The Future of the Catholic Priesthood

James Carroll is a contemporary of mine. We were both priests in the 60’s. He was a Paulist priest. I was a diocesan priest. We were both involved in protests regarding Vietnam and Civil Rights. We both left the priesthood about the same time. He has been a well-known and respected author and writes occasionally about issues associated with the Church. I cannot identify anything I have done that measures up to his accomplishments. But my last 50 years is best measured by a wonderful marriage and three children who gave us their love, their inspiring married partners and six beautiful grandchildren. Celebrating our fiftieth anniversary this summer as a family will be awesome.

We have both written about issues generated by our history and our perception of problems associated with the Catholic Church. His latest article came out today in the Atlantic (June 2019). His writing is prompted by the ongoing reports of priest sex abuse. 

Of interest, during my six years as a priest, I was totally unaware of any priest involved in sex abuse. If a priest was removed temporally from his assigned parish, I was under the impression that he was involved with alcohol abuse. Looking back on the situations, no one talked to me about such situations. In hindsight, I am surprised that I turned down a request to leave the parish for graduate studies so that I could work with “priests with problems”, presumably alcohol. Never did I consider priests involved in the abuse of children. My reason for not accepting the request to be a clinician serving priests was my mission to share with parishioners the excitement resulting from the teachings of the  Vatican Council.  To think that I may had the task of dealing with priests involved with sex abuse makes me tremble. I may have ended up unwittingly facilitating clergy sex abuse. I am unaware of any evidence of  Church authorities understanding the clinical implications of such behavior. I think that the assumption was behavioral change would occur with appropriate intervention. 

During these past fifty years, I have read virtually everything about this issue. James Carroll has forcefully articulated a perspective that I never considered possible, viz., eliminating priests from the Catholic Church. He correctly references the early church that functioned effectively without priests. The clerical priesthood only surfaced in the period establishing the Roman Empire. Constantine wanted to use the clergy to promote stability in the Roman Empire. Until a clergy was established, Christians met in homes to share memories and teachings of Jesus. There was always people who assumed leadership roles without becoming separate from others who shared the memories. But, the need of Constantine to establish control was a force that included regimenting the Catholic Church to support his agenda.

Carroll is aware that the Christianity matured from its infancy without priests. Catholicism is now experiencing a dramatic shortage of priests that will only increase. Associated with the decrease of the clergy has been a decline in parishioners. Clerical sex abuse is clearly a major cause of the decline. There is little evidence that the trend will stop, i.e., the number of priests will continue to decline as well as the number of church goers.

While it seems a stretch of envision the Catholic Church without priests, there is no scenario that can anticipate a return of the past. 

Another Visit to the Puppies

Visiting the puppies once again compensated for the long drive to Berwick, ME. Enjoying the lively and inquisitive puppies would be enough satisfaction, but I also enjoyed the friendship of the mother and the other adult dogs.

Being with dogs is such a beautiful experience. To other dog (animal) lovers, this perception is self-evident. Feeling the dog’s focus of your eyes warms one’s heart. I cannot get enough of a dog’s affection. It is so simple and uncomplicated.

We still have a few weeks to wait for one of the puppies to become our responsibility.

Anticipating a New Puppy

Our grief resulting from Patrick’s sudden death is now merging with the anticipation of a new puppy. If you are a dog lover, it is easy to understand. Life without a dog is clearly feels less complete. 

We are now in the transition period where we are meeting the new litter. Selecting the one of the six in the litter will be a joint decision by the breeder and ourselves.  Based on our recent visit, it will be a relatively easy decision since they are all just beautiful.

We have had a dog companion all of our lives and each of them has been special. We are clearly better people because of them. They have given us so much. 

I wish to share photos of the puppies so that everyone can appreciate the reality that the each of these will be loved. 

Love Your Enemy

Arthur Brooks is a very known conservative economist, a conservative in the line of traditional and  thoughtful conservatives. I have occasionally read columns or articles he has written without ever being impressed. I owe Christiane Amanpour to my eagerness to read his new book, “Love Your Enemies”. 

His book was motivated by our national malaise resulting from our political division resulting from the erosion of the broad middle that historically bridged the conservatives and liberals. We are now experiencing the clash of extremes! It is not only upsetting, it is scary. 

The author engages us by calling us to focus on the person, rather than the words that are spoken. One may totally disagree with the shared view, but he wants us to focus on the person.  

I treasure his approach because I feel caught in a world that I do not enjoy.  I am aware that many of the people who identify with views I deplore have come to their perspective by negative personal experiences. For so many, theIr world has deteriorated for them. They work hard, if they are lucky to have jobs, but they are relatively poorer than so many others.  They expected that the history of each generation being more prosperous than the prior one, only to discover that such an expectation has become a fiction.  The cost of living day to day takes all they have, with no excess for savings. Thinking of a happy retirement becomes a figment of one’s imagination. I am now trying to be more sensitive to how their history resulted in their current political view. 

I need to share some venues of information that are tailored for this segment of the population. I never watch Fox News, for example, but  just downloaded the Fox News app.  I will look at the news that the network is sharing with the public. At least I will become more aware of the information that is shared by the viewers. 

I have to remember that each person is worthy of self-esteem, regardless of one’s political views. As long as I focus on the person, I can hear what is being said in a different manner. I do not have to identify with the views, but I should be willing to identify with the person who is sharing the views. The views are coming out of the person’s history. I want to know more of that history. 

Maybe if I can understand how the person developed the views that are alien to me, I could share my perspective in a way that enables a bond to be established. Our personal experiences are the foundation of a worldview that becomes personal.  Learning the history of the person will enable a bridge to be built to enable a relationship be formed. 

My history of trying to understand life itself surely helps. My understanding of God has transitioned seemingly endlessly from a rather concrete set of beliefs to a history of trying to experience the presence of the divine as present to us all, including the universe In which we live.  If I can change such deeply rooted understanding of God, surely I should be able to develop an appreciation of others with views that appear foreign to me.

We live only once and I need to appreciate even those whose views are alien to me.