In a hard-hitting and riveting address focused on the vision put forth by Pope Francis, Bishop Long of Parramatta, Australia said Thursday that
I firmly believe that we’re on the threshold of renewal and transformation. The Second Vatican Council set in motion a new paradigm that cannot be thwarted by fear and paralysis. Once the genie is out of the bottle, it cannot be put back.
Drawing rather sharp contrasts, the bishop stated:
Prior to the 2nd Vatican Council, the church was suspicious of the world which was perceived as evil. Remember the classic three enemies: the world, the flesh and the devil. It was a defensive, fortress church. Followed the lead of Pope John XXXIII and his optimistic aggiornamento, guided by “the signs of the times,, the gathered bishops recognized that the church needed to open itself to the world, engage with the world and even to learn from the world. Gaudium et Spes – the guiding document of the Council presented a new paradigm: the church is not an enclosure which protects its members against the sinful world. It is a fellow pilgrim with the men and women of our age. It is a church incarnate in the world. Therefore, it is time not of fearful retreat, disengagement and self-referential pomp, but of accompaniment and engagement.
The occasion was the Ann D. Clark Lecture, named for the beloved Parramatta diocesan director of schools who succumbed to cancer some years back. Bishop Vincent Long, OFM Conv, was recently translated from Auxiliary Melbourne to be Ordinary of Parramatta, Australia. He was born in Vietnam and arrived in Australia as a refugee.
Bishop Long stated in his address that it is the time to reclaim for the Church:
- Less a role of power, dominance and privilege but more a position of vulnerability and powerlessness;
- Less an enclosure for the virtuous but more an oasis for the weary and downtrodden;
- Less an experience of exclusion and elitism but more an encounter of radical love, inclusiveness and solidarity;
- Less of an attitude of “we are right and you are wrong” and more of an attitude of openness to truth wherever and whoever it is to be found;
- Less a leadership of control and clericalism but more a diakonia of a humble servant exemplified by Christ at the Last Supper;
- Less a language of condemnation but more a language of affirmation and compassion; and
- Less a preoccupation for its own maintenance but more a concern for the kingdom of God.
Bishop Long see the need for
a church attentive to the signs of the times and incarnate grace at work in the world, even among the unorthodox and the marginalized.
The Transition to Pope Francis
The bishop described the shift from Pope Benedict to Pope Francis:
When Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI announced his resignation in early 2013, we were adrift… Why? Because in 600 years, there had not been a papal resignation. … The Barque of Peter was truly launched into uncharted waters. We Catholics felt we were in dire straits. The mood wasn’t good. And yet somehow that mood was changed remarkably with the arrival of a rather unlikely pope. …Talk about a God of surprises.
Bishop Long emphasized the unexpectedness of Pope Francis, and what his unexpected pontificate means:
Pope Francis is the embodiment of our hope. His unexpected election and the way he exercises his leadership give us a breath of fresh air and a source of great hope.
And this:
Pope Francis has unleashed a new energy, he has poured a new wine which cannot be contained in old wineskins. He has challenged us to move in concert with him and bring about the rebirth of the church.
He drew out the implications of the pope’s vision for the life of the church:
I believe that we are living in a watershed and a privileged moment in the history of the church. Just as the biblical exile brought about the most transforming experience that profoundly shaped the faith of Israel, this transition time can potentially launch the Church into a new era of hope, engagement and solidarity that the Second Vatican Council beckoned us with great foresight. …. It is not “business as usual”. There needs to be an attitudinal change at every level, a conversion of mind and heart that conforms us to the spirit of the Gospel, a new wine into new wineskins, not a superficial change or worse a retreat into restorationism.
Attendees at the lecture report that the bishop’s PowerPoint presentation illustrated the “retreat into restorationism” with this picture of a well-known cardinal wearing a cappa magna.
Divesture
The implications of Pope Francis’s vision include divesting, according to the bishop:
Pope Francis challenges all of us to divest ourselves of clericalism and elitism, and return to the purity of the Gospel. His constant call to the church to be less concerned with itself and to be more outward looking encourages us to walk with our people in the ambiguities and complexities of their lives. The self-referential church steeped in a culture of splendor is in stark contrast with the church of the poor and for the poor.
The bishop stated that he has forfeited his club membership with Quantas airlines, as he endeavors to follow the pope’s lead to live simply.
But that’s the easy part. The harder part is to do what most of you do, which is to labor at the coalface of the church. It is have the smell of the sheep, to walk with people, identifying with them in their struggles, their questions and their uncertainties.
An Inclusive Church
Bishop Long spoke of the challenge to be an inclusive church, a “big tent church”:
There must be space for everyone, especially those who have been hurt, excluded or alienated, be they abuse victims, survivors, divorcees, gays, lesbians, women, disaffected members.
Bishop Long gave particular emphasis to the issue of gay Catholics, noting that
as the Gospel illustrates, it is the holders of the tradition who are often guilty of prejudice, discrimination and oppressive stereotype. …
He continued,
We cannot talk about the integrity of creation, the universal and inclusive love of God, while at the same time colluding with the forces of oppression in the ill-treatment of racial minorities, women and homosexual persons. It won’t wash with young people especially when we purport to treat gay people with love and compassion and yet define their sexuality as “intrinsically disordered”. This is particularly true when the Church has not been a shining beacon and a trail-blazer in the fight against inequality and intolerance.
The bishop put up an image of Pope Francis meeting at the Vatican with a former student, a gay man, and his same-sex partner, and said:
Pope Francis says that we must always consider the person, because – I quote “when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?”
Prophets for Our People
The bishop concluded with a call to be prophets:
May we be like the prophets for our people during this our contemporary exile. May we be strengthened to walk the journey of faith with them, proclaim the message of hope, the signs of the new Kairos and lead them in the direction of the kingdom. May all of us enact the rhythm of the paschal mystery of dying and rising in the pattern of our Lord who is the Alpha and the Omega.
The entire address can be read here.
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