A Voice in the Desert: How One Bishop is Bringing Life to a Dry Continent
A Voice in the Desert How one bishop is bringing life to a dry continent By RICHARD ROTONDI
Richard Rotondi is the Marketing Director of Sophia Institute Press in Manchester, New Hampshire. He recently returned from an Australian trip with his wife and daughter.
In a country where religion is often approached languidly, when it is approached at all, Archbishop George Pell is causing people to sit up and take notice.
"Tiger of a Player for Catholics," trumpeted one major news daily when Pell's appointment as archbishop was announced. "Pell a Voice Among Bishops," said another.
A third reported the reaction of Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer, a Catholic, who found it "exciting" that such a "giant" had been appointed-but who also predicted that Catholics who "bend with the breeze" would be disappointed.
Now, a year after Pell's installation on August 16, 1996, that early excitement has been justified. During his first months as archbishop, Pell has (1) committed himself publicly to defending the papacy, opposing women priests and upholding the "difficult" moral teachings of the Church, (2) published a high-school religion text designed "to evoke the romance of orthodoxy" in the young, (3) implemented sweeping reforms in his diocesan seminary, prompting the entire staff to resign and (4) battled with-and bested-the liberal (former) head of Australia's Jesuits, Rev. W.J. Uren, in a controversy involving Ignatius Press publisher Fr. Joseph Fessio.
As Deputy Prime Minister Fischer predicted, Catholics who "bend with the breeze" have indeed been disappointed, to put it mildly. But for Archbishop Pell, it's all in a day's work. "There are many smorgasbord Catholics who choose a bit of this and a bit of that. That's their business," Pell told a television reporter shortly after his appointment. "My business as a bishop, as a defender of the tradition, is to proclaim the whole of the message."
Pell’s tough resolve in the face of opposition has a long history. During his student days this "Tiger of a Player" developed a reputation as a skilled footballer, eventually winning a spot on a semi-pro Australian Rules football team. Now 56 years old, the Archbishop still has the strength and bearing of an athlete. His tough but respectful way of dealing, with opponents has a sportsmanlike quality that is likely familiar to the players who once met him in the field.
Within the Church Pell has long been a champion of orthodoxy. During his nine-year tenure as auxiliary bishop of Melbourne, Pell appeared frequently on radio and television and became known as an outspoken defender of the "Gospel of Life." Before his consecration as bishop, Pell served as rector of Melbourne's diocesan seminary. Rome or the Bush?, a 1986 expos6 of abuses in the Australian Church, explicitly praises Pell for ending problems at the seminary-though his work in this area would not be completed until his appointment as archbishop a decade later.
Ever since becoming a bishop Pell has maintained strong links with Rome. He has served on two separate pontifical councils, and is a member of Cardinal Ratzinger's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Like the Holy Father before him, Pell has chosen as his motto "Be not afraid!"-and he has preached vigorously on the necessity of preserving unity with the Pope.
"From the earliest times the Church of Rome ... was the supreme guarantor of the authenticity of the tradition deriving from Christ and the apostles," said Pell to the more than 8,000 people who attended his investiture as archbishop:
"The Pope as Bishop of Rome personally embodies this as the symbol of unity and defender of orthodoxy. One important task of a bishop is to be a focus of unity within his diocese; but equally important is his work to ensure that his diocese remains fully united with the universal Church around the Pope. In this age and in this archdiocese, when the papacy is enjoying one of the brightest moments in its long and brilliant history, it is my duty to commit myself publicly to both these unifying tasks...."
Such words have won Pell the admiration of Melbourne's young Catholics, and the gratitude of faithful grown frustrated with years of liturgical and doctrinal abuses in their parishes and schools.
Challenge and Opposition
But such words have not endeared Pell to all elements within the Church. The Archbishop has suffered a series of what Australians call "media beatups": Pell's critics have accused him in the secular media of being "hard line"; a Jesuit publication took him to task for a "quintessentially Roman outlook ... that would take [the Church] back into a kind of pre-1960s ghetto."
These "media beat-ups" indicate the fierce resistance Pell will face as he works to ensure that the Church in Melbourne remains fully united with Rome. Australians in general are not known for prompt obedience to authority, religious or secular. Perhaps even more than elsewhere, it can take years before a directive from the bishop is implemented at the parish or local level.
"In many dioceses in which the bishop is personally orthodox, the powerful bureaucracies surrounding him have succeeded in painlessly extracting the essence of the reform that the bishop might have wished to bring about," writes intellectual and political activist Bob Santamaria, perhaps Australia's most prominent layman, in his recent memoirs. This can be seen in Melbourne in pastors' illicit practice of general absolution during Advent and Lenten penitential services-despite directives from Pell's predecessor, Archbishop Frank Little.
Early Skirmish-and Victory
But the faithful in Melbourne have reason to hope Pell will succeed where others have failed. Already during his tenure as archbishop, Pell has fought skirmishes with "powerful bureaucracies" and other Church opponents--and emerged as the decisive victor.
Perhaps Pell's biggest battle to date has been over the formation of seminarians at Corpus Christi, Australia’s biggest seminary, which trains priests for Melbourne and other dioceses. It is the seminary where Pell had once been rector, and where he addressed such problems as liturgies featuring Billy Joel songs, faculty intimidation of orthodox and conservative students and risqué courses on sexuality.
As an archbishop, Pell was in a position to make more wholesale changes. Last fall, Pell and the other bishop-trustees of Corpus Christi presented the faculty with a list of reforms for the seminary. The reforms, based on Pope John Paul II's pastoral letter on the formation of seminarians, called for increased periods of retreat, meditation, recollections and more intensive study of public forms of worship and pastoral duties.
"I want them to be able to pray better, to celebrate the sacraments more devoutly and pray the word of God more devoutly, especially by example," explained Pell.
When presented with the reforms, the staff of the seminary made headlines across the country by resigning en masse. Father Paul Connell, rector of the seminary, explained that he and his staff were not willing to run the seminary according to the Archbishop's "new style." An anonymous staffer complained to the press about a stricter and more regulatory regime.
Pell was gracious in victory. He said publicly that he felt no animosity towards the Corpus Christi staff. "They are good people who have done a good job," said Pell, "but they have a different vision of seminary formation."
Like a good sportsman, he did not add that it was his vision that had taken the field.
The Fessio Affair
As Archbishop, Pell has taken the field against opponents not only within his diocese, but across Australia.
One headline-making case occurred after his installation, and involved American Jesuit Fr. Joseph Fessio, publisher of Ignatius Pre ss. Fessio was preparing to embark on a lecture tour of Australia, having been invited to do so by an organization of Catholic priests.
When Jesuit Provincial Rev. W. J. Uren learned of Fessio's proposed visit, he circulated a "warning" to the Australian bishops, saying that Fessio's visit was unauthorized. Though Fessio's American superiors had given permission for the trip, Uren claimed Fessio was violating Jesuit protocol by not obtaining his permission as well. ("Preposterous," says Fessio. "If the protocol Fr. Uren refers to exists, no Jesuit I have spoken to has ever heard of it.")
Uren was also concerned that Fessio had "on occasion given expression to some rather reactionary views," and that his Australian sponsors subscribed to "rather legalistic forms of orthodoxy." (Father Fessio responded by challenging Uren to state publicly his acceptance of Church teaching on homosexuality, artificial contraception and the possibility of women priests.)
In the midst of this uproar, Archbishop Pell contacted the bishops whose dioceses Fr. Fessio would be visiting. Pell informed the bishops that he would be present for Fessio's address in Melbourne, and would personally propose the vote of thanks.
That settled the matter of whether Fessio would come to Australia. In fact, Fessio drew crowds of 500 in Brisbane and Sydney-and 1500 in Pell's Melbourne.
Challenges for the Future
Despite these early victories, Pell still has much work to do for the Church in Melbourne.
One task is upholding the uniqueness of the priesthood. In relaxed Australia, priests are often not scrupulous about distinguishing themselves with clerical garb or titles; the perception of the priesthood has been tragically desacralized. This tendency to blur the distinction between priest and layman has created great pressure to address an impending shortage of priests by means of "priestless parishes" staffed by lay administrators.
Already one parish in Melbourne has a lay administrator, serving out a contract signed by Pell's predecessor; the laity have been conditioned to prepare for many more. Pell is trying to undo that conditioning-"There is no truly Catholic Church without bishops and priests and deacons," Pell preached at his investiture-but this battle is already in a late phase.
Desacralization has taken other forms. The number of Catholics attending weekly Mass has dropped precipitously in recent years. In the 1950s, a Gallup poll found that more than sixty percent of Australian Catholics attended Mass weekly; today, that figure is no higher than twenty percent.
The great majority of Catholic high school students disagree with Church teaching on premarital sex, birth control and even the Sunday Mass obligation. An astonishing ninety-seven percent of Catholic schoolchildren stop practicing the Faith within a year of leaving Catholic schools. Perhaps only fifteen percent of self-described Catholics in Australia fully adhere to the Faith.
Archbishop Pell inherits a diocese where the Faith is challenged and even threatened. But that faithful fifteen percent has great reason for hope.
"Does fifteen percent represent an irremediable situation?" asks Bob Santamaria in his recent memoir. "Not yet. The situation is not yet irrecoverable. What Arnold Toynbee called 'creative minorities' are the determining factor. What will decide the situation in the next decade is, first and foremost, the actual beliefs of the fifteen percent of practicing Catholics, the 'climate' in which they live and the spirit that animates them."
With Archbishop Pell at the helm, the beliefs, climate and spirit of faithful Melbourne Catholics are likely to be solid as a rock.
Winning "the great middle ground" to orthodoxy An Interview with Archbishop Pell
Since his surprise appointment as chief pastor of the Church of Melbourne in July 1996, members of the world's largest media organizations have had to vie for time with Archbishop George Pell. But on a recent Monday morning, the Archbishop invited an unknown American reporter to his offices overlooking Melbourne's stately St. Patrick's Cathedral for a half-hour talk.
A copy of Sursurn Corda left with the Archbishop's secretary on the previous Friday had secured the interview. "I'm pleased to see you reporting on the good news in the Church," said Pell.
Whether Pell's appointment as Archbishop is good news or otherwise is a matter of perspective. Those Catholics-a not unsizable lot in Australia, especially within the Church bureaucracy-who yearn for women priests, or lay-run parishes, or freedom from the edicts of Rome, have greeted the new Archbishop less than enthusiastically, murmuring to the press about the "lack of consultation" in his appointment and the prospect of a new "hard-line" regime. But the reaction at various Catholic apostolates, bookstores, magazines and youth groups, where long-suffering faithful cheer Pell's fidelity to the Pope and Magisterium and tack up homemade posters and banners celebrating their new champion, more than compensates for the grumbling of his detractors.
The Archbishop himself seeks to avoid inflaming partisan sentiments. "I don't like the labels 'conservative' or liberal,"' says Pell, adding that one of his prime aims is to build unity within his diocese. Pell makes it clear that unity must be grounded in a common assent to core Church teachings. But on matters of policy, discipline and style he conveys such flexibility, diplomacy and respect for lawful diversity that one wonders how his opponents make the 'hard-liner" charge with a straight face.
In the Australian news at the time is Fr. Tissa Balasuriya, a Sri Lankan theologian excommunicated by Rome for his refusal to recant heretical views. The articles on Balasuriya recall Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz's earlier warnings that members of his diocese faced excommunication for joining dissident groups. Looking for a real "hard-line" statement, I ask the Archbishop if he foresees Church leaders turning increasingly to excommunication as a way to contain dissent.
The Archbishop looks at me wryly. "I think that's a little extreme."
What about recent comments by Bob Santamaria--an intellectual, political activist and perhaps Australia's most influential Catholic layman--that we are suffering a crisis as devastating as during the Pelagian and Arian heresies, when large sectors of the "teaching Church" endangered Christendom by refusing to pass on the full Catholic faith?
"Santamaria is certainly Australia's most prominent Catholic layman," says the Archbishop. "But I do not entirely agree with his diagnosis." Pell sees the chief danger to the Church as outside her fold, from a relentlessly secular culture, rather than from internal dissent. "Certainly we have added to the confusion, and haven't helped ourselves as effectively as possible. Much of that is because so many of our teachers have been heavily influenced from the society in which they find themselves. With young people, I'm quite sure the greater damage is done from the media--from videos, teenage magazines, television and cinema."
Given that secular influence in at least some of our Catholic schools, how important will homeschooling be to the future Ith of the Church?
"I have friends who homeschool," says Pell. "Certainly it's an option. But I don't think it will ever be the dominant way in which Catholics are formed."
At every point in the conversation, the Archbishop expresses confidence in the existing infrastructure of the Church -- parishes, schools, seminaries--and in the "great middle ground" of Catholics. By clearly and unambiguously presenting this "middle ground" with the truths of the Faith, Pell hopes to build a Church that is loyal to the Pope, reverent towards the sacraments, welcoming of even the most challenging doctrines.
It is a large hope, and one that pits Pell against activists for women's ordination, lay-run parishes, and other "progressive" causes, who also hope to advance their agenda by winning the Church's middle ground. But Pell impresses most observers as being more than up to the task -- which is why fearful Church bureaucrats are murmuring darkly to the press, and why Pell's likeness can be found on posters tacked up in the offices of Catholic bookstores, magazines, apostolates and youth groups all across Melbourne.
The Archbishop as Teacher
During his investiture as head of the Church in Melbourne, Archbishop George Pell promised that his archdiocese would remain "fully united with the universal Church around the Pope." Shortly thereafter, he published Issues of Faith and Morals, a high-school textbook which examines contemporary issues in the light of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Though written in a style designed to engage young people, it never shies away from presenting the full teaching of the Church.
"This book is...written with the conviction that nothing is to be gained by biding the severity of Christ's teaching," says Pell in his foreword. "Such a concealment would be unfair to readers, and has proved disastrous in practice. The 'sweetening' of Christianity produces spectators, not joiners, because the strength of the Church lies in the Cross as the necessary prelude to the Resurrection."
Below are some "unsweetened" samples of Pell's treatment of several controversial topics. Readers whose appetites are whetted are in luck: Ignatius Press will be publishing an American version of Issues of Faith and Morals this fall.
ON CELIBACY: Even when the Church has been stained with sexual scandals, when magazines proclaim that celibacy is impossible, probably unhealthy and somehow conducive to sexual deviancy, faithful priestly celibacy is still a superb and provocative witness to people inside and outside the Church. It remains the best sign that the priest has not signed up for some human advantage, real or imagined.... The present vitality of Catholic communities throughout the world is due in no small measure to the sacrifices of celibate priests, nuns and brothers. The history of the Western world cannot be understood without acknowledging the civilizing power of Catholic celibacy.... Such celibacy represents an awe-inspiring triumph over natural instincts and has ignited millions of souls with the love of God over the centuries (pp. 68-69).
ON CHASTITY: Catholic teaching on sexuality comes directly from Our Lord Himself and has stood the test of time for two thousand years. Throughout that time, people have seen that Christ's teaching is designed to prepare them for marriage and then protect the married state for life.... Sex, in God's plan, is kept special for marriage (pp. 58-59).
ON HELL: We have no right to reject this teaching of Christ and the Church simply because we regard it as too fierce or unpleasant.... God respects human freedom: He is powerless before a human refusal to repent and must deliver justice ... (p. 144).
ON "PRIMACY OF CONSCIENCE": Some claim that since the Second Vatican Council, Catholics are now allowed to follow their individual consciences, even if this means going against the teachings of Christ and the Church.... Such claims are quite mistaken. We do speak of the primacy of the pope. We could usefully speak of the primacy of truth or the primacy of the word of God in Scriptures, but to speak of the primacy of conscience is at best a misleading half-truth (pp. 5-6).
ON THE PRIESTHOOD: Ministerial priesthood is received by a special sacrament which goes back to the time of Christ and the apostles, so the priest's status is different from that of the baptized.... The priest's ordination, which is a gift from the Holy Spirit, gives him special powers which are used to celebrate the Eucharist, forgive sins and anoint the sick (p. 74).
ON WOMEN PRIESTS: The official teaching of the Catholic Church has never varied from the beginning of Christianity to the time of Pope John Paul 11. the Church cannot ordain women to the priesthood because she does not have the power to ordain women. The Church must remain faithful to the example of Our Lord and the apostles, who did not admit women to the Twelve, did not ordain them to celebrate the Eucharist and did not authorize their successors to do so. So, based on the past, women's ordination can never happen in the future. Some Catholics resent this fact being spelled out, but it is better to explain the official teaching and its basic consequences rather than to allow people to be confused (p. 79).
This item 219 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org
