We thought that the current Synod involved all the Bishops in the world, rather
foolishly, since this would have made it a very different occasion.
So we sent the Archbishops and Bishops of Scotland the following :
To The Archbishops and Bishops of Scotland
To Feed The Flock
It is with the greatest respect and humility that we, as members of the Flock, make
our submission to you, our Shepherds, as the Extraordinary Synod approaches.
We act mindful of recent comments by the Pope, especially to the Brazilian
Bishop Krautler, that bishops’ conferences could have a decisive role in
the extension of ordination (“Tablet” 10 April 2014)
We act in the spirit of the document “Sensus Fidei in the Life of
the Church “ (2014)
74. In matters of faith the baptised cannot be passive. They have received
the Spirit and are endowed as members of the body of the Lord with
gifts and charisms ‘for the renewal and building up of the Church’,
so the magisterium has to be attentive to the sensus fidelium, the
living voice of the people of God. Not only do they have the right
to be heard, but their reaction to what is proposed as belonging to
the faith of the Apostles must be taken very seriously, because it is
by the Church as a whole apostolic faith is borne in the power of
the Spirit. The magisterium does not have sole responsibility for it.
The magisterium should therefore refer to the sense of faith of the
Church as a whole..
Vocations
It is very clear that the secular priesthood, as the major means of providing
the Eucharist , has ceased to function as such , and that our prayers for
vocations to a celibate, highly educated priesthood supported by a parish
are not to be answered. This has three consequences :
(a) obviously there is the spiritual nourishment of hundreds of thousands
in South America and South East Asia and inexorably, in due course, here
in Britain.
(b) there is the consequence of the spiritual vacuum therefore created in Europe,
powerhouse of the Church for so long, in the face of the hundreds of thousands
of immigrants who are creating what has been called Eurabia, sharing with us
worship of Our Father in Heaven, but not of His Son.
(c) There is China, the spiritual aspirations of which are so evident even in such
bizarre sects as Falun Gong. China may already be the greatest power in the
history of the world. It is not too much to say that we stand at a point in history
today, in 2014, when decisions can be taken which can influence the course of
world history and the path we can take to be one with Christ. Can we do this
without the Eucharist, which so many Catholics cannot receive ? And which
the millions in China cannot receive if we restrict its dispensation
to the secular priest ?
The Extension of Ordination and its Practicality
What we have to ask you is that you consider the extension of valid ordination
to members of individual parishes throughout the world, and to Britain in particular
to take the place of a resident priest and provide the Eucharist for the Flock.
Let us call them Ordained Ministers .
We do not feel that the practicalities of this are insuperable. In fact we put
before you a series of possibilities which can be applied to any parish
anywhere in the world, and which can provide the Eucharist for the Flock.
(i) the Ordained Minister, one of a number elected by his fellow parishioners,
is duly ordained, says Mass and helps to provide the Sacraments, under
the authority of the Bishop or Archbishop.
(ii) celibacy is already waived to permit convert Anglican clergymen to be
ordained as priests. It would still exist, of course for religious orders.
(iii) General Absolution would be a necessity.
(iv) the Ordained Minister will never preach off his own bat, and will have
no doctrinal input to the Church of any kind, doctrine being obviously
the preserve of the Bishop or Archbishop.
(v) it means the kind of clerical education we are familiar with is unnecessary.
The only training required would be in the techniques of saying Mass and
the distribution of the Sacraments.
(vi) Church property is not affected in any way.
(vii) such a system can be implemented, with good will, within a year.
(viii) the possibility of an Ordained Minister later bringing his position in the
parish into disrepute would imply outstanding powers of deception.
Local knowledge is likely to prove more effective than a perceived sense
of vocation has been. After all, 8.3 % of the Apostles betrayed Christ.
(ix) the election of the present Pope (and of the Bishop of Aberdeen ),
both from religious orders, may prefigure a situation in which all
members of the hierarchy are so recruited.
Disaffection and The Future
Perhaps two generations of Catholics everywhere are now disaffected ,
in different ways. The youngest is by far the most important. It is easy to
underestimate the idealism of current teenagers and the damage done by
paedophily and its cover up, as well as by sordid ecclesiastical financial scandals.
Let us face the fact that it is possible that for many young people the Tridentine
priesthood is irremediably tainted.
Television provides the major or possibly sole intellectual and emotional
input for most people in Britain. From a variety of motives, it has worked tirelessly
to demolish the image of the Christian cleric and create a figure of fun, firstly with
a host of stereotypical immature unworldly Church of England figures. With that
work professionally and effectively done, it has been repeated more savagely and
with a more obvious agenda in “Father Ted”. Even in US television drama,
thanks to recent scandals, every priestly character is linked in some way to
paedophily. In a world full of injustices, this must ring down through the ages
as a unique phenomenon and an appalling misuse of the medium .
Today, image is all. Like it or not, the image of the secular priest is
permanently smeared, irreparably damaged, and therefore no longer functional,
despite the appalling injustice so malevolently and viciously done to the vast
majority of holy and dedicated priests . This image can obviously never be
eradicated , and it would be a waste of time trying to do so, in our opinion.
But long before the box in the corner there was the church on the corner,
which carried Christ’s message so faithfully to the Flock and can do so again.
The Parish
In Britain, with diversity and multiculturalism almost compulsory, who
can imagine what Catholicism or even Christianity will be like in the next fifty
years? The secular priest has been the engine of the Church for a thousand years.
We put it to you that engines have changed, from water-powered to internal
combustion to atomically energised , and may continue to do so. It is the end
product which counts . And that is providing the Eucharist. We put it to you
that the dynamic which the Church needs just now, in 2014, to provide the
Eucharist to the Flock, could well be that of the individual parish.
If it is not too late , the creation of Ordained Ministers may provide
our young people with a way out of their apathy or even antipathy to participation
in the spiritual life of the parish. To see in Sunday Mass not just an elderly
and in some ways an alien figure but an parent, a relative, a well-known
parish figure bring the Eucharist and the spiritual energy of the Church
into their lives , in their own Church and their own district is something they
must not be denied. And to take a step which could bring the Eucharist
to China would be a pivotal moment in world history, and the lives our
young people will lead.
The function of the priesthood is to bring the Eucharist to the Flock.
It can no longer do this, and another method of providing the Eucharist must
be found of carrying out Christ’s Eucharistic imperative. But there can be
another method. We know there must be. And there is, as many of the
Church’s Bishops have, of course, suggested, in the extension of ordination.
There would seem to be really only one obstacle to this, and that psychological.
The Counter-Intuitive Element
We have depended on the secular priest for so long that he is part of
the very fabric of our being as Catholics. Inevitably , to consider any other means
of providing the Eucharist is counter-intuitive. The Brazilian Bishop was quoted
as saying in March of this year that he had 27 priests for 700,000 people.
If this change were promulgated, he would have 27 000 or more people
properly ordained to say Mass and distribute the Sacraments. Obviously this
figure at first seems shocking. This is simply because it is counter-intuitive to
how we have seen the priesthood in a small part of the world in a small part of
history, as a ministry by parish-supported celibacy.
Bizarrely paradoxical though it may seem, given Christ’s Eucharistic
imperative, can it be simply be felt by some that we cheapen the Eucharist
by making It available to all ?
This is surely the only real difficulty in accepting the extension of
ordination, brought up over generations , as we all have been , to see
the secular priest as the only dispenser of the Eucharist, with all the
complexities of custom, insecurity, deeply held faith and even nostalgia
which any idea of change must bring. Not to accept it is surely simply to
deny the potentiality of the Apostolic Succession.
That all the colours of the spectrum when blended produce the colour
white is counter-intuitive.
That aircraft pilots in stormy weather should fly up and not down for
safety is counter-intuitive.
But both are true. And any counter-intuitive reaction is an
accident of time and place.
That Christ should join us in our complex, confused and sordid existence
to offer us His Body and Blood is the most counter-intuitive action of all time,
past ,present and future.
The Extraordinary Synod
You will meet at the Synod, as you know, many Bishops whose task in
bringing the Eucharist to their people is unimaginably difficult without priests.
The agenda of the Synod, we are sure, has already been laid down, but the
Synod will also begin with a prayer to the Holy Spirit. Should the agenda be laid
aside, as has often happened in the history of the Church, and the idea of
extended ordination become subject to debate, we humbly ask you to support it.
To Feed The Flock.
The Hungry Sheep 