Sunday, May 09, 2010

No Litmus Test For Catholics?

This New York Times story about the ministry of the on-leave Father Robert J. Bowers perfectly describes the current situation in the American Catholic Church.  Many Catholics, even the elderly ones, think they can be "Catholic" without participating in the regular sacramental life of the church that traditionally constitutes the litmus test of membership. Unfortunately, there isn't a single bishop, cardinal or pope who would agree with that, and if Bowers wants to return to the active ministry, he'll have to side with the hierarchy.

According to Bowers, obedience is a two-way street built on mutual trust. This instantly brought me back to my last meeting with my bishop almost thirty years ago. I sat in his office feeling very small on the visitor side of his enormous desk as I explained to him that I could not bring myself to accept the parish assignment he was offering me, and again pleaded with him to keep his promise to send me back to Rome to finish my studies. He became enraged and shouted "I am your ordinary! You promised obedience to me when you were ordained!" I was shown the door and told that I had no time to think about this and that I would be expected to move into that parish immediately. In the long hallway, embarrassed chancery staff looked away as I passed. I had become a problem. A willful child. Bold. Cheeky. Bad. I left the building realizing that for the first time in my life, I was entirely on my own.

I had to laugh when I read these words of Father Bowers:

He chuckled as he recalled certain aspects of his old life as a parish priest. “In almost 20 years, I never paid a bill, I never vacuumed,” he said. “Now I do all these things. There’s something very humanizing about cleaning the toilet.”

My husband says I still don't vacuum.

2 comments:

Birdie said...

I finished reading this story minutes ago. It is heartbreaking. Bowers and his parish are what some would crudely term "collateral damage." The innocent are being tested in ways that will change the church. If they stay, it will be for the better.

Interesting, though, isn't it, that disobedience is what saved you and brought you to the point of being able to be an agent of change.

BobinCT said...

"Many Catholics, even the elderly ones, think they can be "Catholic" without participating in the regular sacramental life of the church that traditionally constitutes the litmus test of membership. Unfortunately, there isn't a single bishop, cardinal or pope who would agree with that."

That's the beauty--and significance--of what is happening in the Church. Lay people are taking control of their own Faith life, regardless of what the hierarchy says. This started with Humanae Vitae and is accelerating now at a rapid pace because of the sex abuse scandals. I believe that out of it a "New Catholic Church" will emerge, grounded in Love, not politics and strong-arm tactics. The Holy Spirit continues to work through human history.