Pope Francis and the clerical Church – by Joe McVeigh

Pope Francis challenged the clerical church in a way that will have a lasting effect on the way the Church understands itself and its mission in society. The clerical church is the kind of Church we have known in Ireland since the mid- 1800s. It was the kind of church that prevailed throughout Europe. It was a top-down church with the bishops and priests at the top and the laity –especially women- as second class. The church was like a pyramid. The lay baptised were hardly involved except peripherally. The Second Vatican council defined the Church as ‘The People of God’ but that did not have any impact in Ireland.

The clerical church is still alive and well  –  though not as powerful or influential as it was once upon a time.  There are now fewer priests and fewer men willing to commit to a life of ministry. The horrific reports of child abuse by clerics and the cover-ups have resulted in a loss of trust. Many, especially younger people, have walked away. It will take a radically new approach and much hard work and good will to create a new model of church in Ireland that will include people of all ages in the life and governance of the church.

The Irish bishops could learn from the example of Pope Francis by working together to create a new Church in Ireland which is laity- centred. They could show an example by selling off a lot of the property that is owned by the Church institution and giving the money to the poor and to provide for the homeless.

There are some signs of change in the Irish Catholic church. In some dioceses and parishes lay people are becoming involved in carrying out Christian burials. But these changes are made out of necessity due to the growing scarcity of ordained priests. If we are going to have a new Church, as envisaged by Pope Francis and Vatican II, the clerical church must be dismantled entirely. The laity must take control of Parishes and even when women are ordained as ministers – the new Church must become a laity-centred church-the church of the Baptised.

Pope Francis spoke of clericalism as “a disease.” The new Church will reject and denounce all forms of authoritarianism and arrogance and demote those in positions of power who are guilty of such anti-Christian behaviour.

The Synod initiated by Pope Francis is an attempt to create a more open and forward-looking Church which involves the people in all aspects of governance in every parish. The success of this will depend a great deal on the determination of committed women and men influenced by the Holy Spirit to insist on the end of the clerical church with its authoritarian attitudes.

There are those in the laity who oppose change and want to maintain the old clerical system. The use of sexist language in the liturgy is disgraceful. The days of that model of male clerical church are numbered -no matter who becomes the next Pope. 

The process of change begun by the late Pope Francis will hopefully result in the creation of a new Church – a Church that listens and takes the side of the poor and oppressed; a church that takes the concerns of women seriously. It will be a church that is active in the pursuit of Justice for the downtrodden in Ireland and throughout the world. Any Church that denies human dignity to any person or fails to promote human dignity for all is not a Christian church. A church that does not stand in solidarity with the oppressed is not the Church of Jesus Christ. 

Pope Francis showed by word and example that this was the kind of Church he wanted to see in every country in the world speaking truth to power, speaking out for the poor and for the protection of the environment and planet Earth. Pope Francis was truly a prophet for our times.