The announcement of the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI came as a
bolt from the blue to the world but not a moment too soon for many
Catholics.
The Catholic Church has
continued to march backwards under Pope Benedict, seeming at times to be
in a state of perpetual denial, whether the issue be that of child
abuse, birth control, homosexuality or the role of women.
At the heart of the church there lies a deep chauvinism that seems to have infected the whole edifice.
Women may feel
discriminated against in many institutions but few have made it so
blatantly clear that the woman's place remains at the kitchen sink as
the Catholic Church.
The refusal to enter into
a constructive dialogue about the possibility of having female clergy
underlines just how male dominated the institution remains.
Rubbing salt in the
wounds in Britain has been the creation by Pope Benedict of the
Ordinariate. This body facilitates the progress of those Anglicans who
predominantly want to leave the Church of England because of the
ordination of women into the Catholic Church.
This has seen a
succession of married priests coming over, so providing a ready supply
of candidates to fill the growing number of vacancies, due to lack of
celibate males, in the Catholic Church.
No one at the Vatican
seems overly concerned about the contradiction that sees married
Anglicans being allowed to join the Catholic Church and minister to the
faithful, whilst a man ordained as priest in the Catholic faith who
wants to get married has to leave in order to do so.
It is this sort of
heaping of contradiction on contradiction that has brought the church to
its present position of crisis with people walking away in their
droves.
But perhaps the biggest
crisis for the Church remains child abuse. It has shaken the whole
edifice under the present pontiff's tenure, and no doubt taken its toll
on him personally.
Fulsome apologies have
been made and actions taken to remedy abuse across the world.
However,
as cases like that of Cardinal Sean Brady in Ireland prove, many of
those now in the positions of authority in the church are the very same
who stood by, or worse still, colluded in the cover-up of abuse.
There is no doubt still
more to come. The church needs to face up to its responsibilities and
show a greater concern for the victims than for protection of the
institution at all costs.
The laity feel largely
ignored on these matters. They were not consulted over whether they
wanted the Ordinariate nor over the recently imposed translation of the
mass. A great number of the laity also feel hugely let down by the role
of priests in abuse.
Catholics worldwide must
hope that the spirit moves the Cardinals when they gather in March to
elect a new pope. Many will pray that the new pope is more in the mould
of Pope John XXIII, who ushered in the Second Vatican Council that sat
for much of the 1960s.
This was a time of hope.
Pope John called for the church to open its windows and engage with the
world. Vatican II brought forward radical thought on issues from
poverty and war to workplace justice and the family.
The laity were
given a say. Nothing less is required this time around.
Vatican III would have
to look at things like the dignity of the human person, empowerment of
the laity, the role of women and the sex abuse scandal.
In the case of abuse,
change would mean examining those structures of the church that made
these things likely in the first place.
Central to this effort
must be the role of the priest. The role must change to become that of
one among equals. Priests, whether they be men or women, must become
more accountable and not act in the authoritarian manner that many who
hold the office do today.
It would also be good to
have a church that offers some ethical and moral leadership to the
wider world. Views on things like climate change, war and peace, the
present capitalist economic model and poverty would all be welcome
contributions to the public discourse, rather than lectures on gay
marriage.
If a new pope can kick
start a Vatican III-style process that genuinely seeks to move the
church forward beyond its most recent crisis, then there is hope for the
future.
The new pope may well
come from Africa or Asia, given that it is in these areas where the
church continues to grow. A southern perspective will no doubt help in
bringing forth a more prophetic leadership in the church at this time.
What is for sure is that
more of the same will not do.
A new pope who continues the backward
approach of recent pontiffs will simply be one who continues to manage
the decline of an institution that remains out of date for many in the
21st century.