Pope Francis wants the Catholic Church to come out of mothballs, to be on the streets among the people, and to be a humble, renewed church.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Pope Francis wants the whole church to walk together learning how to move towards a better future.
In Tasmania, a group of committed Catholics has formed Concerned Catholics Tasmania, an incorporated body seeking to enter into dialogue with other lay Catholics, our Priests and Bishops, without fear or favour, wanting to be a renewed church that recognises and values equality and is in touch with our world. Sadly, the church as an institution has become increasingly irrelevant to many over time.
Our members believe it has much to offer society and that society has its truth and insight to offer the church as well.
We have much to learn from one another.
Being Catholic is hardly the flavour of the month in the 21st Century.
It won't win you too many brownie points in the real world (probably never did).
For those of us who grew up with our Catholic faith as a bedrock for life and a source of meaning, we knew the purpose of the church was to guide us in the Way of Christ, to help us have a sense of the sacred and to learn how to love God and our neighbour as Jesus taught.
Sadly, Catholics and others now realise that our institutional church culture has what could be called an infection, a virus at its heart and is failing to squarely and courageously face that reality, despite the best the efforts of many. In Australia, the findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Sexual Abuse have been the most visible and public sign of this failure.
Those findings cannot be ignored, even when they recommend radical changes to a centuries-old culture of male domination, lack of accountability and exclusion of lay people from decision-making. Among those who identify as Catholic, many are concerned. Concerned about what?
They are raising questions such as:
- How can faith relate to the lives of people, particularly the young, who need the strength and spiritual guidance I grew up with?
- How could church culture possibly have produced and shielded so many sexual abusers?
- What about the underlying root causes of such abuse?
- Why can't the Church fully recognise the gifts of the laity, and especially of women?
- Is it acceptable for young, inexperienced clerics to advise about marriage and adult relationships?
- Why does the Church deem same-sex love-making always to be sinful?
- How is that the Bishops are accountable only to the Pope and not to the people they are called to serve?
- Why are there so few people at Sunday Mass compared with 'when I was young'?
- Why can't church authorities be transparent and inclusive in their decision-making?
- Can our Church be a leader in environmental responsibility, in partnership with our First Peoples?
A national Plenary Council scheduled for 2021-22 has posed the question to Catholics, what is God calling the church to be in Australia?
And more than 220,000 concerned Catholics around the country accepted the invitation to meet in groups and respond candidly to the Bishops' invitation to speak out freely and boldly, including addressing the questions above. Catholics universally identified the Great Commandment as the basis for their faith, and for every necessary church reform - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself".
The bishops will draw on the over 17,000 written submissions they received from Catholics across Australia to form an agenda for the Plenary Council in 2021-22.
Sounds like Mission Impossible? Too little too late for those who have abandoned the Church? Perhaps.
But the church Pope Francis describes and models offers hope, joy and tenderness with a sense of renewed purpose. "Without a vision the people perish" (Proverbs 29).
We are convinced we need to be in dialogue with each other, whether as ordinary Catholics, designated church leaders, or citizens of Tasmania, to clarify our vision and mission. We have 70 formal members and more than 150 interested people on our mailing list.
The launch of Concerned Catholics Tasmania is on October 10 at Tailrace in Launceston, starting at 10.30am and observing all COVID regulations.
Guest speaker will be Francis Sullivan, an expert in the findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, and a leading Australian layman.
Register at: donna_mcwilliam@yahoo.com.au
- Dr Trish Hindmarsh former Catholic Education Tasmania director
