Does the Catholic Church need Decentralization?

The Catholic Church urgently needs decentralization according to Fr. Eberhard von Gemmingen, SJ, longtime leader of German programming at Vatican Radio, as the Catholic international press agency KIPA reports. The central leadership of the church does not perceive accurately the various mentalities in the universal church and the Vatican lacks “sensibility for central Europe,” von Gemmingen wrote in a recent edition of Christ und Welt (Bonn).

Increasingly, decisions from Rome are not sufficiently justified and communicated, von Gemmingen charged. The Jesuit priest renewed his call for a reform of the curia. “Some offices in the Vatican could very likely be abolished or downgraded,” he said. Rome needs above all a cabinet or chief of staff.

Von Gemmingen considers it “a nearly impossible undertaking” that the Pope has to hold together the Catholic world with its mentalities, situations, and problems.”

He noted that for Catholics in Africa, Asia, and southern Europe, the papacy is unproblematically a cultural phenomenon of societal life. The mission of priests, bishops, and church authority is contested much less there. “The role of women in many country and Catholic local churches is still more traditionally conceived than in central Europe. Outside of German-speaking regions, there are few laypeople among theologians.”

Editor

Katharine E. Harmon, Ph.D., edits the blog, Pray Tell: Worship, Wit & Wisdom.

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Comments

15 responses to “Does the Catholic Church need Decentralization?”

  1. Charles Culbreth

    Can’t really address or answer the question, which itself seems vaguely oxymoronic.

    Reply
    1. Joe O'Leary

      Of course the answer is YES. The history of the Church over the last two centuries both poses the question and answers it.

      Reply
  2. Karl Liam Saur

    It’s kinda hard to comment without a translation of the article. The “chief of staff” idea seems to contradict what’s being emphasized here, so something’s missing….

    Reply
  3. Jack Rakosky

    The situations of Catholicism in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Asia are all very different.

    For example, sociologically the situation of religion in the USA is very different from that in Europe; it is a huge mistake to lump us together. The USA is well on its way to being the model for a religious postindustrial society; Europe is well on its way to being the model of secular postindustrial society. Yet we are being lumped together by the Vatican in the new office for evangelization. It is unlikely Curia officials think Europe has a lot to learn from the USA. Europe may but it will not learn that from Rome or the American hierarchy. Also I am not so sure that the voluntarism and spirituality (a personal relationship with God) at the core of successful religion in the USA are easily exported to other continents including Europe.

    Neither centralization nor decentralization is the answer.

    If we radically decentralize, we run the risk of developing very culturally different Churches as they respond to their continental and national situations. We could become like the early Church which split along regional and linguistic lines (Rome, Constantinople, Egypt, Asia) even though church historians overemphasize the theological issues.

    On the other hand if the central reins are held too tight and regional adaptations are discouraged we could equally end up with a fractured church. At least those are my sociological instincts. I know that many today think the central organization of the Church is so strong that a large breakup is impossible. I think it could happen (much sooner than we think) if we go too far either in centralization or decentralization. Many may see the early ecumenical councils as having preserved the unity of the church (which they did in some respects) but they also broke it apart. We have tended to ignore the Oriental Churches and the very vibrant life they led outside the Roman Empire after the councils.

    Reply
    1. Samuel J. Howard

      For example, sociologically the situation of religion in the USA is very different from that in Europe; it is a huge mistake to lump us together. The USA is well on its way to being the model for a religious postindustrial society; Europe is well on its way to being the model of secular postindustrial society. Yet we are being lumped together by the Vatican in the new office for evangelization.

      The overall religious picture in the U.S. is very different than the overall religious picture in Europe. However, I’m not as sure that the Catholic religious picture in the two regions is so different. The Catholic Church in the United States (partly because of geographic distribution) seems to have been hit much harder by the secularization of culture than the Protestant Churches.

      Reply
    2. Bill deHaas

      Jack – your tensions are no different than what large international corporations face. Some are very successful at maintaining a “global” mission while focusing and empowering local regions, countries, areas to make their own business decisions, worksite cultures, etc.

      Yes, it is a challenge but let’s face it, the current curial model is failing; is decades behind on using technology in communication, policies, processes, planning, etc.

      If Rome just tried to implement the collegial model outlined at VII and used the conferences of various language groups or regions they could vastly improve and manage both/and rather than the remote manner that is in place.

      Reply
    3. Dunstan Harding

      We have tended to ignore the Oriental Churches and the very vibrant life they led outside the Roman Empire after the councils.
      ——————————————–
      Or Christian bodies in India, Mesopotamia, and Persia isolated not only from the west, but from the rest of the eastern Roman empire, when asked who the bishop of Rome or patriarchof Constantinople is, would answer we neither know, nor do we care.
      I don’t see a system of strong local communities, or autocephalous churches arising to replace a Vatican now being dismissed or just plain ignored. I do see a vague, loose synodicality arising in time which could form a model to which the Oriental Orthodox might be attracted. Something not unlike the Anglican ordinariate, but with much more teeth to it.

      Reply
  4. Mark Miller

    Not too hard: is it *required* by the doctrines of Vatican I & II, by Catechism, etc, – required- that so many things are decided by Rome?

    Is it possible that while by divine law the Pope has the authority/power to direct things from the center; yet it is possible to *let* the bishops and particular churches have more control – without saying that the dogma was wrong?

    Seems the only way out: the universal jursidiction is a *choice.*

    Mark Miller

    Reply
    1. Jeffrey Pinyan

      There’s no reason the Pope can’t use his universal jurisdiction to delegate and promote subsidiarity.

      Reply
  5. Fritz Bauerschmidt

    “Outside of German-speaking regions, there are few laypeople among theologians.”

    Has this guy paid any attention to the English-speaking world? Of the 12 people who teach in my department, eight are lay people. And we’re pretty typical of the US.

    Reply
    1. Anthony Ruff, OSB Avatar
      Anthony Ruff, OSB

      I agree. I wondered whether I should add an editorial comment to the post but decided not to – I expected someone would point this out within about 5 minutes. I’m hoping he was misquoted or abbreviated or something.
      awr

      Reply
      1. Tom Poelker

        And actually took all of 45 minutes.
        Some of us must have been out for our second cups of coffee.

  6. Jeffrey P. Regan

    “Rome needs above all a cabinet or chief of staff.”

    This is a curious statement since cabinets and chiefs of staff serve as loci of power in centralized structures of governance.

    Reply
  7. Tom Poelker

    Yes, the RCC needs decentralization and began on that path as cited and praised by Fr. Ratzinger on the closed thread.

    Yet, the bishops have sat on their dignity instead of standing up for their rights as the Curia took over the Synods and eviscerated the episcopal appointment process and then the national episcopal conferences.

    Catholics also need to support specific reforms which lead in the direction of decentralization and which are definitely disciplinary and not doctrinal.

    Please write your nuncio and ask him to support:
    1. Adding an equal number of superiors of women religious to the papal electors and abolishing the non-sacramental title of “cardinal”.

    2. Move priests and bishops out of all Curial positions which do not involve secrets of confession and replace with non-ordained, half men and half women, as a means, of course, of helping the shortage of celibate male clergy.

    3. Send me money to pay for national and international campaigns to gather petition signatures for these reforms and to publish them world wide.

    4. Offer resolutions in support of these reforms in your parish and diocesan and religious congregational councils.

    TAP
    Half joking
    All in earnest.

    Reply
  8. Peter Haydon

    It seems to me that any organisation, no matter how well structured, will fail if the leaders are no good or do not work together. Equally good leaders can overcome despite a poor structure.
    How much training do Bishops get in matters relevant to their management of the Church? They need financial skill, personnel management knowledge including employment law, some understanding of criminal law, say to deal with child abusers, understanding of politics and economics in case called on to comment, public speaking skills and so on. Perhaps more important they need to have a sense of purpose of the mission of the Church set for them and to have “buy-in”: to feel that they can contribute to policies of the Church and then will go on to promote that mission. And then their performance should be monitored and appraised.
    If Rome is confident in them they can be left to use their initiative.
    Think how senior army officers go to staff college. Think how they are given a chance to use their own initiative and skills.

    Reply

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