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June
1, 2002
Voice
of Dissenters
by
Dale O’Leary
heartbeatnews
According the New York
Times, May 31, 2002, a group called Voice of the Faithful has been
formed in Wellesley, MA and claims to have 10,000 members in 40 states
and 21 countries.
The Voice of the Faithful presents itself as coalition of laity
and religious, progressives and conservatives. A visit to the group’s
website www.voiceofthefaithful.org
reveals that a group is using the crisis to forward a long-standing
objective of Catholic dissenters – the democratization of the Catholic
Church.
According to the biographic information Dr. Jim Muller, the
group’s founder, is “a devout catholic, medical researcher, and
accomplished peace movement activist… has been a Catholic his entire
life. Dr. Muller attended Joan of Arc grade school and Cathedral High
School in Indianapolis, Indiana. He attended Notre Dame for College and
Georgetown for Graduate Studies in Russian History.” He is a medical
doctor “one of 3 American Co-founders of the International Physicians
for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)… Many of the lessons learned
in developing that movement are being utilized to aid the growth of VOTF.”
Muller explains his vision in a slide show posted on the website,
in which he identifies the “underlying cause” of the problem of
“pedophilic priests” and “institutional cover-up” as
“Centralized Power, with No Voice of the Faithful” The solution:
executive, legislative, and judicial power within the church exercised
by clergy in conjunction with the liberal and conservative laity. A
schematic of the “changed church” shows the new power structure
which includes a “Constitution for Voice.” Nowhere on the website
was there an explanation of exactly how this would work. Muller did
include a schematic of “The Checks and Balances of the United States
Government.” Perhaps he looks forward to the day when the Church
reconstitutes itself as a representative democracy.
Voice of the Faithful covets power. The problem is they don’t
understand power. Several Greek words in the New Testament are
translated in the English text as “power”: Kratos refers to
brute strength; dunamis to spiritual power, often the power to
work miracles; and exousia refers to delegated authority. Exousia
appears 101 times, sometimes translated as power, sometimes as
authority. It always refers to power delegated through a hierarchical
structure.
The key to understanding exousia is found in the story of
the Centurion who says “I am a man under authority exousia.”
The Centurion understood that his authority over his men did not come
not from his personal charisma or his ability to physically coerce
obedience, but from the fact that he was part of a hierarchical
structure which had the emperor as its head and put the entire weight of
the Roman Empire behind his orders. The Centurion recognized that same
kind of authority in Jesus.
If dissenters are interested in the dunamis / power of the
spirit to work signs and wonders which comes to believers -- male and
female, lay and clergy -- as
a gift of the Holy Spirit, let them ask and they shall receive from the
Father who is generous in his gifts.
But if they want exousia/power/authority they must be told
that such power comes only to obedient servants who are part of a
God-ordained hierarchical structure. And since obedience and hierarchy
are, for most dissenters, anathema, true exousia/power/authority
will never be theirs.
Dissenters reject the Biblical concept of power. Those covet
“power” in the Church because they want to change the teachings of
the Church. For them power would give them the right to determine the
content of Catholic moral theology and to impose it on others. They want
the power to decide what is right and what is wrong, what the Church
shall teach about faith and morals, and how those teachings shall be
implemented.
Unfortunately, today we face a situation in which dissenters have
gained positions within the hierarchy and church leadership. They have
not been able to change the teachings of the Church, but they have
caused confusion and suffering. When a person in a position of authority
refuses to obey the authority over him – in this case the clear
teachings of the Church and Holy Father -- but demands obedience of
those under him, he becomes a tyrant. If he uses his position to
undermine the source of authority, he is a saboteur.
Voice of the
Faithful wishes itself to be seen as a coalition of liberal and
conservative Catholics who, once a “democratic” Church has been
established, would share power. According to Muller’s schematic, the
laity would strengthen the Church by providing insight on
“understanding sexuality”, “representative democracy,” and the
“equality of women.” Would this mean that there would be a vote on
whether homosexuals could marry, contraception was okay, women could be
ordained, and pastors should be elected?
Conservative Catholics frustrated by the failures of the bishops
in a number of areas may be tempted to join this movement, but they will
be wasting their energy. The Church needs holy, faithful bishops, holy
faithful priests, and holy faithful laity. Giving the laity a voice in
the determination of Church teaching would not produce obedience to the
truth which the Church is commissioned by God to guard and transmit.
Let us be clear, the
teachings of the Catholic Church on sexuality, marriage, and life cannot
and will not be changed. Women cannot be ordained Catholic priests.
While the rule on celibacy could be modified, it will not be; indeed the
controversy is leading to a renewed defense of celibacy in the Roman
Rite.
The Voice of the
Faithful will fail to achieve its stated objective. The Catholic Church
will not be reconstituted as a representative democracy. The activities
of the Voice will, however, cause increased alienation within the laity,
diminish support for the truth the Church teaches, and provide fodder
for New York Times and Boston
Globe reporters
End of article. |