Organization: The American University
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.catholic
Date:         Sat, 7 Nov 1992 07:50:11 EST
From:         Jim McIntosh <JIM@AMERICAN.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Nature of List

In article <CATHOLIC%92110317212958@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU> JIM@AMERICAN.EDU (Jim
McIntosh) (that's me!) wrote:
>So, I am grateful for Vatican II (not that I remember it), but I'm also
>glad that we're able to move past it and that the Church continues to
>grow.
In response, on Wed, 4 Nov 1992 13:07:51 GMT (Bryan D. Boyle) said:
>Grow?  that is why there are less priests now than there were 40 years
>ago, many parishes have to close or merge with another parish, Catholic
>schools are financially strapped, and of the parishes that are open, the
>pews are 1/3 filled on Sunday mornings...

Ah, those famous empty pews. There is a fundamental disagreement about
what to do about those pews. Judging by the posts of some on this list I
get the sense that some people think that returning to the forms of the
past will magically fill up those pews. I see very nit-picky discussions
on this list about whether it is "required" to kneel at certain times
during the mass. I get the sense that these people want to turn the mass
into some kind of robot-like event, with no variety (except for the
readings and sermon) or attempt to make the mass meaningful to the people
gathered to celebrate it. Some even suggest that returning to saying the
mass in a language no one understands will bring the people back. I have
the impression from some posts that a brain-dead, non-questioning, blind
obedience to Rome will cause those pews to magically fill back up.

I would, of course, argue the opposite. A church which is not spirit-
filled and changing will not meet the needs of the people. When it does
not meet their needs, it becomes a burden and they stop attending. The
answer to the inability of religion to address the needs of the people is
not to return to a church which was once valuable but is no longer, but
rather to continue to change the church to make it current and meaningful
to the people. We all, I would think, agree that the church has many
important things to say to the people of today. Unless it speaks its
message in terms people can understand, they will see the church as
irrelevant.

Let's take structure. Why is it the church a hierarchy? It is a hierarchy
because it has was born and has existed during time of monarchies and
empires. Those are power structures which are now rejected. I think
people look at the "Rome has spoken, now obey" attitude and laugh. I
would argue that the mindless clinging to this outdated form of
government is one of the causes of those empty pews.

Let's look at gender. Why do you think the topic of women's ordination
keeps coming up? Some have posted to this list and said that women are
unfit and unable to be ordained. The same was probably said in the past
about women doctors, lawyers and prime ministers. People's attitudes
about women have changed. Their basic understanding of what it means to
be a woman has changed. The result is that they see any attempt to limit
women's access to positions of responsibility and leadership as wrong.
The church's position with regards to women is driving people away. Would
you rather have no church, or one where women are treated as equals? If
you said no church you better get used to the idea, because that is what
will happen if the church continues to say God never intended for women
to lead.

I love my church. I think its message is important. I never feel as close
to God as I do during the eucharist. The really sad thing about the items
I've mentioned above is that they are all externals. None of them have
anything to do with the saving message that Jesus is Lord. Church
structure, composition of the priesthood... these are all very trivial
things when you compare them to the glory of the resurrection, and yet
these are typical of the things causing those pews to be empty.

If we want those pews to be full again, if we want Jesus's message to be
carried to the world, if the church is to be meaningful to the world of
today, some changes are going to have to be made.

Jim McIntosh, SFO (jim@american.edu)
The American University
Washington DC 20016-8019 USA
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU