The following is a e-mail by Deal Hudson of Crisis
Magazine which describes the contents of the Bishop’s letter
requesting
a plenary council. To subscribe to his excellent
e-mail letter click
here.
Dear Friend,
When I started this e-letter in April, my
primary motivation was to have a way to get urgent information to
you immediately.
There are some things that just can’t wait to
be printed in the magazine.
This is one of those things.
As you may already know, the Catholic world
has been buzzing about a confidential letter composed by eight
American bishops
in which they called for a Plenary Council to
address problems in the Church.
Journalists and pundits have been
speculating and debating about the alleged contents of the letter
and the identities of the authors. But no one really knew for
sure.
Until now.
This morning, CRISIS managed to obtain a
copy of the letter that was sent on July 18 to all the American
cardinals and
bishops. In it, a group of eight bishops asks
that a Plenary Council be called as soon as possible to discuss
the “root causes” of —
and possible solutions to — the
current crisis in the Church.
Before I get ahead of myself, let me
explain what a Plenary Council is and why this letter is so
dramatic. Basically, a
Plenary Council is a meeting of all the
bishops of a given area — in this case, the United States. This
isn’t an ordinary meeting though. It’s
the highest form of
council that can be called on a national level. It would be like a
Vatican Council for the States. In fact, the American
bishops
haven’t called a Plenary Council in more than 100
years.
And it’s much different from their
semiannual conferences, too: There, the administrative business is
done. A Plenary Council, on
the other hand, is much more
proactive, focusing on “teaching the truths of the faith” (as the
letter says). Priests and laypeople
would also be able to
participate.
The eight bishops who wrote this amazing
letter are taking a brave stand by urging discussion of those
issues that were
swept under the rug at the June bishops’
meeting. While I can’t send you the whole body of the letter, I
can share some of it with you.
First, the authors of the letter seem to
have a pretty clear understanding of the crisis. Here are a few of
the issues
they want to face head-on at the Plenary Council:
“What has happened to the life and ministry of bishops and priests
that makes us vulnerable
to the failings that have humiliated
us all? What things need to be going on so that in this cultural
milieu priests and bishops will preserve their
celibate
chastity along with all the other virtues that constitute the life
of holiness proper to pastors? How can the purification upon which
we shepherds have embarked help us, in turn, support our
people in achieving greater holiness?”
Notice the absence of wishy-washy bishop
speak. These men know there’s a problem, and they’re going to face
it squarely.
But it gets even better. The bishops get
very specific about what they hope to accomplish at the
meeting:
Goal 1: “Solemnly receiving the authentic
teaching of the Second Vatican Council…on the identity, life and
ministry
of bishops and priests; on matters of sexual morality
in general (cf. Gaudium et Spes, Humanae Vitae, Veritatis
Splendor, and Familiaris Consortio);
[and] on celibate
chastity as an authentic form of human sexuality renewed by grace
and a share in Christ’s own spousal love for His
Church.”
It’s heartening to hear these bishops raise
the issue of sexual morality as taught by Humanae Vitae, as well
as “the
very soul of holiness” for a priest! These topics have
been taboo for so long that it’s phenomenal to see bishops address
them head-on.
Goal 2: “Giving unequivocal endorsement and
force to the means outlined in the documents of the Council…to
foster the acts of virtue required of pastors and the means
needed to achieve those virtues, especially celibate chastity
(e.g., daily celebration
of the Mass, frequent Confession,
daily meditation, regular acts of asceticism, obedient submission
to Church teaching and discipline, simplicity of
life).”
You can’t argue with a return to the
fundamentals of the priesthood. This is EXACTLY what priests need
to hear: a public
endorsement of their vocation and the
support of the bishops in encouraging a real back-to-basics
approach to religious life.
Goal 3: “Confirming the bishops in the
authoritative exercise of our ministry for the health and well
being of the church,
and strengthening our coworkers in the
Presbyterate in their ministry of teaching the Gospel, especially
in regard to sexual morality, so that
we can give support to
the lay faithful in responding to their call to
holiness.”
Who hasn’t been demanding greater
accountability and action from the bishops? Clearly, these men
seem to understand what’s
really been bothering American
Catholics.
The bishops who drafted the letter also
listed the benefits of calling a Plenary Council: It “would
provide a galvanizing
focus that is authentically evangelical
and true to the Church’s identity and tradition…[witness]
unambiguously to the fact that the Church relies
on the grace
of the Holy Spirit…involve all strata of the People of God in
the experience…have maximal impact in shaping the ecclesial
culture…[and]
give a definite stamp to identifying what is
the authentic heritage of the Second Vatican
Council.”
“Galvanize”…”witness
unambiguously”…”maximal
impact”…”definite stamp”… the
“authentic”
heritage of Vatican II… These are strong words
for bishops — a group usually known more for its inaction than
its decisive action.
One last thing. Unfortunately, I can’t
reveal the names of the authors at this point. However, I can tell
you that the list
is surprising. These bishops represent the
entire theological and political spectrum. That in itself is
reassuring: The idea that we need a deep and
lasting change
isn’t limited to any political or theological ideology.
My hat is off to these eight courageous and
dedicated bishops — all that’s left now is to hope their
colleagues will follow
suit and sign on.
In 10 years or so, when this current crisis
has hopefully faded away, we may look back on this letter as the
event that
triggered the renewal of the American Catholic
Church. Let’s all say a prayer of thanks for the eight bishops who
took the first step.
Talk soon,
Deal
