Of the two images of the celebration of the Mass, which is less clerical, that is, involving the looks and demeanor of the priest and his personality and piety?
Moving forward in our Catholic Church in addressing our worldwide scandal of clericalism in the life of the Church and her liturgy since the Second Vatican Council, we need to hold the clergy and the laity accountable to both civil and canon law which was mocked and ridiculed by the same clergy, religious and laity in the 1960's and in no small part played a role in this scandal. No one is above civil and canon law, no one!
To heal from the scandal that has enveloped our Church, much of it media generated by inadequate and sometimes malicious reporting, we must move forward by:
1. Showing as much concern and outreach for the healing of victims as possible including financial settlements for pain and suffering
2. Fighting in the most Christian and fair way, lawyers who are exploiting this scandal and its victims for financial gain for themselves and financial ruin of dioceses and the Church
3. Rigid Church law to guide bishops in the management of their priests and other personnel with sanctions against bishops who mismanage these situations
4. Education of the laity in terms of sexual abuse and warning signs, such as Virtus programs
5. Overcoming clericalism, meaning a mentality that the clergy are above the law, either civil law or canon law
6. Accountability for the bishop and his clergy on the local level, i.e. evaluation instruments that utilize the laity in this evaluating process
7. As a part of accountability, holding the local clergy's feet to the fire when it comes to the proper celebration of the Mass, that is doing it by the book, following the General Instruction of the Roman Missal and following mandates concerning the implementation of Summorum Pontificum and eventually the new translation of the English Missal. The laity should demand dignified liturgies celebrated by the book and as Canon and Liturgical law permits. No more should priests do their own thing and make themselves the "star of the show!"
8. Make sure all advisory councils of parishes are in place and utilized by pastors and bishops. Make sure the bishop has a diocesan pastoral council to assist him (which is in canon law).
9. Proper screening of applicants for the seminary on the diocesan level and once they get to the seminary, utilizing the laity in this screening process, including their evaluation of these candidates.
10. A mandatory pastoral year after Second Theology with pastors properly trained to mentor and evaluate these seminarians, including a small group of laity to assist the pastor. I say after second theology because it is hope that in two years of pre-theology where well intentioned candidates who have no grounding in what our Church actually teaches or how she prays as well as her devotional life, can be brought up to speed and then two years of theology where they can really have some credibility and skills in the parish as teachers and would-be priests of the faith, but in training to become credible and reliable leaders of the Church.
11. If candidates for the priesthood are still befuddled about their vocation after the pastoral year and prior to their call to be a deacon, then they should be released for no less than two years, to go and find a job, make a living and discern within the context of everyday life as a lay person if God and the Church should call them to Holy Orders. Seminarians who are still on the fence about their vocation in third and fourth theology need a swift kick in the pants and out of formation into the real world.We don't need to coddle these men!
I'm afraid that out in the Church, there are clergy and religious who think they are above evaluation and censure and this includes bishops. How many Catholics in academic circles derided Cardinal Ratzinger in his time as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, when he evaluated and reprimanded theologians who were deconstructing the Catholic faith? These theologians thought themselves above critique and censure!
In the past seminaries have been evaluated by the Vatican. How many Catholics in these circles derided the Vatican for this investigation which in effect was an evaluation and a call to accountability? Today, religious orders of women are being investigated. How many of these women religious, especially leaders in these communities have balked, derided and chastised the pope and the Vatican for this investigation and evaluation as though they are above such? This is all part and parcel of this on-going scandal of doing your own thing and to hell with authority and evaluations, a mentality of being above the law and the Church's hierarchy! How many of these women religious act in the most clerical and divisive way by doing their own thing regardless of Church mandates, teaching and canon law?
How many bishops and priests get away with abusing the liturgy and making it up as they go? Examples of this can be found on this blog and in other videos and images on the internet? Are we above the mandates of the Church when it comes to liturgical and canon law and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal? Are we above Summorum Pontificum?
In the past, priests and pastors in particular, acted in an autocratic way with little or no consultation with their parishioners or even the bishop in decision making, either pastoral, financial or administratively. Today, for the most part, structures are in place to overcome this. Bishops need to make sure these structures are in place and being utilized on the local and diocesan level.
However, where clericalism is being overcome in administration, a new and more dangerous clericalism has entered the Liturgy in the last 45 years, one with the priest facing the people, and the people facing each other and the purpose of the Liturgy hijacked or obfuscated by architecture or mentality. The priest is not the star of the show nor is the choir, lector, communion ministers or the congregation! Any thing we can do to downplay the personality of the priest and the laity during the Mass, such as Ad Orientem celebrations should once again be seriously considered, studied and yes implemented! But we have to work in tandem with our pope and bishops in this regard and bishops need to be open to what our pope is saying and modeling for the entire Church in this regard.
Now three blasts from the past: The first an editorial I wrote for the Augusta Chronicle in 2004, then two articles I wrote for or diocesan newspaper:
This is an article that I wrote as an "Op Ed" piece for the Augusta Chronicle. It appeared in their editorial page on March 1, 2004.
Catholic hierarchy facing up to days of reckoning for sex abuse
TWO YEARS AGO, I spent three hours on Austin Rhodes' afternoon radio show discussing the scandal of sexual abuse of minors by clergy in the Catholic Church.
Mr. Rhodes made an accurate observation when he stated that the problem in the Catholic Church stemmed not only from priests who molested minors but, more importantly, from bishops whose decisions concerning those under their charge enabled molestations to occur again and again for decades.
I THANKED MR. Rhodes for his valid insight, and I also acknowledged that if not for the scrutiny of the secular and religious press - especially through the investigative reporting of the Boston Globe and The National Catholic Reporter - the Church would still be dealing with this phenomena in totally inadequate secretive ways.
I also mentioned in that interview that the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ, and that Jesus Christ was going to use whatever means available to reform and purify His church either internally, externally, sideways or upside-down. And Jesus Christ has not disappointed.
For over two years, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in this country has been having its day of reckoning. This day of reckoning came Friday, when an unprecedented study commissioned by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops on the scope and nature of this scandal was released to the public by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
RESULTS OF THIS study showed that 4 percent of Catholic clergy since 1950 have molested scores of young people - the majority of them teen-age boys. This study will also indicate not only the human tragedy of victims abused by trusted church leaders, but also the amounts of money paid to settle lawsuits.
No other institution in America has provided such an in-depth study of the phenomena of sexual abuse of minors. Therefore, there will be no comparisons available in terms of the percentage of people in other religious and secular institutions who have committed similar crimes over the course of 50 years.
The Catholic priesthood will stand alone. It is hoped that the press will demand an accounting of other religious institutions, public schools and other secular and religious agencies that dealt exclusively with young people for the past 50 years.
THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE of Savannah, of which Augusta is a part, has released its statistics going back 50 years. It shows that four priests out of over 600 who have served in this diocese have been accused of molesting a total of 13 minors. Most of the accusations go back to the early '60s and '70s. The number of victims may, in fact, be low, that is, not be the actual number of victims, since many people, especially adult men, are reluctant to come forward to share their histories of sexual victimization with anyone - let alone those in authority and what is perceived by them to be homosexual victimization by a priest.
The Rev. Wayland Brown was convicted last year of child sexual abuse in Maryland. He spent many years in the Augusta area, although he has not had an assignment from the Catholic Diocese of Savannah since 1987. Bishop Kevin Boland requests that anyone who may have experienced abuse by him or any active priest to contact the Catholic Diocese of Savannah.
THROUGH THE prodding of the secular and religious media, and reform groups within the Catholic Church, the bishops of the Catholic Church are finally leading the way in addressing the sad fact of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy.
More importantly, they are taking steps to rectify the pain and suffering caused to scores of young people victimized over the course of decades through the abuse of trust of some priests, and the bishops' failure to act in appropriate ways to reach out to victims and dismiss abusers.
The Catholic hierarchy will have a long season of penance to make up for the residue of these sins and crimes. Yet the message of our Church is forgiveness, healing and reconciliation in Jesus Christ.
WE BELIEVE that where sin abounds, God's grace is even greater. We have a Savior who, through His cross and resurrection, has redeemed the world!
(Editor's note: The writer is the pastor of the Catholic Church of the Most Holy Trinity in Augusta.)
Crisis in the priesthood?
By Father Allan J. McDonald
(Originally printed in the Diocese of Savannah's newspaper, Southern Cross, February 2002)
When I was growing up, my father, who was born in 1910, was of the school of thought that keeping scandal quiet was beneficial for families and society. You simply did not air your dirty laundry in public. This mentality was a part of Church and society well into the 1970’s. The lay person was to be protected from hearing about scandals that befell doctors, lawyers, teachers and members of the clergy, Catholic, Protestant and Jewish. While this secrecy was well intentioned, serious pathology was kept in the dark. Sometimes this exacerbated the problem and perpetuated dysfunctional situations.
Fortunately or unfortunately, we live in the information age. We live in the culture of Oprah and Jerry Springer. The most sordid of details about people’s lives are available to us over the Internet and on television. Court TV gives us an unedited view of the crimes people commit with all the uncensored salacious details. Our society has become couch-potato voyeurs interested in the most lurid details of scandal. Scandal sells!
And now the dirty little secret of child sexual abuse by members of our society and by some in the priesthood is being aired for all to see and hear. The secret and unsuccessful way the church has handled this scandal in the priesthood in the past has fueled a controversy that threatens to undermine the credibility and teaching authority of the Church. What is the person in the pew to make of all the bad news concerning some of their clergy? Did bishops act in bad faith in the manner in which they handled this crisis in their own dioceses?
In retrospect, we can recognize the fact that many bishops have handled these cases extremely poorly. However, we must recognize that many bishops in fact were given bad advice from those in psychiatry concerning the treatment of pedophiles and the possibility of reintegrating them back into church ministry. Loving the sinner, but hating the sin also compounded the problem along with the Church’s emphasis on healing and forgiveness. Concern for the priest and his ministry seemed to take precedence over protecting children and healing the victimized. What was often lost was the great damage that was done to children who were abused. They seemed to be only an after thought. The career of the troubled priest had to be safeguarded.
Another complicating aspect to this whole problem is the Church’s belief that when a man is ordained his commitment to the Church and the Church’s commitment to him are like wedding vows, until death do us part, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. In other words, it is extremely difficult following church law for a bishop to fire a priest for bad behavior. The bishop must do all he can to rehabilitate and reintegrate the wayward priest. Treatment facilities for therapy for sick priests are scattered throughout our country. To a certain extent this has led to a form a “clericalism” that sees the role of the priest and the protection of his privileged place in the Church as the most important thing to be maintained.
Many in the media and even in the Church charge that mandatory celibacy required by Church legislation is the culprit. Some actually believe that celibacy causes pedophilia. Such a belief betrays the evidence of the total numbers of child molesters in our society. The vast majority of them are heterosexual and married. It is a pathology that afflicts a certain percentage of people in our society in general. Its causes are not fully understood. Some say it is genetic, others say it is learned while others say it is the result of the person having been abused himself as a child. There is no real consensus. From a Catholic point of view, all of us inherit original sin and thus our spiritual genetics make us susceptible to sickness of mind, body and spirit.
We can no more say that marriage is the cause of incest as to say that celibacy is the cause of pedophilia. There are a certain percentage of people in the general population of heterosexuals and homosexuals who have sexual feelings for children and teenagers. Most of us would prefer not to think about this issue. However, do not be deluded into thinking that there is no sexual abuse of children by a similar percentage of married clergy of the Protestant churches. Also, be aware that there is an inherent anti-Catholic bias in our society and media.
The dilemma for the Catholic Church is that priests are wedded to dioceses or religious orders. Protestant and Jewish clergy are normally hired and fired by their congregations. Usually no bishop intervenes to make right or wrong decisions concerning the errant minister as in the Catholic Church. Catholic dioceses keep records on offending priests with a trail of evidence that most Protestant denominations do not maintain on their clergy.
Child sexual abuse is an emotional issue and many Catholics are rightly angry at the manner in which cases in the Church have been handled. As well, many Catholics are confused by the whole issue of child sexual abuse by anyone let alone a member of the clergy. How is the Holy Spirit redeeming the horrible situation of clergy sexual abuse of children? First of all, justice for those who have been victimized is taking place. Secondly, a purification of the priesthood is taking place as painful as it is. Thirdly, the clergy and laity are being made aware of the greater problem of child sexual abuse that is present in our society. This awareness may lead all to be more vigilant in protecting our children from those who prey upon them. Pedophiles are to be found in every profession and vocation including marriage. Bringing this dirty little secret to the light while painful is healthy for all of society and especially for our children. However, we want to be careful not to overreact or to become paranoid about those who relate to our children. Common sense must prevail.
Bernard Cardinal Law, the Archbishop of Boston, has stated that the Archdiocese of Boston will have a zero-tolerance for clergy who sexually abuse children. This is a dramatic new policy and many rightfully say that it is about time. His initiative and leadership in this regard will embolden other bishops throughout the country to do the same. The Vatican is also making new and more stringent laws concerning this issue. Our own Diocese of Savannah has had long standing policies concerning child sexual abuse and the reporting of Church workers, including priests, to the proper authorities. God willing, the Catholic Church and the priesthood will come out of this dark night of the soul stronger, more vibrant and accountable to God, civil authority and those we serve especially the most innocent.
While some bishops have made bad choices in dealing with the issue of the shameful activity of a minority of priests who have tainted the reputation of all, there is reason to have hope and be proud of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is on the forefront of dealing with the issue of child sexual abuse head-on and has much to share with society in general. I do not despair for the priesthood or for the Church. The gates of hell, our human weakness and sinfulness will not destroy the Church. She cannot be destroyed. The clergy and laity will come out of this much stronger, wiser and more holy!
From my archives, 2002 AD
Crisis in the Priesthood? Part II
By Father Allan J. McDonald
(Originally appeared in the Diocese of Savannah's newspaper "Southern Cross" in April of 2002)
Prior to the late 1970’s, most public institutions including the Catholic Church tried to keep serious scandal quiet for the good of the institution, the accused and the victims. You simply did not air your dirty laundry in public. Even the media helped to protect the lay person and institutions themselves from pubic reports of scandals that befell doctors, lawyers, teachers, scoutmasters, and member of the clergy, Catholic, Protestant and Jewish. While this secrecy was well intentioned, serious pathology was kept in the dark. This often exacerbated the problem and perpetuated dysfunctional and sometimes criminal situations.
With the advent of talk shows on Television in the late 1970’s and the subsequent development of the information age, including the Internet, a dramatic cultural shift has taken place in our society. Things that people would have only mentioned in secret in days gone by, they are now willing to broadcast to the world. This is not entirely a negative thing. It has emboldened people who had been victimized to come forward with their stories. It has brought light to dark, secret areas. If properly expressed, openness can lead to healing, understanding and reconciliation.
The reports from the media concerning the sexual abuse of minors by priests should not be viewed entirely as an “anti-Catholic” conspiracy by the media. While there is certainly a “slant” in much of the reporting, overall it has done a service to the Church. Those who were victimized are experiencing some long awaited justice. The priesthood is being purged. Bishops are taking a more common sense approach in developing stricter diocesan policies. Seminaries will be more effective in screening candidates for the priesthood and more aware of the necessity for healthy sexual maturity if one is to embrace the celibate commitment.
To understand what is happening in the reporting of clergy sexual abuse of minors, we need to be very clear on terminology.
An adult male (women are very rarely afflicted with this disease) who has sexual attractions for pre-pubescent children is usually diagnosed as a Pedophile. This is a serious mental illness that has no cure short of castration. True pedophiles can have hundreds of victims before they are stopped.
Most true pedophiles are heterosexual in their adult sexual relationships. The sexual abuse of children has little to do with the gender of the child. It has more to do with the smallness, smoothness and vulnerability of the child. It has to do with power and control over a child for self-gratification.
True pedophilia in the priesthood is extremely rare. Celibacy is not its cause. There have been notorious criminal cases involving priests pedophiles but these are the exception rather than the rule.
The greater problem in the priesthood is sexual abuse of teenagers, those between the ages of 13 to 17. This is not true pedophilia, but rather a condition known as “Ephebophilia.” This is more a case of arrested development. The perpetrator prefers to socialize with teenagers and in fact is emotionally a teenager himself or herself (women can be perpetrators also). This can sometimes lead to inappropriate sexual contact. Oftentimes the perpetrator deludes himself into thinking this contact is consensual. He is emotionally and morally immature. Psychological treatment can help this person to grow out of his or her immaturity or arrested development.
Those who are attracted to teenagers are so out of a heterosexual or homosexual orientation. All of us know of instances of adult heterosexual men who take advantage of teenage girls. There is less of a stigma concerning this type of abuse as when a homosexual man takes advantage of a teenage boy. But make no mistake, in either case, the adult bears the responsibility for the action even if the teenager is experienced beyond their age in sexual matters.
Unfortunately, the majority of cases concerning priests are of a homosexual nature involving teenage boys. In most cases, bishops have sent offending priests to in-patient facilities for therapy. Many have responded well to treatment and were returned to active ministry without ever having another incident. With new “zero-tolerance” policies in most dioceses, we are seeing that even these rehabilitated priests are being removed from active ministry. The laity can now rest assured that no known sex offender will be returned to active ministry. However, it must be emphasized that out of the nearly 47,000 priests in this country, the vast majority of priests do not participate in this type of deviant behavior.
One thing must be made clear. Not all homosexuals are attracted to teenage boys, just as not all heterosexual men are attracted to teenage girls. Those who are attracted and act upon their attraction usually exhibit traits of arrested development and immaturity in the area of human relationships and sexuality whether they are homosexual or heterosexual.
The challenge for all of us, clergy and laity is to better understand human sexuality and the church’s moral teachings in this area. We must be educated and we must at an age appropriate time educate our children.
How do you talk with your children about the sexual abuse of minors by people in positions of authority whether that person be a relative, teacher, scout master, coach, clergy or stranger? Parents themselves must be educated and wise about the interest that any adult pays to their child. Children need to be wise as well and know the difference between good touch and bad touch. They need to feel free and comfortable to talk to a responsible adult when inappropriate advances are made toward them. This type of education must begin in the home. Parents should never be naïve or silent with their children about this subject.
19 comments:
That is wonderful to read. I re-read a couple of times and came away more impressed each time. The idea of using the laity is very good, but we need a good scrubbing, too. The active laity are typically hard Left types that have some very destructive objectives themselves. We need to clean our house, too.
I remember very well these articles! I also remember the "town meeting" you held for our parish in Augusta that my husband and I attended (a local psychiatrist and your office manager sat on the dais with you). The meeting was poorly attended by parishioners (about 25 out of some 700 adult parishioners), but we left the meeting praising your courage and commitment to transparency. We also came away with an overriding sense that there existed grave misunderstanding in those early days of 2002 about the true nature of the priestly sex scandal -- this being that the actual problem was not pedophilia, but homosexual molestation of young men. (The following months and years, of course, have produced vast evidence that this was true.) When we raised this point during the 2002 town meeting, a parishioner from the back of the room shouted “homophobes”. We were mortified. The point was quickly dropped, but our sense at the time was that we had done permanent damage to ourselves in the parish community and in the eyes of our beloved parish priest. We never managed to correct this before our priest was transferred in 2005…
Those were difficult days in 2002; by 2004, much more had been revealed in the secular press (spawning a plethora of books on the subject), including the truth of cover-ups and malfeasance by some bishops of our Church. You courageously submitted to that radio interview, and wrote another article. The case you cite, Wayland Brown, is a true, locally painful representation of the problem (we knew him in 1977 here at MHT); he committed monstrous acts while still in seminary and then again as an ordained priest. It took another 10 years and a new bishop to take him out of ministerial duties.
Our beloved Church has suffered and is being purged. As it all plays out, we will let God do His work because he loves His Church more than we can fathom. His Son died for His Church, and rose again to conquer sin and death. We will survive, and good holy priests such as Fr. Allan McDonald will lead us, thanks be to God!
Father your words are true and relevent yesterday as they are today. The articles are clear and concise. They are consistant with what is being divulged today. Although the MSM has come back with a vengence. I think the Holy Spirit is giving its' Church the opportunity to heal further and show the healing and strengthening that has already taken place. What has been implemented by the USCCB will be implemented through out the world. I'm not condoning the behavior of our affected clergy, but they have been given a reprive to set things right. My hope is that all Catholics, for that matter all people see the good (Pope Benedict XVI) that is taking place as the result of uncoving this scandal. We should and will be accountable for our own salvation. We, the laity need to change our approach to our lax Catholic worship. God is the reason we give thanks and show up Sunday. God gave us his Son and this Church to "work out" our salvation. Yes the work is done, but we must adhere to teachings of the Catholic Church, Absolutely! Enough is Enough!!!
I think that "clericalism" is more, much more, about the attitude the priest brings with him to the altar than about the direction he faces. Ad Orientam priests can be every bit as infected with clericalism as those who face the People of God.
Clericalism existed LONG before priests faced the People of God. Therefore, the suggestion that facing the People of God causes clericalism is, well, un-historical.
Dear Pater, if you read my blog post more closely, I do say that clericalism existed in a very severe form prior to the council and that calls for collaborative and consultative councils in the diocese and parish was meant to help break that clericalism. Privilege, unquestioning privilege is another aspect of clericalism that has a very long and inglorious history in the church and the priesthood.
What we have only experienced since the revised Mass is a new clericalism around the manner in which the priest celebrates the Mass, with his piety, looks, demeanor and creativity at the center. If you look at the image of the Pope celebrating Mass this morning in the post above this one, you'd never know it was the pope celebrating the Mass--it could have been any priest, bishop or cardinal. This orientation places us all on an equal "celebrating" field!
"This orientation (ad orientam) places us ("priest, bishop, or cardinal") or an equal "celebrating" field.
You could not be more wrong here, Good Father.
Those among the ordained who do not possess the fullness of Holy Orders, that is, those who have not been ordained to the episcopate, are not "equal" to those who are bishops. By celebrating "ad orientam" no bishop gives up - no bishops can give up - the distinct ontological difference that he received at his episcopal ordination.
You allow your fervor for promoting "ad orientam" celebrations to cloud your ecclesiology and your understanding of sacramental theology. Facing the liturgical east, Father McDonald, you are NOT equal to any bishop, including the Bishop of Rome.
Theology is a science, and words and phrases are our weights and measures. Your intemperate expression of "equality" is an example of theological weights and measures gone bad, an example of muddled pseudo-theologizing based not on clear thinking and Tradition (theology), but mere personal preference. Think about it again. Are you really the ecclesiological "equal" of your bishop, sacramenmtally, when you celebrate "ad orientam?"
And isn't the essence of the sacramental experience here what matters, rather than the direction the priest-celebrant faces?
Of course, anyone reading my post would know that "placing us on an equal liturgical footing" refers to each "class" of the ordained, the pope after all is the Bishop of Rome and looking at the picture of the Holy Father celebrating Mass ad orientem it could have been any bishop or priest for that matter celebrating the Mass, but in fact it is the same person celebrating no matter who is celebrating, pope, bishop or priest, it is Jesus Christ the eternal High Priest which each of the degrees of ordination show forth at Holy Mass. I say, let Jesus show forth more clearly and the bishop and priest's personality, looks and demeanor decrease. I stand by my remarks, they're so crystal clear.
Jesus was fully God and fully human. As a human, He had "personality, looks, and demeanor." Did these interfere with his mission to save the world? I think not.
Attempting to hide the "personality, looks, and demeanor" of the priest (or bishop or cardinal) who celebrates mass is, at least, a diminution of the mystery of the Incarnation. At worst, it is an implicit denial of the Incarnation. It is in and through the priest (or bishop or cardinal)with, not in spite of, his "personality, looks and demeanor" that Christ is present in the celebrant of the mass.
As you know, denying Christ's humanity led to Docetism, Marcionism, Gnosticism, Apollinarianism, Modalism, Patripassionism, Sabellianism, and Adoptionism. One must take care that one's personal liturgical preferences actually comport with the Church's Traditional beliefs.
Hiding the humanity of the celebrant (priest, bishop, or cardinal) is, I suggest, not a good harmonization between our belief and our liturgy.
Father Johnson, saying mass facing the liturgical east, in the manner which was common for "most" of the 2000 year history of the Church, does not hide the humanity of the Priest, it removes his personality and places the priest in a position of leading his congregation in prayer to the Lord, and not saying the prayers to them. You know full well that is what Father McDonald is saying yet you wish to nit pick at his syntax and accuse him of placing himself on an equal level with the Pope among other things.
Perhaps you need a Blog of your own to provide an outlet for your ideas on liturgy and theology.
Temp, I am not "nit-picking" here. In the realm of theology, words and phrases must be chosen very, very carefully. I find that Fr. McDonald often muddles our theology by his poor choice of words. (In my opinion, this is often a result of his not thinking through what he is saying/writing, but dashing off a reactionary response.) This can and does lead to misunderstanding and an inadequate presentation of our beliefs and practices.
"Removing a priest's personality" is tantamount to denying his humanity. Priests are not meant to be drones or automatons who simply read words printed on a page. Liturgy is not accomp-lished by reciting a text with no feeling or emotion.
The human person - the WHOLE human person, which includes personality - is ordained for the service of the Church. No priest can or should set aside an essential element of his humanity when presiding any more than a lay man or woman should set aside some part of his/her humanity in order to properly join in the celebration.
Priests and people come to the liturgy as whole beings. None are perfect, none are perfectly disposed; but, you see, therein lies the true glory and majesty of our liturgy. God, in His great love, has given the mass to the imperfect, to be celebrated by the imperfect, so that we can understand the saving mysteries of the only "celebrant" who was perfect, Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately Pater Ignotus does not apply the hermeneutic of continuity to his remarks as he has never celebrated an EF Mass as a priest and thus does not know that in the EF Mass the humanity and divinity of Christ is present in the congregation just as it is in the OF where the laity with their representative the priest form with Christ who is the head of the Church the entire Body of Christ, human and divine, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. It is here that the human and divine intersect and become One. The issue of personality driven celebrants with smirks of piety on their face as some sort of clerical witness to devotion is far removed from what our worship of God should be, where all are one in Christ, in His complete Personhood, Human and Divine. This has very little to do with personality, or looks, but with salvation, being made perfect in the One who redeems us.
Pater Ignotus, The terms personality and humanity are very different. A physician, for instance, who maintains clinical professionalism hardly removes his humanity. The Priest diminishes himself that Christ may be more fully the focus. On the other hand, Priests who smile, laugh, cry, gesture and wiggle quite ceratinly remove any reverence and "Divinity" from their celebration of the Mass. You are misusing and misunderstanding the entire concept. Also, you misuse the term "ontological" in your earlier droppings. A Bishop is not of a different order of being, or substance, from a Priest. Brush up on your philosophy. And, what is this thing you have for attacking Fr. MacDonald? You must need his approval very badly. But, thanks be to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that even an obnoxious and captious Priest such as yourself can mediate the Blessings and Mercies of Christ to us all. Miracles continue in our very midst.
No one makes Christ more present by diminishing him/herself. It is in a person's complete humanity, including personality, demeanor, smiles, tears, etc., that Christ is Really and Truly present.
It is our sins, not our smiles, that must decrease so that Jesus may increase in and through us.
The whole person is Baptized, the whole person is Confirmed, the whole person receives the Body and Blood of Jesus under the forms of bread and wine. The whole person is Ordained for the service of the Church, not some cookie-cutter archetypal "human" who is devoid of personality.
This whole line of thought - that the humanity of the priest somehow impedes the presence of Christ in the liturgy - is very troubling and, I must say, contrary to our understanding of the Incarnation and the liturgy.
If all that is needed is a drone who reads from a printed page, why do we screen candidates for personality disorders before accepting them into seminary? Why? Because we WANT men with healthy, well-formed personalities, because it is thwe whole person who acts in persona christi.
Priests can muck up the liturgy just as readily in the EF as in the OF. The EF is no panacea for irreverence in priests, nor in congregations. The difference, it seems to me, is that in the EF no one knows that mucking up is taking place. It is hidden under the edge of the whispered Latin rug. And hiding our weaknesses is a sign of psychological immaturity.
Give me a mature, smiling priest who faces the congregation and leads them reverently in prayer over a troubled, deviant who hides behind the form of the liturgy any day.
A healthy, mature priest does not need the Liturgy to shore up his personality or make it known to an enthralled audience! He's not performing a show! His healthy personality will be known in his pastoral duties, in the rectory, at play and how he interacts with the faithful before and after Mass. To use the Mass to display one's super piety, overall intellectual superiority, and other narcissistic tendencies is not a healthy priest and congregations which do the same are not healthy either, especially those congregations that enjoy their narcissistic priests bubbling with superficial smiles, dubious devotional expressions on their face and so forth. I stand by my remarks on clericalism in the liturgy and I am well pleased, Pater Ignotus, that you have reinforced my sentiments very clearly in your comments. We need healthy priests and healthy, personality alive priests who relate well to God and people have no problem with Ad Orientem Masses either in the Ordinary or Extraordinary form, for they know that the Mass is not about them, their looks or their piety, but about the Church receiving what God makes present to us, the One Sacrifice of Christ in an unbloodied way which the Heavenly Father accepts and embraces and all who are united to Christ in that sacrifice, the priest and laity and all others holding onto the coattails or chasuble of the Church. Another good image for why the altar serve should lift the chasuble at the consecration. Just thought of that myself now through your inspiration!
Pater Ignotus, the "humanity" of the priest is quite different from his "personality." Get it? You are stating the issue in extremis to create an either/or that does not exist. Remember, "we are the vessel and not the treasure." Personality can very well get in the way of mediating the Sacraments. For instance, if a Priest told me he voted for Obama, I would quite possibly go to another Church to receive Communion, not wanting to be ministered to by a moron. Better that I not know at all. Likewise, if I know that a Priest does not care for Pope Benedict, hates the EF or, perhaps, has theological doubts about the Real Presence, or leans toward Arianism, then that would discourage me from receiving from him even though I know that these things do not impede the efficacy of God's Grace working through him. So, the Priest, by being too chummy, in effect tempts a parishioner to fall. The Apostle Paul says that this is a no-no. Fr. MacDonald walks the line very well. He and I talk, have coffee, and discuss theology...but, he never behaves like a chum or a buddy. When I am in his presence, I can never forget that he is my Priest, my Confessor, and in persona Christi. It is called "pastoral identity," and he understands and embodies that very well.
Or, perhaps you like the way the Baptists do it, which is the logical progression of what you are advocating.
So, a priest who is opposed to the "personality" of priests being present during the liturgy, as you are, Good Father, would, on principle, NEVER accept an invitation to preside at a wedding in another parish in a distant city.
He would tell the couple, "No, we priests are all equal when we stand at the altar, so I cannot accept your kind invitation. Although I am your "personal" friend and although you have a specific affection for me and my personality, I will decline. The priest in your parish is every bit as ordained as I, so I encourage you to ask him to preside at your wedding."
You'd say that, unless this whole "cult of personality" thing is a red herring, wouldn't you?
I would like to reiterate that the personality of the priest outside of Mass and yes, maybe during the homily can come into play and when I receive an invitation to celebrate a wedding or a funeral that it is because I am an engaging person outside of Mass and yes, maybe at the homily, but apart from that I'd prefer my piety to be hidden, like in a closet and ad orientem during Mass is the closest thing we have to that closet, closing the door and letting your heavenly father see your piety and also scrutinize your heart.
What pinanv525 said about "pastoral identity" and the comparison with a physician is quite appropriate.
As a matter of fact this ties into the topic of maintaining a professional clergy/laity distance which was blogged about earlier.
Without maintaining a sense of pastoral or professional identity the laity often subconciusly expects the priest to be 'like one of us' and the priest subconciously loses that sense of identity and lines get crossed and blurred, then all sorts of temptations creep in and before you know it, vocations are abandoned (and this applies to Sisters' sense of religious identity, clergy/laity distance, and vocations too) most everyone has forgotten just what a rare vessel the priest is and then the pope has to declare a Year for Priests so as to get his priests thinking right and the laity respecting them again.
Since we're discussing the 'personality' of the priest, shouldn't we respect the wishes of the priests whose personality is such that they wish to look up to God during Holy Mass without hundreds of people looking at him?
"I would like to reiterate that the personality of the priest outside of mass and yes, maybe during the homily, can come into play when I receive an invitation to celebrate a wedding or a funeral that is is because I am an engaging person outside of mass and yes, maybe at the homily, but apart from that I'd prefer that my piety be hidden like in a closet and ad orientam during mass is the closest thing we have to that closet, closing the door and letting your heavenly father see your piety and also scrutinize your heart."
Someone who, like me, remembers how to diagram a sentence, diagram THAT whopper - I dare you!
I just don't think, Fr. McDonald, that one can rail against the "cult of personality" in one post and then laud the importance of personality (and even proclaim how one's own personality is "engaging") in another post and claim to be consistent.
Let's just get that nasty little bugger of "personality" out of the picture altogether and READ homilies prepared by distant and disembodied authors, making sure that nothing - NOTHING - of the priest's personality, baptized into grace, ever sees the light of day from the introit to the dismissal.
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