READ A VERY GOOD ANALYSIS ABOUT THE AUSTRIAN REBELLION AND REFORM MOVEMENT BY PRESSING HERE!
My opinion: What we see in Austria with about 300 priests defying their Cardinal Archbishop is what many refer to as true "Clericalism." We can also refer to the laity who are being led by the nose by these clerics as being into crass "laity-ism."
Clericalism entails a belief by some in the clergy that they are a privileged class and thus are entitled to do whatever they please regardless of what their bishop says, their parishioners think and what the Church teaches. Sometime this attitude leads only to benign silliness. Other times though it leads to serious abuse of the priest's promises of celibacy and obedience. Sometimes it leads to criminal activity, such as theft, child or teenage sex abuse and so on. That of course is the extreme of clericalism.
The priests in Austria think they have a right to mislead the faithful, defy their bishop and do as they please without any accountability, the least of which should be "firing" from their ministry which in the Catholic Church is called either "suspension" or in more drastic circumstances, "Laicization" also known as "defrocking." The most that can be done is "excommunication."
Perhaps the Cardinal Archbishop could point out the crass clericalism of these priests and "fire" them all as a sign that priests too are accountable to the People of God, their bishop and civil authority.
"Laity-ism" thinks that the Church is not a hierarchy and that the laity have a right to rule the Church independently of their bishop or priest. That's another story for another post.
5 comments:
I suggest the Church deal with this rebellion against God (which is in the end, exactly what it is) in a similar way to another rebellion against God was handled. Cast them out of the Church and consign them to the fire.
The big difference is, these men have the change to repent and be saved, where the fallen angels do not. I hope they avail themselves of God's mercy.
I--heck, WE--have all witnessed this kind of thing going on for years in some quarters. Sometimes it manifests itself by a particularly outspoken priest who preaches outrageous doctrines, yet takes umbrage at any suggestion that he is deviating from the Magisterium. We see it in the pastor who invites someone to give a parish mission who proceeds to negate the Catechism or re-intepret it so that the parish is more confused than ever. We see it in the priests who tell us "don't be so hard on yourself" in the confessional, and deny that anything is sinful, or, worse yet, schedule only 15 minutes for confessions every week. In some places, it's the priest who has preached "don't judge" to the exclusion of all else so that when he comes in wearing rainbow vestments in solidarity with a gay "pride" event, no parishioner will dare judge (or even dare to think) about the problem. In other cases, a priests creates a comfortable position for himself by telling every individual what he thinks that individual wants to hear, so that no matter what the priest does in his personal or public life, his parish will run to his defense because he is "so nice". And 99 percent of the time, the bishop will do nothing about it.
In all of these cases, the priest wears a mask, a mask of fidelity to the Church. In Austria, for the first time, we have a large group of priests who have decided to unmask themselves.
So the the Archbishop of Vienna has a golden opportunity here. The wolves, for once, are shedding their sheepskins and presenting themselves for what they are. If Cardinal Schonborn is truly a shepherd, he will know what to do with the wolves.
"WE--have all witnessed this kind of thing going on for years..."
Yes, indeed, and good analysis, Robert. We pray, pray, and pray some more for our Bishops and Priests, but most especially for those who have fallen into clericalism at any level of involvement. Christ is the example to follow for both clerics and laity. Humility is the key...
I will be surprised if there are any real consequences for these apostate priests. It is Europe...
Interdict, when used sparingly and appropriately is an effective way to get a whole of a people to THINK. It seems very appropriate for this situation and would show that Holy Mother CHurch will not be torn to shreds by a few in the minority and if it gets people to think and return to a more respectful attitude towards their own Catholic Church and Faith then indeed, Interdict.
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