CHRISTIAN HIERARCHY TAKEN TO TASK OVER loveUAL ABUSE, OTHER ISSUES

Catholic hierarchy taken to task

Whippany gathering told that the church is out of touch with congregants

By Maria Armental The Daily Record Sunday, September 11, 2005

Hanover, NJ - Members of reform Catholic groups on Saturday called for a restructuring of the Roman Catholic Church, accusing the church hierarchy of being out of touch with the people they are supposed to represent.

Among the proposed changes: a more open and inclusive church, including acceptance of women's ordination and the elimination of clergy's vows of celibacy and greater laity involvement.

The Saturday morning meeting at Birchwood Manor in Whippany attracted nearly 150 people, members of organizations under the umbrella of the Catholic Organizations for Renewal, a coalition of Roman Catholic groups inspired by Vatican II.

While Vatican II formally closed in December 1965 and bishops professed to follow the council's decrees, Catholic reformists said not enough, if anything, had been done.

"Vatican II is the most authentic teaching of the church as of today," said Theresa Padovano, of the Northern New Jersey Chapter of Voice of the Faithful, a Catholic lay group originally founded in response to the priest loveual abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston.

The decrees of the Vatican II Council "called the church for (a) collegiate (structure), openness, and inclusiveness. Are we seeing this happen?"Padovano asked.

"We have to organize," said Leonard Swidler, representing the buttociation for the Rights of Catholics in the Church, an organization established in 1979 to foster greater community involvement in the decision-making process of the church.

No battle against priests

"We can't just wait until the next shoe falls. We seem to be dealing with a centipede," he added, quoting a remark he had heard earlier.

The Catholic reformists stressed theirs was not a battle against priests or other members of the church's hierarchy, but rather an attempt to return the church to the people and make it more reflective of their concerns.

Mary Ann Hain, a representative of Call to Action, another group formed in the aftermath of Vatican II, said the ecumenical council was a wake-up call for Catholics "who tend to defer initiatives to the church."

Hain spoke of a policy of silent compliance, under which loveual abuse, women's ordination and greater community participation in the running of the church were taboo issues. She also spoke of "a tapestry or quilt of church reform groups" who struggled to find a voice in the church.

Through the fight, Hain told the audience of nearly 150 people, "always remember, we are the church. We are the people of God."

"We are not going anywhere,"added Mary Ann McCarthy, of FutureChurch, a national coalition of parish-centered Catholics incorporated in 1993. "We are staying here, in this church, to help make it a better place."

'Maintaining parish lives'

McCarthy said the shortage of priests the Catholic Church is experiencing is affecting the faithful's sacramental life.

These days, she said, approximately 82 percent of lay ministers are women.

"And they are the ones who are maintaining parish lives now and in past decades," she said.

"We offer seven sacraments to men; six sacraments to women. How come?" asked Russ Ditzel of CORPUS, the National buttociation for an Inclusive Priesthood.

Moreover, he said, there are some 25,000 married priests in the U.S. more than 100,000 worldwide who are willing but unable to serve due to their marital status. Meanwhile, 25 percent of U.S. parishes and nearly 50 percent worldwide do not have a resident priest.

Since 1978, McCarthy said, quoting figures published by the New York Times, the Catholic population in the U.S. grew 32 percent while the number of ordained priests fell 26 percent. The drop in the number of graduate-level seminarians was even higher, at 38 percent. Parishes without a resident priest increased 350 percent, she said.

Time for church to owe up

Going back in history, the reformists spoke of how the Catholic Church once embraced married priests, and how priesthood was not linked to gender or loveual orientation.

"It's about time that our church owes up to the fact that a significant part of our clergy are gay and (loveually) active," Ditzel said.

"We want a church (in which) all are welcome," McCarthy said.

At issue, however, is how to make the Catholic Church appealing to younger generations.

"We are going to have to change the structures of the church," Swidler said. "Otherwise, they won't find it a home and they won't be there anymore. And this is happening. Look at France. Look at Germany."

That growing disconnect also hurts the church financially, Ditzel said, forcing church officials to react.

The current church structure, Ditzel said, "is going to cave in on its own. We can help it along."

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