Next month’s gathering will be dominated by one issue
The forthcoming ordinary general assembly of the synod of bishops is dedicated to “young people, the faith and vocational discernment”. On paper, at least. What it is really about is the global crisis of episcopal leadership. That is what reporters covering the event are going to be most interested in discussing with the synod fathers, and that is what most of the bishops will talk about in the small sessions and coffee breaks and meal times, which is when the real work at these sorts of gatherings gets done.
The set pieces in the general sessions, too, will somehow be about the crisis, even if they don’t mention it explicitly. While they may be couched in terms of responding to the needs of young people in their formation in the faith and supporting their efforts at living Christian lives, the subtext will always be: how can bishops effectively teach the faith and credibly govern the lives of Christians if they blithely inhabit a culture that perpetuates corruption of the worst kind?
Several bishops, including the prominent and outspoken Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, have called for a postponement of the meeting, or for a change to the agenda. At least two others – one a favourite of Pope Francis who was hand-picked to participate in the proceedings, Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey – have announced they will not be taking part.
The Pope’s recent changes to the law governing the synod of bishops – including the preparation, conduct and conclusion of synod assemblies – adds another significant wrinkle. The new apostolic constitution, Episcopalis communio, basically rubber-stamps the de facto procedure of the last two synod assemblies under the general secretary Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, who, critics allege, has been heavy-handed in his leadership. If Francis was disturbed by his handling of matters, the new law doesn’t show it.
By any measure, the preparatory phase of the synod assembly on young people, faith, and vocational discernment was carefully managed. Participants in the preparations occasionally suggested the prep work was perhaps too strictly supervised. Observers from every part of the Catholic spectrum joined them in those concerns.
Meanwhile, observers and analysts are not the only ones with doubts over the bishops’ capacity to say anything credible to anyone at present. Elizabeth Bruenig, the Washington Post’s gutsy young investigative reporter and convert to Catholicism, has said there is little besides stepping aside that bishops – at least the ones personally guilty of gross negligence – can do to prevent the disintegration of trust between the faithful and the hierarchical leadership. “They need to turn over their documents and resign,” she has said.
The problem is that, without a full and independent investigation, there is no way to know the extent of the rot – and that means the entire US episcopate is under a heavy and persistent cloud of suspicion. The same is true, mutatis mutandis, for other bodies of bishops around the world.
Germany’s bishops earlier this month saw an internal report leaked, which detailed thousands of cases of abuse. A study of the Catholic Church leadership in the Netherlands last week claimed that as many as half of Dutch bishops over the past 70 years have been personally guilty of a cover-up – some of them guilty of hiding their own wrong-doing and that of their episcopal cohorts – while a once Catholic Ireland has become essentially lost to the faith as a result of the Irish bishops’ protracted failure to deal with their own crisis.
Then there is Chile, where the corruption of bishops is so widespread that Pope Francis prompted them to resign en masse, and where government prosecutors are investigating both individual dioceses and the national bishops’ conference.
Honduras is also embroiled in crisis – though Pope Francis continues to support his trusted adviser, Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, despite allegations of financial mismanagement and apparent failure to tackle impropriety on the part of one of his chief lieutenants, who resigned in July amid allegations of sexual misconduct with seminarians. (The cardinal strongly denies the claims.)
Throughout this year, too, reports have been emerging of worldwide clergy abuse of Religious women. An Associated Press report in June cited internal documents to show the problem had been on the Vatican’s radar since at least the 1990s. Uganda featured prominently in the story, which found the problem to be “global and pervasive”.
In India, one bishop – Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar – is facing rape charges, while another – Cardinal George Alencherry of the Syro-Malabar Church – has seen his patriarchal see in effect placed in receivership while an investigation into alleged property fraud and kickback schemes runs its course. (Both deny the claims.)
The #MeToo generation of Catholics is not likely to be ready to hear lessons from these men on how to live a Christian life. The real question is: are these men willing to listen to the young people?
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