The beautiful, the ugly and the controversial

Nice and ugly things happen all the time in the Church, whether in Malta or in the world at large. It's natural to be so since the Church is a mega-structure made up of human beings endowed with virtues and vices alike.

Black is beautiful

One of the nice things happening at the moment is the Synod of the African bishops. For the last few weeks, the bishops of this continent were meeting in the Vatican. They were accompanied by several experts and Vatican Curia officials. The Synod, headed by the Pope, tries to analyse the state of the Church in a particular continent and plans the way forward.

While the number of Catholics has decreased in other continents, one finds a different picture in Africa. In 13 years Catholics increased by more than 62 million people. This rate of growth between 1994 and 2007 was almost twice as high as the rate of growth among the general population in Africa. The church in Africa saw a rise in the number of bishops, priests, deacons, people in consecrated life and laypeople. The number of priests increased by 49 percent, seminarians by 44 percent and lay missionaries by 94 percent.

The Church in Africa is faced by many problems. Suffice it to say that the two most common words during the deliberations of the Synodal Fathers were "war" and "justice". The first reflects the hardship that many countries are going through, the second reveals the yearning for a real solution.

The Church in Africa is relatively a young Church. Problems there are aplenty but dynamism and creativity are not missing. The future seems bright.

The Synod will be concluded on Sunday 25 October.

An ugly blemish indeed!

At present, one of the ugliest blemishes on the image of the Church is happening in Canada. Bishop Lahey, who abruptly resigned as bishop of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, for "personal reasons" September 26, was arraigned five days later in Ottawa on charges of possessing and importing child pornography. He was released on bail and is scheduled to appear again in court in the beginning of November. Officers at an airport made a random check on the laptop of the bishop and are now accusing him that he had child pornography on the laptop.

The story quite naturally sent shock waves across the Church in Canada. Archbishop Luigi Ventura the outgoing papal representative, during a homily, invited his listeners to "prayer, silence and hope" that the church can overcome such sins. Archbishop Ventura reassured those present that the Canadian Catholic Church was working to "establish safe environments and protect children and young people."

"The church in Canada bears the wounds together with the victims of a tragic past and has made and continues to make systematic efforts to prevent the repetition of such abuses and exploitation," said Archbishop Ventura, who is being transferred as apostolic nuncio to France.

"Yet we can never underestimate the destructive power of sinfulness and evil that tears apart the fabric of our community. God's grace will overpower these forces," he added.

Church members should be angry and sad at the same time when confronted by such acts but they should not be discouraged by the sins and failings of some of the church's members. On the other hand, they should do everything possible so that the due process of law takes its course.

The Church should do everything possible to heal those wounded by abusers within its fold. The Church in Ireland is setting an example. Catholic bishops have just met with representatives of abuse victims in what both parties called a momentous and fruitful effort to bring closure to the issue. The representatives of four groups representing victims met for three hours with the bishops and discussed ways to help the healing process continue. They agreed to meet again.

The controversial: Archbishop vs. Cardinal

There can hardly be a more prim and proper position that that of the role of papal theologian. The Swiss Cardinal Georges Cottier held such a position under Pope Paul John II.

Recently Cardinal Cottier "dared" to speak positively about the speech President Obama delivered at the University of Notre Dame. In his speech, Obama expressed commitment to reducing the number of abortions and guaranteeing conscientious objection rights for health workers. Cardinal Cottier said in July that the president had moved in the direction of finding "common ground" with the church, and that "his words go in the direction of diminishing the evil."

These words brought the ire of Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver. Chaput wrote in the Italian paper Il Foglio saying that Cardinal Cottier had been overly generous in his appraisal of the president's words. He said that since many US bishops had criticised the invitation extended to Obama than he (Cottier), should have left judgement of the issue in the hands of the US bishops. Chaput conveniently did not point out that there were other bishops who were positive about Obama's speech.

"Regrettably and unintentionally, Cardinal Cottier's articulate essay undervalues the gravity of what happened at Notre Dame. It also overvalues the consonance of President Obama's thinking with Catholic teaching," Archbishop Chaput wrote.

Archbishop Chaput added that the president's search for "common ground" with the church, praised by Cardinal Cottier, is not necessarily a good thing. "So-called 'common ground' abortion policies may actually attack the common good because they imply a false unity," he said. "The common good is never served by tolerance for killing the weak -- beginning with the unborn."

Many in Malta are scandalised when priests do not agree in public. Overseas not just priests but cardinals and archbishops engage in public controversy and publicly criticise each other.

I think that such discussion, in Malta and abroad, is a healthy sign. Any overt or covert attempt to block such free discussion would be a very negative development.

Quotable quote

I am reproducing in the original a paragraph from a speech delivered recently by Bishop Mario Grech. He is pointing towards a very important reality that is being undervalued by many in our society. I invite the readers of this blog to reflect on this subject before it is too late.

"Serqulna Jum il-Mulej! Il-kuxjenza ta' ħafna tant hija rieqda li mhux qed jindunaw li l-jum tal-Ħadd itteħdilna! Ilu żmien isiru għażliet żgħar, li bil-mod il-mod kienu qed inaqqru l-jum tal-Ħadd. Ir-raġunijiet li minħabba fihom fittixna li niġġustifikaw il-qerda tal-Ħadd huma varji: pressjoni ta' xogħol matul il-ġimgħa, nuqqas ta' ħin biex inlaħħqu mal-bżonnijiet ta' kuljum, il-ħtieġa li ngibu 'l quddiem l-ekonomija biex joktor il-ġid, it-turiżmu u l-eżiġenzi tiegħu, eċċ.

Imma diġà qed naraw sinjali li juruna li proprju għax ma rrispettajniex il-Jum tal-Ħadd, qegħdin inħallsu prezz familjari u soċjali għoli."