Clericalism and the Liturgy

OK, how do we get there? I will work for this. Where do we all go to sign up? Is there an action agenda somewhere?

Women in liturgical roles (acolytes) noticeably were absent from the Holy Week Liturgies broadcast from the Vatican on EWTN. The clerical trappings included lots of lace and finery, with lots of kneeling in front of and kissing of rings and homage paid to earthly lords... (yawn)

I'm sorry, I'm in my late 40's and have only known the post Vatican II rhetoric about laity and community. It didn't happen did it? Why not merge some of the old with the new???

Oh thank you, Fr. Philibert, for this insightful article. I have seen this "new clericalism" growing in so many ways and it really frightens me as to the future of the church.

"...the vocation that the church offers to the faithful is NOT A SECONDARY ROLE as clients of clerical ministries, but a Spirit-filled participation as pioneers in the church’s role as herald of the kingdom of God."

Merci beaucoup, Paul, for reminding us of the LOFTY goals and ideals which inspired the Council fathers, especially notre cher Pere Congar's guiding influence in the creation of LUMEN GENTIUM.
http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=17130477
http://www.shc.edu/theolibrary/resources/congar.htm
"SERVI INUTILES SUMUS."

Lack of priestly ministry (failed clericalism) leaves parishes in shambles. Our "parish" is a cluster of four rural parishes that had been active and vibrant for years. Now we have one priest who in the goodness of his heart has repeatedly put off his retirement in attempt to serve the four parishes. The needs of the community are not being served and people are giving up on the situation.

I know our cluster consolidation is not unique but as an answer to the need it has no future. In allowing such a circumstance to prevail bishops are failing in their obligation to the people, the church. The implosion of clericalism is a collapse from which there is no recovery. Some radical changes have to be put in action.

If bishops don't act, the people have no choice but to act if they want to have a local church. One approach: bishops should take the initiative by acknowledging the need for radical changes, and they should go to the people and consult with them for new directions and revitalization of parishes. In the spirit of Vatican II it should be a consultative endeavor.

Is there an active model anywhere how such an initiative might begin (has begun) and what strategies deprived communities might pursue?

Clericalism is a religious manifestation of paternalistic, authoritarian bullies trying to infantilize their targets, rather than give up any of their power...
They view existence as a static reincarnation of the past, rather than a dynamic linearity towards the Parousia...

Their behavior is just like parents who constantly make all the decisions for their children throughout their growing years. Then such idiots wonder why their children don't want to take responsibility for their lives!
This results in "children who never mature into adults" and the whole social group regresses and loses any progress...

In extreme cases, such inadequate groups fail to deal realistically with crises in their culture (Life produces enough challenges automatically) and they die...

And, thank God, nothing Father Paul, has to say has any binding effect on anything official regarding the Church and her liturgy.

A well written article for sure. What is the Church waiting for? They don't even know. The whole problem is best described by Yeats "The best lack all conviction...". Church needs better priests and better lay ministers. "Wannabe Church militant" priests are not going to work nor are angry lay people who took a few theology classes and like to think they are Yves Congar.

It's hard to imagine a clericalism more dogmatic than the presumptuous "demi-clericalism" exercised by various liturgy committees, directors of religious education, and liturgical musicians whereby the will of not-necessarily-well-informed lay people is imposed on parishes.

Priests can at least be presumed to have a modicum of education in liturgical matters. The nice lady whose previous experience was limited to arranging sprays of forsythia on the altar and singing alto in the choir, (that's me, as it happens)?

Not so much.

So why is my opinion solicited in those interminable, "How can we make the liturgy more meaningful THIS year?" meetings?

And you know what?
The priest IS more necessary to the liturgy.

Without me, the altar wouldn't be as pretty and the hymn less well harmonized.

Without the priest, no Eucharist is confected.

Has de-emphasizing the ministerial priesthood over the past few decades helped the Church?
Has it increased the sanctification of the Faithful?
Led to greater participation? more receipt of sacramental grace?

Mass attendance, and marriage and other statistics tell a story, I think.

What church were you baptized into? Talk about trying to suppress the new Pentecost, wow! Why not review and edit what you wrote -- how negative, angry and theologically inaccurate. One risk and temptation that theologians often face is their disconnect from the people of God. This article is one such prime example.

The church is always in need of renewal and a new Pentecost happens each day among us, especial each time someone is baptized or confirmed. Please, lighten up! We are the church, the laity and the priests, working together and loving each other not tearing each other down. Oh, yes, and Happy Easter Tuesday. And what is so wrong about a parish that brings comfort to its people? Times are tough out there. The people of God (even theologians) need comfort, consolation and healing. Love from the Musician

Fr. Paul's brilliantly and concisely articulated grasp of the malaise afflicting the church in our times tells the sad truth of what has happened as Vatican II has been resisted and, in too many instances, even reversed.

"...seminarians and young priests living full time in cassocks" Yes, I think we all know whereof Fr. Philibert speaks. The important question is: "Why is this the case?" It seems to me that "progressive" Catholics do not reproduce themselves, either physically or intellectually. The young religious people (and not only in the Catholic church) tend to be quite traditional in their living out of the faith. Why? I would sincerely like to see NCR address this phenomenon, no kidding. These young people are the future; we should be very interested in why they are the way they are.

I read, with constant wonderment, the remarks of those who just don't get it... Mass is only Mass with ALL of us present - priest and assembly. Mass is not some divine stage with the priest as the actor and the assembly the audience. Nor is it a sporting event with the priest "taking the ball" and the assembly cheering him on.

Rather, the Liturgy is an action of Love, with the assembly its primary actors and the priest its director. God is the audience, applauding our actions, listening to our Cry, echoing our song, and encouraging our actions. Fr. Paul's article reminds each of us that the Church does not exist merely because of the priest, but at the same time, cannot exist without the priest. There is a role for each of us. Unfortunately - and most especially here in the States - many in the assembly take a backseat to the priest driving the car. Most priests couldn't even get behind the wheel if it weren't for those in the congregation who can fine tune the engine!

The Holy Spirit is OUR fuel. God has given each one of us our mission in life. Why must we wait for the Bishop/priest to initiate anything? My own pastor has acknowledged on occasion that some of our most successful programs/ministries have been Spirit-inspired and Laity-led. If people hadn't come to him or made the suggestions - and been willing to carry them out - they never would have gotten off of the ground.

To borrow a phrase from a popular Disney movie: "We're all in this together."

Ack! I am a woman who has worked in the church for over three decades, so believe me, I am no stranger to clericalism. But, please! Polyphony, chant, etc are good music. Full, active and conscious participation in the liturgy is certainly possible when one is listening to Gabrieli or Palestrina.

These are two completely separate issues.

And, I work in a parish that features music from the classical repetoire, as do a few others in our vicinity. And we are all packed with young adults. They certainly don't bring the baggage that this kind of music bespeaks a resurgence of weird medieval bits (like 15 foot scarlet trains.) Although I have not seen our archbishop with a train and can't imagine that he wants one.

Combatting clericalism requires education of folks on what the Scriptural basis for their vocation is - their call to holiness, their membership in the Body of Christ. It does not require happy clappy dreck that everyone dances to. Believe me.

For the past ten years or more, the pastor (there have been two) of our parish has used the text of Holy Thursday to preach on the institution of the ordained priesthood. "No priest, no Eucharist," he said last week. The emphasis has been on the person of the priest, not on Jesus offering himself to us in love as sustenance and strength for the journey. This emphasis, a flagrant example of the new clericalism and probably encouraged by the hierarchy, distorts the meaning of the Last Supper and makes it into a celebration of Holy Orders.

I believe that the Eucharist is Jesus sharing himself with those he loves (including the one who betrays him), and I have ceased to believe that an ordained celibate male is the only one who can legitimately say the words that produce the transubstantiation.

For those looking to the New Pentecost, I suggest Googling the American Church Council.

What a wonderful gift to be reading this article this morning as it affirms, confirms my own experience of the last 45 years since Vatican II. The Holy Spirit has been working in the lives of many lay people. Often the movement of the Spirit surprises us in the process. After experiencing WWII in Germany as a child, my entire childhood having consisted of war and equally difficult post war years, I was forced me as an adult to question who God was in light of the Holocaust and Nazism, and also struggle with my own Roman Catholic religious faith. Vatican II was a welcomed breath of fresh air which held out much hope for me. In mid life, while working in my parish as a Confirmation Coordinator, I was confronted by a parishioner about my choice of a Confirmation textbook, a book that was highly recommended by our Diocesan Religious Education Office. I was terribly naive and had never heard of Catholics United for the Faith, an organization to which this parioshioner belonged. After the pastor backed my decision, the issue was taken to the parish council, where it was pointed out that I lacked the "credentials" to choose that textbook because I lacked a college degree. I would learn years later that my accuser was not "credentialed" either. Finally the issue of the textbook wound up on the desk of the bishop. That humiliating moment in front of the parish council was the impetus of my returning to college, to a Jesuit institution which definitely opened lots of doors and windows accompanied by a lot of fresh air. I was 50 years old at that time and learned as much from students and professors young enough to be my children and from professors my own age. A very humbling experience. My intent was to obtain a degree that would "credential" me to continue in Religous Education. The Holy Spirit led me in a different direction entirely. Yes I do believe in the power and energy of the Holy Spirit which has been a very real presence to me guiding me through the last 40 years of my 68 years of life. The Holy Spirit has led me to understand exactly what was written in this article by Father Philibert and I look forward to reading his new book.

For the past few weeks I have read so many NCR articles about the sexual abuse crisis, and I kept saying to myself, "there is more to all of this crisis in the church besides the clerical sexual abuse." So many topics have been declared "off limits" by the Vatican, for example women's ordination, that I think most of our energies and frustrations have been channeled into this one problem. My intent is not to minimize this serious crisis, being a Clinical Social Worker I know the statistics and impact of sexual abuse all too well. What I'm saying is that it is the one of the few areas where we, as lay Catholics can insist on the church making changes and addressing this serious abuse, this serious breech of accountability, the secrecy and terrible abuse of clerical power and authority. There are many other issues, equally important and have common cause with what is going on in this sexual abuse crisis. It was a hopeful sign for me to read this article as it validated my own experiences and gives me hope and courage to continue on. Lately I have too frequently uttered the words "sadly not in my life time" and this gives me confidence to "keep on keeping on".

"Without the priest, no Eucharist is confected."

I believe Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered, there I am also." He didn't qualify it with, "but only if a priest is present."

A priest does NOT perform magic....Christ is already present before Mass even begins....in the Assembly, and then in the Word. Yes, he is present in the Priest and the Eucharistic species, but that is not the only place he is present. Just as we believe in his "real" presence in the Eucharist, we believe in his "real" presence in US.

Right on target. Clericalism has chocked the church (people of God) in many ways as described in the article. I surmise that if it continues for too long it will choke it even more.

There seems to be a common, and to me, distressing, factor in many of these comments - their anonymity. Of whom are these writers afraid? There are many of those who support the changes of Vatican II and those who prefer of the post John Paul II efforts to return to the clergy-centered culture that prevailed before Vatican II.
I love the freedom to have a mind and and not fear to use it for the honor and glory of God. I was created for a reason and that reason is not to give glory to fellow humans, even those with very long red capes, but for those who prefer the '50's and the time before them, then that's for you.

But please can you admit who you are and stand up for what you believe?
Thanks.
Jean M Byrne, BVM

"This reduction of the laity to passive bystanders instead of active participants in Catholic worship is the most characteristic manifestation of clericalism."

Active does not mean exclusively doing something. Passive does not always mean not being active, ie, you don't paint in an art gallery, but you are enriched by the beauty there.

You are the one pushing clericalism: the laity must be "active" at Mass; the priest must dress like anyone else.

Wow. Such ideology. Listen to Peter...

Fr. Philibert is part of the difficulty, but he is so immersed in clerical culture he cannot see it. His context is limited to priests, for priests. But the Catholic Church has a married clergy and they are called permanent deacons, possibly the last credible version of ordained vocation today. The deacons understand that there is only one Priest and he is the Christ. Everyone else is a deacon, from the Pope all the way to the infant baptized on Easter Sunday. Until we understand this crucial difference little advance can be expected. There are deacon-priests, deacon lay people and deacon-deacons. The ontology attaches at Baptism, nor ordination. Thanks for listening.

This may take awhile. In his 25 year reign Pope John Paul II appointed or approved most of the bishops and cardinals now living and working - and they were and are very conservative. Our present Pope I am sure follows his lead. You have to have lived quite a long life to remember the joy and hope of Vatican II. Much time and effort has been since put into returning the toothpaste to the tube with varying degrees of success. But I live in a parish where the spirit of Vatican II lives and prevails and I thank God for it every day.

Saint Pio of Pietrelcina:

"It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do so without the Holy Mass."

- Padre Pio

That is why we need priests.

Clericalism as embodied in the "new products" emerging from our seminaries is a disheartening trend, and Father Wilfred's article could not be more timely. As the opportunities for weekly Mass decrease and the hierarchy ignores the scriptural mandate to continue the remembrance of the Lord through consecration and communion, it may well be that communities without a priest would be justified to invoke their own baptismal priesthood and to recite together the entire canon including the consecration and distribution of the bread and wine thereby transformed.

The bishops which JP II limited to those who agreed with him on his "infallible" pronouncement against women's ordination and absolute proscription of abortion has left us with pusillanimous leaders of limited vision and and inability to think outside the lines. They cling to their authority at all costs. They lord it over the unwashed unordained. It is up to the laity to do what is right, courageously follow their consciences without issuing any condemnation and wait for the bishops to get over their sputtering and catch up with the Faithful.

Actually, for the most part, I really do think clergy and lay work well together - and even the stuffy young men finding their way at this point have been raised by fully alert mothers. There is no harm in loving liturgy and looking to reclaim some of what separates us from just being a gathering place for the like minded. Even the most conservative will look for team emebers to get the whole of ministry done.

Most young people care very little about the fueding over what was that what became and what is it going backto or running from. More are trying to find their place in the world andwonder how that fits with church - particualry when in the US even the most outgoing church more closely ressembles the rich man who went blithely off in his own world rather than being the Lazarus at the gate. We actually never really made it as fully conscious and Christ centered people. Repentance and confession really are good starting points. And our liturgy - our current hymnody is not necessarily so outstanding that people just don;t stand and look bored in the pews - many still do. Singers are few and far between. Change - is not necessarily bad- even people who see themselves as "people of God " personified could use some shaking from their everyday walk that in this country really is desperately far from walking in any visible meaningful way with Jesus.

But that said - people who are interested enough to engage the battle on either side are the people who care - we should be making room for one another - embracing each other's differences. We should reach out to everyone. Litugy is the work that takes our lives of chaos - bring it to the brink and then hands us off to God. People reach the brink through many pathways. It would be OK if professional liturgist would stop simply arguing their own need to have it their way - and finding more ways to help the ordained and the lay together find God in old, new, revisited and never seen ways.

linda,osc

We need to become "Adults of God." This means taking individual responsibility for education in the faith. The Holy Spirit is not some object owned by the Church. It's time for all of us to put aside egoistic concerns. Our world is in crisis and our focus is too narrow and one which will leave us behind as evolution moves on.

Loved Julie Lonnerman artwork illustrated with this article. Yes, we need all the People of God celebrating and working together. The "Restoration" or "Reform of the Reform" and "New Evangelization" desires of those yearning for the past triumphism of the church cannot be of the Spirit. This yo-yo effect that is showing up in just these short five years is disappointing. It seems only five, but it had been gaining momentum even during JPII's reign. The "letters" to the Vatican that never ceased in the last 45 years from those who just couldn't accept the "signs of the times" and the renewed Church. They had their places of comfort with their indults and fellow travelers. However, they just couldn't rest until they foisted their brand of Catholicism on the majority. So sad, so sad.

What an inspiring and thrilling article. I began reading it with a perspective of contrast with the Church of John Paul II/Ratzinger and Benedict XVI/Ratzinger. The "spirit" moved to more joyous respect for the article's articulating so beautifully and concisely what I know and believe in my head and heart. The next phase was and is a conviction that is how I will embrace my/our catholicism, regardless of Church. And then the sadness of "regardless of Chruch" returns and the anger re-emerges in the stark pascal-2010 reality that I have to fight with my church, resist the institution to be what I think is Christ's commission.

As I have heard from many priests in the past 45 years, lay people need to take their rightful place and not wait for the clergy to make room for them. We lay people put priests on their pedestals, we can also remove the pedestal and hand him his baton. He is not making the music, he is leading it.

Father Philibert's thoughts on the state of the liturgy remind me that clericalism is once again the principal evil in our Church today. One has only to look to the efforts of so many of our bishops to cover-up the clergy abuse scandals to see its effect. One thing the Second Vatican Council taught us is that the Church is more than its hierarchy. It is a community that one might symbolize with a circle and not simply an institution that looks more like a pyramid.

Thank you Fr.Philibert.

From text:

"But this ordained ministry cannot be the condescension of a patriarchal master, but only the loving service of an apostolic brother. The very nature of the church demands it."

My thoughts

Perhaps "the church could really use the loving service of an apostolic brother" AND SISTER. Perhaps the "very nature of the church demands it"...

Who was Jesus if not the One who called humans to live into their real identities ~ you know the ones loved and brought into being by the unconditional love of God. Well the humans (at least the male hierarchy and politicians) were so scandalized by this sacramental call to know all of life as sacred that they killed him. Then, not one to let the truth die with Him, He rose from the dead and first speaks to the women who evangelize the men, "He is risen!"

I am a 56 year old woman and standing with Jesus in order to hold all the suffering I can hold in my heart ~ as well as the joy. I think standing with and holding are not passive but very active and contemplative ways of being Christian.

When Fr. Philibert asks what I am waiting for? I am waiting for the church hierarchy to lay down its weapons of power and riches and self-righteousness and privileged gender and stand with the rest of us standing with Jesus holding the suffering of the little ones...the broken body, the bleeding hearts and spirits.

The true clericalism is that shown by the so-called "progressives" like the author. They see the liturgy as their own, something "democratic" or "lay" (call it what you want). It sounds so egalitarian and progressive, but it really means that the priest or his elite parishioners take control, so they can toy with it and modify it according to THEIR likes and dislikes.

On the other hand, to respect the liturgy, as the Council actually writes about it, is to be its servant, not its master. As a lay Catholic of 50 years the worse clericalism I have encountered has been in liberal parishes where the pastor runs it like his personal fiefdom, independant of the bishop and the Pope. He is usually beholden to his "special" parishioners. Any complaint is the highest insubordination - how dare you!!!! On the other hand, a young, or middle-aged, pastor in a cassock is almost always an indication of a vibrant parish where the priest is the servant of his people nd the liturgy, and who sees his entire life as a vocation, and not as a 9-5 job.

Great article, but lacking one insight - 2nd paragraph from the end:
"...the loving service of an apostolic sister or brother...!"

“shifted its focus from mission to maintenance, from evangelization to ritual sanctification”

I don’t see that in my experience. I do see that the Church is working on BOTH frontiers (mission AND maintenance, evangelization AND ritual sanctification).

“active players are no longer (or not often) imagined to be the baptized, but the ordained.”

People need to read Apostolicam Actuositatem (AA) from Vatican II and see the dignity and vocation (mission!) to which the laity are called. They also need to recognize that the mission involves “certain liturgical actions” (AA 24) to a minor degree.

“seminarians and young priests living full time in cassocks”

This article, as many others, brings up issues (such as clerical attire) in the context of Vatican II as if the Council made some stirring pronouncement on that issue. Skimming Optatam Totius and Presbyterorum Ordinis, I can’t see any reference to clothing, attire, or dress.

“consequent demotion of the spiritual dignity of the faithful”

This makes it sound as though the “spiritual dignity of the faithful” depends on them having some particular liturgical ministry to carry out. What about those Catholics who are content to worship from their pews? Do they have a lower spiritual dignity than, say, a lector or EMHC?

“the priest represents Christ, while the people represent those to whom Christ ministered”

The priest is “in persona Christi capitis” (in the person of Christ the head) and the congregation is “… corporis” (… the body). This isn’t just “popular theology”, this is Catholic theology.

“hungry to hear Gregorian chant”

I’m hungry to SING Gregorian chant, not be a “passive bystander”.

“it imagines that if the Spirit is bestowed on the faithful, it will come exclusively through the ministry of the ordained”

I agree with him (cautiously) regarding the Holy Spirit. See AA 3.

Musician writes: "...how negative, angry and theologically inaccurate". Personally, I read it as accurate, sad and maybe you could enlighten the discussion by citing where it is "theologically inaccurate". Musician sort of leaves us hanging with a pretty nasty accusation and no goods.