Final Report
From The Synod on the Eucharist
Analysis of the Bishops Discussion about the
Priest Shortage
Including Interventions from
the Bishops Themselves
While the Synod on the Eucharist finally identified the priest
shortage as a major problem, thereby placing it in the forefront
of the Church's agenda, it is most disconcerting that final synod
proposals offered no new solutions other than to maintain the
status quo.
More critically, by publicly acknowledging that the priest shortage
keeps millions of Catholics from the Eucharist, and then deciding
to do nothing about it, our bishops are vulnerable to charges of
failing to exercise leadership about another crisis in the Church.
They could be seen as abdicating responsibility for providing Catholics
with their Eucharistic birthright.
This birthright was just recently reaffirmed by Cardinal Julian
Herranz, the highest legislative authority in the Church. After
Italian Cardinal Angelo Scola of Venice opened the synod by saying
the Eucharist was a gift, not a right, thus implying that a lack
of priests was cause for prayer, not for changing church discipline
on mandatory celibacy, Herranz confirmed that canon law says Catholics
have a right to receive the Eucharist from Church leaders.
Discussion of the priest shortage dominated the synod and the
proposed “viri probati” option attracted both support
and vigorous opposition “Viri probati” (literally tested
men) are older married men who have proven their faithfulness in
the Church who could celebrate Mass in areas of priest shortage.
But, CARDINAL NASRALLAH PIERRE SFEIR of the Maronite rite in Lebanon,
(half of whose priests are married) warned that a married priesthood
brings problems. While Sfeir acknowledged the indispensable service
his married priests give, he said: “ A married priest has
the duty to look after his wife and family, ensuring his children
receive a good education and overseeing their entry into society.
... Another difficulty facing a married priest arises if he does
not enjoy a good relationship with his parishioners; his bishop
cannot transfer him because of the difficulty of transferring his
whole family.”
CARDINAL GEORGE PELL OF AUSTRALIA issued this dire warning: "To
loosen this tradition now would be a serious error, which would
provoke confusion in the mission areas and would not strengthen
spiritual vitality in the First World," he said. Ordaining
married men would be "a departure from the practice of the
Lord himself, bring significant practical disadvantages to the
work of the church" -- for example, added financial responsibilities
-- "and weaken the sign value of the priesthood."
Even after high ranking church men voiced their fears, bishop
after bishop from both first world and especially third world Churches
spoke feelingly about the primacy of the Eucharist and the need
for priests. Some Bishops at least seem to be willing to take responsibility
for addressing the problems.
BISHOP DENIS GEORGE BROWNE OF HAMILTON IN NEW ZEALAND. "It
is important for us as a Church to remember that small communities
of Catholic people have as much right to participate in the Eucharist
as their brothers and sisters in large busy parishes. ....' We
need to be sensitive to the questions that the faithful often ask
us, for example: 'Why does it seem to be possible for former married
priests of the Anglican Communion to be ordained and function as
Catholic priests while former Catholic priests who have been dispensed
from their vow of celibacy are unable to function in any pastoral
way?'
BISHOP LUCIO ANDRICE MUANDULA OF XAI-XAI, MOZAMBIQUE. "On
the basis of the supposition that the Eucharist is the 'source
and summit of the life and mission of the Church,' and considering
the fact that current statistics confirm the great shortage of
priests in the world, I feel we must ask to what point an ecclesial
community deprived of the Sacrament of the Eucharist can achieve
the dynamism of life that enables it to transform itself into a
missionary community, one capable of joyfully accomplishing the
missionary project with which the Lord Jesus Himself entrusted
us? ....
CARDINAL CLÁUDIO HUMMES, O.F.M., Archbishop of São
Paulo (BRAZIL)
According to the statistics of the Brazilian Government and the
Church's research in Brazil, the number of Brazilians who declare
themselves Catholics has diminished rapidly,...
...In 1991 Catholic Brazilians were nearly 83%, today and according
to new studies, they are barely 67%. We wonder with anxiety: till
when Brazil will be a Catholic country?...
... in Brazil there are two Protestant pastors for each Catholic
priest, and the majority from the Pentecostal churches... the same
is true for almost all of Latin America and here too we wonder:
till when Latin America will be a Catholic continent?
MOST. REV. ANTHONY SABLAN APURON, O.F.M. CAP., Archbishop of Agaña,
President of the Episcopal Conference (GUAM) ...In the Pacific,
the scarcity of priests and the aggressiveness of the evangelistic
sects are challenging the very survival of the Catholic faith...
MOST. REV. MANFRED SCHEUER, BISHOP OF INNSBRUCK (AUSTRIA)...Parish
Communities, in which the Eucharist is celebrated only rarely or
never, are separated 'de facto' from the sacramental office. ...How
can we carry out our duty of proclaiming the Word and celebrating
the sacraments with regard to the people of God? Considering the
shortage of priests in many countries, this problem also concerns
the testimony, the way of living the priestly service and the possibility
of following the rules which this service imposes...
At the opening press conference BISHOP LUIS ANTONIO G. TAGLE,
from the PHILLIPPINES told a personal story: "Let me make
a confession here. And I know our canon lawyers will get mad,...The
first Sunday after my ordination as a priest I said nine Masses
and that is regular in the Philippines.”
Tagle noted that even with full seminaries, there are many communities
without access to the Mass. In his intervention, Tagle suggested:
1) The synod could initiate a serene study of the shortage of
priests. As we look at the world for threats to the gift of vocation,
we should also ask whether the Church is a good steward of the
gift
2) To address the confusion of roles in the Church and the Eucharist
it is not enough to recall LG 10 on the essential difference between
the ministerial priesthood and the common priesthood of the baptized.
LG 10 also says that they are ordered to each other. In mutuality
and communion we will rediscover the gift of the priesthood and
Eucharist. Fri 10/7
After the interventions were finished, early reports from the
small working groups were hopeful. Four of twelve small groups
put forth proposals to study the “viri probati” option...two
of three English speaking groups, one of three French speaking
and the German speaking group .
But in the end, in proposition 11, “ Synodal Fathers affirmed
the importance of the inestimable gift of ecclesiastical celibacy
in the praxis of the Latin Church.” and said the viri probati
option was “ a path that must not be followed.” The
final statement said: “the reasons for the relationship between
celibacy and ordination should be explained to the faithful in
full respect of the tradition of the Eastern Churches” and
urged more prayer and recruitment vocation efforts.
Even though Cardinal Pell trumpetted a “massive endorsement” for
clerical celibacy, this is hardly the case. Four groups out of
twelve requesting to study a married priesthood cannot be considered
a “massive endorsement” for celibacy. Cardinal Pell's
views are not supported by the priests in his own Sidney diocese,
55% of whom think celibacy should be optional according to a
recent diocesan poll. Likewise, the Australian Council of Priests
asked for open discussion of mandatory celibacy and women's roles
in the Church at the Synod. Pell was not elected by his own bishops
to the synod, but appointed.
Conclusion
The synod of bishops was called to address issues in the worldwide
Church. Their final proposals required a consensus, but time
constraints and synod structures do not permit the expanded discussion
required for disputed issues such as proposed “viri probati” solutions
to the priest shortage
Perhaps the best a three week synod of bishops can do is to affirm
what seems to be working, and point to what isn't working and requires
more attention and study.
By these admittedly very limited criteria, one could say that
this synod didn't do half badly. The liturgical changes of Vatican
II were overwhelmingly affirmed. Mass in the vernacular is working...it
is a resounding source of vitality for the world's Catholics.
What doesn't seem to be working are recruitment efforts to the
male celibate priesthood, Eucharistic hospitality for the divorced
and remarried and Christians of other denominations who believe
in the Real Presence; widespread use of the sacrament of penance
by the Catholic faithful, and any real effort to help global corporate
entities accept their social and ecologic responsibilities.
With regard to the priest shortage and centrality of Eucharist,
there is nothing to stop national bishops conferences from petitioning
the Pope to look at studying the married priest option for their
regions, a fact confirmed by Archbishop Wilton Gregory in an Oct
19 interview with National Catholic Reporter's John Allen.
For the U.S. Church, a silver lining of the Bishops balking on “viri
probati” is that we can't really deal with solutions to the
priest shortage without talking about women's ministerial roles
as well. If we rush headlong in the “viri probati” direction
we risk escalating tensions between women leaders in the church
who are staffing and administering parishes....Yet at the synod...there
were no faces of women parish leaders visible.
Despite Cardinal Pell's efforts to portray the synod as overwhelmingly
endorsing mandatory celibacy, he was contradicted a scant three
days later by Cardinal Walter Kasper who affirmed that not only
was optional celibacy still up for discussion but so was communion
for divorced and remarried Catholics.
The proposals now go to Pope Benedict XVI who will write a post
synodal exhortation sometime over the next year. The Pope's theological
sophistication exceeds that of most of the Bishops at the synod,
so there is cause for hope.
To sum up, while it would be easy to feel discouraged because
the Synod on the Eucharist did not move as far as it should have
in dealing with the shortage of priests, we can take some comfort
that the worldwide priest shortage now has a prominent place on
Benedict's papal agenda. How he deals with it will dictate whether
the Catholic Church fluorishes or continues the decline, as so
poignantly identified by bishops from both the global north and
south.
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