In “Reflections on a Golden Anniversary” from The Swag, the magazine of the National Council of Priests of Australia, Eric Hodgens reflects on his years of priestly ministry, and the difficulties many priests of his generation feel about the currect direction of the Roman Catholic Church. His sharp, provocative words provides some context for the missal controversy. Perhaps some objection to the new missal translation are about more than the missal.
Reflections on a Golden Anniversary
Comments
81 responses to “Reflections on a Golden Anniversary”
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I appreciate this comment:
“John Paul II also enforced much of his own devotional life on the church at large. … (he) introduced peculiar devotions such as Sr. Faustina’s Divine Mercy Devotion which undercuts Easter – the climax of our liturgical year.
I have long thought that a nine day Novena beginning on Holy Saturday rather trivializes the celebration of Easter! When we have a Vatican that encourages such practices, how can we even imagine that the same officials will care about a proper English translation!
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+JMJ+
Did you see the Easter celebration lessened in Rome because of the Divine Mercy novena? How did that trivialization manifest itself?
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Well, the placement is, in a word, bizarre. The novena starts part-way through the Triduum, and Easter Sunday itself is just a kind of stop on the way to the culmination of the novena. I’ve certainly witnessed people who are more focused on the DM indulgence and ignore the existing plenary indulgences for the Triduum, as if the DM indulgence were a kind of super-duper plenary indulgence, which it is not – it’s no greater than the existing ones. But the promotion and reception of this devotion has been strange in that regard.
More importantly, there was already a longstanding feast of the divine mercy – as noted, the Sacred Heart. I don’t see why the indulgence associated with the Divine Mercy could not have been attached more appropriately to the Sacred Heart. (Private revelations, even those with approval, do not command the Church in this regard.)
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I find the implication that as long as things are done properly in Rome, it doesn’t matter what happens in my own parish to be rather puzzling.
As far as the conflict between the Divine Mercy Novena and the Easter Celebration, may I use a metaphor? What we would we think of a bridegroom who spent his wedding day looking forward to a big football game to occur the following week?
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Brigid
There’s a classic movie that comes close to that: Diner (1982).
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Strictly speaking, the decree on the Divine Mercy indulgences seems to confine the indulgenced devotions strictly to the Sunday. Others would probably know better, but this would seem to me to be out of a desire to have the indulgenced devotions better harmonize with the liturgy (i.e., by not taking precedence over the much more important Triduum).
It is possible that there is an implied reference to a novena in the phrase “these Easter days,” of the Directory on Popular Piety no. 154, but this might refer to the Easter Season. Ways in which to celebrate public novenas are explicitly mentioned in the Directory, however, for the Immaculate Conception, Christmas, and Pentecost (which are also the three explicitly indulgenced novenas). This would further seem to be a discouragement from a public novena for the Divine Mercy (though not a hindrance to one’s private prayer or devotion).
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+JMJ+
Brigid, sorry, I misinterpreted you. I took: “I have long thought that a nine day Novena beginning on Holy Saturday rather trivializes the celebration of Easter! When we have a Vatican that encourages such practices…” to mean that the Vatican celebrates the Divine Mercy novena in such a way that it trivializes Easter.
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I’m so glad to see that I’m not the only one who thinks that the Divine Mercy Devotion takes away from Easter. Nothing could or should take away from the greatest celebration of the Church’s calendar.
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I always thought “Divine Mercy Sunday” was a bit odd…and not right for the Second Sunday of Easter…or actually, any Sunday. Put it on a weekday. We’ve always celebrated The Second Sunday of Easter…with no reference to Divine Mercy.
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I’m the last to say that popes are above critique, or that criticism in general is never in order, but this litany goes a bit over the top. Knowing that I am the proverbial chief of sinners when it comes to making excessive judgment calls, I’ve learned (or more honestly, I’m trying to learn) the importance of picking one’s battles. Speaking of which, I do have some serious objections to the new missal translation, but I’ll shelve that can of worms for the moment.
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Sigh. When I, as a young person in my late twenties, think of the actions of many priests of his generation and outlook I can’t help hearing our Lord’s words, “You have shut the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You have not gone in, and you have stopped others going in who wanted to.”
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I guess this essay reveals once again that much disputation against the new translation of the RM is rooted in theological disagreement with the official Latin post V2 RM upon which it is based. I doubt anyone here really believes that any cleric sharing the author’s displeasure with the contemporary Catholic Church would be any more at ease with the unaltered 2008 version.
There is so much to be disappointed about in this writing. It provides more evidence for a certain progressive intransigence & a lack of interest in dialogue with fellow Catholics who might be more traditional than themselves. My favorite part of the essay was when the author looks upon those clerics from his own generation and describes them as “(the) priesthoods biggest proportion of intelligent, educated and competent leaders”. I don’t know what to say about that sentence.
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I read this last week and was amazed at his powers of long-distance psychologizing (e.g. JPII’s lust for power).
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Well, we were warned that wolfs would come out from among the flock. Interestingly, one of the Christmas octave readings from 1 John spoke about some people who seemed to be inside the Church but were never really inside, much like what Pope Benedict said in his interviews.
More penance and prayers for all of us in the Church during these times. Less telling and gossip would be good.
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+OMG+
Does that include reading and commenting on blogs?
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+JMJ+
What does Fr. Eric have to say about Presbyterorum Ordinis 16? Does he embrace Vatican II’s commentary on clerical celibacy, or reject it as opposed to Vatican II’s spirit?
What is his assessment of those presbyters of his era who do accept the teaching of Humanae Vitae?
Then comes the list of “despite Vatican II” claims against Pope John Paul II:
“he effectively stopped the third rite of Penance”
I assume that is the “RITE FOR RECONCILIATION OF PENITENTS WITH GENERAL CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION”. That appears to have very specific and limited guidelines governing its appropriateness and use. What did Vatican II have to say about such a rite? How does it “more clearly express both the nature and effect of the sacrament”?
“reversed a burgeoning dynamic theology of Eucharist by reverting to and re-emphasising devotion to the static Real Presence”
I’m a bit offended that he calls the Real Presence “static”, and frustrated that he offers no explanation of what “dynamic” alternatives he is referring to. Later he says that “most priests have moved on from that static theology of Eucharist to a dynamic one – with Vatican II leading the way”, again without any qualification.
“reinforced a distorted devotion to Mary based on fundamentalist theology”
That just baffles me. What fundamentalist theology even approaches Catholic devotion to Mary? Or is the Council of Ephesus “fundamentalist”?
“peculiar devotions such as Sr. Faustina’s Divine Mercy Devotion”
How dare the pope promote a devotion to the mercy of God! What does he find peculiar about that devotion, in particular? Its timing in the liturgical year? Or its reminder that God is a judge, albeit a merciful one?
His remarks about confession dwindling seem to me to miss the point.
Oh, and I wish he’d stop calling us the “laity”. It’s so… clericalist. I prefer “a member of the baptismal presbyterate.”
I am eager/anxious to read the various PrayTell editorial board members’ commentary on this presbyter’s essay.
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+OMG+
Jeffrey
If you have questions for Fr Eric, you can contact him through the links provided.
If, however, you’re just trying to make points, or let us know how much you know, without really asking him anything, how about you just do that.
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+JMJ+
I have sent my questions as a Letter to the Editor of The Swag. I was hoping that readers here who sympathize with Fr. Eric’s perspective on these issues might be able to offer possible answers or explanations.
(I’m not saying readers here sympathize with everything Fr. Eric has written.)
For example, what did Vatican II have to say about the sacrament of Reconciliation that makes JP II’s actions concerning the third form of the Rite of Penance contradictory to the Council? And what “fundamentalist theology” might he be referring to, regarding devotion to Mary, the Mother of God?
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With all due reverence, the “Divine Mercy Devotion,” objectively looked at, is a variant on the Counter-Reformation version of the Sacred Heart Devotion — both in content and iconography. It would be better to ‘add it’ to the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart celebrated after Pentecost. It has always seemed to be a bit of a mystification why even a Pope would ‘add’ what is a ‘private devotion’ to the octave day of the most important Solemnity in the Church Year in the whole Church, both East and West.
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There’s a reason for one of Low Sunday’s Latin titles, “dominica in albis”. This Sunday is still part of Easter Week even if adult catechumens no longer attend this Mass in white linen. Divine Mercy lamentably severed this link to earliest Christian practice.
Philip’s observation about the genesis of the Divine Mercy devotion and its relationship to the Sacred Heart gestures towards a logical capstone. Perhaps it is time to formally restore the Octave of Pentecost to the OF and place Divine Mercy there as a feast.
I understand there are some technical difficulties with this proposal. “Stacked” propers are not permitted in the OF (though they should be). Still, even in the OF there are four or so “open” ferial days during the old octave where a priest may legitimately opt to say the Holy Spirit Mass instead of the generic readings for the day. We are still within a “pseudo-octave”. Why not make it official again and officially allow a celebration of the Pentecost Sunday Mass on ferials without commemorations in the octave?
I respect the post conciliar view that first class solemnities besides Christmas and Easter should “stand alone” without disturbing the continuous lections of OF weekdays. Still, it would incongruous to have a feast such as the Divine Mercy without the support of a solemn octave.
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At the parish I used to belong to the people baptized at Easter wore their white baptismal robes to the choir Mass the Sunday after Easter and that evening there was a Vespers celebration with a reception for them in the hall afterwards which started with them taking those robes off and everyone applauding to welcome them officially because of course after the Easter Vigil they were busy with their families and friends and the Mass itself had already been so long. Father said the nickname of the Sunday in Latin was Sunday of the white robes being set aside. Anyhow it was very impressive and stays in my memories still.
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Have a look at this article for another take on Fr Hodgens’ assertions… Pope Eric the First!
http://www.stoneswillshout.com/january_11.pdf (page 3). This one http://www.stoneswillshout.com/november_10.pdf (page 5) tells of more of what the National Council of Priests get up to… -
A rather disappointing and transparently bitter essay. I also laugh at some of the characterizations contained therein. It is as though the author spins a litany of all of the “great things” that happened at Vatican II, then spins a litany of all of the “bad results” and then refuses to see any connection between the two. There is also a very annoying “us-them” mentality… something strange about an ordained priest speaking of the Church as something to which he is in opposition… and the constant revisiting of the “turn back the clock” line (reversing Vatican II, or however you want to phrase it) as though there is no such thing as moving forwards in any way but his own. Prayers are indeed needed.
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I fear folks are not giving this article its due as a magnificent contribution to the screaming-like-a-stuck-pig genre.
As I read his stirring catalog of the restoration of the Church now finally underway, I felt my cup running over with optimism and gratitude that I lived to see all these wonderful things. Thanks for brightening my day with this reassurance that things are finally headed in the right direction.
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Fr Hodgens’s rant is irritating for many reasons. If it were entirely wrong, it would be easy to dismiss; but it isn’t. He raises some important points – and because he does so in such a silly and intemperate way, and indulges in ‘long-distance psychologising’ (well said, Fritz) they won’t be heard.
No doubt people have already passed Hodgens’s badly written diatribe along to some conservative blogger for ‘fisking’; in return we will get a yah-boo-sucks denunciation of his heresies, at roughly the level of the dreck from ‘the newsletter of orthodox Catholics of Gippsland.’ The uninformed and uninforming non-dialogue will continue. Hardened positions will get harder.
Peter Jeffery put it very well:
We inhabit a spirituality marketplace in which it is much easier to find books and workshops about enneagrams and yoga (helpful as they may be for some people) than about praying the psalms, making an examination of conscience, reading the lives of the saints. It should be no surprise, then, that this situation has spawned its own antithesis – the emergence of a vengeful “conservatism” unencumbered by history, promoted by grassroots groups doing all they can to obscure what remains off our sense of continuity with our religious forbears by spreading joyless, uncharitable messages all over the Internet. (from his Translating Tradition, p. 61)
I share some of Fr Hodgens’s concerns. But he was a fool to publish a stupid article like this. I wish I could find a more charitable way to say that, but I can’t.
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Happy clappy kumbaya to the Left, vengeful joyless uncharitable to the Right. That about sums it up.
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But lots of joy and optimism among the majority in the mainstream of the faithful. Certainly, that’s what I see wherever I worship, as opposed to what can be found in cranky spots on the web. I think the fringe extremes you mention are relatively small and of diminishing consequence.
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HE,
Oh, do you have reason to run into anyone in the mainstream ever? 🙂
awr -
Jeremy – nothing happy about the left: they’re as joyless as the right.
This has IMHO everything to do with belief in transubstantiation and the nature of the ordained priesthood: the long term goal of shifting the theology of the church is under threat. -
The phrase “happy, clappy kumbaya” seems to be a perfect example of what we can expect from a vengeful, joyless uncharitable Right!
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Fr. Ruff, here (my home parish) is where I meet those mainstream folks five or six mornings a week:
http://www.ourladyoffatima.org/olof/olof.htm
When was the last place you saw a church that looked more mainstream than this?
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Ceile, at the TLM I went to as I said before on here the back rows chattered away about visiting women and girls who didn’t have chapel veils on and during the coffee hour after there were people complaining that the relatively young priest who said the Mass didn’t do all the movements and gestures right. And the previous Good Friday he didn’t say the right prayer for the Jews. Then when he came walking into the hall it was all phony “Oh good morning Father what a nice mass sermon etc”
And Brigid yeah I got sick of singing Awake from your slumber, Gather us in the haughty and naughty and listening to anti George W Bush sermons.
So I guess a pox on both your nasty houses, I’ll stick to something in the middle thanks.
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Has the irony in this occurred to anyone else? A tread with multiple references to the “joyless left” is based on a typically joyless article from the left. Whereas any web search for right-leaning Catholic topics yields no shortage of buoyant articles about what’s going on in the Church. Wonder why these “right types” are so happy nowadays? (Of course, as a centrist—in liturgical worship, at least, I can hardly speak for either extreme.)
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A tread with multiple references to the “joyless left” (sic)
But of course, it’s the intended “joyless right” that’s the hackneyed cliche around here, isn’t it?
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Pardon me for returning to the topic, instead of the potshots from left, right, and even, apparently, the “middle,” (where they seem loaded for bear.)
“This may very well backfire because many priests are not going to implement it.”
THAT may very well backfire, because many laypersons are going to lose whatever respect for or inclination to obedience to such priests they might have had before.Why, for instance, should I not invent my own responses to a presider who takes it upon himself to use other than the prescribed texts?
And I say this as someone who agrees on a point or two of his whining.
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+JMJ+
Why, for instance, should I not invent my own responses to a presider who takes it upon himself to use other than the prescribed texts?
I’ve made the same argument. If the ordained presbyterate can make such changes, why not the baptismal presbyterate?
(Ok, I recant that “baptismal presbyterate” comment. Clergy and laity is fine with me.)
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Let’s stop kidding ourselves. Presbyters will rephrase these horrible propers and substitute material from another missal, or suddenly become very “creative”. When the next ad limina visit comes due, the bishop will report to Pope Benedict, or his successor, joyful and full compliance with the new missal and accompanying directives.
With few exceptions, the CDW will be no wiser. Meanwhile, the beat goes on.
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Jeremy – Maybe you missed my point – I said they’re as joyless as the right. We’ve got some people like those you mentioned at our EF. And plenty at the OF (daggers looks for genuflecting, kneeling for communion etc.) – that “look” isn’t patented by either side.
(PS this won’t post as a ‘reply’ to yours.)-
CD, I’ve more than once seen laity harshly scolded — from the pulpit, even! — for the reverences you mention.
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Chock Full of outrageous statements with no backing. We used to look at essays like this in Rhetoric/Logic class to see if the author was actually saying something. The only thing this priest is saying is that he hates people who disagree with him and his colleagues and will attack them with outrageous statements. Maybe Fox News is hiring in Australia. This is a sophomore who’s mad because someone won’t let him do whatever he wants. Make no mistake, this isn’t about ministry or compassion. This was probably/hopefully a fringe op ed piece to generate reaction/attention. There’s no conservative or liberal about this. The Australian priests have to be better educated than this I hope. I strongly object to and react to using the characterizations of “whining” or “pouting”- and now I’ll say, If you want a textbook definition of either of these-read this article.
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FOX news, Will? You mean the network with all the ratings because everyone watches it? The network whose Christmas promos dared to refer to Jesus?
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Yea Jer- The network that pushed that illegitimate war in Iraq that 2 popes condemned-The network that won that peabody-The network that said “I don’t want a nuclear free world.”- The network that lied to people about “death panels”- The network that condemned social justice-The network that advocated torture- The network that said”Half of the kids in this country under 5 years old are minorities, white people are having fewer…we need more babies”- The network that said “they will get up in the morning and kill someone, and then go have some chicken at KFC” Are my characters up yet? This is too much fun!
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The war two popes condemned? Oh you mean when Tariq Azziz and the gun-running Melkite Archbishop Hilarion Cappucci teamed up with that ex-UN-hack-turned- Cardinal-Sodano chaplain Fr Benjamin went to see Pope John Paul before piously signing the Assisi Peace Book? Or when Cardinal Laghi, the Latin American dictators’ favorite tennis partner and hero to Las Madres del Desaparecidos, came to lecture the President on Christian morality? That the “network” you keep company with, Willy Boy? So you must be big on papal condemnations of abortion and euthanasia and all that other stuff, right Willy? And not at all into Jeremiah Wright’s and Mike Pfleger’s brand of social justice, right? Thanks for so ably representing the elite effete wing of American Catholicism, Willy boy. Just don’t take a ride in any peace-loving bishop’s limo (poor Cappucci), almost as dangerous as riding with some social justice Catholic senators!
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Oh and Willy, be sure you trust with end of life counseling any programs sponsored by an Adminstration and Party that have really distinguished themselves as so Catholic on beginning of life issues! You’re right, Willy, this is too much fun!
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Sorry Jer-Along with the Popes’ condemnation of the Iraq War, I also follow their condemnation of abortion and euthanasia. I’m also big on Martin Luther King Jr., who Jeremiah Wright mirrored in his statements. Elite Effete? How does agreeing with the Popes, Bishops, and Catechism on war, torture, nuclear weapons, and racism make me elite effete? My comment was about a cable show-how did you get to an administration? The democrats advocate abortion-but not just abortion- but the horrible practice of partial birth abortion. The republicans advocate the death of innocents in unjust war, as well as torture, racism, and fear. Let me clear up some confusion Jer, I’m Roman Catholic. Did I mention the network that said “Let’s line them up and shoot them in the head”? Being a Catholic, I looked for pronouncements like this from John Paul or Benedict, or the U.S. Bishops or the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but I couldn’t find any. Citing Fox is fun because it’s so easy, but in reality, what Fox stands for isn’t funny at all. But if you believe what Fox does- then why would you talk about right to life issues which all the statements I’ve listed rail against? On daring to refer to Jesus-Jesus says that people are gonna yell that they drove out demons in his name, and he’s gonna say-I don’t know you! This goes for “both sides”. If I said Your rant is out of control, you would just respond defensively. But when it comes to Roman Catholicism, you are disoriented. Do you really put your faith in all those things I quoted?
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“Martin Luther King whom Jeremiah Wright mirrored in his statements”
Isn’t that weird, Willy, I missed MLK Jr shouting “Goddamn America” and his remark about Bill Clinton that is too obscene to post here but that I saw him shout from his pulpit – along with Father Pfleger’s ranting – things none of us would have seen but for FOX reporting it.
And I think you might find some theologians who would dispute your application of just and unjust war, and I think the decline in the birth rate in the white first world, once upon a time Catholic/Christian world is a demographic fact of life that is in indisputable, and I have lived in the same metropolitan area as drug dealers who did indeed kill a child, in a school playground, and then head off for the local fastfood joint.
And finally, be careful you dont fall of your high horse of being the only one whose opinions count as “Catholic.” Your sarcasm and superiority complex dont have the ring of someone who’s ready for canonization just yet.
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Jer, Calling someone boy doesn’t make you a man. Like all of us, especially in the next year, you have some discerning to do. Start with this- When Jesus met the woman at the well, or the woman caught in adultery- did he really say “Get off my phone you evil little bitch”?
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“Don’t let anybody make you think God chose America as his divine messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with justice and it seems I can hear God saying to America “you are too arrogant, and if you don’t change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power, and I will place it in the hands of a nation that doesn’t even know my name.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
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OK, thanks for stimulating political discussion, but I think we’re getting too far from the subject of the original post. Let’s try to stick to the issues this priest raised in his article.
awr
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No Problem, Sorry for any discomfort.
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Why are so many so defensive and aggressive towards a man who has dedicated his life to the people of the Church? He is speaking from the heart; his passion; his disappointments, etc. He is being vulnerable – a trait consistently lacking in most commentators today.
Background: Fr Eric Hodgens studied at Corpus Christi College from 1953 to 1960. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1960. He graduated M.A. from Melbourne University Criminology Department in 1973. Since then he has documented the statistics of seminaries and clergy in Australia. For seven years he was Director of Pastoral Formation of Clergy for the Archdiocese of Melbourne. He was a member of the initial committee which set up Melbourne’s Catholic Research Office for Pastoral Planning and the inaugural Chairman of the National Organization for the Continuing Education of the Roman Catholic Clergy. He has been chairman of the Priests’ Remuneration Fund and the Priests’ Retirement Foundation. The latter role has called for extensive demographic research to project future retirement requirements for priests. He has been a Parish Priest in the Melbourne Archdiocese since 1974. He was the founding Parish Priest of Holy Saviour Parish, Glen Waverley North. After 19 years there he moved to St Bede’s Parish, North Balwyn where he spent 14 years. He has recently retired from active parish duties and is now writing and lecturing. You can find an index of previous articles published by Fr Hodgens in OnLine Catholics at this LINK.
Before skewering him, you might want to read his weekly column; his new book, “New Evangelization in the 21st Century”: link to a review:
http://www.catholica.com.au/gc2/kg/006_kg_301008.php
This man is a respected priest and leader in Australia – to his point, he is not whining or pouting; he is not a dissenter; he has not denied any church doctrines. Too many of you seem to only focus on a point here or there – you miss his passion. Sad…..cont….
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Bill, He’s not saying anything- other than that he is angry. He’s saying that because he disagrees with Humanae Vitae, that the pope is bad. There’s no logic in this. He wants to transfer power, he says so himself that it should go to theologians (read-“those who agree with me”) “Many are from the ranks of Opus Dei” Really? He has proof of this? “Static theology of eucharist”? We’re not supposed to believe that Jesus is there?…and tell me why, because your friend doesn’t believe it? Bill, this is a rant, and a concieted one at that. No one is being agressive here. I’m simply telling you as an educated person what this is… and speaking of being educated- please don’t insult my intelligence by saying that he is being vulnerable- he’s being manipulative and saying that people who disagree with him are bad.
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+JMJ+
Oh, I see that he is passionate about this. But I disagree with him. I might be very passionate about the liturgy and catechesis, but that doesn’t prevent you from disagreeing with me.
And I don’t think I was “only focus[ing] on a point here or there” — I addressed as many of his specific examples as the (now-generous!) 2000 character comment limit would allow.
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Here is a recent article from his project, Online Catholic:
In OnLine Catholics Fr Eric Hodgens takes off the gloves and speaks in candid, honest language for the vast majority of his fellow priests on how they see the Church in this wide brown land. Only the blind and deaf would not have been aware that what Eric Hodgens writes is probably a more honest appraisal of the attitudes of the vast majority of priests in Australia. What is news is that over the last year or so, and probably thanks in part to the emergence of a truly independent voice like OnLine Catholics – as frail and tendentious as its first footsteps have turned out to be, we have begun hearing more and more of the true feelings of our priesthood. The feelings that have been largely kept under wraps because of the thought police and the jack boots who have controlled the agenda in this country for so long with Rome’s blessing. Today is a day to celebrate the re-emergence of truth and honesty in priestly and ministerial discourse.
The immediate trigger for Fr Eric Hodgens article is the imminent release of a further report from the Pastoral Projects Office (PPO) of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference. This report has been investigating, objectively, why so many have been leaving the active practice of their faith in recent decades.
The PPO published a preliminary report last October of some of the initial feedback. It stated:
Although it is too early to discuss results in detail, people interviewed so far have talked about:
Their identity as Catholics.
Other commitments, such as caring for or spending time with family & friends, taking priority over attending Mass.
A gradual decline in involvement after their children stopped attending Mass.
A sense of exclusion from the Church community, either because of differences between Church teaching and personal beliefs, or as a result of being divorced.
Issues of structure, transparency and accountability within the Church -
Fr Eric says:
“A more grievous abuse of power by John Paul II was his appointment of bishops. Appointees were to be clerical, compliant and in total agreement with his personal opinions.”
I think that the variety of bishops appointed and the number who seem not to support the current Pope suggests that Fr Eric got that wrong.
Can non-clerical bishops be appointed?
As for the rest of his article it is clear that he has a different interpretation of VII to the Pope but that is not evidence that the conclusions of the council are being rejected.-
“the number who seem not to support the current Pope”
…But they’re all going along with the missal. They’re all going to implement it in their diocese. No one has said they won’t or that they’ll give priests an option. They’re either for it, or they’re afraid of something. If it’s the latter-what could make a whole collective so afraid?-
Will
I hope that you are right and that bishops will make the best of the new translation.
Many have been slow or reluctant to allow EF Masses and continue with their own variations of liturgy notably using their own words in place of those in the missal. They have also allowed some poor music to be used.
In fact one would expect a body of several hundred intelligent and educated men to have a variety of views and one would have reason to fear the absence of any diversity. My point is that Fr Eric was inaccurate in saying that all the bishops appointed by JPII were in total agreement with his personal opinions.
Cheers
Peter -
A combination of apathy, incompetence and ambition.
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Anthony Ruff, OSB :
HE,Oh, do you have reason to run into anyone in the mainstream ever? awrHe’s probably started a group which studies in depth the history and meaning, before each Mass, all of the possible orations, prefaces, chants, antiphons, refrains and other variables that might possibly be used at said Mass.
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I think I could have plenty of compassion for a man like this who has worked hard all his life and given everything to the church as Fr. Hodgens clearly has, after looking at his resume Bill deHaas has given. No doubt countless souls will be in heaven because of the choices he made as a priest, and I can find it in my heart to be grateful for the spiritual favors the church has received because of his ministry. I am serious about saying this, I am not trying to be sarcastic.
But when he gives into despair as he clearly does in this piece, it is hard to find a lot to admire in the way he expresses himself. So what if it is honest; so what if “most” priests “share” his views (not that I grant him that, but whatever)? No one should follow this kind of example of losing hope in God. The Scriptures are full of men and women who died without seeing God bring them to the Promised Land, restore justice or remove an oppressor, just like it says in Hebrews 10 (or is it 12?) But the message of Scripture is to have hope in God whom we cannot see, in spite of what we do see, when it looks like God will never keep the promise he supposedly made to us.
I can have a lot of compassion for Fr. Hodgens because I personally fight this kind of despair daily in dealing with my own weaknesses, but he does not provide a very good example for me to follow in this regard. He may feel better because he has blown off some steam, but in the end he has created more heat, less light.
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Fr Eric voices the common sense of priests of my generation, and what he says is said in more gray academic language by thousands of scholars of the post Vatican II church — for example Alberto Melloni and the other Bologna historians. The suspicious reactions of disgruntled reactionary laity have been one of the clogs on the charism of these priests, allied with the hopeless leadership of the JP2 appointed bishops.
I have just spent a week in Spain, where monuments of the Inquisition are to be visited in every town, a depressing reminder of where a church that discourages freedom of speech can end up. The infernal mentality of the Inquisition (1478-1836), from which the Vatican has never distanced itself, is now experienced by Spaniards as a national shame, and the memory of it explains their imperviousness toward their hysterical bishops who claim the Church is being persecuted in Spain today.
The adulators of the creeping infallibilism that produced the Humanae Vitae debacle should reflect on the history of papal totalitarianism, quite evident in the procedures of Pius IX and Pius X and still smouldering in much of what John Paul II and Benedict XVI have said and done. Their papacies are centered on distracting media events and totally lack any encouragement or support for adult intelligent Christian life and initiative. The New Translation will be a publicly visible exhibition of the rancid nature of this failed restoration.
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“the Humanae Vitae debacle”??? The “adult intelligent christian” would ask why is conception so evil?…and they might not say it out loud to be polite, but they would probably wonder if self loathing of humanity or life in general isn’t involved in this.
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“What does Fr. Eric have to say about Presbyterorum Ordinis 16? Does he embrace Vatican II’s commentary on clerical celibacy, or reject it as opposed to Vatican II’s spirit?”
PO 16 contains a fair share of status quo statements, as many other conciliar texts do; still it stresses that celibacy is not demanded by the priesthood of its nature, that it was not the practice of the Primitive Church nor of the the Eastern Churches, etc. The Council praises married clergy in Eastern rites and says it has not desire to change their state. The obstinate defense of mandatory celibacy has been at the expense of the pastoral vitality of the Church, and this is clearly opposed to the spirit of Vatican II.
“The “RITE FOR RECONCILIATION OF PENITENTS WITH GENERAL CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION”… How does it “more clearly express both the nature and effect of the sacrament”?””
It sets sin and repentance in a communal setting as in the early church. It allows the faithful to experience the mystery of divine forgiveness in a more mature and biblical way than in the decadent confession-culture which undermined the moral and psychological maturity of penitents.
“I’m a bit offended that he calls the Real Presence “static”, and frustrated that he offers no explanation of what “dynamic” alternatives he is referring to” — for the dynamic theology of eucharist, see Nicholas Lash, Louis Chauvet, Schillebeeckx, Teilhard de Chardin, and the African theologians who object to the fetishistic reification of the Real Presence. The Real Presence is the dynamic presence of the Paschal Mystery — the total meal event is transsubstantiated into this eucharistic action. The presence of Christ in the form of bread and wine is to be set in the context of his presence in the community, in his Word and in the world.
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+JMJ+
“PO 16 contains a fair share of status quo statements, as many other conciliar texts do”
This sounds like you’re saying the true spirit of the Council is found by doing beyond the texts, because they’re compromises, because the Council Fathers couldn’t say all they wanted to.
“The obstinate defense of mandatory celibacy has been at the expense of the pastoral vitality of the Church, and this is clearly opposed to the spirit of Vatican II.”
The Council Fathers approved this very sentence from the document in question:
“This legislation, pertaining to those who are destined for the priesthood, this holy synod again approves and confirms, fully trusting this gift of the Spirit so fitting for the priesthood of the New Testament, freely given by the Father, provided that those who participate in the priesthood of Christ through the sacrament of Orders — and also the whole Church — humbly and fervently pray for it.”
Was this sentence, and the Council’s “approv[al] and confirm[ation]” of clerical celibacy, a mere “status quo” statement in opposition to the true spirit of the Council?
As for Rite III of Penance, sin and repentance can be set in a communal setting and yet individual confession retained, as in Rite II.
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On some points it is evident that the church has to move beyond the letter of Vatican II, e. g. in what is says about scriptural inerrancy (where a conscious decision was made that the theological reflection was not ripe for a move beyond the status quo). Note that even the Council’s approval of the historic Latin legislation on clerical celibacy does not amount to saying that such legislation should be upheld perpetually.
Pastoral flexibility and modernization in disciplinary matters and generous openness to change and development in matters of doctrine and ethics seem to me to be the attitudes of the majority at Vatican II.
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““the Humanae Vitae debacle”??? The “adult intelligent christian” would ask why is conception so evil?…and they might not say it out loud to be polite, but they would probably wonder if self loathing of humanity or life in general isn’t involved in this.”
To say that conception is evil is the Manichean heresy, which tainted Catholic thought as well (Augustine on the peccaminosity of all sex). Humanae Vitae is about responsible parenthood — something previous generations of manicheans thought it sinful to think about.
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Joe, Humanae Vitae says that we can’t use birth control. To use birth control blocks the transmission of life. If I have misinterpreted your reasons, then tell me why you are against HV. If you’ve come up with your own personal interpretation of it, then say, “This is my interpretation.” Paul’s meaning is very clear and not open to conjecture, that is why you don’t like it and call it a debacle. I don’t appreciate the Manichean sidetrack, I was asking you why you were against HV- and you responded with a history lesson and didn’t answer my question. If my question wasn’t explicit, then I’ve just rephrased it- why are you opposed to HV?
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I am not opposed to HV as an individual, but as a priest who experienced the tsunami of rejection of HV by the Catholic faithful back in the 1970s. Catholic mothers assured me that NFP was unnatural and obscene. Also I SAW the havoc wrought by HV in the Philippines — over population, children living on refuse heaps, foraging in dirty garbage for survival.
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“Only the blind and deaf would not have been aware that what Eric Hodgens writes is probably a more honest appraisal of the attitudes of the vast majority of priests in Australia. What is news is that over the last year or so, and probably thanks in part to the emergence of a truly independent voice like OnLine Catholics – as frail and tendentious as its first footsteps have turned out to be, we have begun hearing more and more of the true feelings of our priesthood. The feelings that have been largely kept under wraps because of the thought police and the jackboots who have controlled the agenda in this country for so long with Rome’s blessing. Today is a day to celebrate the re-emergence of truth and honesty in priestly and ministerial discourse.”
Yes, the floodgates of free speech are reopening — and the pall of discouraged silence that poisoned priestly life for decades is lifting. The Vatican hates free speech and freedom of opinion, freedom of publication, freedom of association — all human rights — as well as the ordinary processes of consultation and discussion that make up the very tissue of democratic culture.
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Let’s not forget that Paul VI put to the 1971 Synod a proposal for ordaining married men, which the bishops, to his surprise, turned down. There is no theological objection to this ending of universal mandatory celibacy; the lothness of bishops to move is possibly due to the expense of paying for a married clergy.
There is also a human rights issue, which the Council Fathers would not have had on their radar screen — that is, the lifelong deprivation of sexual intimacy and of all freedom of choice on the basis of documents signed in the hothouse world of seminaries at the age of 21 or 22 could well be seen as a crime against human freedom and growth.
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…And I just said to myself I need to stop posting and read and listen! UGH Mea Culpa!
Joe, If someone decided to get married at 22, would that be “a crime against human freedom and growth”?
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This article made me sad. Not because of the direction Father thinks the Church is headed, but rather for this priest and the thousands like him who subscribe to the ideas expressed within his piece. As a young priest, indeed, a “JP generation” priest, I am disheartened by the deep divisions within presbyterates, divisions which line up neatly along generational lines, even as I am filled with hope for our Church, joy for the opportunities our current world affords the missionary believer, and delight in the direction it is taking liturgically through the actions of our current Holy Father.
But it is an alarming question – where is the possibility of common ground to bridge these ever deepening generational divides within the ranks of the priesthood and the Church in general? To be frank, for a very young, cassock-clinging priest like myself it can be quite easy to mutter, “Let the revolution continue, one funeral at a time.” But really, is this the way of Jesus? Of course not. And it is a scandal to a world longing for the authentic Christian witness of unity.“Come Holy Ghost, Creator Blest, and within our hearts take up they rest…” Soon….
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Fr. Erickson,
If your general attitude is widespread among younger priests (but at times I fear it is not) then there is reason to be hopeful. Perhaps I am wrong on this, but it seems to me that the initiative lies with the younger generation of priests, who need to get over the attitude (found among the young in every generation) that their elders have nothing to teach them. I suppose there is a certain justice (or irony) in a generation that spent so much energy rejecting its past now finding itself to have become that rejected past, but I think there is a wealth of pastoral and spiritual wisdom among priests who lived through Vatican II that young priests could benefit from. I don’t much like the tone, or some of the content, of Fr. Eric’s article, but I bet he still has a lot to teach the JPII generation of priests.
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The same kind of question is indeed asked about marriage, in view of the much longer life expectancy of people today. We seem to be stuck with a rather summary view of the approved states of life allowed by the Church — a view that is rather more restrictive than the Bible. However, in practice ‘annulments’ leave a huge loophole, even if divorcees are still singled out for public opprobrium.
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…but the person is making a choice about a commitment- why is that bad? Your stance begs the retort-who decides what we do with our life- us or you? The church doesn’t force people to become priests or get married. You’re deciding that both of these are bad for us- are we supposed to wait around and have our lives directed for our betterment by you? This sounds like a cult. I mean this rhetorically-not antagonistically.
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“…but the person is making a choice about a commitment- why is that bad?”
If it is an informed and free choice; the closed world of seminaries is not conducive to such. Moreover, completely irrevocable choices can be questionable even when they are for unequivocally good things.
“The church doesn’t force people to become priests or get married.”
That is a rather lame defense. The issue is that the Church makes the generous commitments into lifelong legal traps. But of course the Church now dissolves marriages rather easily. An Italian priest who wrote a doctorate on the possibility of rescinding ordinations using the same reasoning as is used in marriage annulment cases was forbidden to publish his findings.
The free decision to marry or to live a celibate life is a worthy and good thing. Unfree decision is a grounds for annulling marriage. To surround the free decision with legal sanctions afterwards — excommunication for priests who attempt to marry; refusal of communion to Catholics who divorce — shows little respect for the sacredness of human freedom.
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As I wrote earlier, I agree with many of the points that Fr Hodgens makes – and with many of Joe’s further comments. The secrecy and the raw exercise of power that have led to the translation debacle so well covered on this blog provide evidence that something has gone badly wrong and that the delight in the direction of the Church that Fr Erickson speaks of may turn out to be an illusion.
The problem I still have with ‘Reflections on an Ordination Golden Anniversary’ is that it falls into exaggeration and psychological attribution without evidence: for instance, John Paul II being ‘rock solid in his self-assessment as God’s chosen man of destiny.’
I have had wonderfully positive experiences with some of the ‘younger generation of priests’ but many negative ones as well: priests who not only don’t blush at comments like ‘Let the revolution continue, one funeral at a time’ but say such things with glee, as though they were in some way edifying. Priests who use those cassocks to isolate them from the heartaches and problems of their parishioners. Priests whose intellectual and theological formation is dreadfully limited; a surprising number of the ‘new generation of seminarians’ haven’t been to university at all.
The way in which Fr Hodgens couched his concerns will make it all too easy for these ‘new generation’ priests (and bishops, for that matter) to ignore them. That would be a pity, because there are realities behind his exaggerations. I am sure he has a lot to teach us.
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I also think the essay would have benefitted from substantial restraint in its commentary on specific persons.
The Church faces serious problems, and nobody within the institution seems prepared to offer credible, unifying leadership.
Any single pope, bishop, or pastor is but one man with an oar on a supertanker adrift at sea. Any of them may think they have the right answer, and God knows: any of them might be right. But where is the charism of persuasion? Or even simple competence?
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As Paul Harvey said: …..now for the rest of the story….
Fr. Hodgens is/was a leader in the Australian National Federation of Priests and their newsletter is The Swag (in Australia, a swag is the name given the bedroll of an itenerant outback journeyman – symbolic for the priests).This article was picked up by the Australian Catholic News (CathNews) but then, without notice or explanation, was withdrawn and removed from their website as directed by the local bishop, Denis Hart. This then became another story.
Here are some reactions from Catholica – Australian Catholic Blog:
“In The Age today Fr Eric Hodgens again courageously calls on church leaders to face reality. Referring to the censoring of a story on CathNews he writes: “Inquiries revealed that a church ‘higher up’ had prevailed on the CathNews editor to pull the link.”
As the censorship became public, it became the story. However, the main issue is not the censorship, but rather the view that the pulled article was arguing: that the church’s leadership has lost its way but is not willing to discuss or even consider that there may be a point…
A vast crowd of priests and laity who passionately love the church are alarmed at the fundamentalism pervading the mentality of the Roman bureaucracy and many bishops…
And in conclusion:
Getting people to change their minds is always hard. Jesus had difficulty getting his message accepted. Maybe it is time for today’s church leaders to listen to the voices and reconsider. They might just be converted. Maybe there is no need to kill the story.”
And from Catholica’s editor: link to – http://www.catholica.com.au/forum/index.php?id=63957
“in all this is what has happened to CathNews. I remain fairly sure that if Michael Kelly SJ was still in the drivers’ seat at CathNews he would have cautioned Denis Hart of the folly of pulling the story and gotten the Archbishop to pull his head in simply by alerting him to the…
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What happened to the mission Jesus gave us? His message was very simple really. Love God and love your neighbour as yourself. By his example that means care for the poor and downtrodden. Exclude no one. God’s love is for all. This is the centre of being a follower of Jesus. How does any of the above contribute to that?
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Fr. Burrows – are you directing your comment to me or is your “above” more global?
Nice to hear from you.
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