|
| |
Participation and Co-responsibility in
the Local Church.
This focus group set out to
look at the extent to which the Vatican II vision of participation and
co-responsibility has become a reality at parish and diocesan levels in the
Australian Church, and to examine some of the factors that have been helping and
hindering the implementation of that vision. It was considered in three stages:
What was the Vision? What did Vatican II say about
participation and co-responsibility?
What is the reality of participation and
co-responsibility in the Australian Church? How far have we advanced in
implementing the vision?
By way of open discussion: what factors are helping and
hindering its implementation?
A. What did Vatican II
say about Participation and Co-responsibility?
The Vatican II documents are very lengthy and not
particularly easy to read, but let’s isolate just a few points they taught
about participation and co-responsibility:
Every member of the Church by reason of baptism has the
right and duty to participate in the life and mission of the Church.
The first time the Council mentioned the participation of all
the faithful was in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum
Concilium (SC), the first of the sixteen Council documents,
promulgated on December 4, 1963:
The Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should
be led to that full, conscious and active participation in liturgical
celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy. Such
participation by the Christian people as "a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people" (1 Pt 2:9; cf. 2:4-5), is
their right and duty by reason of their Baptism. In the restoration and
promotion of the sacred liturgy, this full and active participation by all
the people is the aim to be considered before all else; for it is the
primary and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the
true Christian spirit. (SC14)
Clearly, then, the Council’s program of renewal and aggiornamento
would involve an awareness on the part of ‘all the faithful’ that
they had ‘a right and duty’ by reason of baptism to participate
fully, consciously and actively in the liturgy as the source of the
‘true Christian spirit’, and therefore by implication, the right and duty to
participate in the life and mission of the Church.
Participation and co-responsibility were integral to the
Council’s Ecclesiology of Communio
The concept of communio has been described as the
guiding idea of the Second Vatican Council and its fundamental meaning in the
Council documents is participation in the divine life, fellowship with
God. Thus, Lumen Gentium, in speaking about the 'Mystery of the Church',
refers to God's plan to raise all humankind to 'participation in the divine
life' which was realised in a unique way in history in Jesus Christ. What
took place in Jesus is continued by the Holy Spirit who dwells in the Church and
in the hearts of believers (LG 4).
From this understanding of communion there arise other
dimensions of meaning in the theology of communio
Church as a Sacrament of Communion. The
Church, the People of God, the Body of Christ, is called to be a sacrament of communio,
"a sign and instrument both of communion with God and of the unity of the
whole human race" (LG 1). I don’t think we Catholics have begun to
explore the full import of that powerful sentence, which represents a
fundamental shift in thinking about what the Church is and why it exists.
William Frazier wrote an article a few years after Vatican II in which he
explained the significance of the model of Church as ‘sign’ by comparing
it with the model of Church as sanctuary
Communion and Mission. Established by Christ as a ‘communion
of life, charity and truth’, the Church is called by him to mission: to
be an instrument for the redemption of all, sent forth into the whole world as
the light of the world and the salt of the earth (c/f. Mt 5:1316). (LG 9).
Communion and Equality. Our communion, as participation
by the baptised in the life of God, precedes all distinctions of charism and
office. The Church is a community of people who are equal in baptismal
dignity and in the call to discipleship, while differing in charisms and
ministries (c/f. LG 32)
Communion and Eucharist - Our communion in
Christ is expressed most fully in the Eucharist. What are we to say, then,
about the level of attendance at Sunday Eucharist which has declined
dramatically to 16% and still on the way down!
The universal church is a communion of local churches.
The Church exists in and out of local churches united by the bonds of communio
in Christ.
It was in the context of this ecclesiology of communion, that the Council
went on to stress that "the lay apostolate is a participation in the
salvific mission of the Church itself" and that through the sacraments
of Baptism and Confirmation "all are commissioned to that apostolate by
the Lord himself" (LG 33). This was a radical departure from earlier
Church statements about the involvement of the laity in the Church. In 1906, for
example, Pope Pius X wrote in Vehementer Nos (1906) n.8:
The Church is essentially an unequal society, that is, a
society comprising two categories of persons, the Pastors and the flock,
those who occupy a rank in the different degrees of the hierarchy and the
multitude of the faithful. So distinct are these categories that with the
pastoral body only rests the necessary right and authority for promoting the
end of the society and directing all its members towards that end; the one
duty of the multitude is to allow themselves to be led, and, like a docile
flock, to follow the Pastors.
In the Council documents themselves there was tension between
the two models of Church: the hierarchical model that had been operative for
centuries, and the model of Church as Communio based upon biblical
scholarship and early Church history and practice, with its emphasis on the
collegiality of the bishops and the participation of all the faithful. That
tension has made the interpretation of Vatican II and the implementation of its
‘plan for renewal’ complicated and even contentious, and as we know it
continues in the Church at the present time.
3. All the baptised are called to participate in the Church’s
mission in the world and in the Church.
The Council had a great deal to say about the Church’s
mission and about the world in which it seeks to further that mission – for
example in Gaudium et Spes, Ad Gentes (Decree on Missionary Activities), Gravissimum
educationis (The Declaration on Catholic Education) and Unitatis
redintegratio (Decree on Ecumenism) and it placed a lot of emphasis on the
role of the laity in that mission:
The faithful are by Baptism made one body with Christ and
are constituted among the People of God; they are in their own way made
sharers in the priestly, prophetic and kingly functions of Christ, and they
carry out for their own part the mission of the whole Christian people in
the Church and in the world. (LG31)
The lay faithful are "called in a special way to
make the Church present and operative in those places and circumstances
where only through them can it become the salt of the earth", and as
well, they can be "called in various ways to a more direct form of
cooperation in the apostolate of the hierarchy" (LG 33). See also AA 33
There has been an ‘explosion of lay ministries’ in the
Church. A question we might take up later is: has this been at the expense
of participation in the Church’s mission in the world?
There is a passage in Karl Rahner’s book Grace in
Freedom where he compares the Church to a chess club. He said that in a
chess club, the main thing is that chess be played well, and that the master of
the game be trained there. Everything else, the functionaries, the cash
registers, the president, the club meetings and statutes, are necessary but
their true meaning and purpose is to serve chess. In the same way the whole
organisation of the Church - all presiding ministers of the Church, from the
Pope down, all sermons, all papal decrees, all canon law - exists only to assist
the true Christian life in the hearts of people. And the true champions of the
Church are those who possess and radiate most faith, hope and love, most
humility and unselfishness, most fortitude in carrying the cross, most happiness
and confidence. If a Pope does that, for example, the way Pope John XXIII did,
then for once the president of the club is a champion player!.
4. Appropriate structures and attitudes are needed to
ensure the full, conscious and active participation of all the faithful.
The Council proposed various structures for participation:
Synods of Bishops (LG 22)
Episcopal conferences (LG23)
Council of Priests (LG28)
Diocesan Pastoral Councils (CD 27)
Councils - parochial, interparochial, interdiocesan,
national, international to assist the apostolic work of the Church (AA 26)
Parish/Regional Pastoral Councils were not mentioned in the
Council documents but discussed later in a 1973 Curial circular Omnes
Christifideles; and formalised in the Code of Canon Law. Like the diocesan
pastoral council, they investigate and consider matters relating to pastoral
activity and formulating practical conclusions concerning them (CD 27)
From the Council documents themselves and especially in the
writing of Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II we can identify attitudes that are
needed if the proposed structures are to empower God’s People to participate
fully and effectively in the life and mission of the Church, eg.
A willingness on the part of pastors to "recognise
and promote the dignity as well as the responsibility of the laity in the
Church, to employ their prudent advice, to assign duties to them in the
service of the Church, to allow them freedom and room for action, and to
encourage them to undertake tasks on their own initiative". (LG37)
An openness on the part of the lay faithful to "make
known their needs and desires with freedom and confidence." They are "not
only permitted but sometimes even obliged to express their opinion on those
things which concern the good of the Church". (LG 37)
A willingness to read the signs of the times, to recognise
the evolutionary nature of human life, to gain from the talents and industry
of individuals and groups within society (GS 40), and to learn from the human
sciences (GS 4, 44), an openness to dialogue and collaboration.
A willingness to recognise that the lay faithful have a
special responsibility for the Church’s mission within the "vast and
complicated world of politics, society and economics, the world of culture, of
the sciences and the arts, of international life, of the mass media",
as well as the everyday realities such as human love, the family, the
education of children and adolescents, professional work, and suffering.
The more Gospel-inspired lay people there are engaged in
these realities, clearly involved in them, competent to promote them, and
conscious that they must exercise to the full their Christian powers which are
often repressed and buried, the more these realities will be at the service of
the Kingdom of God and therefore at the service of salvation in Jesus Christ
(EN,70)
A spirituality of communion, best developed by Pope John
Paul II in his January 2000 Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte:
A spirituality of communion indicates above all the
heart's contemplation of the mystery of the Trinity dwelling in us, and
whose light we must also be able to see shining on the face of the brothers
and sisters around us. … means an ability to think of our brothers and
sisters in faith within the profound unity of the Mystical Body, and
therefore as "those who are a part of me" … makes us able to
share their joys and sufferings, to sense their desires and attend to their
needs, to offer them deep and genuine friendship. A spirituality of
communion implies also the ability to see what is positive in others, to
welcome it and prize it as a gift from God: … Let us have no illusions:
unless we follow this spiritual path, external structures of communion will
serve very little purpose. They would become mechanisms without a soul,
"masks" of communion rather than its means of expression and
growth. A Spirituality of Communion supplies the institutional reality with
a soul
B. What is the reality of
participation and co-responsibility in the Australian Church?
As one of numerous examples that could be given: the
Maitland-Newcastle Diocese to which I belong has put enormous emphasis on trying
to implement the Vatican II vision of participation and co-responsibility at the
local level. In 1992-93 a Diocesan Synod was held that had as its stated
purpose:
To hear God’s People and empower them to participate fully
in Christ’s mission
The Synod involved a huge commitment of time and energy on
the part of clergy, religious and laity in years of preparation, in the actual
Synod itself and in its implementation. The outcome of the Synod was a Diocesan
Pastoral Plan that called for the establishment of the Council-Assembly-Team
model of pastoral planning, at parish, regional and diocesan levels.
The functioning of these structures was to be according to a
set of ten principles, based on the ecclesiology of Communio that
constituted a most important dimension of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan.
The model has been implemented and used for the past ten
years for parish pastoral planning. Every parish would have a parish pastoral
council that in an ongoing way develops parish plans and conducts regular parish
assemblies.
The Clergy and two representatives of parish pastoral
councils attend the regional pastoral council, and one representative from each
of the regional pastoral council attends the diocesan pastoral council. This
network of pastoral councils has been used for several major diocesan
consultations associated with diocesan assemblies:
The development of a diocesan policy regarding the
Sacraments of Initiation
A four-year consultation preparing parishes for the time
when there will be fewer priests. This involved what we called cluster
planning.
A consultation on whether to introduce the permanent
Diaconate into the diocese.
Several other projects like responding to the Woman and
Man report, the question of Young People and the Church, Evangelisation
and the reality of declining Mass attendance.
Through my association with the National Pastoral Planning
Network I am aware that similar pastoral planning structures and processes have
been used in other dioceses throughout Australia
Knowing something of the work that goes on in these dioceses,
one has to agree with Walter Kasper, who wrote that "Lay interest, and
the preparedness of lay people to take a share of responsibility, is perhaps the
most valuable and most important contribution of the post-conciliar
period".
C. Discussion: Some
factors helping or hindering participation and coresponsibility?
Some of the obvious factors influencing the way Catholics
participate in the life and mission of the Church and the extent to which they
participate, would be:
The continued existence of differing ecclesiologies, both
in Church teaching and in the minds and hearts of people
Lack of ongoing Adult Faith Development resulting in people
not understanding and acting out of the ecclesiology of communion
The Leadership of the Clergy
Declining Mass attendance with only 16% of Catholics
attending regularly
People: their different gifts, experiences, motivation,
Influence of our culture on people’s time, attitudes,
values
In some cases, lack of structures and processes for
participation
History of the Church vis-à-vis lay involvement
The following points were raised in the
discussion that followed the presentation:
The Vatican II Documents
Comparison between the everyday reality and the
words/ideals expressed in Vatican II documents including those used in the
presentation. Are priests well read and educated in them? Some obviously are
well trained.
Great need for education of parishioners in knowing and
understanding Church documents, not only those of Vatican II but also
encyclicals of Paul VI and John Paul II, which quote extensively from Vatican
II. Publications from The Story Source can help.
The Vatican II documents can sound very condescending
towards the laity. People are called to be ‘adult’, but not treated as
such. The Church still works out of a paternalistic model. Sadly, those who
can’t accept this simply do not go to Church any more.
Spirituality
Quote from an American Vietnamese speaker at a recent
conference: "Mission should define the Church, not Church the
mission". Structures can be ‘top down’ unless animated by appropriate
spirituality.
The development of structures and spirituality can go hand
in hand. Maitland-Newcastle diocese recognised the need for this at its Synod
and as a result
One of the principles written into the Diocesan Pastoral
Plan was that every meeting should include a period of prayer and shared
reflection (at least 15 minutes) on the Scriptures and their application to
the lives of people and the matters at hand
A Diocesan Team of three people (a religious and two lay
people) was employed to work with parishes in promoting the diocesan
pastoral plan and especially the ecclesiology on which it is based.
What of the "Call to Holiness" approach to
participation and decision-making (c/f. Mary Benet McKinney’s book, Sharing
Wisdom)? This was very influential in Maitland-Newcastle and the
principles of decision-making by discernment are written into the Diocesan
Pastoral Plan.
Ideally, major decisions are not taken unless the community
has arrived at what everyone can "accept gracefully and support
wholeheartedly" (c/f. Acts Ch. 15). This was the case at the diocesan
assembly that considered the introduction of the permanent diaconate. There
was energetic debate but no clear consensus was reached. In the spirit of the
Synod principles, the matter was not decided by a majority vote because
the community had not adequately discerned.
Issues with permanent diaconate? Mainly the exclusion of
women; laws of celibacy (If unmarried a deacon must remain celibate)
Adult Faith Development (AFD)
AFD is crucial because unless people understand the
teachings of Vatican II, and in particular the ecclesiology of communio,
there will be little development of the Council’s vision of shared
responsibility
The continued existence of differing ecclesiologies – the
hierarchical model side by side with the communio model can be a source of
tension and can prevent appropriate participation and co-responsibility.
What was done about this in Maitland-Newcastle? A Diocesan
Adult Faith Development Commission was formed to promote and coordinate AFD;
the Tenison Woods Education Centre was established to provide courses
throughout the dioceses especially for rural areas.
Generally greater opportunities available in city areas
than in rural areas, but not all parishioners are motivated to participate.
An excellent resource recommended by one participant is a
set of four videos by John Maxwell, Developing the Leaders around You,
available from The Word Bookstore, President Ave Sutherland.
The Leadership of the Ordained
In practice the leadership of the Clergy remains the major
influence in today’s parishes: the determining factor if the majority of
parishioners are to be encouraged to participate.
Disenchantment on the part of some when they move from an
active to an inactive parish. It should not depend only on the leadership of
the Parish Priest. An attitude of "This is our parish. Its life depends
on us" is needed.
Parish Priest can make or break! Example of parish that was
alive with many Bible study groups, Lenten groups, etc, but with change of PP,
now has nothing but a Finance Council
Problem for young people who cannot relate to older
mentality. There are few young priests for young people to relate to.
Structures for Participation
It was noted that in some parishes there are neither
pastoral councils nor teams – only finance councils!
Same people on pastoral councils and teams? Ideally no.
Discernment of people’s gifts should see those with planning, visioning
skills on councils and those with organisational skills on teams. In small
parishes there are often insufficient numbers to have two groups.
An assembly is a meeting to which all parishioners
are invited. They are meant to give everyone in the parish the opportunity to
participate and be co-responsible for decision-making about the life of the
parish. Not everyone is motivated to attend!
Structures reach only a limited number of people: 16% of
Catholics attend Mass regularly; of those only a small percentage actually
participate in parish life beyond Mass.
Experience of pastoral councils in a multi-cultural parish?
At Kensington the Kids Church program has had good results, involving parents
in sacramental preparation. Marrickville also has a good multiculturally based
sacramental program.
Parish Councils in ‘priest-less’ parishes? Sometimes
work very well especially with good regional and diocesan support.
Do parish pastoral councils set the agenda for the Diocesan
Pastoral Council or vice versa? Both. In Maitland-Newcastle some of the major
projects were initiated because of grass roots submissions to the Diocesan
Pastoral Council.
How successful are regional pastoral councils? Depends on
the personnel involved, their understanding of and commitment to the
ecclesiology of communio.
Diocesan assemblies: how often? Every two years or so. Have
a different constitution from the more formal ‘Diocesan Synod’ (c/f. Code
of Canon Law 460-468)
Brisbane Archdiocese currently preparing for a Diocesan
Synod. Lot of work involved. Canberra Goulburn’s Diocesan Synod in 1989 was
a significant event, involved widespread participation, build up a strong
sense of diocesan community.
Some optimism about participation – both a right
and a duty. Stories shared of success in participation.
Small Church Communities
Conviction that the future lies with small Church
communities rather than parish structures. However, some organisation,
formation, coordination is needed, if these are to be ‘ecclesial’ and more
than groups of like-minded people getting together to nurture their own faith.
Examples given of belonging to groups such as Paulian Small
Communities for 25 years and the benefits these have been to individuals and
the parish communities concerned.
Overall optimistic comment from one
participant:
There have been huge changes in a relatively short time. Don’t
underestimate the good that has been done and can be done in local parishes. We
need recognise and acknowledge the achievements even if it is years before ‘success’
is obvious.
This is what we are about:
We plant the seeds that will one day grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future
promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our
capabilities.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in
realising that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it well.
It may be incomplete but it is a beginning, a step along the
way,
An opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the
rest.
We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the
worker.
We are workers not master builders, ministers not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
(Attributed to Archbishop Oscar Romero)
(Patricia Egan, a Sister of St Joseph
of Lochinvar, is Chancellor of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, and has been
leader of the Diocesan Pastoral Planning Team for the past 12 years.)
|
