The following column
by Mary Lou Hartman, President of ARCC, was published in the November-December
issue of ARCC Light.
At one point during the recent
Bishops’ Synod in Rome, which ended on October 28, it was reported that
a participating bishop paused in his speech and shouted at John Paul II,
“Look at me when I am speaking to you!” The fact that he spoke these
words is significant. The fact that he shouted them is even more significant.
He would not have spoken in such a manner unless he knew that he was giving
voice to the thoughts of other bishops.
This Synod and its final
report will probably go down in history as insignificant BUT for the hairline
cracks which appeared in the form of recurring statements by bishops lamenting
the lack of Vatican respect for the local authority for the world’s bishops.
Bishop Joseph Fiorenza, President of the United States Catholic Conference
of Bishops, spoke on this subject early in the meeting followed by bishops
from various nations. The fact that so many bishops mentioned this
absence of Subsidiarity is significant. Subsidiarity as taught by
the documents of Vatican II states that local authorities should rule on
local matters.
ARCC has long campaigned
for this basic governance principle of the church. In effect, we
have been shouting at the Vatican, “Look at us when we are talking
to you!” The hairline crack has all the potential for being
widened as a more intense campaign by the world’s bishops is mounted
to insure that the next papacy pays more attention to the Principle of
Subsidiarity.
In our wildest dreams we
wonder if the ordination to the priesthood of Mary Ramerman in Rochester,
New York on November 17 might have taken place with her bishop, Matthew
Clark, presiding had the Principle of Subsidiarity been properly developed
and observed after Vatican II. Bishop Clark could have
determined that the Spiritus Chisti Community in her diocese was legitimately
calling Mary to serve as its ordained minister. Rome would then have respected
his assessment of a need and of Mary’s call. There would have been
no need for the community to pursue this ordination outside the circle
of the institutional church.
Our hearts go out to Mary
and to the whole Spiritus Christi Community with joy and longing--we are
joyful that Mary is open to God’s call and that the community is willing
to recognize it. We long for a curia and a papacy characterized by
faith and trust in the Spirit working through the local church.
Mary Louise Hartman
President |
