The Franciscan (Pope Francis): A Book Review

Partly because of my theological background, I was asked by the publishers to provide an honest review of The Franciscan, a religious suspense thriller by WR. Park. Written some fourteen years ago, the plot revolves around a fictional Pope Francis (from the Franciscan order) who attempts to introduce revolutionary reforms into the Catholic Church and who faces numerous death threats and assassination attempts as a result. Of course, the coincidence of naming his protagonist Pope Francis some ten years before the present Pope Francis' election is striking and noteworthy, especially since the present Pope, an amiable and charismatic man on the surface, raised many expectations of genuine reform at the beginning of his tenure. Sadly, those expectations have failed to be realized by now, as Francis has sought the support of billionaire oligarchs (particularly those circling round Jeb Bush for the upcoming US presidential race), continues to oppose any meaningful discussion of lifting the ban on birth control, continues to firmly oppose any discussion of women being admitted to priestly orders, continues to oppose any meaningful inclusion of gay people into the church or to prohibit the Church's attacks on civil liberties for LGBT persons, and most importantly continues to protect his bishops from any meaningful accountability for the sex abuse scandal, even to the extent of appointing a notorious priest/pedophile protector, Juan Barros, as Bishop of Osnoro Chile.  Any hopes of good Pope Francis introducing genuine reforms into the Catholic church have been pretty much shattered by now. But that is another story.

WR. Park's book was written with the best of intentions and a kind of boyish enthusiasm and naivete, and I respect his intentions and found many of his proposals for reforms and the effective means of carrying them out to be quite refreshing and original. Unfortunately, he has incorporated his ideas into the format of a suspense thriller and as a thriller it doesn't really succeed. We know right from the beginning pages who the villain is (a dastardly, evil conservative Cardinal), his motives and several of his assassination plots. The only suspense in the novel is whether the villain will succeed in his attempts to do the Pope in, and I'm afraid that's not really very suspenseful at all. I found the numerous sub plots revolving around this theme to be amateurish and unconvincing and quite tedious to read. This part of the plot rushes at breakneck speed in an attempt to mimic an action thriller, but it doesn't convince. However, what tickled me no end was the sight of prelates and cardinals engaged in feats of 'daring-do' and even engaging in fisticuffs with one another. Even the Pope storms into a room and slaps his opponent in the face and breaks his jaw! That got a guffaw out of me. It was a very refreshing, iconoclastic picture of Catholic prelates at variance with the controlled gravitas so many of them exhibit. But the suspense thriller? Not suspenseful at all, I'm sorry to say.

The best parts of the book, in my opinion, were the brief forays into past history, displaying many highly fallible (and quite monstrous) decisions made by these supposedly 'infallible' Popes. Park does a good job summarizing them, so that reading them provides the most effective wallop when dismantling the myth of papal infallibility. Also, his proposals for reform of the Church are intelligent and thoughtful and the means by which they might be carried out, especially the democratizing of the church's governing structures, are refreshingly original and breathtaking. This is indeed how it should be done, I thought,  if there were a Pope with the courage to undertake it. Some of the proposals were naive, particularly regarding the speed with which they were announced and carried out (the Pope simply announces from the balcony of St. Peter's that he is not infallible), but I found this aspect acceptable in a work of fiction, unlike the sorry lack of suspense in the thriller dimension of the novel. The proposals for democratizing the church's governing structures - really interesting, thoughtful, and provocative. Park shows a commendable balance between respect for the sacredness and need for the "Petrine office" and the pressing need to 'put the Pope in his place," because of the false idolization of the papacy. All well and good.

In the end, however, this is still a man's novel with a bunch of men running around saving the world and the church, and a charismatic male hero at the helm, good Pope Francis. Park is highly selective in the reforms he wishes to focus upon, mainly papal infallibility, Vatican finances, church governance. Sexual issues are pretty much ignored, particularly the sex abuse scandal which gets nary a mention, birth control, LGBT people in the Church, and women's ordination and sharing in governance. There is one mention at the beginning that women should be accepted for priestly ordination, and then it is pretty much forgotten. Even worse,  there is no single outstanding woman leader/fictional character helping the pope and all of his male accomplices in saving the church. It's all men engaged in acts of spying, espionage, plotting, saving the world. The only significant female character in the whole book is a vicious female assassin towards the end. Ouch! I thought. Not a good way to go about fictionalizing the issue of reform of the Catholic Church - by mirroring the Church's  own male misogyny and distrust of women and gays.

Gays? One reference to 'homosexuals,' spoken by our evil cardinal when slandering Pope Francis behind his back by suggesting he and his co-friars engaged in disgusting, immoral 'homosexual orgies' when they were together in a remote Franciscan monastery. That's it? That's the only mention of the issue of gay people in the Church and the clergy? Of course, we all know that when gay people gather together, they turn into 'homosexuals' engaged in "disgusting orgies". What else are they to do?

Coupled with this are a number of references to the robust heterosexual lustiness of a number of the hero cardinals and prelates assisting the pope, including one triumphant bello  from a sexy femme fatale about an aging Cardinal. " He's straight," she announces with evident glee after succeeding in arousing him. Gee, really? How weird. I let the first one slide and the second, but after the third reference to an elderly prelate getting turned on by a sexy female, I thought - Hmmm, seems to be a bit of defensiveness here about the image of male clericals. 'We need to counteract the gay image that has so tarnished the church,' the author seems to be saying.  Not a good way to deal with the issue of gay people in the clergy, whom reliable estimates put at 20 to 25%. The systematic attack by the church on the civil rights of gay people in civil society is one of the most egregious practices now underway in the Catholic Church, completely at variance with the gospel message of Jesus the Nazarene,  and any book dealing with reform must face it head on and honestly. This is a defensive reaction on the part of a profoundly homophobic church. "Please don't think we're gay, see how much we hate gay people." This Park does not do, quite the contrary. Coupled with the absence of any significant, empowered female character, and the inclusion of a vicious female assassin, one can only conclude that the author himself has some serious 'issues' of his own to deal with regarding women and gays. Best to clear those up before engaging in a work of fiction.

In the end, I was rather disappointed with the book, after starting with high expectations. I appreciated the author's sincere suggestions about reforms, as far as they went, I chuckled at the image of elderly cardinals running about engaging in feats of daring do, I thought some of his suggestions about practical means of effecting reforms to be breathtakingly original. But the tone of misogyny regarding women and gays was quite disturbing. However, I would have been willing to overlook these faults (somewhat) if the darn suspense thriller part of the book, had been, well....suspenseful. Unfortunately, I wasn't gripped by the story nor particularly worried for the characters. Suspense and tension seemed to be missing, and that is a serious flaw in a 'suspense thriller.' Park is proposing this book as part of a three part series. Let us hope that in subsequent volumes, he conceals the villain's identity until the very end. And please - throw in some truly empowered women leaders and a decent gay character or two.

★ ★ ★ for good intentions

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Brief Reflections on Today's Dual Canonizations

Good Pope John

I just finished watching Reuter's short clip on the canonizations of John XXIII and John Paul II today. It made me feel more sad and alienated than anything else. Given my own prejudices, it seemed like an elaborate PR move on the part of the Church, rather than a holy event worthy of celebration. I was gratified to hear the Reuters narrator say, "John Paul's canonization has not been without controversy. Some say he was canonized too soon, nine years after his death, and that he didn't properly address the sex abuse scandal in the church." That is a terse understatement.  Coupled with this fact, is the reality that he did all in his power to undermine the fruits of Vatican II convened by John XXIII. 

Wiser heads than I have given some excellent commentary, so I won't engage in a rant at this time. 

You can read them here at Bilgrimage and Enlightened Catholicism and Creative Advance.

At first, when I heard the news some months ago about the dual canonizations, I was angry and upset. I considered co-joining John Paul with the beloved John XXIII an insult to the latter's holy memory and yet another offense committed against the survivors of clerical sex abuse. Today, however, watching a few clips, I just felt sad that John XXIII didn't get the honor and respect he truly deserved. But I also felt that putting the two popes together  relativizes the canonization of John Paul II as well, and diminishes some of the glitter and glory that would have surrounded him had he had the whole day entirely to himself. So now I can see a glimmer of wisdom to the whole affair. I don't begrudge Pope Francis for going ahead with his canonization. Given the powerful momentum behind it, I don't see how he could have stopped it - barring a supreme act of courage.  But putting the two together, while it does diminish the respect due to John XXIII,  also tones down the reverential excesses that I fear would have been on display if John Paul II were the sole focus of attention. So in that way today was a grace. Still, it is a sad day for the Church, as we witness a ceremony - in my opinion - that is more smoke and mirrors than spiritual substance and that is designed to serve hidden agendas that are not at all holy. 

Since John XXIII was a beacon of hope for a whole generation of Catholics inspired by the breakthroughs of Vatican II, today's ceremony was a poignant visual display of how far we have come from those heady days of the 1960's, when hope was in the air, and how very little has really changed. Behind the contradictions and the paradoxes, however, lies a subliminal message - that our hope and our trust cannot be placed in the institutional church any longer, at least in its outmoded form. It has had its day and today was a dramatic example of the dragon in its death throes. The Catholic tradition will live on, new creative forms of community will spring up, but Rome has become a sideshow for the barkers, drawing us in with false and distorting mirrors. Yet high above the clouds, the white bird soars and sings, calling calling calling. Let us heed her call and let her lead us where she may - away from all pomp and glory.

And who has been forgotten in all the fanfare of today's PR event?

Pope John Paul I

The following reflections are for myself alone - of no real interest to anyone but myself:)

On another trivial note, continuing my search for future residences, I found this charming little flat in Barcelona that is similar to so many  residences I've had over the years. It's only 33 square meters, has no trappings or trimmings, it's balcony looks onto the back of another building and it's 'only' 85,000 Euros (expensive by Prague standards). But I could live here and be content. The only problem is that it's not quite big enough for my books, of which I have quite a few. But I like it. Simple and serene (well, maybe not serene. I hear Barcelona is very noisy night and day).

However, this beautiful little flat right on the beach is more appropriate for my needs and has two 'bedrooms,' one of which I'd convert into a sitting room/study. And to be able to sit on that little balcony and write would be ideal. Yes, that is the beach and the water in the distance beyond the palmtrees. A short five minute walk. 

The asking price is 185,000 Euros, which is indeed expensive by Prague standards - but not by San Francisco standards, not by a long shot. An apartment like this near the beach would sell for a minimum of $350,000 in San Francisco. Ouch!

The first little apartment makes me feel more comfortable because of its simplicity. We do not live in times where extravagance can be justified any longer. But the second flat is probably much more conducive to the life of a writer, which I am pursuing. And so my search continues as I plug away on my novel here in Prague in a little studio apartment by the river with a lovely terrace facing a hill. 

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Thoughts on Spring: Persecutions and Risen Bodies

Spring has finally arrived in Prague after a long, cold, snowy March. It was so wonderful to be able to eat dinner on my terrace overlooking the river (spinach pasta and Tempe). The sun is shining, the air is crisp, the birds are singing, and my neighbors are frolicking across the valley and shouting from their balconies.  That includes the little eight year old boy practicing his kung fu moves on the balcony at the moment. He waves, I wave, and life seems sweet. Six months ago he was blowing a trumpet on the balcony and filling the valley with song. 

Other signs of Spring would certainly include the transformed papacy of Francis, quietly working his humble way through a morass of problems, very few of which he can definitively solve, and not to everyone's  liking either. I'm simply grateful that a humble man has found his providential way into this 'top spot,' and now we wait for the reverberations to unfold. He  has already moved towards collegiality with his commission of eight cardinals, picked to advise him on reforms in the church. We will see. I have no great expectations of change from the top, only the expectation that his modest example will enable more and more 'official' figures to locate their cojones in their drawers and begin speaking common sense about key issues of justice (and injustice) within the church. Hopefully, Francis will both encourage these voices and listen to them attentively.

Already there are signs of change regarding the 'gay issue,' with several cardinals and bishops - finally, after much timidity and hesitation - coming out in support of civil unions for gay people at least. Even fiery Hans Kung has said the same, stopping short of endorsing gay adoptions, which he feels the church should not support. Oh well. On the one hand, I'm grateful for small favors, on the other hand a feeling of exasperation sinks in and impatience as well - with the obtuseness of these elderly males who control so much of the public face of the church. But then I remember that I'm not called to be a part of the day to day functioning of the church or to join a parish or to 'return' to Sunday eucharistic celebrations, all of that far behind me. I've been led to a smaller, simpler place on the margins, in peace and joy, celebrating the Eucharist on my own, occasionally with like-minded friends, and such moments fill my day with peace. In fact, I feel this daily celebration is the very heart of the day for me and the most important action I can perform. Gratitude to 'God' and the Lord Jesus and his Holy Feminine Spirit for leading me to this peaceful place outside all the clamor and discord of the institutional tent. A bit selfish of me, perhaps, and a bit cowardly, but interiorly I feel no 'connection' or moral or spiritual obligation to become a part of the official circus. Yet the sense of 'mystical obligation' is profound - to serve in whatever ways I feel called -  the spiritual healing and transformation of Mystical Mother Church. 

Rebel Girl at her wonderful blog Iglesia Discalza has posted several translated articles on Pope Francis which particularly struck me recently, and apologies if I don't link to each one, since I'm writing this from memory (and for my own clarity of mind). The first - another reflection/interview from Leonardo Boff, in which he ends with this powerful statement:

Do you think he could go live outside the Vatican?

Like John Paul I who, two days before dying, gathered the cardinals and announced that to them; two days later, he turned up dead.

Are you saying that Pope Francis would be taking a risk?

It's a risk, because there's a history in the Vatican of many assassinations, a long time ago. He should be careful because where there's a struggle for power, there's no love -- and power always seeks more power. He should handle this to make reforms without causing a schism. The base of the two previous popes was the fundamentalists like Opus Dei, Communion and Liberation, and the Knights of Christ. Those groups must be very unhappy with the new pope, who is more social [justice] based.

Since this blog, Gay Mystics, is dedicated to the memory of John Paul I, Albino Luciani, and since I am one among many who are convinced the saintly, gentle man was assassinated, this affirmation of that opinion from one of the greats of Liberation theology resonated deep within me. A powerful reminder about how 'dangerous' life in the Vatican can be for a reforming pope, a sentiment which should give us a measure of patience and tolerance for any attempted reforms of Father Francis.

And then this extraordinary interview:

Fr. Antonio, a Capuchin friar, spent ten years in prison on trumped up charges, and he would be considered a representative of the Catholic 'left' in Latin American. So his ringing endorsement of Pope Francis is inspiring to read, as is the entire interview with this extremely interesting and charismatic man. But this statement in particular struck me, because like Leonardo Boff's above, it highlights the difficulties any well meaning pope must face:

Fr. Antonio Puigjané: "I think Francis will address celibacy"



What decisions should Francis make in the Vatican?Take apart that sort of Mafia that exists among the cardinals. The Vatican is a circus and he has to take that apart little by little. He's already begun. There've been some gestures already. Very subtly, intelligently. I tried to watch when he greeted the cardinals. He treated all of them with great affection, but at the same time he ought to be wary of them. Because, taken together, they're a sort of huge Mafia that doesn't even come close to Jesus' plan. And I think Pope Francis wants to go back to Jesus' plan, like Saint Francis of Assisi. It's very hard, because the anti-power...He has said that the real power is the power of service, and it's true. Jesus even gave his life to serve.

And there we have it, thoughts of assassinations and the insidious influence of a Cardinalate Mafia, what could make things more difficult? So patience and tolerance is called for, as well as the acknowledgement that real change must come from the bottom up and from the margins, for which Francis has expressed the deepest affections. We will see.

Terry Weldon has some wonderful, hope inspiring articles at his seminal blog, Queering the Church, two on recent statements by Cardinals and Bishops coming out in support of civil unions, HERE and HERE. But the article that most warmed my heart was this GREAT STORY of a gay teen attending a Catholic high school who managed to convince the Bishop that the traditional Church language on homosexuality was indeed harmful to young gay people. This is indeed a victory for decency and common sense. 

In Canada, objections by a Catholic student in a Catholic High School has resulted in a Catholic bishop removing a much reviled cornerstone of Catholic teaching on homosexuality, on “intrinsically disordered” from his school website.

 And this great photo of the boy and his father:

On another front, just to bring us back down to earth, here is a disheartening yet all too familiar STORY about the fact that sex education classes for teens conducted by New York public schools are banned in buildings owned by the Catholic Church. One reads this story in stupefaction and disbelief. The classes are banned because they discuss 'safe sex' and the risk of AIDS, not to mention that most horrible 'option', same sex relations. All anathema to the Catholic Church. What this means in practice is that students must trek from 15 to 30 minutes outside their normal school buildings to attend these classes, and they are quite aware of the reason - that a major religious denomination, which owns their school buildings, will not allow the classes on campus because the issues discussed and positions on safe sex recommended are opposed to the teachings of the Catholic Church. These affected students have, of course, discussed this absurd situation - and their understandable contempt for the RCC - on facebook and twitter. There goes another whole generation of young people successfully alienated from organized religion. One shakes one head in dumb disbelief. How could any organization be so stupid, and why would anyone support it, or join it or have any faith in it whatsoever, let alone allow one's own children to be in any way influenced by it. Get Behind Me Satan. if I can be permitted a melodramatic reaction.

Finally,  there is the news of the young and very dedicated gay Catholic minister in New York state- removed from his ministerial duties by the local bishop because the young man married his partner in a civil ceremony - this story has been circulating in the blogosphere for some days. National Catholic Reporter has an excellent article on this issue by Jamie Mason, 

Gay Catholic barred from ministry still faithful, hopeful

I rarely comment at this site, but this time I made an exception:

The outpouring of support for Nicholas Coppola is encouraging and heartwarming indeed, as is his own unwavering loyalty to the Church, despite the abusive treatment he was subject to at the hands of a misguided authority. It is painful to acknowledge that the Church in its official leadership has once again singled out a vulnerable minority group for oppressive treatment, based upon an intrinsically disordered moral teaching, which cannot stand up to any kind of authentic theological or scriptural scrutiny. Do we need to be reminded of how often in the past the church has done this? It was the Fourth Lateran Council which decreed: "Jews and Saracens(Muslims) of both sexes in every Christian province and at all times shall be marked off in the eyes of the public through the character of their dress." The end result was the 'Yellow Star," a practice binding upon all Catholic leadership with the same moral strictures as the church now pronounces upon/against gay unions and the use of contraceptives. The practice did not fade out in Europe until the Age of Enlightenment at the end of the 18th century, only to be resurrected by the Nazis who made explicit reference to the decree of the 4th Lateran Council! And this from Pope Saint Pius V: "We order that, within 90 days, all Jews in our entire earthy realm of justice - in all towns, districts, and places - must depart these places. (If they fail to comply) they shall become slaves of the Roman Church, live in perpetual servitude and the Roman Church shall have the same rights over them as the remaining worldly lords over slaves and property." Why was Pope Pius so insistent? Because, in his words, "For the salvation of our own people, it becomes necessary to prevent their (the Jews') disease. We have carefully investigated how this revolting sect abuses the name of Christ and how harmful they are to those whose life is threatened by their deceit." Catholics were bound by these strictures under pain of sin. This was a paramount Catholic Rule of the day and not to follow it (by expelling any Jews in one's employ) was to risk excommunication! This warped and destructive theological analyses was based upon Scripture, and buttressed by the authority of the Pope. We can be thankful that the language used against same sex orientation is not quite so pernicious as that used against the Jews in ages past. But it is just as fatally flawed `and indefensible, in light of the findings of the contemporary social sciences. The problem, as I see it, is not the teaching itself as it is with the inability of Church leadership to admit just how wrong authority has been and can be in some of its moral teachings. It is precisely the living witness of outstanding Catholics like Nicholas Coppola which drives home this fact. When persons of such integrity and evident compassion and humanity, feel called to express their love for their partners in a sexually responsible way, this should cause us all to question any church teaching which denigrates such loving relationships. How dare we suggest such relationships must be 'intrinsically disordered' and merely an expression of 'selfishness' and 'sin.' Based upon the terrible errors of the past, in true humility, we must ask whether -yet again- the Church has failed to see the living humanity of an oppressed minority group before it, and has preferred instead to worship  the false idol of an infallible authority.

Fortunately, most of the comments in response to this article were warmly supportive of Nicholas Coppola, so it looks as if indeed the tide is changing within the RCC (while keeping in mind NCR is a 'leftie' journal in many centrist Catholics opinion.)

However, to close this series of random reflections and references on a note of spring, here is a truly wonderful slogan:

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Red Lights for Cardinal Dolan

Whispers in the Loggia has a posting today about the decision of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to light up in red the still under construction One World Trade Center building, in honor of Timothy Dolan's elevation to the Cardinalate. This tribute will continue throughout the week, at who knows what cost. Such are the ways of the world and the mystique of power, proving once again that institutional religion is as much a hindrance as a help in enlightening the souls of human beings and leading them to a true understanding of the divine. But as Jeshu said so eloquently (through his scriptural interpreters), My Kingdom is not of this World. But the Cardinal is very much of this world and moves serenely and adroitly through the halls of power, while occasionally making a dramatic photo-op foyer into the neighborhoods of the poor, as he did this Ash Wednesday.

I don't wish to judge the Cardinal's sincerity in this photo, but I just wished he hadn't worn his pectoral cross so ostentatiously. What are we Catholics and catholics to make of all this. Well, for myself, I simply remember that such it has always been - ever since this elite little club of men came into existence in the 12th century. Judging by the reactions of ordinary Catholics in the pews these days, however, not to mention the many Catholic feet walking out the door, the allure of the Cardinalate is waning, all efforts of the Port Authority notwithstanding. While such it has always been, such it need not always be.  We are witnessing the demise of a particular institutional form of Christianity, and though it seems to be taking a long time dying, dying indeed it is, with signs of light and life springing up elsewhere - though not on the scaffolding of the soon to be tallest building in Manhattan, the 1776 foot high new One World Trade Center (even it's title is chilling, a reminder of the One World Order of the Neo Cons). How fitting that a monument to hubris and economic world domination should honor the hubris of Roman Christianity. Here we have the perfect poetic metaphor for the symbiotic relationship between mammon and religious power, as the bishops' turn to the right in the US so amply demonstrates. Yet such it has always been - so much so that it really is a fundamental archetype of human existence, the regally clad religious prelate hobnobbing with princes and kings, while the saints suffer and labor in the gutters and byways of the poor.

 But the Lord wishes us to have faith in his living, abiding presence amidst these signs of contradiction. Indeed, the sign of contradiction that the hierarchy has become today should only comfort us with the assurance that the Lord is near, hiding in the shadows of our trials and sorrows, but closer to us than the beating of our own heart. Trials of faith are meant to lead us to a deeper understanding of the living presence of the Spirit among us and within us, a living stream of gentle, live giving water that flourishes in the dark pools of suffering and oppression, and a Presence that recoils from the garish lights of human aggrandizement and folly. 

In light of these reflections, I was just reading last night from Bishop Carlton Pearson's wonderful, inspiring book, God is Not a Christian, Nor a Jew, Muslim, Hindu:

The purpose of the organized, institutional church is not to save anyone. The purpose of any organization, from churches to governments, is to perpetuate its own existence. It runs counter to the interests of any Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or any other formal faith tradition to declare that you can be free simply by adopting the Christ Principle, because then you will not need the church, and it will have no reason to exist....

George Orwell wrote in 1984, "The object of power is power." That is the idea that the Christ principal threatens. Christ was never about religion: He did not come here to found one. He was about personal awareness and self-discovery, the church that lies and lives within each of us. Organized religion is designed to compel its adherents to become addicted to the church, not God or Christ. Religion is a drug, and its most intolerant proponents are drug dealers who push ignorance. The addiction that millions have to religion has caused many destructive and abusive habits and criminality within human culture. Instead of the church being a spiritual rehab center for drug-free living, it has become the crack house where addicts get their hits. 

Religion cannot and will not survive true Christ consciousness. That is why it cannot tolerate Inclusion. The less religious you are, the more radically inclusive you become.

Very provocative words indeed. But I'm reminded of the humble figure of Dorothy Day, living day by day in the Bowery of New York, very much a Catholic living in her tiny niche, hidden  in the deep inner bosom of mother church - and then vigorously picketing the then Cardinal Spellman when he would commit some egregious shameful folly. The Christ principal exists within Holy Mother Church, but you have to look hard to find it and it will not be illuminated or celebrated by the garish red lights of the One World Trade Center.    Such it has always been, but will such it always be?

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The Madonna of Medjugorje on Contraception and Homosexuality

Quite by 'accident' (while exploring the present contraceptive tempest in a teapot in the US),  I came across this diatribe from an irate Christian complaining stridently that the Madonna of Medjugorje has had nothing to say about abortion, contraception or homosexuality in the past 'twenty five years,' since the article was written.  Shock, horror, but no surprise to me.

Since the word ‘abortion’ brought no results, I next looked to see how many times ‘contraception’ was mentioned in all of these hundreds of messages.  Same result – ZERO.  Well, how about ‘pornography’ – nope, a ZERO again.   What about ‘homosexuality’ or ‘sodomy’ – ZERO.  

     And yet these apparitions are supposed to be ongoing communications and warnings from the Blessed Virgin Mary urging us to turn back from our sins or else face great chastisements.  The holocaust of legalized abortion is the defining crime and offense of our era against God, with millions upon millions of innocent victims. For this cause alone, God surely has in store for us a great chastisement.  But in the public messages delivered over the course of the past twenty-five years, we do not hear one peep about abortion from the “Madonna of Medjugorje.” This is the kind of silence one would expect from that other false Madonna. 

Those of us in the gay community who feel drawn to Medjugorje (and we are many) would not be surprised in the least by this revelation and would take it as one more positive sign of the essential balance and health of the whole phenomenon at its core, despite the peripheral aberrations (which include, to be scrupulously honest, the visits of known priestly pedophiles to Medjugorje). The apparitions simply don't fit into the traditional conservative mindset. The very first sermon I heard in Medjugorje on my very first visit three years ago was from an Irish prelate reflecting on "St Peter in Chains." It is we, the devout Catholic faithful, who put Peter in chains, the priest explained,  by attributing to the Petrine office a constant, persistent, infallible authority it does not really possess. The prelate pointed out that Peter stumbles and falls just as often as he remains upright in the storms, and it is when we forget this and project upon Peter a sacred invincibility that is not rightly and humanly his that we contribute to the distortion of the Petrine office. Peter needs to be firmly confronted and chastised when he wanders off into the wilderness and misleads the flock. (This was clearly the case with Humanae Vitae and Contraception, a position almost universally rejected by the 'sense of the faithful.) While the Irish sex abuse scandal was not mentioned in the sermon, it hovered in the air and those of us in the audience (mostly Irish pilgrims) were certainly thinking of it.  Wow, I thought to myself, what on earth have we here, from the pulpit of the parish church of Medjugorje? Fatima this is not! A more profound examination of the problems of authority in the Church would be hard to find. However, what was even more impressive than the content of the sermon was the Irish priest's evident joy,  serenity and confidence in the protection of the Gospa, (as the White Lady is called), gracing us with her guiding presence and aiding us in healing the wounds of the Church. It was a quintessentially Catholic moment, far more profound and inspiring than the fawning adulation of authority that characterizes the false distortions of  tribal religion.  Hail Mary full of grace and indeed we were filled with grace on that Sunday morning, and the wounds of the sex abuse scandal and the distortions of authority in the Church seemed to dissipate before our eyes in the serenity and peace of Medjujgorje.

On another note, a reader of this blog very kindly sent me this link to a recent article on the apparitions of Medugorje in the distinguished journal of Transpersonal Psychology.

http://bit.ly/zCGSHX
 http://bit.ly/A8Llt4
 http://www.rivier.edu/faculty/pcunningham/Publications/trps-43-01-04-Cunningham-1-final.pdf

(Readers will have to copy and paste the above links, but the links below should work automatically.)

The article is entitled  THE APPARITION AT MEDJUGORJE: A TRANSPERSONAL PERSPECTIVE

by Dr. Paul Cunningham. ( Part Two is here.) A look at his credentials revealed that he completed his BA degree at Our Lady of Providence Seminary in Providence, RI. Evidently  he was at one time a Catholic candidate for the priesthood, but judging by his very sophisticated article he has moved far beyond the traditional Catholic framework of his youth. The article gives a very detailed and fair-minded survey of the various psychological theories that attempt to 'explain' the phenomena of the apparitions, and the possible psychological mechanisms behind them. You could not ask for a more up to date evaluation. The author's own perspective, which becomes clear by the end of the article, is very much a transpersonal, trans-cultural one, by which I mean he lifts the whole experience out of its explicitly Catholic context and examines it from a religiously pluralistic viewpoint. The most interesting question facing trans-personal psychologists today is not whether the apparitions are fraudulent or the product of psychological aberrations ( positions he rules out in light of the extensive psychological testing the visionaries have undergone over the years). Rather, the truly challenging areas of examination for psychologists and para-psychologists focus on the precise mechanism by which the images are created in the visionaries' consciousness. Assuming that there is a spiritual entity communicating to the visionaries (an assumption Cunningham does not take for granted), to what extent does this benevolent entity itself through a psychic energy transmission  'create' the image of a Croatian Madonna in the eyes of the visionaries and to what extent does this spiritual presence rely upon the psychic processes of the visionaries themselves to come up with the appropriate psychic images that conform to their own religious culture. This would then be a process that they would jointly communicate to each other telepathically. In other words, the visionaries would jointly 'create' the image most suitable to their own psychological development, but a creative process that is done in cooperation with a genuine, authentic trans-personal inspiration that is guiding them through the whole process . That is a very crude simplification of Cunningham's highly sophisticated, subtle and nuanced position. He ends with a call to psychologists everywhere to 'expand their metaphysical base,' because the present traditional scientific paradigm renders most psychologists incapable of doing true justice to phenomena such as the apparitions of Medjugorje. Cunningham does not assert unequivocally  that the apparitions are 'authentic,' (i.e. the product of a genuine spiritual disembodied being communicating to the minds of the young visionaries), but he does clearly lean in that direction. He also clearly understands that  this entire spiritual phenomenon far transcends it's limited traditional Catholic framework, which it has simply appropriated as a means of communication. Or to put it another way, the mystery of the Divine Black Mother God predates Christianity by thousands of years. And she is with us still.

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Tongues of Fire Burning the Building Down

 (Mother of the New Pentecost:: taken from the wonderful site St. Andrei Rublov Icons)

I've been reflecting today on the wonderful interview given by Matthew Fox, regarding the publication of his new book,  The Pope's War. Fox is also one of the keynote speakers at the ongoing American Catholic Conference in Detroit. Thanks to Colleen Kochivar-Baker of Enlightened Catholicism for alerting us to this interview and for her insightful comments, and thanks to Betty Clermont's posting at Open Tabernacle, with her provocative question about possible reform, which prompted these reflections: I am waiting for anyone to suggest a path to reform of the Roman Catholic Church which would be more effective than Catholics staying away. )

I've chosen several passages from Matthew Fox's interview which particularly struck me as very prescient of the future of Christianity, and have followed them with my own reflections:

As a theologian I am trying to ponder how the recent events of Catholic history can be seen through the eyes of the Holy Spirit. Is there some good that come out of so much anguish, so much betrayal, so much disappointment with the false direction the church has taken under Pope John Paul II and Ratzinger?  And I come to a clear conclusion that Yes, the Holy Spirit is still at work in the events of deconstruction and reconstruction that are at hand.  It is time to restart the church.  Let many of its forms go; let them die as they are doing.

(With the death of Pope John Paul I in September 1978 [most likely by assassination], I felt that we were being given a sign by the Holy Spirit that we were not meant to have a 'reformed Church' along the lines proposed by Vatican II, as so many of us of the Vatican II generation were longing for. In a way my hope for meaningful 'reform' of the Church died along with the saintly, gentle, collegial and open-hearted Albino Luciani, who reined for only a short 33 days, and who died in such mysterious circumstances which have never been adequately explained to this day. If one ventures down into the crypt beneath St. Peters, which contains the remains of past Popes, John Paul I's coffin has been placed on the side of the central aisle, the least significant location for any pontiff. Pilgrims rush past it, oblivious to this genuinely saintly martyr to reform of the Church, in their haste to get to the far more dramatic and spacious alcove which contains the remains of his successor, John Paul II,  with the 'eternal flame'  burning to the side and the permanent guard standing by. I always bring a bouquet when I visit Papa Luciani's tomb, but I have never seen any other evidence of tokens of devotion and affection for this most 'perfect' of collegial minded Pontiffs. If the Spirit had intended us to have a reformed Church, without any radical reconstruction, John Paul I would have remained alive to have fulfilled that destiny. His death must be read as a sign of the Spirit that a much more radical purging of the Church was intended and that we were being asked to 'let go' of the forms of the old Church, to surrender our longing for renewal itself, even to cut the umbilical cord to Mother Church herself (in her present institutional structure) and to find the courage in the  Spirit to venture out into the unknown, living in trust that the Maternal Spirit of Wisdom would find a way to preserve the lineage of Catholic Christianity outside the present, moribund institutional structure. However,  I could not have imagined a more terrible or more profound purging and deconstruction than that enacted, albeit obliviously, by Karol Wojtyla, John Paul II.  Such is the irony of history that the genuine saint is ignored and (taking my cue from Matthew Fox) the 'schismatic' Polish Pope in his spacious alcove down the aisle is honored beyond belief. Using the "S" word will be seen as contentious, but I am in agreement with Matthew Fox here when he says:

The “S” word rarely gets used these days but I think that Schism properly summarizes what the past two papacies have been about.  They deliberately turned their back on a valid Ecumenical Council and in doing so are in schism.  This means that its appointed cardinals and bishops are in schism. They do not represent the lineage of the church.  This opens up whole new possibilities of seeing the church anew.  All the Yes men and sycophants that have lined up at the papal trough for a piece of the power these recent decades are seen for what they are in their transparent reality.

An ecclesiastical system in schism? Is that too strong a word and does it not make us similar to those ultra conservative Catholic sects (St.Pius X), who consider Vatican II itself to be in schism and every pope elected after Pius XII? A contentious issue and a very strong word, but sometimes honesty, courage and directness in language are  necessary instruments to pierce the boil that is infecting the Church. However, rather than hurl invective, I prefer to follow Fox's inspiration and ask what the Holy Spirit is telling us through these powerful and painful 'signs of the times.' It is my own view that we cannot understand the present crisis in the Church without taking into account the overall shift in religious and spiritual outlook in the culture at large. Sincere spiritual searchers are no longer so dependent upon or so trustful of large religious institutions, but are finding alternative sources of nourishment in a variety of places and religious communities. The time for the great institutional structures has past, and what is to replace them remains a mystery and perhaps a cause of anxiety, as we fearfully contemplate fragmentation, splintering, chaos. But I feel such fears must be faced and overcome in the peaceful, interior conviction that the Spirit is leading us towards a radical reconstruction of the whole Catholic tradition and to forms of community which are at present beyond our imagining. Fox continues:

I have tried to sketch out some directions for new versions of Christianity that are needed today with of course the primary emphasis on lay leadership.  We do not need another Council (after all the last one was totally stuffed); what we need is a rise and indeed a take over of the church by lay leaders.  Jesus was not a clericalist.  He never heard of the Vatican (or of cardinals) all of which developed centuries after his death.  Time to start over.  And with the courage and imagination and generosity that characterizes all authentic spirituality.

(These words themselves need to be deconstructed and their implications laid bare. A "take-over" of the church by lay leaders ultimately must mean a take over of the sacramental system, and a refusal to be intimidated by the monopoly of control the hierarchy presently maintains over the sacraments through the myth of 'apostolic succession.' (Readers of Terrence Weldon's blog, Queering the Church can find an abundance of documentation for exploring the justification for calling this doctrine a myth.)  And here I am in complete agreement with another key note speaker at the Detroit conference, theologian Anthony Padovano, who is simply following the great Dutch theologian Edward Schillebeeckx by insisting that a 'validly ordained' minister is not an absolute requirement for a genuine celebration of the Eucharist. In the absence of 'ordained priests,' communities must find the courage within themselves, through the most profound and heartfelt prayer and discernment, to bless their own lay leaders and celebrate the sacraments independently of episcopal approval. This is a radical act that requires the utmost trust in the Spirit, because 'the real presence' is among the great treasures of the Catholic tradition. Such communities will find themselves under fire and will endure censure and 'excommunication,' but it is already happening in increasing numbers of breakaway communities. Until increasing numbers of communities are willing to take this painful step - in the absence of 'officially ordained' priests - no real revolution within the church is possible. Lay leaders must rise up and take back the church and that means listening to the interior movements of the Spirit, experiencing the peace and joy which are the signs of the Spirit, when and as they celebrate the Eucharist on their own. The Holy Spirit is already imbuing communities with the fire of Pentecost, the interior joy and consolation that bring with them the assurance of conscience that this step is the right one. We are already being blessed, we are already being assured, we are already being led into the new Church of the Holy Spirit. It simply requires more and more laypersons to listen to this interior call. This will not happen overnight. It is too radical, too frightening, it calls for too great a sacrifice, too painful a wrenching from the security of the Mother Womb, but in my opinion it is way the Spirit is leading increasing numbers of us.  The official organizers of the American Catholic Conference in Detroit are 'following the rules,' but I would not be surprised to learn that informal Eucharists on the periphery of the conference are fulfilling Archbishop Allen Vigneron's worst fears. To take such a step, however, requires the most prayerful discernment and this brings me to Matthew Fox's final points.

I believe, the most important direction that religion needs to go in its reconstruction—that is spirituality, the experiential dimension of religion.   The mystical-prophetic tradition I have been recovering including the Cosmic Christ, Hildegard, Aquinas, Eckhart, Julian and others, together with today’s post-modern science, offers new and deeper expressions of healthy religion.  They are among the treasure to take from the burning building.

Let us remember what Thomas Aquinas taught about religion.  That it is, he felt, primarily a virtue, that is a habit that persons carry within them.  Indeed, for Aquinas religion’s essence is Gratitude.  Gratitude for existence.  This means that institutions are NOT what religion is primarily about.  What goes on in the heart and mind and gives birth to outer form is what is at the essence of religion.  This means that social constructs like basilicas, cathedrals, churches, vaticans, popes, cardinals, bishops, canon laws, etc. are on the periphery of real religion.  And they render themselves religiously irrelevant when their thrust at certain times of history is very far from the love and compassion and service that Jesus preached.  They have more to do with accumulation of power and prestige and institutional and personal ego.

(All the more reason, then, for alternative communities to branch out of their own, while maintaining their ties to the larger community through prayerful discernment, counseling, advice, and listening to the authentic voices of wisdom within the community,  born of contemplation and prayer. Nothing could be more important than the spiritual witness in peace and joy of lay led communities, celebrating the presence of the Resurrected Lord. The time for waiting upon ecclesiastical  leaders for change has past. The ecclesiastical system must be bypassed, and only when increasing numbers of lay led communities are forced by circumstance to take this painful step, and discover within themselves the Pentecostal peace and joy assuring them that the Spirit is with them, will the real revolution of the Holy Spirit within the Church have begun. For this to happen, we need increasing numbers of genuine prophets and mystics who are attuned in the depths of their being to the life giving movements of the Spirit. 

At the bottom, the crisis in Roman Catholicism is a crisis in spirituality or the lack thereof.  Real people want spirituality.  The church as we know it today is the last place they go looking.  We are talking about the future of religion, the future of spirituality and very likely the sustainability or unsustainability of our species on this planet.  This is why the issues at hand are of deep importance to us all, whether within or outside of organized religion.

I would like to close these reflections with these moving words from another contemplative teacher of the Catholic mystical tradition:

DIARMUID O'MURCHU: There's certainly a part of me as a human being, a part entirely of being a Christian, that feels I don't want to abandon any sister or brother on the journey of life and the journey of faith. But this is a very real question for me and for people who are like me who facilitated for renewal programs and chapters of religious congregations, because this one comes up often. What do you do with the people who don't want to move, that want to keep things as they always were, and are so rigid and frightened and scared, and you can't get them to move without badly damaging them, which I don't feel I have any right to do or anybody else has a right to do. And so I think the delicate balance has to be something like this and for me Gerry Arbuckle is the person who has named this very, very clearly. Supposing you have this group...and let's put this into percentages...and you have 50% that are totally rigid and stuck, if you like, and you have 50% that are yearning to go. Insofar as there are people that are committed primarily to life and to the evolution of life, the primary energy should move with the 50% that want to move. And then we keep a secondary energy to try and help and maintain the others in a meaningful way. So this principal is that you go primarily where the life is! I think the tendency, particularly in churches, is that we try to keep everything at the lowest common denominator to please those who want to keep things the way they are. That, in my opinion, is not what Jesus would do. That is not Christian gospel. I think we need to go where the life is, primarily, without abandoning the others. And we need to try and bring them with us, in so far as we can, in love, in charity, and also in challenge! And ok, if they choose to remain totally stuck, or totally where they are - let me not be too judgmental about it - ok, that is their freedom, that is their right if you like, but I think in the overall sense of things, whether at the human level, at the religious or spiritual level, I think this commitment to life always has to be honored. And so go where the life is primarily, put your energies primarily there. And then also spare some to try and maintain, in kindness and dignity, those that pretty much want to remain. And a corollary of that, of course, which is much more difficult and this requires a lot of skills, we do not allow this subgroup to dictate. And I think that's where leadership has a huge responsibility. Leadership has to put it's commitment with the new primarily.

Website for Fr. Diarmuid O'Murchu : http://www.diarmuid13.com)

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JOHN MCNEILL ON BENEDICT IN PORTUGAL

Once again, John McNeill has posted a very wise, compassionate and insightful response to Pope Benedict’s recent oblique reference to gay marriage as one of ‘the greatest threats to the human race.’ John reminds us that ‘gay marriage’ isn’t just about fairness and justice for gay people, it constitutes an essential gift to the culture at large by helping to heal the imbalance and defects of patriarchy. Therefore, gay people have an ethical responsibility to press for  equality of marriage that goes beyond our own personal needs and rights. We are called to offer a new paradigm of human relationships, one that is more human and fulfilling because both partners remain in touch with the masculine and feminine aspects of their psyches. Against all of the opposition and hatred, intolerance and bigotry, LGBT people must offer a service of love and justice to a wounded, confused and imbalanced world. However, as Terence Weldon reminds us frequently with his numerous stories at Queering the Church, LGBT are making advances each day in the most unlikely of places. The tide is turning and from the point of view of history, the recent intransigence of Church leaders towards gay marriage, however painful to contemplate, is just one small bump on the road.

Below are three paragraphs from John’s inspiring article, the beginning, middle and end. Please go to John’s website to read the whole article: John McNeil: Spiritual Transformation

On his recent pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal, Pope Benedict XVI used the occasion to announce that he thought the greatest threat to the human race, apart from abortion, was gay marriage! To my knowledge no mention was made of the nuclear arms race; no mention of the destruction of the environment; no mention of disease, poverty and starvation which afflict the vast majority of humanity; no mention of the decrease in respect for the sacred value of the human person which has led to a remarkable increase in genocide, violence, murder, torture and enslavement. Which leads me to wonder what alternate universe the Pope lives in; what alternate reality is he dealing with? ….

Jesus Christ’s message of equality and love has been contaminated by the institutions of patriarchy, male privilege, and the repression of the feminine. The time has come for the Church to cleanse itself and throw off these aberrations. Gay spiritual groups, I believe, are leading the way for the whole Church to bring about this transformation. The primary example of this liberation can be found in gay marriage. ….

Which brings us back to the question : Why is Pope Benedict XVI so consistently over the top with his homophobia and so out of touch with the reality of the LGBT world? He was willing, at least unconsciously, to destroy the celibate gay priesthood by forbidding gay men the right to ordination. The only explanation I can reach to understand the ferociousness of Benedict’s attack on the LGBT community is that unconsciously he is a self-hating gay man who projects out his fear and loathing on the gay community at large!

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MODELS OF THE FUTURE CHURCH

(thanks to Terence Weldon at Queering the Church for the link to this article at dot.commonweal. Very interesting comments follow the article at the site. )

 

Models of the Future Church

May 9, 2010, 11:16 pm

Posted by Lisa Fullam

Back in 2004, the archdiocese of Boston announced the closure in one fell swoop of more than 18% of its parishes . In the midst of all the shock, sadness, anger and dismay, some parishes decided to refuse the order to close, and began to maintain round-the-clock vigils in the churches to keep them open. Saturday’s Boston Globe included a piece from a member of one such church. Money quote:

While the universal Catholic Church seems on the verge of imploding under the weight of its own moral crisis, the weekly gathering of this close-knit congregation generates a palpable spirituality that is rare and unique.

The St. James phenomenon (replicated across sister parishes in Massachusetts that also chose vigil over closure) is changing church culture by pioneering a post-institutional brand of grass-roots Catholicism.

I’m intrigued by this. We all know of situations of priestless parishes still under the auspices of various dioceses: a priest may zoom through to dispense the sacraments, but day-to-day pastoral care is carried out by non-ordained people. One troublesome point in these parishes is the separation of the practice of ministry from the celebration of the sacraments, in which the latter are rare special events run by strangers, not a regular part of the worship life of the community. A second concern is the lack of uniform standards for people running such churches–one parish might be run by a gifted lay minister with an M.Div., but the next might be run by a person without a shred of theological or pastoral training. 

But these “Heavens, no, we won’t go” parishes are a different kettle of fish. Instead of divorcing ministry from sacraments, these communities have formed a new model of church with generally egalitarian leadership, continuing to celebrate Eucharist as the “source and summit of the Christian life,” and developing a vibrant sense of community. The divorce here is of the community from the hierarchy of the Church. (I still worry about the theological training of the leadership. But there are lots of qualified people thereabouts–if theologically-literate leadership is important to the community, they can find people with both vocation and education to lead and/or teach.) 

We’re at a time of increasingly diverse “versions” of Catholic parish life, including the two I mention here. With or without the cooperation of Church leaders, the Church is changing. 

To which I'd like to add this quoted discussion from NCR which I posted last September:

It was Schillebeeckx who contended in his 1980 book Ministry: Leadership in the Community of Jesus Christ that the church had gone awry by connecting the faithful’s right to Eucharist to some “magical power” of the hierarchy to ordain, thereby disconnecting it from the community of Christians. He noted that the Council of Chalcedon in the fifth century had declared any ordination of a priest or deacon illegal, as well as null and void, unless the person being ordained had been chosen by a particular community to be its leader.

Because the church has basically ignored that clear directive of the early church throughout the second millennium, Schillebeeckx recommended “new possibilities” for reconnecting the Eucharist to its community roots, even if such actions contradict current church law. In “Church and Ministry,” the newly released document, the Dominicans put forward such “new possibilities” as this: “Men and women can be chosen to preside at the Eucharist by the church community; that is, ‘from below,’ and can then ask a local bishop to ordain these people ‘from above.’ ”

If, however, “a bishop should refuse a confirmation or ordination” of such persons “on the basis of arguments not involving the essence of the Eucharist, such as a requirement that deacons or priests be celibate, parishes may move forward without the bishops’ participation, remaining confident “that they are able to celebrate a real and genuine Eucharist when they are together in prayer and share bread and wine." 

taken from National Catholic Reporter interview, December 14, 2007

This quote has always had a powerful effect on me, as a daring solution to so many ills besetting the Catholic community in this time, the sexual scandals being at the top of the list. It would require extraordinary daring to implement, however, and culturally would be next to impossible to receive widespread acceptance (to judge by the comments and reactions at dot.commonweal. to the above article.) However, in those communities deprived of the services of a priest for as long as a year (1 yearly visit for confession and baptisms in some remote mountain villages in South America), the 'lay catechist' should surely be entitled to lead the community in the celebration of the Eucharist. But I've also proposed elsewhere that communities of disaffected gay Catholics, who feel bound in conscience to remain outside the formal worship of the Church, should then gather together and celebrate the Supper of the Lord.

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