known dissenter from Church teaching. When Call to Action, an organization that openly dissents from the magisterium, held a regional meeting in Claremont in the summer of 1998, Tamberg's Tidings ran an article advertising it. The article listed the meeting's seminars, and stated that Call to Action's goals included "opening the priesthood to women and married men ... open dialogue, academic freedom and due process in the church." No warning was given as to Call to Action's heterodoxy.
Though most laymen on the Synod Ministry Team seem largely unknown outside their own parochial circles, one does stand out. This is Eric Stolz who sits on the Synod Preparatory Commission representing St. Victor's parish in West Hollywood. Stolz might be known to readers of the Mission as the religion editor for the gay magazine, Edge. As described in our June 1998 article, "The Outing of the Church," Edge advertisements "displayed young muscular men in various would-be seductive poses. In the back were the promised massage and 'malecall' ads. The cover of the April 15 [1998] issue featured a model on a cross. The articles were filled with a range of things, from health tips to book reviews, in tones ranging from conventional to 'gay-cutesy.'" Stolz edited a column, "Out in Spirit," which featured articles by Father Peter Liuzzi, formerly head of the archdiocese's Ministry for Gay and Lesbian Catholics, as well as articles by an Episcopalian priest and a Jewish rabbi.
According to one archdiocesan source, of the priests who sit on the Preparatory Commission, not one is even "slightly conservative;" they are, he said, the "most liberal priests" in the archdiocese. Among these is Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson, pastor of St. Monica's in Santa Monica. According to an article written about him in the May 24-20, 2000 Santa Monica Mirror, "Lloyd Torgerson: Good Shepherd," Monsignor Torgerson seems to follow the cardinal's line on lay ministry. He also goes in for "progressive" liturgies. "On Sunday afternoons at 5:30 Mass," says the article, "young adults push out the walls of an already huge sanctuary. Close to 1,200 of them kneel down to pray every Sabbath. And that's not all they do, Msgr. Torgerson said, excitement building in his voice. They also are lured inside -- when the rest of the world is at play -- because the church has adapted to their needs and tastes. By creating a circular musical liturgy around the service, the marketing-minded in the church have appealed to these veteran concert goers to participate with their voices, with their hands and their tapping toes." The article, though, also notes that Monsignor Torgerson offers the sacrament of confession every afternoon of the week, except on Sunday.
St. Monica's has a number of ministries, including a large "Gay and Lesbian Outreach," associated with the archdiocese's Ministry to Gay and Lesbian Catholics. Two testimonials from members of St. Monica's "GLO," posted on the parish's website, are conspicuous for what they do not say. One testimonial notes that "Many of us may start with GLO -- checking it out, seeing if we 'fit', 'Is it real', is it possible to be 'Gay' and 'Catholic'? When many of our questions are answered by Yes." The other testimonial notes "this is a parish where the pastor is my friend and confidant, a parish that has a wonderful community that accepts who I am, makes me feel comfortable, a parish that is beautiful inside and out, has a wonderful liturgy committee and working staff." Neither testimonial makes mention of how the ministry helps them to live chastely according to the teachings of the Church.
The priest whom our archdiocesan source calls the most "moderate" on the Synod Preparatory Commission is Monsignor Helmut Hefner. Hefner, who has taught canon law and now serves as president and rector at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, was interviewed by the Tidings in November, 2001. In this interview he addressed "issues on the formation and image of the priesthood as it relates to Los Angeles in the year 2001." One of these issues, brought up by the interviewer, was "that a number of priests ordained in, say, the past 10-15 years seem to have a more traditional, even conservative view of the church and their role as priests as authoritarian and even dictatorial." "It is true," said Hefner, "that there has been a return to a more authoritarian vision of the priesthood among some seminarians and priests, but certainly not all." This "national, even worldwide trend," said Hefner, is not "the vision of Cardinal Roger Mahony." This vision "has the priest in a very collaborative model of pastoral leadership, which is what we strive to communicate to our seminarians. The vision reflected in Cardinal Mahony's pastoral letter [As I Have Done for You] is very much part of our formation process."
This vision gives a new twist to the traditional "three-fold ministry" of the priest. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "because it is joined with the episcopal order, the office of the priest shares in the authority by which Christ himself builds up and sanctifies and rules his Body." Elsewhere, the Catechism refers to the bishop's office, in which the priest participates, as one of sanctifying, teaching and ruling. In his pastoral, Mahony refers to the three-fold office, but replaces ruling with "guiding." The priest guides, says Mahony, "by establishing, cultivating, and sustaining patterns of relationship rooted in equality, interdependence and mutual service (diakonia), calling forth and coordinating the gifts of all the baptized." "Our understanding of the ordained priesthood has changed and is still changing," writes Mahony. "But certain key terms have been used over time to try to pinpoint the priestly role." One of these terms is in persona Christi capitis ("in the person of Christ the head.") This term, writes Mahony, "relates priestly ministry to the whole Body, head and members, and emphasizes the priest's collaborative role, the need to work with other ministries, and the need to draw into the unity of the Gospel and the Church community all the gifts and ministries that come from Christ and his Spirit."
"Models of ministry continue to change, and in times of rapid change such as our own great discernment is needed," says the pastoral. "In light of the many gifts and challenges that are calling us to reshape our ministerial structures, the priest may be best understood as a sign of ecclesial communion" [emphasis in original]. In reshaping ministerial structures -- a task in which, presumably, the synod shall be involved -- one is left to wonder how much of the traditional priestly role will remain. Do the words of Mahony's pastoral, does the composition of the "Synod Team," promise an orthodox result? Or do phrases such as "a very collaborative model of pastoral leadership" presage greater conformity to a democratic rather than a hierarchical order in the Church? How are we to understand Mahony's statement in the pastoral that "the notion of the priesthood of the community is older than the concept of an ordained ministerial priesthood," except that the hierarchical structures of the Church are not essential to her essence?
Has the radical, post-conciliar Dutch church found a home in Los Angeles?