April 23, 2013      Martin Mallon  (Ireland)      Martin's previous articles                        

                        Pope Attacks Clericalism

John Allen had a very interesting article in the NCR on 18 April, A less political Vatican , a less self-referential church? He discusses four topics in his article and it is the final one we will discuss here. The Argentinian bishops were holding their 105th plenary assembly and Pope Francis sent them a note. The Pope humorously wrote that:  

he couldn’t make it due to “recently received commitments”, and then added as an aside: “How’s that sound?”  

As Allen points out the Pope was emphasising in his note that he wanted a church which would go out and meet the people on the street:  

“A church that doesn’t get out, sooner or later, gets sick from being locked up,” he said. “It’s also true that getting out in the street runs the risk of an accident, but frankly I prefer a church that has accidents a thousand times to a church that gets sick.”  

A self-referential church, the pope writes, suffers from “a kind of narcissism that leads to spiritual worldliness and sophisticated clericalism.”  

Read Allen’s article here  

What the Pope is saying here is of vital importance for the future of our church. Speaking as a member of the Irish church I agree wholeheartedly that the “church that doesn’t get out”, in my experience definitely “suffers from “a kind of narcissism that leads to spiritual worldliness and sophisticated clericalism.”  

Many of the churches in Ireland are sick and the thought of going “out in the street” terrifies many of the Irish clergy. If they had wanted to go out on the street they would have become missionary order priests, not diocesan priests. Clericalism is rampant, still, in Ireland today. That was the model of priesthood many of today’s priests signed up for and there is little sign of change.  

Basically, the Parish Priest is still in control, Parish Councils are only advisory and even when elected can and are ignored when it suits the PP. Finance Committees are normally appointed by the PP, normally agree with him and are also only advisory. This situation must change and only then will many priests realise that their main concern in a parish should not be administration, finance and power, but preaching the Good News everywhere.  

Fortunately, where the Holy Spirit is squashed He/She springs up anew, which in Ireland , and perhaps Europe , is where the New Communities come in. On May 18 the Pope is holding a Pentecost Vigil with said Communities in St Peter’s Square and we must pray that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that accompanied the election of Pope Francis is strengthened and renewed at Pentecost, helps unite our church in truth and helps to stamp out clericalism.  

How long have we waited for a Pope to equate clericalism with a sick church? Thank God this Pope has and let us hope and pray that clericalism starts to disappear under the guidance of the Holy Spirit through Pope Francis.

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(c.f.  Wikipedia: Clericalism - jw)

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