This weekend was the Paulist visitation. Paulist president Fr. Eric Andrews and council member Fr. Charles Kullmann came to do their four-year visitation, which had a lot of the people in the parish nervous. Generally, these seem to be routine visits, where they talk to the parish, assess any needs, and decide about replacement priests. But with dwindling/less active members and financial issues combined with a dwindling number of available priests, people are worried that the parish might be closed.
It's sad, really, that places like St. Philip have to worry so much about money. I always thought Catholic churches were rolling in the dough, but many parishes in the US are really struggling. They don't get as much in donations as many assume, and they tend to have a lot of expenses, particularly maintenance and staff. Churches and religious institutions have to run like businesses. If they're not 'profitable' enough, they can be closed and resources allocated elsewhere, leaving an empty building and spiritually-homeless community.
I'm not sure it'll come to that here, at least not quite yet, but it's easy to understand why they're concerned. The bullpen of Paulist priests is aging. Many of the hundred or so active Paulists are close (if not already passed) retirement age, and they have to start considering consolidating their resources, including priests. They just don't have the numbers to staff every existing community they serve, especially if trying to keep to the three-priest-a-parish model, where one serves the parish and the others focus on missionary work while keeping each other company since priesthood can be a lonely life.
I met both of them Friday at Open Sanctuary. There was a decent turnout, which was good. Not only is it nice to see Fr. Bill's efforts to draw in young adults bearing fruit, but I think it was good that Fr. Eric and Fr. Charles saw that there was real potential at St. Philip for ministering to young adults, something important to both the Church and to the survival of our parish. Another positive thing was that a couple of the people who came discovered Fr. Bill's young adult group from social media (meetup.com mostly), and one was a young woman from Puerto Rico who's here for an internship to complete a degree she's working on in Minnesota. It was a nice mix of people, and I think it was good for Fr. Eric and Fr. Charles to see that to help them visualize St. Philip's continuing potential as a Paulist parish.
Before the praise and adoration, we all sat in a circle and introduced ourselves. Fr. Eric mentioned that he'd previously worked for Jim Henson before becoming a Paulist priest. After that, we did some lectio divina, meditating on the first reading for Sunday, Gn 2:18-24, and each offering our thoughts. Afterwards, a bunch of us went out to Double Barrel for some food and drinks. I ended up talking to Dan and Kurt most of the night. Kurt works with kids doing some sort of religious education, and we discussed various approaches to that, such as dealing with questions like, "Why can't we see God?" (I offered my 'seeing God in other people' bit.) I also talked about my struggle between monasticism and lay-life with Fr. Bill, although I'm not sure what he thinks about it all.
Saturday, I went to the 'town hall' meeting at Carvlin Hall, where parishioners and the pastoral staff of St. Philip met with the visitation team. I got there late, but I don't think I missed much. And near the end, I managed to share with the visitation team and everyone from St. Philip there that the only reason I'm Catholic is because of the Paulists and the community of St. Philip, that I went to other parishes but never felt there what I feel at St. Philip, and I really appreciate the Paulists' approach to spirituality.
Sunday was a bit of a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, I had a wonderful time at church. It was the feast day of St. Francis, and Fr. Eric, who was the presider this weekend, gave a nice homily stressing the fact that we all gather as a family and that each of us needs to be a source of love and spiritual nourishment to those around us that we may be whole. I also had a chance to talk to Fr. Michael, who I hadn't seen in quite some time and just had eye surgery. On top of that, I was able to make the time to head over to Holy Trinity for the Greek festival and saw Romanos for the first time in months.
On the other hand, I heard about the gay priest who was fired from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith one day before the Synod on the Family after announcing he's gay and has a partner, which was depressing. It seems like every time the Catholic Church takes one step forward, it takes three steps back, and that worries me.
The new pope has energized and inspired many Catholics and non-Catholics alike with his focus on the poor, the environment, and reforming an ossified and corrupt Vatican, as well as his push for clergy to be more open and welcoming. But the old guard is pushing back at every turn; and the older, conservative members of the Church are already cracking down on gay priests and employees, as well as anything that hints of progress. But I think Charamsa is brave and reflects the future of the Church if it's to survive, one where the LGBTQ community is accepted and priests aren't forced to be celibate.
I see in human progress the movement of the Holy Spirit, and in this synod, which seems to be trying to broaden the institutional Church's understanding of family. But it's often our own stubbornness, our unwillingness to break with tradition, that holds us back. Jesus confronted this with the Pharisees of his day; and we confront it within elements of the Roman Curia (or the Thai Supreme Council when it comes to things like the ordination of bhikkhunis). One of the signs of true wisdom is the ability to realize when we're wrong and let go of that which is harmful to ourselves and others; and in this case, I think the stance of the Church on 'non-traditional' families, LGBTQ individuals, mandatory clerical celibacy, and women priests is harmful and needs to change.
One thing that I've learned in the last few years is that religion is about celebrating and strengthening relationships, relationships between one another as well as between humanity as a whole and the amazing abundance of life and the mysteries that surround us. And I think we spend way too much time and energy trying to limit and control the forms that those relationships take and who can participate in them, not to mention trying to maintain a patriarchal society of rigid (even unnatural) gender stereotypes where women are relegated to supportive roles rather than leadership.
I suppose it's a bit arrogant to think that my vision of the Church, when it conflicts with centuries of tradition, is the correct one; but my image of an all-loving and merciful God simply doesn't allow for discrimination and inequality. Women shouldn't be barred from the priesthood. Members of the clergy shouldn't be forced to be celibate. Same-sex couples, and those who have gotten divorced and remarried, should have access to all the sacraments of the Church. I truly believe these things with all my heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment