NEW ORLEANS — New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan suggested to
more than 400 priests of the state of Louisiana that humbly and openly sharing
the "wounds" and shortcomings of the church might bring those who are
alienated back to the practice of the faith.
Using the image of the church as "our supernatural family,
which we, as priests, are called to image," Cardinal Dolan told the
opening session of the three-day Louisiana Priests' Convention that human
weakness has been a part of the church from the beginning.
"The church is not just our family — it's also a dysfunctional
family," he said Sept. 19 during what is one of the largest statewide
gatherings of priests in the U.S. "Everybody today talks about
dysfunctional families. Have you ever met a functional one?"
Cardinal Dolan, who spoke on the theme of "Shepherding Today
as Priest, Prophet and King," said in the jubilee year of 2000, St. John
Paul II "apologized publicly" 54 times for "the specific sins of
the church."
"That's more than once a week," Cardinal Dolan said.
"And Pope Francis surely has done so."
The cardinal said while the world is "ever ready to headline
the flaws of the church," the dynamic changes when "her loyal members
are more than willing to own up to them."
If that happens, people estranged from the church "might
just take a second look," he said.
"Their favorite caricature of the church is as a corrupt,
arrogant, self-righteous, judgmental hypocrite," Cardinal Dolan said.
"I sure don't have any problem admitting that, at times, it can be tough
to love the church because of her imperfections. The mystical body of Christ
has lots of warts."
However, Cardinal Dolan noted, it is clear from the Acts of the
Apostles, in particular the conversion of St. Paul, that "Jesus Christ and
His church are inseparable."
When Saul was blinded and knocked off his horse on his way to
Damascus, Cardinal Dolan said, the voice he heard was, "Saul, Saul, why do
you persecute me?"
"He didn't say, 'Why do you persecute my people?' Nope. 'My
followers?' Nope. 'My disciples?' Nope. To be rather blunt, Jesus and His
church are the same. Christ and His church are one. Jesus Christ and His church
are synonymous," the cardinal continued.
"My brother priests, as we consider the priesthood,
preserving the unity of Christ and His church is perhaps the most significant
pastoral challenge we shepherds face today," Cardinal Dolan said.
"I'm not telling you anything (new) — you're all on the front lines. The
dominant opinion and sentiment that we face today is, 'We want Christ; we want
nothing to do with that stupid church.'"
A YouTube video by evangelical Jefferson Bethke — "Why I
hate religion but love Jesus" — went viral with 27 million views because
of that sentiment, he said.
"Such is the popular and the successful crusade now to annul
the spousal bond between Christ and his bride, the church," Cardinal Dolan
said. "We hear this all the time, right? 'I prefer spirituality to
religion; I want the Lord as my shepherd, as long as I'm the only one there; I
want Christ as my king in a kingdom of one; I'll believe, I won't belong; God
is my father, and I'm the only child; Jesus is my general, but there's no
army.' They want Christ without his church."
Cardinal Dolan said Pope Francis has made it clear that a
Christian cannot be "a nomad" but is someone who "belongs to a
people, the church. A Christian without a church is something purely
idealistic."
"We live in a world that often considers belief in God a
private hobby, at best, a dangerous ideology, at worst," Cardinal Dolan
said. "The church is considered superstitious, irrational, backwards,
useless, counterproductive, out of it. So, what do we do, my fellow museum
pieces?"
Cardinal Dolan suggested to the 435 priests that they evangelize
by developing "a theology and a practice of the church as a family."
He said it's not a new idea; it's one that also resonates with the Jewish
community, which is experiencing similar challenges of keeping young people
within the practice of their faith.
Cardinal Dolan said the late New York newspaper columnist Jimmy
Breslin once wrote: "We Catholics might not be very good at being members
of the church, but we never leave. We're all just one chest pain away from
going back."
"Not anymore, I'm afraid," Cardinal Dolan said. "I
don't know about you, but every time the Pew Research Center puts out a new
study, every time CARA (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate)
announces more statistics, I, as a priest, a shepherd, a prophet and a king,
hold my breath because the percentage of people who claim to be ex-Catholic or
'none' rises a couple of points."
If people with a cynical or jaded view of the church experience
priests who "prize honesty and humility" and are "contrite and
eager" to reform the flaws of the church, then they may begin to view the
church as "a warm, tender, inviting family."
"If we're not afraid as priests to show our wounds — the
wounds of the church, the wounds of our family — maybe the other wounded will
come back," Cardinal Dolan said.
Finney is executive editor/general manager of the Clarion
Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.