Chris McDonnell, UK
chris@mcdonnell83.freeserve.co.uk

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May 17, 2017

A time to pause, a time to act

 I make no apologies for returning to an issue that hovers within modern Church like the proverbial elephant in the room, the sustenance of our parish life.

It was reported on the website Life Site News in late March, that the Cardinal Archbishop of Munich, Reinhard Marx, is facing a crisis within his diocese of 1.7 million Catholics in meeting their needs at Parish level, with not enough ordained priests to go round. With a huge diocese to manage there is just one new seminary student this year.

The solution adopted by many diocesan bishops in Europe and the UK faced with such circumstances has been to amalgamate parishes. Marx has suggested a different approach. He plans to allow lay people in the archdiocese to run parishes in response to the crisis of the shortage of priests. He has also indicated that he is open to the possibility of married priests.

 “We are experiencing a great upheaval in the Church at the moment,” the cardinal said.

The 63-year-old cardinal announced a pilot project for parish leadership models this autumn. He remarked that the possibilities were not yet thought through but went on to cite the “priesthood of all the faithful” and referenced the Second Vatican Council quoting from the decree Lumen Gentium: “the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood are nonetheless interrelated”.

Now here is the interesting point. His comments were made to the 180 members of Munich’s Diocesan Council – its principal lay body – at the group’s plenary assembly on March 18 this year. The Diocese has a lay council with 180 members?  To borrow words from Peter Sellers- “Goodness gracious me!” How many Diocesan Councils in England and Wales have councils with any representation of the laity at all, let alone one of this size and significance.

The Cardinal was quoted as saying that “not all priests are in a position to lead parishes”

The need to think ahead is recognized by the Cardinal. His statement and the establishment of pilot projects show that he is all too aware of the immediate problems faced by the bishops of many European countries.

Moreover he recognized the importance of a vital parish life in the diocesan community. He was quite definite when he made this statement rejecting amalgamation of Parish Communities. He said it was “important to preserve individual parishes to guarantee the Church’s local presence. He went further and said that he “categorically rejected combining parishes”.

There is the nub of the matter, small, local, real. It is the Schumacher ‘small is beautiful’ principle emphasized yet again. We need to re-examine the whole nature and function of parish and our role and responsibility within it. That understanding will lead to full-time and voluntary lay personnel taking a greater role in the Christian community. The Cardinal remarked that there was canonical basis for more lay participation. Our continued presence through such parish communities maintains our visibility.

The thinking German Church has shown an independence of Rome in recent years. Do remember however that Cardinal Marx is a member of the C8 group, the gathering of Cardinals appointed by Francis to advise him on current matters. He is known to be close to the Pope.

 “We are not a subsidiary of Rome,” Cardinal Marx said. “The Synod cannot prescribe in detail what we should do in Germany.”

Thinking ahead, examining possibilities, looking at alternatives is one of the vital roles of leadership. The dream-time of standing back from the day to day bustle is never wasted time. The opportunity to reflect can lead us in unexpected directions. It is also better to seek solutions before the pressure of crisis forces a knee-jerk reaction. That is why the establishment of a Commission by the English Conference of Catholic Bishops [ECCB] to look at the immediate future of the Church here in the UK is a pressing need. The gathering of views, listening to various voices is a way of understanding our present position. Another Cardinal, Walter Kasper, recently remarked that “the vocation situation differs so widely in different parts of the world that a uniform worldwide solution is not possible. Each bishops’ conference would have to decide whether to approve married priests and then submit proposals to the Pope”. His remarks were quoted in an article published in the Guardian on April 29th, with an extended piece on the Guardian website.

More and more people are talking about our parish life, how it is to be maintained, using the many skills that we have. It is just that they are not talking to each other in a significant way that might bear fruit. Ignoring concerns expressed in a sincere and honest manner only exacerbates the growing tension.

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