catholic dialogue

by Isabella R. Moyer

Don’t come to me with a problem unless you have a possible solution.

These are wise words for anyone in leadership. Complaining is easy, and complainers almost always outnumber the affirmers. Encouraging others to seek solutions nudges them to look deeper into the issue. It also affirms the need for collaborative discernments.

There are many disappointed and frustrated souls in our church today. Some use online discussion boards to vent their anger. Some gripe to their priests and bishops. Some write blogs and columns (!). But complaining without seeking effective tools and solutions is fruitless.
Two weeks before his death, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, the former Archbishop of Milan, gave a final interview to his fellow Jesuit, Rev. George Sporschill, and an Italian friend named Federica Radice Fossati Confalonieri. The interview galvanized the imagination of the media and many Catholics. His claim that “the church is 200 years behind the times” made headlines around the world.

He identified the problem in these simple terms. “The church is tired, in the Europe of well-being and in America. Our culture has become old, our churches and our religious houses are big and empty, the bureaucratic apparatus of the church grows, our rites and our dress are pompous.”

Many hearts soared to hear this critique coming from a high-ranking cardinal. But, identifying and courageously proclaiming the problem is only the first step. Cardinal Martini also proposed solutions, solutions that require a concerted effort from all who desire a renewed and revitalized church.

He named three imperative tools. The first is conversion: “the church must recognize its errors and follow a radical path of change, beginning with the pope and the bishops.” The sexual abuse scandal has shown that the sins of the church can no longer be swept under Vatican carpets and insipid apologies do not connote a radical path of change.

Cardinal Martini was a renowned Scripture scholar who balanced study with prayer. He spent many hours sharing and promoting lectio divina with young people in Milan. He knew that faith needed to be grounded in both the mind and the heart. His second tool, therefore, was the Word of God.

“Only those who perceive this Word in their heart can be part of those who will help achieve renewal of the church, and who will know how to respond to personal questions with the right choice. The Word of God is simple, and seeks out as its companion a heart that listens. . . . Neither the clergy nor ecclesiastical law can substitute for the inner life of the human person.”

How often do we complain about boring homilies or uninspiring liturgies? How often do we complain about our ordained ministers, blaming them for our own lack of faith? How often do we complain that laywomen and men are not given a greater voice in our church? The Word of God does not speak to deacons, priests and bishops alone. The Sunday homily is never meant to be our sole source of spiritual nourishment for the week.

When we pray with the Word of God daily, we allow God to speak to each of us in our own place and time. We open our minds and hearts to God’s wisdom and are formed into mature women and men of faith. We become accountable for our own spiritual journey, and better equipped to work actively to help rebuild and renew our church.

Cardinal Martini’s third tool is grounded in the core of our Catholic identity, the sacraments. For Martini, the sacraments “are not an instrument of discipline, but a help for people in their journey and in the weaknesses of their life.” If, as we believe, the sacraments are tools for healing and food for our journey, how can we deny them to those who come to the altar in good faith? As an example, Martini challenges the church to revisit the rules and regulations surrounding second marriages. After all, when we turn a mother or father away we often turn away an entire family, losing a generation of Catholics in the process.

In the wake of Cardinal Martini’s death, many pondered if we had lost the last great liberal cardinal. Who are the people that can bring change to the church now? Martini calls us to look beyond the institutional structure. Using Rev. Karl Rahner’s image of embers lying under the ash, he asks, “How can we liberate the embers from the ash, to reinvigorate the fires of love? For the first thing, we have to seek out these embers.”

He forwarded an exciting proposal for the pope and bishops to “seek out 12 people outside the lines for administrative positions, people who are close to the poorest, who are surrounded by young people, and who try new things. We need to be with people who burn in such a way that the Spirit can spread itself everywhere.”

We need courageous voices to identify the deadening ash that suffocates new life in our church. But, loud voices that offer no solution ring hollow. Voices backed with the spiritual tools and hard work of ongoing, inner conversion give us hope. Grazie mille, Cardinal Martini!

Moyer is a Catholic blogger (http://catholicdialogue.com) who lives with her husband David in Neepawa, MB. She is president of the International Organization of Marianist Lay Communities, a canonically recognized, private association of the faithful whose charism promotes a Marian model of church that is inclusive, egalitarian, participatory and concerned with social justice.