Anyone hear about this? I'll be saying an extra prayer of thanks for these 8 Bishops! 8/1/02 As you may already know, the Catholic world has been buzzing about a confidential letter composed by eight American bishops in which they called for a Plenary Council to address problems in the Church. Journalists and pundits have been speculating and debating about the alleged contents of the letter and the identities of the authors. But no one really knew for sure.

Until now.

This week, CRISIS managed to obtain a copy of the letter that was sent on July 18 to all the American cardinals and bishops. In it, a group of eight bishops asks that a Plenary Council be called as soon as possible to discuss the "root causes" of -- and possible solutions to -- the current crisis in the Church.

Before I get ahead of myself, let me explain what a Plenary Council is and why this letter is so dramatic. Basically, a Plenary Council is a meeting of all the bishops of a given area -- in this case, the United States. This isn't an ordinary meeting though. It's the highest form of council that can be called on a national level. It would be like a Vatican Council for the States. In fact, the American bishops haven't called a Plenary Council in more than 100 years.

And it's much different from their semiannual conferences, too: There, the administrative business is done. A Plenary Council, on the other hand, is much more proactive, focusing on "teaching the truths of the faith" (as the letter says). Priests and laypeople would also be able to participate.

The eight bishops who wrote this amazing letter are taking a brave stand by urging discussion of those issues that were swept under the rug at the June bishops' meeting. While I can't send you the whole body of the letter, I can share some of it with you.

First, the authors of the letter seem to have a pretty clear understanding of the crisis. Here are a few of the issues they want to face head-on at the Plenary Council: "What has happened to the life and ministry of bishops and priests that makes us vulnerable to the failings that have humiliated us all? What things need to be going on so that in this cultural milieu priests and bishops will preserve their celibate chastity along with all the other virtues that constitute the life of holiness proper to pastors? How can the purification upon which we shepherds have embarked help us, in turn, support our people in achieving greater holiness?"

Notice the absence of wishy-washy bishop speak. These men know there's a problem, and they're going to face it squarely.

But it gets even better. The bishops get very specific about what they hope to accomplish at the meeting:

Goal 1: "Solemnly receiving the authentic teaching of the Second Vatican Council...on the identity, life and ministry of bishops and priests; on matters of sexual morality in general (cf. Gaudium et Spes, Humanae Vitae, Veritatis Splendor, and Familiaris Consortio); [and] on celibate chastity as an authentic form of human sexuality renewed by grace and a share in Christ's own spousal love for His Church."

It's heartening to hear these bishops raise the issue of sexual morality as taught by Humanae Vitae, as well as "the very soul of holiness" for a priest! These topics have been taboo for so long that it's phenomenal to see bishops address them head-on.

Goal 2: "Giving unequivocal endorsement and normative force to the means outlined in the documents of the Council...to foster the acts of virtue required of pastors and the means needed to achieve those virtues, especially celibate chastity (e.g., daily celebration of the Mass, frequent Confession, daily meditation, regular acts of asceticism, obedient submission to Church teaching and discipline, simplicity of life)."

You can't argue with a return to the fundamentals of the priesthood. This is EXACTLY what priests need to hear: a public endorsement of their vocation and the support of the bishops in encouraging a real back-to-basics approach to religious life.

Goal 3: "Confirming the bishops in the authoritative exercise of our ministry for the health and well being of the church, and strengthening our coworkers in the Presbyterate in their ministry of teaching the Gospel, especially in regard to sexual morality, so that we can give support to the lay faithful in responding to their call to holiness."

Who hasn't been demanding greater accountability and action from the bishops? Clearly, these men seem to understand what's really been bothering American Catholics.

The bishops who drafted the letter also listed the benefits of calling a Plenary Council: It "would provide a galvanizing focus that is authentically evangelical and true to the Church's identity and tradition...[witness] unambiguously to the fact that the Church relies on the grace of the Holy Spirit...involve all strata of the People of God in the experience...have maximal impact in shaping the ecclesial culture...[and] give a definite stamp to identifying what is the authentic heritage of the Second Vatican Council."

"Galvanize"..."witness unambiguously"..."maximal impact"..."definite stamp"... the "authentic" heritage of Vatican II... These are strong words for bishops -- a group usually known more for its inaction than its decisive action.

One last thing. Unfortunately, I can't reveal the names of the authors at this point. However, I can tell you that the list is surprising. These bishops represent the entire theological and political spectrum. That in itself is reassuring: The idea that we need a deep and lasting change isn't limited to any political or theological ideology.

My hat is off to these eight courageous and dedicated bishops -- all that's left now is to hope their colleagues will follow suit and sign on.

In 10 years or so, when this current crisis has hopefully faded away, we may look back on this letter as the event that triggered the renewal of the American Catholic Church. Let's all say a prayer of thanks for the eight bishops who took the first step.

(Deal Hudson is editor and publisher of CRISIS Magazine, a Catholic monthly published in Washington, DC.)

-- Choas (choas@ivillage.com), August 01, 2002

Answers

My question to you Choas is if CRISIS legally obtained a copy of this letter? Or was it stolen by someone on the inside (or outside). Usually information from secular sources (is CRISIS a Catholic source?) tends to be tainted and not uncomonly ANTI-Catholic. Maybe we shouldn't know some of this stuff, and so until I know that 1) CRISIS is Catholic and 2) they legally obtained this letter, I will refrain from reading the contents of your post. Thank you.

In Christ.

-- Jake Huether (jake.huether@lamrc.com), August 01, 2002.

Its about time they did something.

-- Emerald (emerald1@cox.net), August 01, 2002.

Jake,

I am not sure if Crisis obtained this letter through legal means, however, I can tell you that Crisis is a very Catholic magazine. According to them, "The mission of CRISIS Magazine is to interpret and shape the direction of contemporary culture from a standpoint of Catholic tradition. We are dedicated to the proposition that the crisis of modernity can be answered by a Christian humanism rooted in the teachings of the Catholic Church. We bring the wisdom of the Catholic tradition into direct dialogue with contemporary politics and culture." You can find their webpage here

God Bless

-- (sacerdos@hotpop.com), August 01, 2002.

Sorry, link got messed up.

Crisis

God Bless

-- (sacerdos@hotpop.com), August 01, 2002.

Thank you for the psoting as I have looked at the Crisis Magazine and am of the opinion all knowledge is usefull in some manner.

-- Jean Bouchard (jeanb@cwk.imag.net), August 02, 2002.

Jake,

Mr Hudson received a copy of this letter from a bishop.

Peace

-- Choas (Choas@ivillage.com), August 02, 2002.

They reported this on local radio news this morning.

-- Emerald (emerald1@cox.net), August 02, 2002.

I can vouch for Crisis Magazine; one of its primary founders & writers is the *very* orthodox Catholic writer Ralph McInerny (best known as the creator of the "Father Dowling" mysteries).

Their website address is http://www.crisismagazine.com/

-- Christine L. (christinelehman@hotmail.com), August 02, 2002.

Plus, Deal Hudson's articles are posted on Catholicity often where Father McClosky's articles are as well. Secular media is reporting the same thing.

Very encouraging news indeed!

Gail

-- Gail (rothfarms@socket.net), August 02, 2002.

When did we become the church whose marks of authenticity are that we are "One-Holy-Catholic-Apostolic, and Hung-Up-On-Sex? Don't these people have some better way to deal with their problems? Does anyone believe that they would come up with something new?

Geeze, let me save them the trip ... (1)Everybody do what you were taught and (2)keep your hands off the kids. If you have to have a council, maybe they should try to figure out why we are the only religion around that has this scandal.

-- Robby (jrhollings@familynet.com), August 02, 2002.

Robby, I bet you would be the first to say that there has been an upsurge in child abductions lately, huh?

-- Emerald (emerald1@cox.net), August 02, 2002.

Robby - Your impression of Catholics being the only religion with scandals etc: is not based on fact. I live in the Bible Belt of British Columbia Canada and involved in counciling at a pysche ward helping what are known as slashers - people who cut themselves deeply -.

Here in the geographical area there are over 600 cases of pedophile abuse where the population is under 250K. Of the abusers less then 1.0 percentile are Catholics that I know of.

The press has latched on to Catholic priests as whipping boys for a form of yellow journalism. One book perhaps you could look at is Pedophilia AND Priests. Note not pedophilia priests please. Less then one percent of ordained priests are pedophiles.

With the current scandal and post Dallas Bishops' meeting sadly a large brush is being used to clean up which tarnishes very good and devout priests ordained during the '80's.

This scandal seemingly has focused on the classes of both 60's and 70's. My hope is the new generation of priests are not involved or influenced by those of that period who are in teaching positions at seminaries.

-- Jean Bouchard (jeanb@cwk.imag.net), August 03, 2002.

That was my basic point... with all the recent coverage of kidnappings, the implication is that cases are up when in fact, they are down... actually quite a bit.

Is it clear now, that the media can at will, take an existing problem and raise it to the level of a crises whenever they see fit?

Now gee, back to the kidnappings... why do you supposed they wish to hype this out of context with the statistics? Hmmmm... don't even ask me what I think about it.

Digital Angel

-- Emerald (emerald1@cox.net), August 03, 2002.

One case of abuse in any church, of any denomination, is too much. However it seems that some of you are very quick to denounce the messenger. Why is it that you aren't outraged by these abuses? There are 93 members of clergy listed on the Linkup's Links for Abuse Survivors, that either did the abusing or covered it up. "Roughly two-thirds of top U. S. Catholic leaders have allowed priests accused of sexual abuse to keep working, a systematic practice that spans decades and continues today, a three-months Dallas Morning review shows." They should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law!

-- Gilda Lee Scott (jess@listbot.com), August 03, 2002.

The sage has spoken...

-- Emerald (emerald1@cox.net), August 03, 2002.

Dear Gilda,

"Why is it that you aren't outraged by these abuses?"

Where did you get the information from that would prove this statement?

Take some time to look through the threads in the archives. There you will find that nobody here has taken this with a grain of salt. We are all outraged by this.

People seem to think that the proper way to fight this abuse is to leave the Church and their religion. Is this what you are thinking? If so, I'd like to ask you how that would change things or make a difference.

Nobody here is in denial. We all are well aware of what is going on. Newspapers are sold all over the country. We want to see justice too.

Please take some time Gilda to read some of the threads in the archives.

God bless,

-- Kathy (sorry@nomail.com), August 03, 2002.

Re: One Holy Catholic &hung-up etc. I made my point very poorly. I'm thinking that if there were no child abuse scandal at all, our church would still be hung up on sex just like 99% of people on a diet can't stop telling everybody about it.

-- Robby (jrhollings@familynet.com), August 04, 2002.

You say, Robby, that our Catholic Church is "hung up on sex?"

Nothing could be further from the truth. Rather, those parts of secular socity that want to live lawlessly are "hung up on," or addicted to, unhealthy aspects of sexuality. If our Church is "hung up" on anything, she is (in a good sense of the phrase) "hung up" on Jesus and on striving to imitate his holiness.

Yes, the sickness is outside the Church -- but trying to get in (and succeeding here and there, as the abuse cases prove).

You would realize this is true if you had been born when I was, 51 years ago. Back then, U.S. secular society (roughly 5% Jewish, 5% atheist, 70% Protestant, and just 20% Catholic) had the guts to ...
-- keep nudity totally out of movies,
-- keep even sexual innuendo (not to mention coarse language) off TV,
-- keep pornography from being sold in stores (with not even one "girlie" magazine being available),
-- tell young people to avoid sins of masturbation,
-- keep prostitution illegal and crack down on the crime,
-- discourage unmarried couples from necking and petting,
-- keep abortion illegal,
-- prevent sales of contraception to the unmarried, etc., etc., etc..

In light of all these facts, would you say that the predominantly non-Catholic society of 1951 was "hung up on sex," but came to its senses after 1960 -- while the Catholic Church remains "hung up on sex" because it still rejects (and always will reject) all those sins?

If you answer "yes," then you are saying that it is now good ...
-- that America has nudity in many standard movies,
-- that there are forms of visual and audible soft-core porn in the media (TV/radio/newspapers/advertisements),
-- that there is vile language and abuse of the Lord's name on TV,
-- that hard-core porn (printed and recorded) is available in thousands of outlets and on the Internet (even little kids being posed by their parents),
-- that a Surgeon General could speak in favor of masturbation,
-- that prostitution is legal in at least one state and winked at elsewhere,
-- that more than half of Catholic couples who come for marriage prep have been shacking up,
-- that surgical abortion-on-demand is legal,
-- and that people can get contraceptive and abortifacient drugs.

I suggest that you think this over, and you will see how someone (probably the anti-Catholic media) has fooled you. Our Catholic Church simply continues to proclaim and teach the Gospel truths given to her by Jesus. There are no "hang-ups" involved. If you would read Pope Paul VI's encyclical, "On Human Life" (Humanae vitae) from 1968, you would see how marvelously and healthily the Church speaks of the beautiful gift of sexuality.

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), August 17, 2002.