Knoxville bishop resigns after apostolic visitation

Bishop Richard Stika of Knoxville, TN has resigned, apparently at Pope Francis's bidding.

What's going on with Russia?

 What happened in Russia this weekend? The Wagner Group’s march on Moscow failed, but Putin’s troubles aren’t over - Vox

"Major questions about Russia’s future remain after this weekend saw one of the most direct challenges to Putin’s authority in decades."

PEW: Catholic churches have the worst preaching and music in the US

RETHINKING CATHOLIC LEADERSHIP

Father Tom Reese in his Religion News opinion piece has the following article based on a Pew Research Center study released a few weeks ago which was a comparison of people who worshipped in person with those who used virtual resources.  

This just in: Catholic churches have the worst preaching and music in the US

"This just in" is Reese tongue-in-cheek way of saying that this should have been the headline for the PEW study. It is not because this is old news. Andrew Greeley and study after study has found the same or very similar statistics.

PEW SURVEY	“extremely or very satisfied”				Feel Connected
	Homilies		Music
	In person	On line	In person	On line
Protestants	82%	76%	75%	57%	71%
Catholics	61%	57%	61%	51%	50%
difference	21%	21%	14%	6%	21%

The above table, how we interpret it, and what to do about it, should be the primary focus of discussion in every home, parish and diocese.  

As a social scientist I have a very simple explanation. What is different about Protestant pastors than Catholic pastors? The Protestant pastors are motivated to do a better job because most of them have to support a wife and children and they are paid their salaries by the local congregation.

Andrew Greeley based on his research, also told us that priests are the happiest profession in the nation. And why shouldn't they be, because they don't have a wife and kids to worry about, and they have no concerns about their next paycheck. They have no board of trustees evaluating their performance. The bishop is a very busy man downtown with little time for them or their parish.  

Francis is willing to put the question of married priests on the table for discernment.  He has some clear principles about discerning changes in both church and society.  Opposing ideas must be faced, e.g. the desire to keep the thousand-year old tradition celibacy as well as desire to adapt to modern cultural realities. We need a new vision which brings people together based not simply on ideas but more importantly on realities and which is adaptable to local, national and regional cultures.

 

The United States has very unique religious environment because we lack an established religion supported by the state or national culture. Rather churches must compete for the voluntary contributions time, talent and treasure. Sociologists have argued that voluntarism is why the US is so much more religious than almost all of Europe even though most of our ancestors came from Europe. 

The two most consistent elements of weekly services in American congregations are a sermon, and congregational singing, even in very small storefront churches. Any congregation that wants to recruit rather than loose members needs to do those things well. Voluntarism also means working together, so any congregation that wants to prosper must make members feel connected enough so they will contribute time, talent and treasure.  

Obviously Protestants are doing a better job at all this than Catholics. We are still holding on to European based ideas, cultural and political establishments, looking to rich donors rather than broad support to help maintain them.

How can we recruit Catholic leaders, not just for the deaconate and priesthood, but also lay leaders in church and society, who will attract people to support Catholicism with their time and talent rather than just modest financial contributions. What characteristics are desirable in these leaders?

In the American Church, we need married leaders who are engaged in the difficult task of raising a family in a culture which is often not supportive of families.  A couple of decades of successful marriage should count high when considering candidates for any leadership roles in church institutions, whether lay ministry, the deaconate or priesthood.  

While a poor or failed marriage might count against candidacy, the single life should not.  Indeed Catholicism has a rich tradition of valuing the single life in its many forms: the solitary life of prayer lived for God alone, or a life dedicated to the service of others such as the poor, the sick, or homeless, and the widowed life of prayer and care for others. 

Just being single and declaring that one will stay single should not be sufficient for a candidate for the priesthood.  Rather what is needed is an outstanding track record of a decade or two. The call to the priesthood comes not simply from an interior voice, or because priest has recruit someone but from a wide community of people who say “this guy should be a priest.”

In discerning Catholic leaders (laity, deacons, or priests. paid or voluntary) a proven track record in a non-church environment should be highly desirable. An Orthodox who wants to be a married priest must marry first.  Several decades ago I got to know one well. He told me that while waiting for a wife, he took a job working in a steel mill. He said those years where the most valuable experiences for his ministry as a priest. 

The Trent seminary model which formed priesthood candidates in isolation not only from secular life but also from our many Catholic institutions should give way (and in some places is beginning to give way) to a new seminary model which fosters Catholic leadership, both paid and voluntary in both church and society. This new environment would provide a wide range of experiences with Catholic leaders, both paid and voluntary in both church and society.     

Robert Greenleaf, the author of Servant Leadership, was very disappointed that academia had failed to emphasize leadership in its curriculum.  He proposed that seminaries become central institutions for fostering leadership.  Greenleaf had a deep understanding of what leadership should be in America, and a strong appreciation of the potential of Catholicism to provide such leadership. He saw John XXIII and the Vatican Council as an outstanding model of modern organizational leadership. Having spent his work life at AT&T he understood well the leadership challenges of very large institutions. 

Beginning with Pope Paul VI and now Pope Francis we have begun to completely transform what were once considered the minor orders as stepping stones to the major orders of deacon and priest. We have decided that these ministries are based on baptism rather than being derived from sacred orders and that they should be open to women as well as men. Pope Francis has added a new ministry, that of catechist. 

Pope Paul VI authorized bishops’ conferences to request new ministries for their area. Since music is central to American worship experience, and we clearly have a music deficit in comparison to Protestants, American bishops should establish the ministry of cantor to encourage singers to enter into a life-long commitment to singing at worship.

Now is the time to rethink how we recruit and form Catholic leaders in both ecclesial institutions as well as society, both voluntary and paid, whether they be laity, commissioned ministers, deacons or priests. 

This should begin at the grassroots both personally and in all the various organizations and communities of our lives: especially in our families and in our work lives, and civic organization as well as parishes and other Catholic institutions. Where do we experience spiritual leadership? Where do we provide spiritual leadership? Where could we provide spiritual leadership? 

By spiritual leadership I mean not only that provided under the auspices of religion but all that invokes  transcendent values such as Truth, Goodness, Beauty, Justice, Compassion, etc. 

How do we relate commissioning of acolytes, lectors, catechists, and cantors at the diocesan (and national) levels with the freedom and flexibility of servers, readers, religious educators, and singers at the parish level? We should be very careful of introducing more credentialing (you cannot do X unless you have credentials) into a society already overburdened by credentialing, and into a church that needs to be responsive to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The old idea of spending a certain number of years studying a subject before practicing it must give way to modern reality of constantly changing practice and knowledge bases, i.e. life-long learning. 

Catholic Leadership Seminaries run by dioceses would consist of varied courses, seminars, lectures, conferences, etc. open to all Catholics. Other Catholic institutions could offer similar Leadership Seminaries. For example Jesuit colleges and universities could offer Ignatian leadership seminaries open to anyone. Benedictine institutions offer leadership seminaries based upon the Rule of Saint Benedict, etc. 

Catholic Leadership Seminaries could continue to be partially residential with retreats, and even year- long sabbaticals but without any longer term housing. All Catholics would be encourage to avail themselves of its resources whether or not they were engaged in parish or other institution ministry, and regardless of whether they aspired to institutional ministries or ordination. Many of its resources should be available in nearby locations. 

Individuals who did aspire to the permanent ministries or ordination would understand that they must meet certain minimal educational and life experiential requirements to be eligible. Catholics from an early age should be primed to seek to serve others spiritually in both church and society, and be assured of an abundance of resources at the parish level, diocesan and other Catholic institutions.   

Children preparing for Communion should be initiated into the possibility of being servers not only at Mass, the Divine Office, the sacraments, funerals, but also assist in welcoming people at church, visiting the sick and homebound, etc. Candidates for confirmation should be initiated into Divine Office, life-long bible study, choir as well as various social ministries,  

The American Church has the opportunity to completely rethink and transform its leadership structure, relating voluntary spiritual leadership in both church and society to an evolving, transformed structure of ministries based upon baptism and ordination

Why people go to church

Some light shed on the perennial question: why do the pews seem emptier, or fuller, than usual today?

The vocation to parenthood

 This is my homily for yesterday, the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A.  This particular Sunday also was Father's Day.  The readings for the day are here.

In Verdant Pastures

Western Nebraska where I grew up is more often than not quite arid. We never took rain for granted, and Rogation Days were a thing. But sometimes they get a chance for a wetter year, and this was one of those years, unlike the eastern part of the state where we live now, which is in an uncharacteristic drought. My sister texted me pictures of the green grass of home, which would have made my dad's heart glad. I thought it was appropriate this year that the Good Shepherd readings fell on Father's Day. My dad didn't herd any sheep, but he herded cattle, lots of them, for a lot of years. I was thinking of some of my favorite memories of Dad, and what came up were the times I spent riding around with him in his pickup. A silver lining to the misfortune of Mom passing away 24 years ago was that I spent more time with Dad. He used to "ride pasture" on a horse, but that takes a physical toll, and as he got older he drove instead. 

Archbishop Pierre to the US bishops: embrace synodality

Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Vatican's ambassador to the United States, addressed the US bishops yesterday.  It was pretty good. 

AI Art and Creativity

 In the past year or so there have been a couple of  articles on the America Magazine site touching on art and religion: 

 I asked an AI art generator to draw the communion of saints. I don’t love what it revealed about the Catholic Church. | America Magazine: "The images were always set either in some medieval-seeming past or a fantasy-like setting, including one from Nightcafe’s artistic portrait filter that seemed like a scene from the next season of “Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power.” Halos also appear often."

and this one: I asked an AI art generator to draw Catholicism in 20 different ways. Here’s what I learned. | America Magazine: "It’s easy enough to recognize the constituent parts and mash them together in a way that makes sense. What happens, however, if I put in an abstract concept? What does the algorithm have to say about capitalism? What does it have to offer for justice? What about love?"

The articles are fun to read, and thought provoking.  But what prompted me to post about them was the art show I attended on Friday. It was sponsored by the state organization, ANAC (Association of Nebraska Art Clubs), and took place at the Community College in our town.  

A quick thought on Trump's indictment for stealing classified documents

It is difficult to believe that Trump didn't commit the crimes he is accused of.  The sheer volume of boxes as shown in photographs; the evidence apparently captured on audio tape; it all seems pretty damning.

I have heard it said, here and there, that to convict Trump and send him to jail - that is, to treat him as any other American accused of breaking the law regarding classified documents - would be to invite civil discord so severe that it would risk "breaking the country".

My thought is: if we are that fragile, it is better that it come to light now than later.  I say: let the chips fall where they may.  

Many people are predicting this indictment will not hurt Trump politically, at least not during the GOP primary.  Perhaps that is true.  But Trump is so polarizing that there are few or no Americans who don't already know where they stand on him and his candidacy.  I think there is almost no chance that he will end up in the White House again.  This indictment, and any trial that ensues, may help to shore up the resolve of independents who may he wavering on a 2nd Biden term, to do the right thing and vote for Biden again.

"They worshiped, but they doubted"

 The title of this post is from Matthew 28:17.  It is part of the Gospel passage for Pentecost this year:

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.

When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.

That line, "they worshiped, but they doubted" has haunted me for some time.  I think it describes many members of the church: we worship in the midst of our doubts.  We have faith, but we also try to work through difficulties.

Having a Relaxing Smoke

 I smoked one or two cigarettes in my teen years, decided there was no pleasure in it, and stopped.  Now I'm indoors to avoid the smoke from the Canadian wildfires.  The air alert here is presently "unhealthy".  The counterclockwise flow of air from a low off the Atlantic Coast is pumping the smoke down from the North where Canada is having a record early wildfire season.  I'll leave it to the climatologists to work out attribution but I've never experienced anything like this until last year with the smoke from the Oregon fires.  This is worse.  Even indoors, I can feel it, though I'm of good health. My eyes are slightly stinging. Outside, the sky is a homogenous white.  At times, it gets dark with the skies colored what I would call apocalyptic orange.

The northeast has been relatively free of climate  change effects but now we're seeing drier conditions and now this.  We have to change our way of life, our system.  We may have to give up things we take for granted.  I think the car must disappear.  Population clusters that put what we need within walking distance and linked to each other by rail.  I don't think electric cars will do it.   

Bauckham and Ehrman on The Sermon on the Mount

Interestingly, Richard Bauckham (who holds that the gospels are based directly on eyewitness testimony) and Bart Ehrman  (who argues that they are not) agree that Jesus never actually delivered The Sermon on the Mount. Instead, they agree that Matthew's account of the sermon serves as a device for him to present a collections of saying attributed to Jesus. They differ, however, on attempting to determine whether or not each individual saying orginated with Jesus himself.