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PDF versionTwo weeks' worth of hope
by John L Allen Jr on Oct. 01, 2010
When I'm on the lecture circuit, one of the most common questions I get is this: "Where do you see hope in the church?" Implicit, of course, is the assumption that hope is hard to find. (Usually, also implicit is that by "church" the questioner actually means "hierarchy," but that's another conversation.)
The premise is understandable, because the case for despair is often depressingly easy to make. Yet I also can't help feeling that one has to be almost deliberately blind not to see signs of hope everywhere, if you but look around.
The last two weeks have cemented that impression. Over that span, I was in the U.K. to cover the papal trip, and then on the road for a speaking gig at the University of Portland in Oregon, which is sponsored by the Congregation of the Holy Cross; in Minnesota, leading a retreat for the Board of Overseers of St. John's School of Theology/Seminary; and in Toronto, delivering the Kelly Lecture at the University of St. Michael's College, in partnership with the Catholic media network "Salt and Light."
That's probably as close to a random sampling of Catholic life in the English-speaking world as it's possible to come in one two-week span -- and it was almost impossible to dip in and out of those milieus without feeling basically optimistic about Catholic fortunes.
Benedict XVI's Sept. 16-19 trip to Scotland and England was stirring, and not merely because it was one of those rare instances in which what the pope pitched was more or less what people actually caught. (In this case, the pitch was a forceful argument about the role of religion in public life.) The trip also gave scores of ordinary Catholics the chance to talk about their faith before a national audience, and it showcased one of the more imaginative recent efforts to address the church's communications problem: "Catholic Voices," a project founded by a couple of prominent laity, completely independently of the bishops' conference, whose mission was to prepare twenty- and thirty-something Catholics to tackle hot-button issues in a media setting and to explain what Catholicism means to them. I caught several of them doing their thing on the BBC, Sky News, and other outlets during the four-day trip, and they dazzled.
While I was at the University of Portland, I joined the local Holy Cross community for a simple but moving evening liturgy in which one of their brothers was anointed for an upcoming operation, with several family members alongside. Some 30 Holy Cross priests and brothers live on campus, most of them working or teaching at the university. In an era when a student can spend four years on some Catholic colleges and almost never see someone in a Roman collar, that's a remarkable commitment of personnel, and it's reflected in a palpable Catholic ethos on campus.
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My appearance was sponsored by the Garaventa Center for Catholic Intellectual Life and American Culture, launched in 2004 to explore the intersection between faith and American public life and to stimulate reflection on what it means to be a Catholic institution. It's one of countless examples across the country of a new intentionality about Catholic identity in higher education, an acknowledgement that it can't simply be taken for granted.
In Minnesota, I found myself among a mix of talented and articulate Catholics from a variety of walks of life -- business, law, politics, the academy -- all of whom seemed hungry to contribute to St. John's School of Theology/Seminary and the Benedictine legacy it carries. We had a day-long conversation about the trends shaping Catholicism I outlined in my book The Future Church, and how they might inform the choices the School of Theology makes about how to deploy its resources.
China was a particular point of emphasis, given that St. John's already has links there. So was the possibility of drawing on the spirit of moderation and hospitality in Benedictine spirituality to foster space for conversation, as an antidote to polarization and tribalism in the church.
In Toronto, I spoke at the University of St. Michael's College before a standing room only crowd of more than 500 people, including Catholics from the left, right and center, all of whom seemed hungry to have a rational conversation, as well as to share a laugh or two and to enjoy one another's company. It was a great reminder that, beyond theological controversy and political debate, Catholicism at a human level is also a hell of a lot of fun.
The next morning I spoke to a gathering of local Catholic businesspeople convened by Toronto's Archbishop Thomas Collins, and I was struck by how keenly interested these high achievers seemed in what's happening in the church and how they might be able to help, if only someone asks.
(By the way, let me make my bones as a church insider: Before my lecture Tuesday night I had dinner with a small group that included the archbishop, and I can report that when having a cocktail, he honest to God orders a "Tom Collins.")
I spent much of Wednesday at the Toronto headquarters of Salt and Light, taping segments for what felt like every program in their entire fall line-up. One impressive thing about Salt and Light is that they don't play just to one side of the street, or to one constituency. They strive to speak to and about the whole church, including all of its various tribes and slices of life. In an age in which media outlets usually make their bread and butter by reinforcing ideological biases, Salt and Light still believes in common ground.
I'll concede that maybe these venues aren't fully representative of the whole Catholic scene, and perhaps I'm overly inclined to what a friend calls a "hermeneutic of charity," meaning trying to see everything in a positive light. For sure, a string of feel-good experiences can't magically dissolve the very real problems facing the church, both those welling up from within and those crashing in from the outside.
Still, on the heels of the last two weeks, I would say just one thing to any Catholic who thinks hope is hard to find: You need to get out more often.
I say you inapropriately
I say you inapropriately reply to people's question with this article.
The most important question of our times. Do the instances you cite have any real impact on the universal Church? I doubt it.
When people ask, "Where do you see hope in the Church?" They do, indeed, mean the hierarchy. Also the entire Church; something they can grab a hold of and ride to their salvation. Something that builds their Faith. Something that really and truly shows that the hierarchy want to be real people no longer practicing deception and fraud.
We know full well that there are plenty of individual instances of hope. We also know that in a blink of an eye the hierarchy can frustrate or otherwise put out the fires of hope you cite.
Your question is excellent. Your answers are that of a very good politician who does not want to get to the meat of the matter which is what we really need.
Preconcieved ideas,
Preconcieved ideas, ideological biases will prevent the listener from hearing an answer when it is given. Judging from your comments, you wanted a specific answer, namely an answer that really and truly shows "that the hierarchy want to be real people no longer practicing deception and fraud."
The problem is that what you expect is not only an answer. Implicitly you expect an uncritical buy-in by the speaker into your premis, which in this case is that the hierarchy (as such and as a whole) is actually a bunch of unreal people, for the practice of deception and fraud. Besides it being an unjust and gross generalization, this is dishonest line of reasoning.
If you want to hear an answer, you must look at the speaker as a real person, and not simply a figment of your immagination, whose answer actually may change your thinking. If you are unable to do this, you will be allways disappointed in the answer (unless it says what YOU want to hera) and feel justified to dismiss both the speaker and the answer, as you did now.
In other words, if you want to carry on a dialogue and hear an answer, drop your ideological blinders. Otherwise, you will reinforce division and mistrust and certainly miss out on the truth.
Thanks for the glimpse of
Thanks for the glimpse of hope and optimism. We all need it from time to time. I have had contact with active Catholics from both Germany and Kenya in the last couple of weeks and I share your positive impressions though always aware that moments of discouragement are also in abundance.
The more we relieve ourselves
The more we relieve ourselves of seeing each other on the right or left...conservative or liberal, etc., we'll be more in line with Christ's teachings. I don't see anywhere in scripture where He talks about this!!
Glad to hear in Canada, those "sides" are minimized.
While the article is upbeat,
While the article is upbeat, it is not reflective of the larger reality facing the Catholic Church. In all the venues that John mentions, there are select groups of active Catholics, and so the impression he gets is a positive one. Working in Catholic education (in a successful operation), my impression is positive also. However, I realize this is not the reality in many parishes. The parish has been and continues to be the focal point of Catholic life for a majority of Catholics. The sense of discouragement comes from seeing more empty pews, an aging population, fewer youths and young families. This of course leads to less money, and less staff to make activities happen. While I am aware that there are many vibrant parishes, the number of declining ones seems to be on the rise. This is demonstrated by the closing of parishes by many dioceses nationwide. The CARA statistics also show a rapid decline in the number of Catholic schools nationwide and the declining enrollments that only means more schools will be slated to close. It is from the front lines of the parishes that there is a sense of discouragement; perhaps not in the elite circles that are mentioned in the article.
For every one person with
For every one person with hope, there are probably ten thousand more who are as well. So, no matter how dismal the local scene might be, you know that things are indeed better somewhere else. It seems like chance, even randomness, but any true Catholic doesn't believe in that; the movement of every last quark is based upon God's immutable laws. If you have hope, try instilling it in those around you. Set people on fire through your example, by silent preaching when words fail, because they often do. The only words that always work out right come straight out of the Bible. Yours and mine can be effective sometimes. But sometimes it is better to say something than not to, because every man's idea of Jesus has something to do with Jesus' reality. We must be willing to listen to one another reacting to this prodigy of prodigies, Jesus Christ. We must not allow anyone to think his opinion doesn't matter, or we will get nowhere with spreading hope. We must seek to understand someone and why they believe what they believe before we can teach them the truth. We must make them feel that what they think matters if there is to be any hope for the Church.
John truly has completely
John truly has completely transformed into a hierarchical apologist. Your subscripotion base is in danger, esp. when melded with your political-left apologies.
I see hope in the Catholic
I see hope in the Catholic Church, and a great challenge at the same time. For example, I live in a part of north Georgia, just south of Lake Lanier, where there are many Catholic parishes. And they are huge, sometimes 4-5,000 families. That's a double edged sword for the Church. First it's wonderful that there are so many Catholics in a part of the country one wouldn't necessarily expect us to be. Second, the fact that there are so many per parish indicates the woeful lack of priests we are suffering. I would like to see more priests (of any variety!) so that we would have more, smaller, parishes. While I'm happy there are so many Catholics around, I don't like this suburban trend where we are developing Catholic mega churches. Back to the community of the parish--but then we need more priests!
I have to give credit to John
I have to give credit to John Allen. He would have been a great one to have had aboard the Titantic.
LOL! Bob, that's hilarious!
LOL! Bob, that's hilarious! Yes, the Church (as the hierarchy wants it to be) is indeed sinking quickly, and they are our dead weight!
Bring on the Latinized English for further submersion.
Why should we be ashamed of
Why should we be ashamed of either a "hermeneutic of charity" or the idea that "...Catholicism at a human level is a hell of a lot of fun"?
This weekend is dedicated to Respect Life. For myself, I intend to celebrate the joy of the choice for life rather than condemning the "Culture of Death" (we have enough voices doing that). I want to embrace the outlook of the post-Tridentine Baroque Church: let's focus less on punishments for disobedience and more on the rewards/benefits of membership and full, active and conscious participation.
For your trivia file: I
For your trivia file: I believe that the sponsoring religious congregation of the University of Portland calls itself THE CONGREGATION OF HOLY CROSS. The WOMEN'S congregation of almost the same name is the Congregation of THE Holy Cross.
John! How could you!! The
John!
How could you!!
The correct title is Congregation of Holy Cross.
"Holy Cross" is the name of a town in France.
I pray this is the last factual error you will make for the rest of this year.
Thank You for you Faith, Hope, Charity, competence and dedication.
Fr. Mike
Thank you. Hope is always
Thank you. Hope is always welcome when introduced with reality.
I think you identified the
I think you identified the central issue facing the RCC today in your introductory remarks when you conveniently set aside the "hierarchy" of the Church in order to discuss the voices of hope heard on your lecture circuit.
The bifurcated nature of the RCC . . . the authoritarian, clerical hierarchy vis-a-vis the people . . . has inevitable consequences because such institutional structures grind against the Laws of Nature: specifically the most powerful law of all . . . the desire for freedom.
I have read hundreds of responses to articles in the NCR and there is one theme that resonates in nearly all of them; it is fundamentally a cry for freedom from the oppression of the Church hierarchy. The cries come in a wide variety of expressions ranging from outrage over the handling of the pederasty scandals . . . obfuscation and coverup . . . to polite and gentle pleas for a change in direction for the Vatican ship of state.
The pleas are not a recent phenomenon. In the two-thousand year history of the RCC, millions of men, women, children and babies have been harassed, persecuted, tortured, burned at the stake, and sliced into pieces by administrators of the Church and their maurauding crusaders for the "crimes" of those opposing the Church's religious doctrine of fear and terror.
The preservation of RCC . . . its institution and traditions . . . has always been the motivation behind its criminal actions, not the least of which were those taken against the Gnostic Christians who were building a following based on Jesus message of love and compassion. Recent documents surfacing from the pederasty scancals reveal a greater concern for the "well being" of the institutional Church than for anything else . . . still today.
To me, the "hope" you found amongst those you encounted on your lecture circuit is not unlike the hope of the hard-core "1980's" believers in the efficacy of the crumbling USSR, which was also founded and operated on the level of fear and terror . . . with monumentally disastrous consequences.
You preach to your Catholic readers, that if they want to find hope, they "need to get out more often." Millions have already "gone out" because they didn't like what they found "within." That's the bad news for the RCC.
But the good news for people who don't find the the RCC serves them any longer (and for others as well) is that those who seek will find, and for those who knock, the door shall be opened . . . a promise Jesus made to those whom he addresses in the Beatitudes. That's where true spirituality will be found: where hope is focused on one's own salvation, not the perpetuation of a corrupt and crumbling institution.
Hierarchy IS a law of
Hierarchy IS a law of nature...there are things we are powerless to change.None of us get any vote on the laws of physics.God is a dictator,not answerable to us in any way,while we are infinitely answerable to Him.Some of us can't accept that fact without the help of churches,but none of us are exempt,churched or unchurched,Treating the world as something we're entitled to determine is a recipe for despair.
Once agin we have the
Once agin we have the confusion between religion and faith. For us catholics religion is faith!
Let's hope we might be liberated one day to realise the meaning of faith!
Perhaps then we might be on the way to unity
Thanks from the trenches.
Thanks from the trenches.
Sooo...John Allen + minor
Sooo...John Allen + minor catholic celebrity status = hope?
I mean, I presume you make a minor speaking fee off of these appointments, but how on earth does that equate to signs of hope for the Catholic Church?
"China was a particular point
"China was a particular point of emphasis, given that St. John's already has links there."
This comment reminded me of hospitality received at their beautiful monastery in the Japanese Alps near Nagano, where I had the pleasure of learning to decipher the ROMAJI version of the Lord's Prayer with Thomas Wahl, OSB, as well as the syllabic rudiments of writing TANKA poetry with +Neal Lawrence, OSB.
Domo Arigato Gozaimashita.
http://www.osb.or.jp/
Too many "I's" for me to read
Too many "I's" for me to read it all.PpP
IT IS GOOD to go out and meet
IT IS GOOD to go out and meet nice people active in the church who are tolerant and respectful of others. Lately I have gone out and met a lot of nice people who are no longer active in the church. They are carrying on with charity, public service and building strong families and relationships. They have found that there is life after church.
Remember, it wasn't nice Catholic people that caused ex-Catholics to now rank (were they to gather together) as the second largest baptized group in America.
We need a different kind of hope here.
The problem is always outside
The problem is always outside myself. The problem is always somebody else. The problem is never with me. The problem is with the hierarchy. The problem is never with me. The Pope is the problem. I am not part of the problem. The problem is always with somebody else. I am not part of the problem. The problem is with the Church teachings. The problem is not with how I wish to live my life, my way. I am not the problem. I am part of the solution. The problem is always outside myself.
(This seems to be the thinking of the dissenters.)
Yes, people who dissent are
Yes, people who dissent are always wrong and I am always right.
There is a lot of hope: 1. We
There is a lot of hope:
1. We have a great Pope.
2. The new translation of the liturgy.
3. Dissent is on the retreat.
4. Faithful religious orders are growing.
5. Today's seminarians are solid and orthodox.
It is dawn in the Church.
Dream on
Dream on
It appears that John's view
It appears that John's view of Hope in the Catholic Church is shaped by his travels and interactions with other Catholics.
It appears that Anonymous view about Hope in the Catholic Church is shaped by his view of the hierarchy.
There are as many different viewpoints on Hope in the Catholic Church as there are different people in the world. The church like every organization is made up of frail human beings, good and bad, generous and selfish, committed and indifferent, saints and sinner.
But the center, the very core of the Catholic Church is Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Jesus, Son of God present in the Eucharist. If you seek HOPE spend an hour in the Eucharistic Presence of Jesus for 30 days. He will show you the way, the truth and the life. "Come to me all you who labor and are burdened and I will refresh you." The HOPE of the Catholic Church is centered in the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. Come and see for yourself.
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