The National Catholic Register, now owned by EWTN, but always a rather loyal, respected and orthodox newspaper and not to be confused with the National Catholic Reporter, which is its polar opposite, has an interview concerning some of the PR problems of the Vatican under Pope Benedict and the disarray in the Vatican due to "politics."
It's a fascinating inside look at what many people already perceive. Pope Benedict is a brilliant intellectual, down-to-earth teacher and wonderful liturgist. However, he is also 84 years old. He is a part of that "greatest generation" which is now passing.
Evidently his strong suit is not administration. Given the nature of communications today and the drive-by press, administration has to be very organized, unified and coherent. Bureaucracies need to be streamlined and everyone needs to be on the same page as the CEO, not that Pope Benedict is that, but he is partially that.
So the next pope has his work cut out for him:
--continuing the liturgical reform of this pope (save the liturgy, save the world)
--continuing strengthening the priestly identity of Catholic priests based upon sound doctrine
--continuing strenghtening the Catholic identity of Catholics moving them away from cafeteria Catholicism
--reorganizing the curia
--setting a new and coherent agenda for dealing with errant Catholic priests especially sins and crimes against the vow/promise of celibacy and in particular against children and minors. Bishops must be held accountable for their management of clergy.
--renewing the Vatican's international influence
--becoming more savvy with technology, communication and PR
--unifying Catholics under a strong Catholic ethic and orthodoxy
You can read the National Catholic Reporter's interview by pressing this entire sentence!
What suggestions do you have for the next pope?
My personal opinion, in terms of liturgy, is that when the Holy Father models liturgical renewal, but does not mandate them, this is perhaps an administrative gaff as it sends mixed messages to the Church. To whom is the Holy Father modeling his liturgical style? Obviously the world sees it, but only bishops can implement it on a diocesan level. But then you have priests doing what the pope is doing and bishops opposing their priests who are doing it because they rightly say it's not in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal with a particular country's adaptations which the Vatican itself has endorsed. This sort of confusion is not good.
The other peculiar situation is that the Holy Father did "mandate" the use of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, but he himself has not modeled it. I find that peculiar. He models what is not mandated but does not model what is. Just my two cents worth.
6 comments:
The Pope's style is is obviously different than people have come to expect from the Church administratively, it is consistent with B XVI's idea of the church winnowing out the less than dedicated. This may simply be his way of highlighting them. He may expect them to follow without a direct order, but realises that that would not separate sheep and goats. The question I might have for the Bishops is why they would not seek revision to their interpretation of the Roman Missal to allow for doing things as the Pope does or to declare that his exercise is an indulgence for him due to his position. I think the word is out about what the Pope is doing and the congregations are asking why they can't do things his way. The next pope will have a lot of people asking these questions. How he responds may set the stage for a crisis if he curbs these practices allowed under this pope.
rcg
I'd like the next Pope to have the warmth and openness of JPII, the brilliance and conservative theological acumen of Benedict, and the ruthlesness of Julius II and the Borgias. A large, modern, standing Vatican army would also be good for a final and successful renewal of the Crusades...
Ever since the rebellion of 1968, The hierarchy has been reluctant (to the point of inaction) to exercise its authority in the pursuit of requiring orthodoxy among clergy and among laity who choose to associate with the Catholic Church. When Nany Pelosi's own bishop, when asked why he doesn't deny her communion, says with a straight face that he doesn't know her stance on abortion, the depth of the problem is apparent.
On the other hand, the children of the 1960s, who were all about heterodoxy and resistance to authority, are now in positions of authority in the Church. _They_, unfortunately, have no problem at all in throwing their weight around in furtherance of their heterodox goals, ironically becoming the most dreadful authoritarians. The result? In certain places in California, perish the thought of denying Communion to a notorious public pro-abortion politician--but if a parishoner has the effrontery to kneel to receive Communion, deny communion instantly and publicly.
When will this end? Only when orthodox leaders in the Church draw the line and stick to it.
"He models what is not mandated but does not model what is." Right on Father! That is where my frustration lies......
"When will this end?"
Only when we have faithful bishops who are are true to their "oath of office"?
In another comment, I suggested that when orthodox Catholic belief in the Sacrifice of the Mass as the perpetuation of the Sacrifice of the Cross goes, everything else follows.
In too many bishops, we see in their actions that everything else has already gone.
This seems oddly familiar and rehashing of what people have said about JPII...he was a fabulous pastor, an above average theologian, but a poor administrator.
So, now we have a fabulous theologian, an above average pastor, but a poor administrator.
Can't we just trust that the Holy Spirit knows what we need at any given time??
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