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June 18, 2007 • VOL. 45, NO. 12 • Oakland, CA
Lay Catholics dialog on future of Church
After a day-long
gathering described by some as “holy conversation,” the more
than 300 participants in the June 2 Northern California Lay Convocation
dispersed with a smorgasbord of potential “to do” items to
address in their respective parishes, dioceses, and faith communities.
Nearly overflowing the St. Francis Room of St. Mary’s Cathedral,
the group ended an intense day of keynote talks and break-out sessions
by summarizing a list of areas of Church life many felt require attention
– adult catechesis, parish finance and social justice committees,
the role of women, liturgy and preaching, youth, ethnic and cultural diversity,
ecumenism, and establishing forums for dialogue.
Organized by an ad hoc committee of 15 persons from six northern California
sees, the convocation included parishioners in the Oakland Diocese and
nearly 130 from the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Archbishop George Niederauer
took part as an observer.
The day began with two keynote addresses and a presentation on constructive
dialogue.
In her keynote, Mercy Sister Eloise Rosenblatt emphasized “the power
of conversation to change the way the Church is governed.”
Both Canon Law and Scripture provide encouragement for the laity to bring
concerns to Church leaders and to take part in that leadership themselves,
according to Sister Rosenblatt who is an attorney as well as holding a
doctoral degree from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.
“This lay convocation,” she said, “represents a shift
in the way we seek to voice our opinion in the Church. It’s not
a lawsuit, not a silent protest, not an angry petition to the bishop,
and not a picketing of the chancery.
“In seeking conversation with each other, my sense is that we are
acting from deep memory that is centuries old…. I wonder if we are
experiencing what our sacred Scriptures and Catholic tradition instinctively
move us to do, precisely because we are so profoundly faithful and loyal.”
“Some of the hotly debated issues I have heard swirling around,”
she said,
“involve substantive unresolved questions of Church life –
women’s incorporation in ministry and decision making, the survival
of the priesthood and the rule of priestly celibacy, the Church’s
teaching on human sexuality, laity having a voice in selection of local
bishops, enculturation of an ethnically diverse community of faith, sustaining
a spirit of dialogue, protecting freedom of speech, maintaining viable
procedures for due process, financial openness and accountability, promotion
of a collegial and collaborative leadership style between hierarchy and
laity with genuine consultation with laity over such matters as church
closings, ecumenical dialogue that leads to concrete plans for reunion,
and reorientation of the Church to respect and include the mentality of
young people.”
All those topics and others surfaced during three break-out sessions in
which participants gathered in small groups for discussion. The first
focused on “joys and best practices” in Church life. The second
treated “desert places” and the third “strategies for
change.”
In his keynote, Father Brian Joyce, pastor of Christ the King Parish in
Pleasant Hill, traced the evolution of lay leadership from days when a
papal proclamation described the laity’s role as “no other
duty than to be led” to the Second Vatican Council’s emphasis
on “the right and duty” of laity to take part in Church life.
“The experience of the laity must be considered” in Church
decision making, he said. “We are all called to collaboration.”
A former consultant to the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Parish Life
and Ministry, Father Joyce drew laughter when he described lay contact
with the Church for many as being “hatched, matched and dispatched
– and in two of those you are carried.”
His concerns and joys about the Church “are centered in the parish,”
he said, citing adult education, social justice work and good liturgies
and homilies – “or the lack thereof” -- as key.
On homiletics, the priest said bluntly, “My own bias is that some
priests have the gift of preaching and some don’t, and shouldn’t.”
He also said he feels pastors need enhanced “management skills”
and “people skills” – “not to control, but to
empower” parishioners. “With respect and love – and
a mellow heart – we need to listen to one another,” he said.
According to Rob Grant, one of the organizers and the day’s master
of ceremonies, a “comprehensive letter” summarizing the day
will be sent to all bishops in northern California. A second convocation
is scheduled for September 2008, although no location has been determined,
he said.
Grant said evaluation forms collected following the event “were
overwhelmingly positive.”
Concerns, he said, included that participants, in general, did not reflect
the ethnic diversity of northern California and that more younger adults
did not attend.
In an editorial in the June 8 issue of Catholic San Francisco, Archbishop
Niederauer said he found it “heartening” to hear from the
participants. “I want to work with them and others to continue to
build on the good experiences and to address the criticisms,” he
wrote.
(Sharon Abercrombie of The Voice contributed to this story.)
