--- Diocesan Life

When in 2006, at the symposium of the American Academy of Religion, Andrew Greeley discussing the growth of the Church in Africa and other developing countries made a remark that, they will always “Take ideas from us”, I found his remark offensive. His statement assumed that that the African church lacks its own original ideas and can only succeed in its mission if it relies on the West for ideas.

This perplexes me. Someone needs to outline for me the job description of a bishop. It could be done by maybe describing the style of a few great bishops of the past. Is the bishop appointed to ensure the 'proper' enforcement of the authority? Did He do such a great job in a less Catholic area that now he needs a larger territory? Is this the only way to the ultimate goal which may be the red hat?

...so others can follow. American bishops have surrendered so much of their role either to the USCCB or to advisors that taking individual action seems to phase many of them. Enter Archbishop Burke, who is blazing a trail through the headlines, and an attempted ordination of a Southern Minnesota woman.

Her bishop, Bishop Harrington of the Winona Diocese, is a nice guy, not particularly forceful. And he praises Redig's work as a chaplain and as a Christian. But he is choosing to do the hard thing, in part thanks to Archbishop Burke, in making it clear that she has excommunicated herself. “She, by her actions, has excommunicated herself,” “Archbishop Burke did something that formally had already taken place. It means my job is easier.”

The Diocese of Camden has done a groundbreaking thing in cutting the number of its parishes in half. As a result, I believe the whole diocese will have to undergo cathechesis for learning how to be "Church" again. I believe it will revitalize the diocese and the local "parishes." Of course, there will be defections and hate letters, but most of us know, this is a courageous act that is very much needed.

In an address to the Clergy of Rome on Mardi Gras, the Pope confirmed the active ministry of the diaconate in all priests, bishops, and even pontiffs! He stressed that the membership in the order of deacons does not fade when one becomes a priests.

For me, this raised the question that if a priests leaves active priestly ministry, why can he not remain then as a deacon, even if he marries? Wouldn't this help in the present crisis if all the priests who left active ministry could still preach, baptize and marry? What a valuable resource it would be to the church to hear the voice of former priests from the pulpit with their new 9 - 5 jobs and possibly wives and families in the pews? What better celebrants of marriage and baptisms could there be or educators and administrators in parish ministries? It could be a win/win situation.

The joy of the Christmas season is here. Love reigns. Finding smiles and laughter always seems easier. Advent is a time of preparation, and each year marks a new beginning. Every year the old meets the new.

I have added meditations on Vatican II to my Advent “to-do” list. I can’t help but feel the need to work harder to integrate the old and the new. Vatican II was the recognition that our world is always changing and that we will change with it, whether we want to or not. At times we may find ourselves feeling frustrated by, or fearful of, the inability to find a consensus with regard to a specific application of the teachings of Christ, and prayer always helps us to find consensus. Vatican II was not a single event in time. Some people find great comfort in salvation history, while others feel an urgent need for spiritual progress or evolution. We are two sides of the same coin, a coin that cannot be split apart. The teachings of Jesus were progressive; some saw them as radical. The teachings of Jesus were also faithful to tradition. We need to support and understand both sides of the coin, if we are to succeed. Below are some helpful Christmas meditations for embracing Vatican II, both the Old and the New.

These stories and an accompanying editorial appear in the Dec. 7, 2007 issue of National Catholic Reporter.

Though church bans women priests more and more women are saying, 'Why wait?'
By PAMELA SCHAEFFER
“What a day. What an occasion. What a rabbi!” The speaker was Patricia Fresen, a bishop in the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement. The day, Nov. 11; the occasion, a jubilant ceremony at a Jewish synagogue, during which Fresen would ordain two women -- the latest of a series of such ceremonies, aimed at helping women to fulfill what they say is their calling: to serve the church as Catholic priests. Read the full story

The recently remastered Original Series of Star Trek is being shown on network television. This unapologetic morality play is an excellent example of motivational narrative. The Clergy need to be trained exhaustively in the art and science of this sort of story-telling.

In a timely re-release, an episode concerning the discovery of a parallel, but primitive, culture with the U.S. Constitution as its holy words is portrayed. The climax of the story centers upon Captain Kirk clearly enunciating these holy words for the natives and explaining their meaning in a show stopping performance of such rousing and passionate clarity that American Patriotism again becomes an obvious universal good.

About a year ago I read in the Parish bulletin after Mass as well as hearing the announcement at the end of mass of a Diocesan Council meeting where ideas about how to deal with our current and future shortage of Priests would be discussed. I had never been to a council meeting, but I had some ideas about how to deal with the shortage of priests and correct a centuries old error in the recognition of women’s roles in the church at the same time. I figured there would be many people there and so I prepared some notes so I wouldn’t forget what I wanted to say in the short time I imagined I had to speak.