My comments at the end and my reactions in red within the text:
How can we avoid falling into clericalism during the formation of priestly ministry?
Francis: “Clericalism is a true perversion in the Church. It demands that the pastor be always at the fore, establish a course, and punish with excommunication those who move away from the flock. In sum: it is precisely opposed to what Jesus did. Clericalism condemns , separates, beats, despises the people of God. (Does anyone have any examples of this in real parish life that they have encountered?) Clericalism confuses priestly ‘service’ with the priestly ‘power’. Clericalism is climbing and supremacy. In Italian it is called ‘arrampicamento’ (climbing). Clericalism is a direct consequence rigidity. Have you ever seen young priests all rigid in a black cassock and hats in the shape of the planet Saturn on their heads? (Holy Father, should we judge the priest by the cassock and hat he wears? Are stereotypes really helpful or divisive????) There are serious problems behind all this rigid clericalism. One of the dimensions of clericalism is the exclusive moral fixation on the Sixth Commandment. A Jesuit once told me to be careful in giving absolution, because the most serious sins are those that have a greater ‘angelic’ character: pride, arrogance, dominion. Those which are less angelic, such as gluttony and lust. We focus on sex and then we don’t give weight to social injustice, to slander, to gossip, to lies .” (Holy Father, it's not either/or but both/and, no?)
This priest wears a cassock and a hat in the shape of the planet Saturn. But he doesn't strike me as rigid or into clericalism, power, beating the dead or living and despising the people of God. Is the Holy Father infallible in his derision of certain priests who look like Fr. Brown????
11 comments:
Clericalism is rigidity that condemns ("Young priests all rigid..."), separates (Those with a "moral fixation" versus those concerned with social justice), beats ("There are serious problems with the rigid clericalism"), despises (Young priests concerned with the 6th Commandment).
In my opinion, hypocrisy among clerics is the main problem: people who preach, but do not practice what they preach.
Evil little man...
Also, let's not forget that those non-clerics who might be classed as more contemplative and less active in nature, were also called "rosewater Christians."
Pretty soon anyone that doesn't put Krishna, Buddha, and Mohammed, right up there with Christ, will be "rigid" and "clerical."
Why anyone would want to have anything to do with this current theology/thinking in the Church is beyond me.
Attract vocations? Converts? Haha!
"Today I felt a certain bitterness after a meeting with young people. A woman approached me with a young man and a young woman. I was told they were part of a slightly fundamentalist movement. She said to me in perfect Spanish: “Your Holiness, I am from South Africa. This boy was a Hindu and converted to Catholicism. This girl was Anglican and converted to Catholicism.” But she told me in a triumphant way, as though she was showing off a hunting trophy. I felt uncomfortable and said to her, “Madam, evangelization yes, proselytism no.”"
Rip out the heart and crush the spirit. That's a Shepard? Did Francis even know ANYTHING with regards to this woman and the conversions she was telling him about?
Can MT defend this behavior? This crushing of the spirits of faithful Catholics?
"Today I felt a certain bitterness after a meeting with young people. A woman approached me with a young man and a young woman. I was told they were part of a slightly fundamentalist movement. She said to me in perfect Spanish: “Your Holiness, I am from South Africa. This boy was a Hindu and converted to Catholicism. This girl was Anglican and converted to Catholicism.” But she told me in a triumphant way, as though she was showing off a hunting trophy. I felt uncomfortable and said to her, “Madam, evangelization yes, proselytism no.”"
Be Hindu. Face possible community and family upset at your conversion. Get to meet the POPE!!! Woman introducing you gets trashed. Obvious that others must have also proselytize you too. She could not have been the only one preparing you for conversion.
Give up Catholicism.
Cassocks and Saturnian Hats serve an important purpose. They set men apart, NOT above. It lets other singles of the man's age group know that he is off-limits, that he has chosen to serve God and his Church, to look elsewhere for their prospective mates. It also lets people know who they can turn to in an emergency, for anointing of the sick and such.
If the new definition of "clericalism" is "a priest who dresses and acts like a priest," then by all means, bring it on! We need a lot more of it! Imagine the vocations it will inspire!
Bee here:
Holy Father, with all due respect, I thought you said that it was clericalism that was behind the priestly sex abuse. Somehow I don't think it was the clerics in cassocks wearing "hats like the planet Saturn" who were the child molesters.
And I also don't think it was the clerics you now identify as "rigid" that were the sex abusers. So how can clericalism be at the root of both these problems in men?
And Holy Father, Jesus once told his followers, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
Holy Father, rock is a very rigid substance, and does not move. It seems then Jesus is saying His words are rock, rigid, unmovable, and the wise build upon them so as to be solid, and full of resolve, and as unequivocal in following God as He was.
Forgive me Holy Father, I simply cannot understand the fault you are pointing to.
God bless.
Bee
It makes me so glad I'm in communion with a patriarch who actually cares for me. This pope is too much. I'm going to refrain from what I really want to say because quite frankly....I'm (trying) to be charitable towards him.
God bless all priests that wear the cassock and saturno.
Dan, The story reminds me of when HH separated the hands of the young boy that was serving at the altar for a Mass. Those external signs would certainly kill any faith that these people might have had.
HH needs to be weary "be careful how one acts, one could very well be the only encounter to Christ that a person sees."
Oh. My. Gosh.
1. The Holy Father himself wears a cassock. Everywhere, all the time. What does that mean about his personality by his own measure?
2. I have thought about buying a Saturno (the round hat he refers to) just for fun, but I imagine they are expensive, and I have no idea when I'd wear it; so I haven't. But this makes me want to buy one -- and wear it in Rome.
3. In fairness, the pope has something of a legitimate point. He might have said:
"Don't get me wrong, clothes don't make the man or anything like that, but -- you and I both know that there are certain types of folks who put the emphasis on all the wrong things. So, yeah, they are more about dressing the part; they care just a little bit too much about the get-up and the gewgaws. And, yes, it can be progressives or conservatives; for all the examples of those who love the clothes just too much, there are those who can't stand to be in clerical attire or called 'father.'..."
4. Is it possible that a pope being increasingly open about his dislike, even contempt, for lots and lots of his flock is a bigger problem than the choice of clothing that some priests opt for?
5. Does the Holy Father have people around him who are empowered to say "No" to him? To say, "Don't say that, Holy Father" or "That's a really bad idea?" One lesson I've learned as a priest is that you can easily find yourself in an echo chamber; and the more powerful you are, the more likely that is to happen. Popes and bishops, presidents and congresspeople desperately need others around them to do this job for them; but it is up to the person in power to foster this. Pope Francis doesn't appear to do that. He says, on the one hand, "I welcome criticism, that's healthy"; on the other hand, he mocks his critics, when he doesn't simply ignore them.
6. Despite the contemptuous way our dear Holy Father speaks of so many of us, I love him and pray for him.
I suspect Pope Francis views clericalism as similar to many South American dictators. They had the uniforms, both chests full of medals , epaulettes on their shoulders , tans , and ray bans. I would think he would take offense against those dressed in ultra liberal uniforms, but perhaps his background hasn’t taught him to recognize that variety.
Fr.Fox, as always, makes very cogent points—I especially like his “echo chamber” analogy! Gonna remember that one...
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