In this issue . . .

The 2nd Annual Prayer Breakfast for Hope and Justice Democratizing Catholicism in Challenging Times with Robert McClory 9:00 a.m  – 12:00 noon Saturday May 3, 2008 The Metropolitan Ballroom 5418 Wayzata Boulevard, Golden Valley, MN)  Maps: click here  Directions from West Metro, click here. Directions from East Metro, click here. ________________________________________________________ Can the Roman Catholic Institution Be Rejuvenated? The Kingdom of God is like a tree in which all the birds of the air find a home.  The 21st century Roman Catholic institution is one branch on this tree of universal welcome into the life of God. Many of us in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are asking ourselves this question: Is our local church a life-supporting part of the tree? If we say that the institution no longer manifests God’s love for humanity, what are we called to do?  If we are called to rejuvenate our branch of the tree, how shall we do it? Shall we reform by beginning new shoots off the same branch?  Some people are making alternative communities within the Catholic tradition, but not within Roman jurisdiction. Shall we reform by pruning and grafting to see the old branch reflower?  Some people want to communicate with members of the hierarchy to reform the existing institution. Shall we reject the dysfunction of the Roman institution by going to a different branch, allowing the institution, as we know it, to die?  Some people are joining other denominations and religions to find spiritual support and to live the church’s mission in the world. We want to engage in thoughtful dialogue to help us inform our consciences as we decide what direction we as individuals should take. We also want to give people an opportunity to connect and plan follow-up strategizing meetings about reform from within the institution or reform from without the institution but within the Catholic tradition.  Robert McClory The keynote speaker at this year’s Prayer Breakfast for Hope and Justice is National Catholic Reporter award-winning journalist and author Robert McClory. McClory’s life in the church has equipped him with great knowledge and insight on how it works, while his love of justice leads him to critique many of its inner workings.  He is well-known and respected for his writings on church history – especially as it relates to the role of the laity. Many assume that the Catholic Church has always functioned with a top-down leadership model.  Yet, as McClory notes, there have been long periods where lay people were consulted and had strong, leading voices.  He also explains why a decentralized and democratized church is just around the corner; is, in fact, inevitable.  On May 3, McClory will join with attendees at the 2nd Annual Prayer Breakfast for Hope and Justice in discussing how we can best embody, individually and communally, this democratization of our church. Copies of McClory’s latest book, As It Was In the Beginning: The Coming Democratization of the Catholic Church, will be available for purchase at this event. Schedule 8:30 - 9:00 am Check-In 9:00 - 9:45 am Welcome and Table Prayer 9:45 am Serving of Breakfast 10:00 am Introduction of Robert McClory 10:10 - 11:00 am Keynote Address: "Democratizing Catholicism in Challenging Times 11:00 - 11:30 am Q & A 11:30 am - 12:00 noon Social Time and Networking!   Please note!  Limited walk-in registrations are still available for $20. Call 612-201-4534 for information. Sponsoring Organizations The Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM) Catholic Rainbow Parents  Dignity Twin Cities Pax Christi Twin Cities The Progressive Catholic Voice About the Artwork The organizers of this event gratefully acknowledge Ansgar Holmberg, CSJ, for the beautiful piece of original art, which she has created especially for this event. To download brochure (.pdf)          To download 8.5 x 11 poster (.pdf)

A Recent Article by Robert McClory

Ghostwriting for the Pope

By Robert McClory

chicagotribune.com

April 13, 2008

Speculation abounds on what Pope Benedict XVI will say to American Catholics when he arrives in the United States this week.

Based on speeches in other countries, the pope might be expected to praise American energy and innovation, then chide Americans for their secularism, individualism, consumerism, materialism, hedonism and lack of religious faith.

But Benedict can be a man of surprises. And I offer here something he might say to the crowds in a singular moment of inspiration—perhaps at Yankee Stadium.

"My dear people, I have thrown away the text prepared for this occasion.

"I would instead like to talk to you from the heart, based on what I was praying and thinking about as I flew into your beautiful and bountiful land. It is time for change—not just for you but especially for me.

"I was deeply troubled when I reviewed the recent findings of your Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life reporting that the U.S. Roman Catholic Church has lost more members in recent years than any other faith tradition. The time has arrived, I am convinced, for something more than assertions of doctrine with the expectation that they will be believed and observed if they are repeated often enough.

"It is now more than 40 years since the Second Vatican Council of happy memory, and it is clear that this period of expected renewal has become a period of fateful withdrawal for some. It is also clear that for many who remain with the church, critical teachings are rejected or simply ignored.

"What does this mean? Is it large-scale apostasy, heresy, a surrender to the relativistic values of the modern world? Or is the Spirit leading in a new direction?

"I confess in all humility that I do not know. What I am keenly aware of is that I, as the successor of Peter the Apostle, am obliged to seek every available way to make the gospel and the truths of the faith ever more transparent to all persons of goodwill.

"I am therefore inaugurating a series of international conferences, dialogues and debates on some of the most disputed church issues, including its position on the ordination of women, homosexual acts, marriage after divorce, stem cell research and artificial birth control.

"Why these in particular? Precisely because they are so fraught with controversy and because they touch so intimately the lives of millions of lay Catholics.

"I want these issues to be openly considered from all sides, not just by bishops and other clergy but by theologians and biblical scholars, by educators and catechists at all levels, and by experts in the social sciences. And I will insist that the laity with informed views on these matters be called forth to speak from their own experience.

"In addition, I will invite input from Orthodox and Protestant churches, whose traditions in these matters have great significance. After all, the Second Vatican Council was forthright in its judgment that these bodies can 'engender a life of grace' and 'provide access to the community of salvation.'

"I recognize that this will be a massive undertaking, requiring organization and goodwill on a scale seldom realized in the history of Christianity. The work will take place on many continents and proceed over many months, even years. It will most certainly stir up hurts and resentments long festering in the body of the church and lead to confrontations among the most opinionated. But the time for forced polite silence, so characteristic of dysfunctional families, is over.

"Late in the pontificate of our beloved predecessor, Pope John Paul II, he confessed that his position as head of the church 'constitutes a difficulty' for most non-Catholic Christians, and he longed to 'find a new way of exercising' his ministry, a way that is 'open to a new situation.'

"I have come to believe this 'new situation' involves not only the church's relationship with other Christian bodies but with millions of its own struggling or disenchanted members. I make bold to carry the work forward only because of my firm belief that the Holy Spirit, promised to the church by Christ, is with us still.

"Finally, you may be wondering why I chose to share this grand initiative first with you the people of the United States. I did so because yours is still a young, idealistic nation heartily embracing the future. Catholic Americans have been the most generous in the world in supporting the charities and good works sponsored by the Vatican and other agencies of relief and charity throughout the world. I look, therefore, to you for leadership in this vital undertaking."

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[Author's Note:] Before dismissing the possibility of such an approach as the product of an unhinged imagination, one should consider what the Second Vatican Council said in its Constitution on Divine Revelation about "growth in the understanding" of church teaching. This growth happens, said the council, through "the contemplation and study made by believers," through "the intimate understanding of spiritual things they [believers] experience," and also through the preaching of bishops and popes.

In other words, everything hasn't been set in stone. It's not impossible that a far-sighted pope would take the council's directive seriously and inquire into what the Holy Spirit may be trying to say through the whole body of believers, not just through those on the top.

Robert McClory is an associate professor emeritus at Northwestern University, a former Catholic priest and author of "As It Was in the Beginning: The Coming Democratization of the Catholic Church." r-mcclory@northwestern.edu.

© Copyright 2008 Chicago Tribune

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