William M Shea on Clericalism

….the Roman Catholic Church is in a bad way. … The hierarchy of the church has so … harmed its life and reputation that they have … abandoned their inherited apostolic status. … their establishment and vigorous support of a clerical monopoly in the church .. must be gotten rid of if the church is to continue in its apostolicity and its evangelical mission.

… The abuse crisis itself is only one among the many rolling waves of disappointment the popes and bishops have delivered …over hundreds of years and which demand the revocation of their honorific “Successors of the Apostles” :

The Reformation, … that tore the churches from communion with one another, was the responsibility of the clergy on both sides. ….

The antimodern crusades of the 19^th century popes …. the Church (bishops and popes) failed their people (the church) by pitting themselves against …“evils” such as democracy, freedom of the press, and a thoughtful lower clergy.

The failure of most church leaders to counter the beast of the German war …

The vicious hounding of theologians by several twentieth-century popes, ..

The sexual assault on children and young people by clergy, … and the consequent hierarchical cover-up, …..

The resistance by two popes to the … possibilities of reform of church life suggested by the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) insofar as they touched on clerical hegemony. ..

The failure of the clerical leadership of the church to face up to … the rapid decline in the sacramental practice of Catholics in the West, much of it attributable to the debilitating clericalism ..

If clericalism is the root of the problem, why not cut to the root? Why not a strategic plan to radically de-clericalize the church? …..

Clericalism infects the other Christian churches to a lesser degree and variously, but the Roman Church has simply collapsed under its weight….

.. I am not opposed to leadership, to authority, to structure, to ministry…. but I am opposed to its sacrality and its sanctification. …. Can we count on the clergy to eliminate clericalism?... Not likely! …

…As “Successors to the Apostles” the clergy are a sacral caste who rule, sanctify, and teach the rest of Christians, a Sanhedrin in effect presided over by the Roman High Priest. This was a mistake, made by Christian leaders rather than by Jesus himself …I would argue that this development was utterly foreign to the intentions of Jesus, … a worldly rather than a holy phenomenon. 

The answer to this ongoing crisis is this: that the clergy from low to high be desacralized entirely. …There was and is no “divine plan” for how the churches are to be governed. The clergy … have not simply misused the myth; they created it, imposed it, maintained it… with the tacit agreement of the laity. ..

Let me summarize a handful of the elements of my proposal to declericalize the .. Church….    

Ending Clericalism. There should be no distinction between the clergy and laity, except in functions assigned to some Christians for some time… 

Ending the Ontological Sign. Clericalism is reinforced by the doctrine that the sacrament of orders causes a “sign” to be placed on the soul of the recipient … ministers are simply Christians who share, like all Christians, in the priesthood, … Ministers should be called and accepted by the community to perform a specific service …. The “priestly people” are the church, not the clergy.

End the Accouterments of Sacred Office. …. special dress, peculiar hats, crosiers, and rings 

End all “one true church” talk. ... Drop the .. declaration that “fullness of the church subsists in the Roman Catholic Church…”  The fullness of the church dwells where two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name. ….

Regional and International Synods.. …. These synods are to include representatives of all Christian communities, not only the ones called Catholic.

William M. Shea is adjunct professor of Religious Studies at the College of the Holy Cross.