So when I learned that my ship had a new captain, I was ecstatic. That ship, made of old oak pews and iron crosses, is my beloved church. The captain is our new archbishop, Charles Chaput. From what I've heard, he's exactly the person to steer us away from the dangerous shoals and into calmer water.
But unlike the Catholics quoted this week in this paper and its sister, I differ on the direction we need so desperately to take.
In a column by the DN's Ronnie Polanezcky, Sister Maureen Turlish was quoted as saying, "There's the institutional church, and then there is the
real church - the people."
Sister Maureen heads Voice of the Faithful, a group that's made its name attacking the church over the sex-abuse scandal. I find it quite interesting whenever someone says "the institution" doesn't matter as much as "the people." It seems just another way to strip away its fundamental principles to create something more "user-friendly." And there's danger in that, just as you can diminish a vessel's seaworthiness by stripping away basic parts of its structure.
Voice of the Faithful focuses on the abuse scandal. It calls for more transparency and accountability, which is fine.
But it has also vilified the culture of clericalism as a primary reason for the pedophilia, which is their signal for the "spiritual-but-not-religious" folks to start tinkering with the church. For example, some argue that the scandal has its roots in priestly celibacy, while others say it's because women are barred from the priesthood. So, according to that reasoning, we should allow priests to get hitched (works for the Protestants) and let the lassies wear those chasubles.
Sorry if you're not laughing.
I'm not either. It seems like just another attempt to remake the church in some Unitarian Universalist image in which the living is easy and "hard" is a scary four-letter word.
