POPE SHOULD RESIGN: RICHARD SIPE

This just in from National Survivor Advocates Coalition (NSAC) News (thanks to William Lindsey at Bilgrimage for the link to this at Voice from the Desert Blog)
 

Received from A. W. Richard Sipe

Pope Benedict XVI is a good man. He has served the Church long and well. It takes nothing away from his goodness to suggest that he should resign his office. Nine of his predecessors have resigned, most for the good of the Church. The clerical sex abuse crisis that now exposes a corrupt pattern and practice of a system has escaped and confused many good, brilliant people and left generations paralyzed. There is no need to point fingers.

However, the Roman Catholic Church is in a period of Reformation as profound (and breathtaking) as any its history has ever recorded. The voluntary resignation of Pope Benedict XVI would be a gesture that would match the epic challenge that faces Catholicism today. Such leadership would break the pattern and practice that holds the church hostage to a past that no longer serves the Christian message. The monarchy that rules the church has outlived its service in the evangelization of peoples, an evangelization that Paul the apostle taught and that Pope John Paul II championed. The People of God, hierarchy included, are shackled by a secret system designed to control rather than free them.

Whether or not Benedict's  resignation is a real possibility in the near future and quite apart from the issue of who might succeed him (Cardinal Levada?), just to see such a statement presented from such a distinguished voice is uplifting indeed. However, I was particularly struck by the following comment/response to the above statement  by Tom Barnes at Voice from the Desert Blog. A bleak and pessimistic statement. to be sure, the conclusion of which I do not share, but sometimes the harsh reality of the situation needs to be presented in it's starkest terms before we get the point. 



With all due respect to a good and decent man, Richard Sipe, we are well beyond the stage now where the Pope’s resignation would mean anything substantial to a world hungering for a Cosmic Christ to take hold, Teilhard de Chardin’s vision of life’s human meaning and Christianity’s purpose. What we actually need is less ‘catholic church’ and more Cosmic Christ. The question is, how do we do that?
Hint: Do not look to me. I have no idea how to implement this. Maybe let the Holy Spirit work in our lives for once?

The Catholic Church has proven itself to be….how shall I say this?….meaningless in the general flow of modern human discourse on values and ethics. It is seen by most educated people on the planet as quaint, trite and perhaps a bit odd. It allows child rape en masse for millenia and then tries to blame the Fourth Estate for the crisis….or it blames ‘modern values’ degeneration…or it blames Protestants or Masons or disenfranchised former Catholics for the problems it is now facing. 

In fact, the Catholic Church and Chrisitanity as a whole is more or less passe. We don’t matter anymore. That is our fault. This was a long time coming. The sex abuse crisis in Catholicism is simply a symptom of deeper problems that probably stem all the way back to the very beginning of the Jesus Movement. Perhaps our time has come….and gone. We have to be open to that possibility.

When we have arrived at the point where children are raped as a matter of course by nuns and priests and brothers and bishops and then evidence is hidden by the powers that be, we have given up all call as a group to anything even resembling holiness. Lets not add hypocrisy to this tragedy.

Lets take a look at ourselves, at Christianity, and see it for what it is: a quaint myth based on Hellenized, apocolyptic Judaism of Second Temple Judaism under the Romans and be open to the possibility that it is a value system that no longer works.

Changing popes won’t change any of this. We need to be realistic.
Tom Barnes

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

We (LGBT Catholics) are being scapegoated by our Church to avoid dealing with its own sins. Many of us in the past interiorized the Church's homophobia, resulting in self-hatred and self-destructiveness. But Jesus' Spirit at some point touched our hearts and freed us from all self-rejection by giving us a clear, undeniable experience that God loves us in our gayness. Our ministry, then, like the former demoniac is to witness to our people all the great things that God in his/her mercy has done for us. Our first task, then, is to prayerfully call in the Holy Spirit to give such an overwhelming experience of God's love that we are healed of all self-hatred and self-rejection and thus rendered immune to the persecution of the institutional church.

taken from John McNeill Theology of Fallibility III

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MOTHER TERESA AND THE DARK NIGHT

Without a doubt, one of the holiest women of the 1700 year old Roman Catholic tradition since Constantine, a conclusion I reached only after reading her astonishingly candid letters contained in Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light. Only St. Paul of the Cross endured a longer, more agonizing Night of the Spirit, although this is not an accurate designation, since the spiritual darkness endured (for nearly fifty years!) was more of a redemptive, rather than of a purificatory nature (a profound mystery, to be sure, but this being a blog reflection I have no space to elaborate). Mother Teresa, during all those years she was being idolized by the world's media, was plunged into the most absolute void of emptiness and darkness, deprived of any consolation from her Beloved. But as she said, "I never refused Him anything, though sometimes He asked too much." To me that is one of the most moving statements in the history of Christian mysticism. A woman of many blind spots, Mother Teresa gave unequivocal obedience to the Pope and the Holy See, never questioning authority or injustice in the church in any prophetic manner (unlike her companion in the spirit, Dorothy Day) and allowed herself to be used by Church authorities to bolster their own prestige and their own absolute positions on abortion. Nonetheless, this simple, humble woman transcended all her limitations by a staggering capacity for suffering love, to which this book is a heartrending testimony. Christopher Hutchins reveled in these revelations, taking them as a vindication of his own atheism. They are nothing of the sort. Rather they stand in the great tradition of Catholic apophatic mysticism, without which they cannot be properly appreciated. They also witness to a gift for faithful endurance that is beyond human comprehension. Never in the history of twentieth century Catholic spirituality, have we seen a more moving mystical love story than between this simple Albanian nun and the Divine Master she loved and served through fifty years of darkness. Can any of us even begin to comprehend what this must have cost her? I honor her name and I respect her calling to offer comfort and sustenance to those many traditional Catholics confused and anguished by the many challenges of our times.

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GURUS, ABORTION AND THE COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM

As a contrast or antidote to my recent musings on Indian gurus, here is a very witty, irreverent blog site that seeks to inject a bit of 'reality-check' into the situation. It goes by the delightful name, Guruphiliac, and contains enough salacious gossip (pop stars and gurus) as one could possibly hope for, together with some sharply critical views, very wise cautions and some equally fair comments about genuine spiritual seekers. Ammachi's organization does come under scrutiny for cult like characteristics (see postings on her below). Some of it may be a bit too cynical and unsubstantiated, but it is worth perusing for some healthy skepticism. Another very entertaining blog site on the subject, which provides a real service, is Salo's Guru Rating Service. Here you will find ratings for literally hundreds of self-proclaimed spiritual teachers, with links to both positive and negative evaluations. I'm happy to report that the site gives Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Eckhart Tolle and Ammachi (though only after some doubts) it's highest ratings (among many low ratings for an astonishing range of teachers), though how these ratings are arrived at is not clear.

Andrew Harvey has written very eloquently about the dangers of the Indian guru system, after his disastrous experience with Mother Mera, another prominent woman teacher from India, whose devotees also use the language of 'divine incarnation' to describe her. This should strike a note of caution in anyone. Andrew has now moved to the strong position of 'no gurus whatsoever,' which is perhaps a bit too extreme. The primary lesson to be learned is not to worship another human being, however spiritually advanced she or he may seem to be. There are some genuine masters out there (amidst a depressing sea of fakery) and some few individuals will feel the call to closely associate themselves with these rare teachers. No doubt motives will be mixed and we will encounter elements of the 'crazy cultists' among them, so careful discernment is necessary.

To illuminate this reflection, here are two anecdotes, the first about Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, who I offer as the paradigmatic example of the genuinely enlightened Guru:

It is 1947. Fifty years have passed at Tiruvannamalai...at five o'clock the doors open and early morning devotees enter quietly, prostrate themselves before him and sit down on the black stone floor.... Why did Sri Bhagavan, who was so modest, who insisted on equal treatment with the humblest, allow this prostration before him? Although humanly he refused all privileges, he recognized that adoration of the outwardly manifested Guru was helpful to sadhana, to spiritual progress. Not that outward forms of submission were sufficient. He once said explicitly, "Men prostrate themselves before me but I know who is submitted in his heart." (taken from Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self-Knowledge, by Arthur Osborne, pg. 126)

The second anecdote comes from a friend of mine who attended one of Ammachi's darshan sessions. The time was the late 1980's and 'Charlotte' was both a friend and teacher of mine at San Francisco State University where I was completing a MA in English. Charlotte's mother had recently died and feeling in need of some comfort she decided to attend Ammachi's darshan along with several thousand others at the Civic Center in San Francisco. After waiting for several hours, Charlotte received her turn with the Indian teacher. Ammachi drew her into her arms and pressed her against her bosom. At that moment, Charlotte felt a shudder pass through Ammachi's body. With her hands on Charlotte's shoulders, Ammachi pushed her some distance away, looked at her with great compassion and then pulled her back in and said in her ear, "Oh my dear, dear daughter. I am so sorry." Charlotte said she felt an energy of warmth and peace flow through her own body that left her deeply consoled. And that was the end of her blessing. However, the point of this anecdote lies with Charlotte's final comment to me. "No, I did not go home, quit my job, pack my bags and become a groupie and follow Ammachi all around the world or join her ashram in New Delhi. This 'little moment' was enough." To which I say 'Amen.'

My own point in referencing these spiritual teachers outside the Christian/Catholic tradition (whom I consider to be genuine) is simply to inject a dose of healthy relativism into the stultifying one-note orthodoxy of official Catholicism. The position that affirms the absolute uniqueness of Jesus as the world's 'only savior' is linked psychologically with the absolute prohibition against abortion, followed by equally one-note prohibitions against same sex unions and women priests (all tied to the defense of the sacred masculine). We see here an entrenchment of the ego, identified with its own absolute positions as a primitive defense mechanism, and feeding it's own sense of power and uniqueness by abolishing all ambiguity. As William Lindsey at Bilgrimage has noted in some recent very vivid posts, official Catholicism - in the US in particular - has been reduced to the very loud banging of one very large drum: no abortion! Of course, there are reverberations and echoes to this single-note banging, among them - no more queers, Jesus is the only Way, and get them women off the altar! (As an aside, given the priest-pedophile crisis and some recent revelations at Queering the Church, which suggest girls may make up more than two thirds of all victims of abuse, perhaps it was not so wise to allow young girls onto the altar as servers, a sad comment one is forced to make (even in jest) in these very sad times!)

As Eckhart Tolle has stated very eloquently:

We are witnessing not only an unprecedented influx of consciousness at this time but also an entrenchment and intensification of the ego. Some religious institutions will be open to the new consciousness; others will harden their doctrinal positions and become part of all those other man-made structures through which the collective ego will defend itself and "fight back." Some churches, sects, cults, or religious movements are basically collective egoic entities, as rigidly identified with their mental positions as the followers of any political ideology that is closed to any alternative interpretation of reality.

Does this not sound like a perfect description of the present day official face of Roman Catholicism, and even more so of those disturbing organizations which now wield such an unhealthy influence in the Church, Opus Dei and the Legionaries of Christ? 'We are unique and superior because of our absolute, purist positions with which we identify'. To take abortion only as one example, to admit that the fetus, while surely human, does not develop the potential for full human personhood until roughly the 12th week of term and that, therefore, termination of the pregnancy might in some cases by justified, is to admit a degree of moral ambiguity and uncertainty that can be threatening to the insecure ego. It is not a position of absolute moral purity (the sacredness of the fetus is inviolable) with which the ego can totally identify. It requires a large measure of acceptance of moral ambiguity, tentativeness, a cautious refusal to rush to judgement, and an acceptance of one's own inner moral ambiguity as well, an ability to face one's own inner darkness, and see beyond the darkness to the light of G-d's loving acceptance. It requires the ability to live with uncertainty in a spirit of trust and to refuse the temptation to cling to false idols for security and prestige. 'We are unique because we are the followers of the world's only savior and we are unique because we are the vigilant protectors of the innocent and the unborn. Their innocence is ours!' In the grip of such an obsession, one may not compromise. What a powerful drug this has become.

But the walls will not hold. For all of the ferocity of the present attacks by those who are shoring up the defenses, the walls will come crumbling down. I'm living in a country, The Czech Republic, which is getting ready to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the collapse of Communism, an entrenched collective egoic identity system if ever there was one. The system always had to be right, it's leaders infallible, its doctrinal positions pure so that those who identified so fiercely with the system could feel invulnerable by association with absolute power. This system collapsed not simply through the force of its own contradictions, but through the heroic efforts of many quiet resisters, who refused to give up over the years, until finally the walls came tumbling down.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY/JOHN J. MCNEILL

I had been clear from the beginning ... that I thought no serious advance in moral thought concerning homosexuality could occur without dialogue with those who are living out that orientation and experiencing what the Holy Spirit says to them through their experience. To this day, it seems to me that the essential difference between the Vatican and me has to do with their distrust in the ability of the Holy Spirit to guide human conscience from within.
John J. McNeill from Both Feet Firmly Planted in Midair

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SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION

Here is a moving quote from spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle's book A New Earth which I feel is relevant to the present state of Roman Catholicism. I remain convinced that the failure of leadership within the church over the past 30 years has been a providential, if painful, gift of purification weaning us away from over-dependence upon ecclesiastical structures and authority figures. Orthodox Catholicism is simply addicted to authority, it is time to let go and move on:

SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION

What is the role of the established religions in the arising of the new consciousness? Many people are already aware of the difference between spirituality and religion. They realize that having a belief system - a set of thoughts that you regard as absolute truth - does not make you spiritual no matter what the nature of those beliefs is. In fact, the more you make your thoughts (beliefs) into your identity, the more cut off you are from the spiritual dimension within yourself. Many "religious" people are stuck at that level. They equate truth with thought, and as they are completely identified with thought (their mind), they claim to be in sole possession of the truth in an unconscious attempt to protect their identity. They don't realize the limitations of thought. Unless you believe (think) exactly as they do, you are wrong in their eyes, and in the not-too-distant past, they would have felt justified in killing you for that. And some still do, even now.

The new spirituality, the transformation of consciousness, is arising to a large extent outside the structures of the existing institutionalized religions. There were always pockets of spirituality even in mind-dominated religions, although the institutionalized hierarchies felt threatened by them and often tried to suppress them. A large-scale opening of spirituality outside of the religious structures is an entirely new development. In the past, this would have been inconceivable, especially in the West, the most mind-dominated of all cultures, where the Christian church had a virtual franchise on spirituality. You couldn't just stand up and give a spiritual talk or publish a spiritual book unless you were sanctioned by the church, and if you were not, they would quickly silence you. But now, even within certain churches and religions, there are signs of change. It is heartwarming, and one is grateful for even the slightest signs of openness, such as Pope John Paul II visiting a mosque as well as a synagogue.

Partly as a result of the spiritual teachings that have arisen outside the established religions, but also due to an influx of the ancient Eastern wisdom teachings. a growing number of followers of traditional religions are able to let go of identification with form, dogma, and rigid belief systems and discover the original depth that is hidden within their own spiritual traditions at the same time as they discover the depth within themselves. They realize that how "spiritual" you are has nothing to do with what you believe but everything to do with your state of consciousness. This, in turn, determines how you act in the world and interact with others.

Those unable to look beyond form become even more deeply entrenched in their beliefs, that is to say, in their mind. We are witnessing not only an unprecedented influx of consciousness at this time but also an entrenchment and intensification of the ego. Some religious institutions will be open to the new consciousness; others will harden their doctrinal positions and become part of all those other man-made structures through which the collective ego will defend itself and "fight back." Some churches, sects, cults, or religious movements are basically collective egoic entities, as rigidly identified with their mental positions as the followers of any political ideology that is closed to any alternative interpretation of reality.

But the ego is destined to dissolve, and all its ossified structures, whether they be religious or other institutions, corporations, or governments, will disintegrate from within, no matter how deeply entrenched they appear to be. The most rigid structures, the most impervious to change, will collapse first. This has already happened in the case of Soviet Communism. How deeply entrenched, how solid and monolithic it appeared, and yet within a few years, it disintegrated from within. No one foresaw this. All were taken by surprise. There are many more such surprises in store for us.

(A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, pg. 17-19)

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HOMOSEXUALITY & THE CHURCH

A brilliant article by scripture scholar Timothy Luke Johnson on same sex relations and the uses of scripture.

http://commonwealmagazine.org/article.php3?id_article=1957

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