James Carroll on Catholic Understandings of Truth (Part 5)

Friends, here’s a fifth (and final) excerpt from James Carroll’s book, Constantine’s Sword: The Church and the Jews. As regular readers of The Wild Reed would know, I’ve recently been sharing excerpts from Part 8 (“A Call for Vatican III”) from Carroll’s book.

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Democracy assumes that a clear-headed assessment of the flaws of members extends to everyone. But even the leaders of democracies, especially in the United States, salt their speeches with Christian chauvinism or an excluding religiosity, assuming that a democratic polity could be called univocal – no voices, that is, for religious minorities or those of no religion. And that, finally, is why democracy assumes that everyone must be protected from the unchecked, uncriticized, and unregulated power of each other, including the well-meaning leader. The universal experience of imperfection, finitude, and self-centeredness is the pessimistic ground of democratic hope. . . . The church’s own experience – in particular, of its grievous sin in relation to the Jews – proves how desperately in need of democratic reform the Church is.

Vatican III must therefore turn the Church away from monarchy and toward democracy, as the Catholic people have in fact already done. Vatican III must restore the broken authority of the Church by locating authority in the place where it belongs, which is with the people through whom the Spirit breathes. Vatican III must affirm that democracy itself is the latest gift from a God who operates in history, and the only way for the Church to affirm democracy is by embracing it. The old dispute between popes and kings over who appoints bishops was resolved in favor of the pope, but bishops now should be chosen by the people they serve. The clerical caste, a vestige of the medieval court, should be eliminated. Vatican III must establish equal rights for women in every sphere. A system of checks and balances, due process, legislative norms designed to assure equality for all instead of superiority for some, freedom of expression, and above all freedom of conscience must be established within the Church – not because the time of liberalism has arrived, but because this long and sorry story of Church hatred of Jews only lays bare the structures of oppression that must be dismantled once and for all.


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
James Carroll on Catholic Understandings of Truth (Part 1)
James Carroll on Catholic Understandings of Truth (Part 2)
James Carroll on Catholic Understandings of Truth (Part 3)
James Carroll on Catholic Understandings of Truth (Part 4)
“If the People Don’t Believe It, It’s Not True”
Thoughts on Authority and Fidelity
Genuine Authority
Time for a Church for Grown-Ups
A Church That Can and Cannot Change
Will We See Change?
The Catholic Challenge
The Treasure and the Dross

"If the People Don't Believe It, It's Not True"

I was going through some papers at the CPCSM office yesterday and came across a National Catholic Reporter article from January 2003. Written by Arthur Jones, this particular article is entitled “Sexuality Sets Stage for Church’s Next Reformation, Expert Predicts.”

The “expert” is Richard Sipe (pictured at right). Here’s how Jones introduces him in his article:

Sipe, a Benedictine monk for 18 years, then a married man for 32, in 1990 wrote “A Secret World,” an account of his 1960-85 research on celibacy.

The former monk of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minn., was trained by the Benedictines to deal with the mental health problems of Roman Catholic priests and religious. He continued to do that after he left, and to teach in major Catholic seminaries until, in 1984, a Vatican visitation of U.S. seminaries declared ex-priests could not be seminary faculties.

He has been called as an expert witness in more than 95 civil suits over sex abuse.

At one point in Jones’ article, Sipe notes that “In terms of human sexuality, the Church is at a pre-Copernican stage of understanding” – a reference, notes Jones, to “15th century Catholic priest and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who resurrected, despite church opposition, the scientific theory of the sun rather than the Earth as the center of the solar system.”

Says Sipe: “The church has not come to understand the nature of sex. And it’s not easily understood – we have to struggle along with the neurological, the genetic, the psychological, the evolutionary basis of it. The church has not done that and is frightened of doing it.”

Yet as you’ll see in the following excerpt from Jones’ article on Sipe, there is one group within the church that is not frightened of this “struggle” for understanding - and thus right teaching on - human sexuality. That group is the laity.

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What the laity has began to realize, [Sipe] said, is that the reason the [clergy sexual abuse] scandal is so destabilizing to the church is because it goes to the fundamentals of the doctrine. The laity wants all these questions reexamined and rediscussed – from contraception, homosexuality, masturbation, sex before marriage, to sex after divorce, even abortion. The laity is beginning to ask the church on questions of human sexuality, “On what basis are you saying this is natural and this is unnatural? The laity is questioning the church’s reasoning on what is natural and how it’s natural and demanding it be rethought. This questioning is so compelling that nothing can turn it back,” he said.

“If you put it in religious terms, where we are today,” said Sipe, “concerns the obvious step from the hypocritical to an actual reformation. Historically, corruption comes from the top and reform comes from the bottom. I mean why does reformation come about? Reformation comes about because, my God, you’re teaching this and you’re practicing that. And people say: Either change what you’re practicing, or change what you’re teaching.

The laity is the force,” he said. “Articles say, ‘Oh, it’ll be different when we get a new pope.’ It may or may not. That’s not the real force in this. The real force of this is in the sensus fidelium, because, if the people don’t believe it, it’s not true.”

In effect, Sipe was saying there’s a simple parting of the ways between the sensus fidelium, the beliefs of the people, and the magisterium, the official teaching of the church. And it is this: The Vatican sees sexual behavior as central to belief. The Western Catholic people see sexual behavior as central to life and peripheral to belief.

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In the six years since this article was written, the laity’s questioning of the church – on all sorts of matters – has only increased.

Here in St. Paul-Minneapolis we’re seeing this in the ten work/study groups of the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform - groups composed predominately of lay people and currently meeting on a regular basis so as to prepare for a “Synod of the Baptized” to be held in Minneapolis in September 2010.

These work/study groups have gathered people together who share a passion for reforming certain areas of church life. These areas are ones that many have long recognized as being at odds with the Gospel message of love proclaimed by Jesus. They include clericalism, the selection of bishops, church authority and governance, and official teaching on sexuality and gender. Other areas are less controversial though still crucial when discussing renewal of the Church. These areas include Catholic spirituality; Catholic identity/Christian identity; social justice; and children, youth, and church.

It’s an exciting initiative that’s underway, to be sure. And I’m honored and happy to be part of it, and to see so many other members of the laity similarly involved and engaged.


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Time for a Church for Grown-Ups
Will We See Change?
The Catholic Challenge
A Time to Rethink the Basis and Repair the Damage
A Church That Can and Cannot Change
Robert McClory on Humanae Vitae
Rosemary Haughton and the “True Catholic Endeavor”
A Catholic Understanding of Faithful Dissent (Part 1)
A Catholic Understanding of faithful Dissent (Part 2)
Genuine Authority
Stop in the Name of Discriminatory Ideology
Trading with Frozen Truths
The Standard for Sexual Ethics
Italian Cardinal Calls for “New Vision” for Sexuality
James Nelson on “Sexual Rules” and “Openness to Life”
The Non-Negotiables of Human Sex
James Carroll on Catholic Understandings of Truth (Part 1)
James Carroll on Catholic Understandings of Truth (Part 2)
James Carroll on Catholic Understandings of Truth (Part 3)
James Carroll on Catholic Understandings of Truth (Part 4)
Getting It Right
God is Love

Interiors X

Images: Michael J. Bayly.

In the Garden of Spirituality – Debbie Blue

“We are not on earth to guard a museum,
but to cultivate a flowering garden of life.”

– Pope John XXIII

The Wild Reed’s series of reflections on religion and spirituality continues with an excerpt from that part of Debbie Blue’s book, Sensual Orthodoxy, in which she reflects upon the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

I dedicate this reflection – on this day of the Autumnal Equinox* – to my friend Joanne Turgeon, CSJ, who died earlier this afternoon.

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Jesus wants to show the people, us, everyone, that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Not death. Nothing we do or don’t do, nothing past, nothing present, nothing to come, not powers, not weakness, not anything anywhere at all ever. God doesn’t reject us in our utter brokenness no matter how dead. Rather, God gives life again and again and love again and again. And death is no match for the love of God.

Resurrection. It’s not that easy to believe maybe. It’s a crazy story, but it seems to be the Christian story. God doesn’t reject what we seem to consider to be the shameful secret at the core of our creatureliness: that we will become weak and die. Jesus doesn’t deny death, but looks it full in the face and shows it to be what it is. Not God, not the final horrible, biggest truth, but rather an opportunity for resurrection. From death: life. Out of hopelessness, hope. If we could trust this, put our hope in resurrection, serve resurrection instead of death, if we trusted that God was God not death, maybe we could live more fully as who we are.

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* Writes Cliff Séruntine:

September: Time of the darkening equinox, the balance between sun and shadow. Full of the magic of change – not always a comfortable magic. Its twilight empties the heart of its mortal dream. Yet, September is not a bleak month, but a time of transformation. There is no dream as fair as the host rushing “twixt night and day,” a symbol of the continuance of life in the Otherworld. This is the Celtic spiral of life – death and rebirth. This balance . . . it is the mystery of the time of the Autumnal Equinox.

Others highlighted in The Wild Reed’s “In the Garden of Spirituality” series include: Zainab Salbi, Daniel Helminiak, Rod Cameron, Paul Collins, Joan Chittister, Toby Johnson, Joan Timmerman, Uta Ranke-Heinemanm, Caroline Jones, Ron Rolheiser, James C. Howell, Paul Coelho, Doris Lessing, Michael Morwood, Kenneth Stokes, Dody Donnelly, Adrian Smith , Henri Nouwen, Patrick Carroll, Jesse Lava, Geoffrey Robinson, and Joyce Rupp.

Image: Michael J. Bayly.

Time for a Church for Grown-Ups

I once had a dream in which I was in one of the many rooms of a large building. This particular room was decorated as a nursery, but I was determined to remodel it in a style that better matched my adult tastes and sensibilities. Yet as I began taking down and moving out the childish things that cluttered this space, I became aware of the shrill and angry cries of the many babies that were sitting all around me on the floor. They didn’t want things changed. They were happy with the way things were. Perhaps I should leave this room for the babies, I thought to myself, and go find myself another room, one that was more suitable for adults.


The Roman Catholic Church: A Nursery?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought about this dream as I continue working with others to bring about reform within the Roman Catholic Church. Indeed, I sometimes wonder if an adult faith is even possible in today’s Church. It certainly doesn’t appear to be encouraged. Rather, the expression of Roman Catholicism that currently dominates is reactionary; it is one that demands unquestioning obedience and is intolerant of diversity, development and change. It doesn’t sound very adult-like, does it? Nor does it sound like what the Catholic Church should be all about. I mean, the Church shouldn’t be envisioned primarily as a nursery, should it?

Sometimes I think that those who uncritically support this reactionary way of being Catholic are like those crying babies in my dream, whereas those of us seeking reform and the flourishing of adult faith want to redecorate the nursery; want to makeover the Church so that adults can be comfortable in it. And like in my dream, we sometimes wonder if it mightn’t be easier to simply go find another room in the house, i.e., another denomination – one that is more welcoming of us as adults.


A Church for Adults

But then I think of the rich, living tradition of Catholicism, of the role of conscience and faithful dissent. I think of mustard seeds and of God’s generous invitation to “come as you are.” And I remind myself not only of the reality that the Church is so much more than the Vatican, but of the many and varied efforts – “underground” and at the periphery – that are taking place all around the world and challenging that narrow, rigid, and reactionary way of being Catholic. Together, these efforts embody what’s often called the “emerging church” – a church that is participatory, collaborative, valuing of dialogue and diversity, and open to development and change. A church for adults, in other words.

The pressing need in our Church is not for adults to be forced out by crying babies – who, let’s face it, aren’t really babies. No, the need is for these “babies” to grow up.


Childlike vs. Childish

Ah, but Michael, I can well hear some saying, didn’t Jesus tell us that if we are to enter the “Kingdom of Heaven” we must “become as little children”? Well, yes, as a matter of fact he did. But scripture also tells us that there comes a time for “putting away childish things.” I do indeed believe that our loving Creator God invites us to be childlike - to be, in other words, adults who are ever open to and trusting of God’s loving presence within and around us; adults who are ever willing to be surprised. That’s very different, of course, to being childishly dependent on other people and institutions. And by childish I mean unquestioning and uncritical.

Now, you may be wondering what prompted me to recollect this dream? Well, I was reminded of it after reading a very thoughtful and powerful letter by Jane Anderson, published in the July 25 issue of the British Catholic journal The Tablet. This letter is reprinted in its entirety below.

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[The Tablet reports] that Pope Benedict reprimanded progressive Catholics and repudiated “dissent as not being the mark of grown-up faith.” We progressives are wholeheartedly engaged in the process of reform that has its foundations in the Second Vatican Council. We consider the Church to be much more dynamic and complex than those who promote restorative policies.

While we generally accept core Catholic ideals, we want and need our Church to adapt to allow for beliefs, values, and practices that are relevant to our search for a contemporary faith, which, in contrast to what has been claimed, can be differentiated from “the pattern of today’s world.”

In the meantime, the institutional system reduces Catholics to immature children who are to obey “Father” or, in this case, “the Holy Father.” We are to give unquestioning loyalty to and rely on the Church’s teachings and laws in every circumstance.

We are to accept that we have neither right nor privilege to differ from the current orthodoxy and, equally, have no access to formal avenues to contest the charges made against us.

Paradoxically, Pope Benedict is loath to admit to difficulties arising from theological and canonical constraints, which today are many and increasing. That reluctance has the potential to limit individual Catholics from making mature decisions to self-regulate, negotiate complexities, or respond creatively to life’s challenges. These qualities symbolize adulthood in most cultures, but are not recognized as such in the Catholic Church.

So, when Pope Benedict suggests that progressives do not have a “grown-up” faith, he implies that we should acquiesce to clerical advice, which for us would mean a return to an immature faith.

It is therefore better to remain misunderstood or misrepresented and risk being wrong in what the Pope might refer to as “dissent.” Because, for us progressives, such sincere attempts to have our concerns heard are integrated to discerning an authentic, mature, and Catholic faith.


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
What It Means to Be Catholic
Pan’s Labyrinth: Critiquing the Cult of Unquestioning Obedience
Genuine Authority
A Church That Can and Cannot Change
A Catholic Understanding of Faithful Dissent (Part 1)
A Catholic Understanding of Faithful Dissent (Part 2)
Many Voices, One Church
“Something Exciting and Joyful”
A Declaration of Reform and Renewal
Rome Falling
Clearing Away the Debris
James Carroll and Catholic Understands of Truth (Part 1)
James Carroll and Catholic Understands of Truth (Part 2)
James Carroll and Catholic Understands of Truth (Part 3)
James Carroll and Catholic Understands of Truth (Part 4)

This Bites!

Emmys snub for hit TV series True Blood

Tomorrow evening some friends and I will be getting together to watch the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards – hosted this year by the talented (and cute) Neil Patrick Harris.

Although I’m looking forward to tomorrow night’s broadcast, I must admit I’m a bit miffed that my favorite TV show, HBO’s highly successful True Blood, has been snubbed at this year’s Emmys.

Observes Marcus Vanderberg for ivillage.com:

[True Blood’s audience] has been consistently growing since the show made its debut last September. [It] drew 5.3 million viewers for an episode at the end of August, which set a record for the show and was the largest viewership for an HBO show other than The Sopranos in more than five years.

True Blood is up for three Emmy Awards for Art Direction, Casting and Main Title Design but it was shutout of the major categories.

One True Blood star has been quite vocal in expressing her displeasure at the show’s snubbing.

Writes Marc Malkin of E! Online:

Michelle Forbes doesn’t hold back when saying how she feels about “True Blood” being pretty much shut out of this year’s Emmys.

“Excuse me, but f—k awards!” says Forbes, who plays the very evil but deliciously sexy [maenad] Maryann Forrester in the hit vampire series.

“That’s not where the glory is. The glory is in the audience,” she adds. “That’s who we tell the stories for. It’s not for, with all due respect, the critics and not for the awards shows, but for the audience.”

Amy Wilkinson sums up well my feelings about True Blood’s snubbing (and the show itself) in the following piece she wrote for MTV’s Hollywood Crush blog.

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It’s as predictable as a vampire’s thirst for human blood. Each year a more-than-deserving series is left out in the cold come Emmy nominations time. The glaring omission that had me seeing red this year is HBO’s much-talked-about vampire series, True Blood. Sure, they picked up a few Creative Arts (or “Schmemmys” as Kathy Griffin calls them) nominations in art direction, title design and casting, but no “Big Show” nods to speak of. Oh, the bloody horror! We at Hollywood Crush are obviously fans of the show and in protest of the series’ snub we’ve compiled a list of the five reasons the show deserved to be nominated (the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences — we hope you’re paying attention!).



1. It’s the highest rated show on HBO
The second season premiere of True Blood garnered 3.7 million viewers, the network’s highest rating since The Sopranos finale two years ago. The show even bested itself this week soaring to 3.9 million blood-thirsty watchers. Yet, it’s HBO brother Entourage, a show which rambles through the same predictable plot arc each season, gets a nomination for “Outstanding Comedy Series.”




2. It has a deeper message
Sure, it’s a show about vampires. Sexy ones at that. But when you dig a little deeper in the dirt you find an allegory that examines gay rights, racism, and religion.




3. It has a superb cast
No weak links here. Virtually the entire cast of True Blood is Emmy worthy (Anna Paquin’s even got an Oscar to her name), but we give special props to Ryan Kwanten for his portrayal of earnest yet dim-witted Jason Stackhouse and Alexander Skarsgård who plays vampire Eric [right] with a chilling likability.







4. It’s an adaptation with legs
Instead of copying Charlaine Harris’ The Southern Vampire Mysteries series scene for scene, creator and director Alan Ball used the author’s world as a reference point for his own vision of Bon Temps, LA. He’s noticeably deviated from the books (Lafayette [left] should be dead by now), but many of Charlaine’s fans don’t seem to mind, which speaks to the likability of Ball’s series.





5. It’s just darn good television
’Nuff said.

Recommended Off-site Link:
Critics as Upset Over True Blood Snub as Fans – Jamie Logan (EdmontonSun.com, August 22, 2009).

See also the previous Wild Reed post:
• Blood, Sex, Magic: Welcome to the World of True Blood

Two from Helen

This evening’s Wild Reed “music night” features two songs from Helen Reddy (right), one of the world’s most successful female vocalists of the early 1970s . . .

. . . and who, as more than one person in my hometown has observed, bears somewhat of a resemblance to my mother (left)! I think it’s all in the eyes and the eyebrows, don’t you?

First up is a jazzy little number called “Bluebird,” which is actually one of my favorite Helen Reddy songs. When I was a kid growing up in Australia, I even bought it as a 45 rpm. Remember those? Anyway, “Bluebird” is from Reddy’s 1975 album Ain’t No Way to Treat a Lady. Enjoy!

. . . And I’m locked in this room with my sorrow
No escape, no way to get away
And my only connection with tomorrow
Is hoping that you might decide to not stay away

Oh, I’m out on a limb
If I could only find sweet love again
To live my life this way’s too much to bear
Can’t find my bluebird anywhere

Oh, I’m lost in the night
The icy wind is howling out your name
And I can’t stand to live another day
Bluebird why did you go away?
Oh, little bluebird, why did you go away?
Won’t you tell me?

Of course, Helen Reddy is probably best known for the song “I Am Woman” (which, lyrically, it should be noted, is a decidedly more positive and proactive song than “Bluebird”!) Following is how Wikipedia describes this landmark recording:

In 1972, Reddy co-wrote, with Australian musician Ray Burton, the song “I Am Woman,” which became a feminist anthem, a worldwide success, and her first U.S #1 hit song on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Reddy has attributed the impetus for writing “I Am Woman” and her early awareness of the women’s movement to expatriate Australian rock critic and pioneer feminist Lillian Roxon.

Reddy is quoted in Fred Bronson’s The Billboard Book of Number One Hits as saying that she was looking for songs to record which reflected the positive self-image she had gained from joining the women’s movement, but couldn’t find any, so “I realized that the song I was looking for didn’t exist, and I was going to have to write it myself.” The single actually barely dented the charts on its initial release in the summer of 1972, but it wasn’t long before female listeners adopted the song as an anthem and began requesting it from their local radio stations in droves, spurring it on to re-enter the charts in September and become a hit. “I Am Woman” earned a Grammy Award for Female Pop Vocal Performance and at the awards ceremony she concluded her acceptance speech by famously thanking God “because She makes everything possible.”

To Reddy, the song’s message reaches beyond feminism. “It’s not just for women,” she said. “It’s a general empowerment song about feeling good about yourself, believing in yourself. When my former brother-in-law, a doctor, was going to medical school he played it every morning just to get him going.”

“I Am Woman” reached Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in December 1972.

I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back and pretend
’cause I’ve heard it all before
And I’ve been down there on the floor
No one’s ever gonna keep me down again

Oh yes I am wise
But it’s wisdom born of pain
Yes, I’ve paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong
I am invincible
I am woman

You can bend but never break me
’cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
’cause you’ve deepened the conviction in my soul

I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my lovin’ arms across the land
But I’m still an embryo
With a long long way to go
Until I make my brother understand

Oh yes, I am wise
But it’s wisdom born of pain
Yes, I’ve paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to I can face anything
I am strong
I am invincible
I am woman
Oh, I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong

Musical artists previously featured at The Wild Reed”:
Australian Crawl | PJ and Duncan | Cass Elliot | The Church | Pet Shop Boys and Dusty Springfield | Wall of Voodoo | Stephen “Tin Tin” Duffy | Pink Floyd | Kate Ceberano | Judith Durham | Wendy Matthews | Buffy Sainte-Marie | 1927 | Mavis Staples | Maxwell | Joan Baez | Tee Set, Darren Hayes | Suede | Wet, Wet, Wet | Engelbert Humperdinck | The Cruel Sea | Shirley Bassey | Loretta Lynn and Jack White | Maria Callas | Foo Fighters | Rosanne Cash | Jenny Morris | Scissor Sisters | Kate Bush | Rufus Wainwright | Dusty Springfield

James Alison on “Navigating Scandal in Confusing Times”

Back in 2007, the Diocese of Westminster, in the interest of “pastoral care,” began offering a bi-monthly Mass for “homosexual Catholics,” their parents, families and friends at Our Lady of the Assumption in the Soho district of London.

As could be expected, some Catholics were unhappy with this arrangement. John Haldane, for instance, writing in the March 2007 issue of The Tablet, expressed concern that such a pastoral initiative would not only be a source of confusion and scandal to the faithful, but a way by which some (i.e., Catholics who dissent from Church teaching on homosexuality) would exploit the “gift of the Mass.”

Gay Catholic theologian James Alison had a counter-point commentary in the same issue of The Tablet. Following are excerpts from Alison’s piece that I find particularly helpful and hopeful. Perhaps you will too.

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New understandings emerge; some are authentic, some are not. The process of discernment is difficult; during the process of discernment, confusion does arise among the faithful, and this does have consequences for spreading the Gospel. We should not be afraid of pursuing truth, because ultimately whatever is true will be shown to have come from God.

. . . Church authority has become aware that the advent of “matters gay” in recent years may not primarily centre on sexual ethics at all. Rather it concerns an emerging anthropological truth about a regular, normal and non-pathological variant within the human condition. In other words, it is not so much that the Church’s teaching about sexual ethics is being challenged by insufficiently heroic people, but the field of application of that teaching is being redefined by emerging reality. And of course it is proper to the Catholic faith, where Creation and Salvation are never to be completely separated, that it takes very seriously “what is” as informing “what should be” rather than trying to force “what is” to fit into an understanding of “what should be” derived from other sources.

. . . Mercifully, the Catholic faith does offer us the possibility of living through the working out of whether being gay is to be characterised as either a form of viciousness or a pathology as has traditionally been taught, or as a normal and non-pathological variant in nature. The distinction between orders of teaching such that “third order” teachings are not Communion breakers is not purely an intellectual tool, but an ecclesial one as well. Because of it, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, can in good faith both put forward the traditional teaching and invite a group of people many of whom do not agree with it to take an active part in the construction of the life of the Church as long as they agree not to make of the sacraments an ideological issue. He offers cover to the consciences of those for whom the lens of the pathological characterisation of the homosexual condition is vital for their faith not to be scandalised, and yet signals that the belief of some that they are dealing with a non-pathological way of being may turn out to be true over time.

. . . For me, this ecclesial fleshing out of a third-order teaching offers a challenge to two equal and opposed forms of Donatism: those who do not wish to be in communion with impure self-professed sodomites, and those who do not wish to be in communion with a Church whose official teaching goes counter to what they are finding to be the truth concerning being gay, and yet so many of whose clergy are closeted gay men. Both these forms of ideological purity have roiled other ecclesial communities throughout the world, precisely because those communities do not seem to have a way of ecclesially enfleshing living together while we work out what is true over time.

Professor Haldane’s tone of constructive suggestion suggests that like me, he is fighting any temptation to Donatism. Unlike him, I think it was right that the cardinal should not mention . . . Courage or any of the other groups that may have been involved in discussions with diocesan representatives. Where none is mentioned, all can fit in on their own terms. Of course there will always be a place in any Catholic structure for a group of people who wish to encourage each other in the pursuit of a celibate lifestyle. Such a group can flourish better only if that pursuit is a matter of a gift to them, rather than an obligation derived from an erroneous characterisation of their starting point. But what is true, the reality of Our Lord’s giving himself to us through the Mass, and building us up as Church, is more important than these matters, and to be rejoiced in by all.

At last, the Catholic Church in London will have the opportunity to evangelise in the midst of a central part of modern urban culture, one that attracts many gay and lesbian people from abroad. That this opportunity should have been so carefully worked out by the diocese in consultation with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and in such a way as to enable us all to navigate scandal in confusing times is not of purely local ecclesial significance. I am grateful for the bravery of all those who faced the fears and pains of establishing this initiative and ask for the prayers of those who are dismayed.

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The following is excerpted from a story posted on LifeSiteNews.com in September 2008:

In December 2007, a statement and media release had confirmed that there would be no more Masses for “special groups” in the country’s leading archdiocese. But the Soho Masses Pastoral Council (SMPC), the organisation that negotiated the regular bi-monthly Masses for the “LGBTQ” (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgendered and queer) community in London, confirms that the Masses continue in the Soho district of the city in a Catholic parish. Indeed, eyewitnesses have reported that the Masses continue and, despite the public promise by the archdiocese, were never in abeyance even for one Sunday.

If anyone has any more recent news about the situation in the Westminster diocese, please feel free to share it.


Recommended Off-site Links:
Faith, Gays and Chastity – John Haldane (The Tablet, March 3, 2007).
On Helping the Faithful Negotiate Confusion – James Alison (The Tablet, March 3, 2007).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Will We See a Change?
• James B. Nelson on “Sexual Rules” and “Openness to Life”
• James Carroll on Catholic Understandings of Truth
• Gay People and the Spiritual Life
• The Gifts of Homosexuality
• The Many Manifestations of God’s Loving Embrace
• Making Love, Giving Life
• What Is It That Ails You?
• The Pope’s “Scandalous” Stance on Homosexuality
• Stop in the Name of Discriminatory Ideology!
• The “Ratzinger Letter” of 1986 as “Theological Pornography”
• Holding the Courage Apostolate Accountable

Image: James Alison at St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, MN - July 2008. (Photo: Michael J. Bayly)

Jesse James Rides (and Falls) Again

This past Sunday I accompanied my friend Phil and his parents to the Minnesota town of Northfield for the annual “Defeat of Jesse James Days” celebration.

To be honest, I had no idea that Jesse James was ever in Minnesota. But here indeed he was on September 7, 1876 - as a participant in a failed bank robbery that tragically saw two Northfield citizens - Joseph Lee Heywood and Nicholas Gustafson - killed by the James-Younger Gang.

Following is the historic account of what happened, courtesy of the official “Defeat of Jesse James Days” website.


Right and below: As well as a very authentic-looking reenactment of the attempted robbery, Sunday’s festivities also included a colorful street parade and an arts and crafts fair.








Above (from left): Rick, Jackie, Noelle, Phil, and John.



Above: With Phil and his parents (and the cute family dog, Quinn).



Above: Phil and Quinn.


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
State Fair
A Wild Afternoon in Minneapolis
Remembering a Special Time
A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride
Celebrating Bloomsday in St. Paul (and with Kate Bush)
May Day Parade 2009 (Part 1)
May Day Parade 2009 (Part 2)

James Carroll on Catholic Understandings of Truth (Part 4)

In responding to a recent post, regular Wild Reed visitor “Mareczku” observed how certain groups of people are increasingly being made to feel unwelcome in the Church. Asked Mareczku: “What does one do when sometimes you feel like you don’t belong?” - or perhaps more accurately, when you’re made to feel you don’t belong. It’s a heart-wrenching question – and that it’s being asked by so many should tell us that there’s something seriously wrong with the direction the Roman Catholic Church is heading.

Personally, I often feel I get the message from the institutional church that I don’t belong for two reasons: One, I’m gay - and not just gay but happily and comfortably gay. Two, I believe in and work for reform of many of the policies and practices of the Church – policies and practices that I and many others recognize as being at odds with the Gospel message of love. In short, I’m a self-identified “progressive Catholic,” which basically means that I’m a Catholic drawn to highlight and participate in my Church’s capacity for compassion and justice, development and change.

My first thought upon reading Mareczku’s question was to let him and others know of the importance of finding a community within Catholicism wherein one is affirmed, supported, and truly loved for who one is. I know that that is absolutely essential for me, and I feel very fortunate to be part of a number of Catholic communities that through their embodiment of an understanding of church that is participatory, collaborative, and valuing of dialogue and diversity, accept and support me as both a gay man and a “progressive” Catholic.

Now, some might say: “Well, Michael, that just proves they’re not really Catholic!” I can’t help that these folks think this way. But I’m convinced that despite being very noisy, they’re actually in the minority. And they may be at the moment calling the shots at certain levels of the Church, but that’s definitely to the detriment of the wider Church. And more and more Catholics are recognizing this. (As to ways of actually responding to the efforts of some to make us feel not Catholic enough and thus unwelcome, I recommend visiting here, here, here, here, here, and here.)

Also, it just so happens that this current installment of The Wild Reed’s series, James Carroll on Catholic Understandings of Truth, speaks to Mareczku’s and many others’ experience of feeling dismissed, maligned, and pushed out the door. As you’ll see, whether one’s doing the pushing or being pushed often very much depends on one’s understanding of truth.

(NOTE: This series is comprised of excerpts from James Carroll’s book, Constantine’s Sword: The Church and the Jews.)

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The answer to Pilate’s question, What is truth?, matters.

If truth is the exclusive province of authority, then the duty of the people is to conform to it [and expel those who don’t!]. That answer to the question fits with the politics of a command society, whether a monarchy, a dictatorship, or the present [Roman] Catholic Church.

But if truth is, by definition, available to human beings only in partial ways; if we know more by analogies than syllogisms; if, that is, we “see in a mirror dimly,” then the responsibility of the people is to bring one’s own experience and one’s thought to the place where the community has its conversations, to offer and accept criticism, to honor the positions of others, and to respect oneself, not in isolation but in this creative mutuality. The mutuality, in this community, has a name – the Holy Spirit.

The implication here is that truth is not the highest value for us, because, in Saint Paul’s phrase, “our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect.” Which is why the final revelation of Jesus is not about knowing but about loving. This, too, places him firmly in the tradition of Israel, which has always given primacy to right action. “Beloved,” the author of the First Epistle of John wrote, “let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love.” This statement of a biblical faith in the ultimate meaning of existence as love is a classic affirmation of what one might call the pluralistic principle: Respect for the radically other begins with God’s respect for the world, which is radically other from God. In other words, God is the first pluralist. . . .

Religious pluralism begins with the acknowledgment of the universal impossibility of direct knowledge of God. The immediate consequence of this universal ignorance is that we should regard each other respectfully and lovingly.

. . . [I]n addition to the assumption that all citizens can contribute to the truth-seeking conversation, is that all citizens are constitutionally incapable of consistent truth-seeking and steadfast loving. God may be love, but the polis isn’t, and neither is the Church. So we come full circle and recall that the language of love is often used by those in power [I think here of the officials of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis and their recent statement in which they convey their “wish” to “lovingly caution those members of the faithful” who are associating with the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform, a group I serve as co-chair], while the language of justice is used by those who suffer from the abuse of power. The language of love is not enough. Because the language of love does not protect us from our failures to love; only the language of justice does that.


NEXT: Part 5.


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
James Carroll on Catholic Understandings of Truth (Part 1)
James Carroll on Catholic Understandings of Truth (Part 2)
James Carroll on Catholic Understandings of Truth (Part 3)
Thoughts on Authority and Fidelity
Genuine Authority
Comprehending the “Fullness of Truth”
Beyond Papalism
Thoughts on Relativism
Many Voices, One Church
“Something Exciting and Joyous”
What It Means to Be Catholic
Truth Telling: The Greatest of Sins in a Dysfunctional Church
Pan’s Labyrinth: Critiquing the Cult of Unquestioning Obedience
Dialogue is Key in Moving Past Theological Impasses