Clericalisms of Another Sort

Dr. Tim Uhl highlights the words of Pope Francis and amongst the Church in Sunday's Catholic School Matters. It's well worth the read and has links to a number of perspectives. The crux of his argument is in the fourth paragraph:

Lay people have granted priests this special place. I’m not arguing that priest don’t deserve our respect. But if we grant them exalted positions due to ordination and ignore the perspectives of the laity, then we are to blame. And I see this pattern repeating in parishes and schools. The laity is apt to put all the decisions and tasks on priests and bishops and not claiming their role as “co-responsible” for the Church, in the words of Pope Benedict XVI.

I 100% am in agreement that in many matters - especially when it comes to the hierarchy - the laity have been quick to cede authority in a manner which has allowed corruption (this is true throughout Church history).

However, there are two other examples that I think are important to highlight and not lose sight of even as we regard the Bishops and Pastors with a more critical eye.

First, there is the clericalism of the liturgy.

What do I mean? How many Masses, rites, and liturgies have been lead and said that openly violate the prayers and canons of the Church? A priest, religious, or lay leader who believes that he or she can lead a public prayer service in whatever manner they deem fit echoes the priest who believes he can pinch extra money from the collection because of his hard work, the religious that carries on a sexual relationship in violation of his vows, the abuser in the confession who feels that God's standards do not apply. The degree of evil and malice may vary, but derivation on little manners - when the homily said, the wording of the Eucharistic Prayer, et al. - leads to derivation on big manners.

I hope that as we examine our leaders in terms of their honesty and position on their expertise and morality and advocate a laity that stands up for the whole Church; we likewise stand up for proper worship.

Second, there is the clericalism of belief.

Cafeteria Catholics of both the left and the right are quick to point out the motes in their opponent's eyes, while ignoring the beams in their own. I am as guilty of this as anyone else. As the Covington fiasco showed, we increasingly read things in terms of our polarization. Our Faith's teaching is rooted in scripture, an intellectual approach, and centuries of debate, writing, and thought. To discard the idea that life begins at conception or that we must build a society dedicated to supporting the poor and needy is to believe that our word, our will should be done.

A priest that believes he needs to use an aborted child as an election-day prop is just as guilty in believing his own superiority as a priest who violates his vows of chastity. Again, the degree of malice may vary, but the pride of the act does not. A lay leader who calls himself Catholic allowing the intentional killing of born infants is placing his own desires over that of the Church and the faithful.

At its heart clericalism is pride. Pride in one's position. That pride can lead to minor acts like pontificating during the Mass rather than following millenia-old liturgy or publicly disavowing Church teaching to major acts like raping altar servers. Hopefully, we can hold ourselves and our leaders accountable in a way that builds the Kingdom of Heaven and shuns the pride which has infected so much of our society and Faith.