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I am forwarding below the piece " The Church in crisis"
that appeared on the Edit page of the Hindustan Times recently
Is the Catholic Church in Crisis?
George Menezes
For some time now the world has been living in the shadow of the leadership of
people like George Bush and Tony Blair.
One, the leader of the most powerful nation in the world and the other the
leader of a much admired nation. Admired for its democratic parliamentary
system, its outstanding judiciary and it is multiculturalism.
Nearer home we have a Prime Minister of the highest integrity, a competent
economist whose dithering on important issues and whose weak, mumbling
personality behind the microphone have driven B schools to get the best
scholars to research the new meaning of leadership.
There is a world crisis of leadership. Wonderful nations are being led by the
most incompetent leaders.
Is the Catholic Church too, which has followers outnumbering the populations of
the most powerful and much admired countries, now facing a leadership crisis
as well?
In the year 1984 Pope John Paul II appointed me to the Pontifical Council for
the laity for a period of five years despite my known differences with the
church in India, mostly about the marginalised role of the laity in the
functioning of the church.
Ultra-conservative members of the Indian hierarchy were convinced that the
appointment was due to a computer error.
Be that as it may, I came face to face with the then Cardinal Ratzigner. We
were participating in a conference in a wonderful location outside Rome called
"Rocca del Pappa"
During one of the discussions I intervened to say that there was not enough
sharing of power between the hierarchy and the laity in the Church in India.
Red in the face, Cardinal Ratzigner got up and said, " I want you to know that
there is no such thing as power in the Church, Mr Menezes".
It cost me, I'm told, my participation in the Synod of the Laity.
I also learnt that the Cardinal was ultraconservative, and allergic to negative
feedback but by far the most the brilliant and the most powerful member of the
Pope's inner circle.
I'm quite sure the Pope Benedict's advisers would have suggested to him the
dangers of quoting from a conversation between the 14th century Byzantine
Emperor, Manuel II Palelogus and a learned Persian.
There must be reasons why Pope Benedict went right ahead quoting Emperor Manuel
who said " show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will
find things only evil and inhuman such as his command to spread by the sword
the faith he preached"
I find no justification in his statement.
There are many sources from which the Pope could have quoted to make his point.
He made the wrong choice.
He also chose the wrong time. A time when the whole world is debating the
"clash of civilizations" and making pathetic attempts to deal with what has
become now to be known as Islamic terrorism. It was poor leadership at its
worst.
No doubt these are stressful times for the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church.
The churches in Europe are empty. There is a shortage of priests. More and
more Catholics are joining religious cults that appear to give them more
freedom in their beliefs and warmer and more meaningful relationships within
the community. The more the teachings of Jesus and the witness of his
followers become relevant in a violent, quick fix, hedonistic world, the less
Catholics are able to tolerate the inflexible, irrelevant practices of the
structured church in which they see themselves as subservient to the hierarchy.
In the dwindling numbers of true believers it becomes ridiculously necessary
for a Bishop from Kerala to bring to the notice of his flock that something
urgent must be done. Unconcerned about the struggles and the pains of
parenthood he urges them to go forth and procreate.
Is there a sense of panic in the Catholic Church? Is it not a fact that that
Islam has more adherents than any other religion in the world? Is it not that
most of those who were converted to Islam in recent times were persons
belonging to the Christian faith?
It is a great pity that for most religions specially the great religions of
Hinduism, Islam and Christianity numbers are becoming more important than the
intensity and sincerity of one's faith as well as a disciplined, undistorted
practice of its teachings.
All these issues must have weighed heavily on mind of Pope Benedict XVI. And I
believe it took him a lot of courage to say what he did knowing that a great
part of the world would chastise him and that he would become a new target of
terrorism.
I may be greatly uncomfortable in the structured and institutionalised Church
but I have great faith in the teachings of Jesus. I do believe in the Holy
Spirit and that the Holy Father was truly guided by the presence of Holy Spirit
which has made possible for the Catholic Church to have the right Pope for the
right time.
Pope John XXIII who walked around the streets of Rome and was called Johnnie
Walker was inspired, despite much opposition, to convene the Second Vatican
Council that changed the face of the Church forever.
Pope John Paul II whose holiness, transparency and unconditional love for
people was greatly admired beyond the borders of Christianity and who brought
the message of peace in a world decimated by violence.
Pope Benedict the XVI must have been reminded that the Catholic Church had a
great price to pay for its silence during the extermination of millions of Jews
by the Nazis.
Was the Holy Spirit inspiring him to speak up. To make his, and the Church's,
stand clear that when faith is divested of reason, violence becomes justifiable
and the consequences devastating?
When the Pope twice emphasized that he was quoting he should have distanced
himself from the contents of the quote. His explanation, that when he said that
"violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul" he
was issuing an open invitation to dialogue among cultures, will not be bought
by the fundamentalists among the Muslims.
Even the apology can be faulted. It is not for the statements that he made but
that he was deeply sorry for the reaction his speech had caused.
Very few World leaders ever apologise. I pray that the public apology of the
Holy Father will take the wind out of the sails of Muslim outrage.
The time for dialogue has never been more urgent.
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