Europe

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The Religion Guy (as usual) dissents somewhat on the votes for 2023's top religion stories

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The Religion Guy (as usual) dissents somewhat on the votes for 2023's top religion stories

When it comes to religion news, what ultimately mattered in 2023?

Colleagues in the Religion News Association (RNA) divided their annual choices of the year's top stories into two categories. Incidents of hatred against Jews and Muslims ranked number one in U.S. matters, while the related Israel-Hamas war led international items. Thirdly, Pope Francis was deemed the year’s top newsmaker in religion for the fourth time.

It’s hard to argue against the two top stories, but The Guy observes that we have no idea whether U.S. hatreds are a temporary sickness that will subside, or whether anything can really alter the essential questions in the decades-long Mideast conflict. Thus, The Guy leans toward the importance of permanent changes in direction as depicted below.

he results of the RNA members’ poll were released just before Monday’s revolutionary “declaration” from the Vatican’s doctrine agency, following frequent nudges from Pope Francis, that lets priests provide blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples and for Catholics in “irregular” situations, presumably meaning those divorced and remarried.

The Church of England’s parallel approval for same-sex blessings, implemented the day before the new Vatican edict, gravely worsened this year’s split over marriage and sexuality among Anglicans worldwide, a divide that has been widening for decades.

Several important stories are ongoing and we cannot yet judge their long-term import.


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Legal barriers complicate what the pope wants from next year's pivotal Synod puzzle

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Legal barriers complicate what the pope wants from next year's pivotal Synod puzzle

Pope Francis’s extraordinary Synod of Bishops, consisting of two meetings last October and the concluding session next October, is dealing with “synodality.”

What? The media and Catholic activists are all energized about such topics  as letting women be deacons, or married men be priests, or softened LGBTQ+ policies, or allowing Communion for divorced members who remarry, or for Protestants.

Just possibly something on those might occur next year. But for certain the delegates will try to fill out that mysterious, Zen-like “synodality” term — which means some sort of organizational revamp so male and female lay parishioners are more closely engaged in the life of their church. Some call the whole puzzle Vatican III Lite.

In the flow of comment after the recent first session, Claire Giangravè, Religion News Service’s Vatican correspondent, filed a particularly savvy article on realistic changes required for any substantive doctrinal shifts in that direction. Not a simple process because, as the headline said, “To remake church power in Francis’ vision, synod calls for changes to canon law.”

In the interim leading to next October’s session, The Guy thinks the news media should be tracking down experts on the canon law code, which was revised in 1983 under Pope John Paul II to accommodate the documents from the Second Vatican Council. (Note: Eastern Rite churches in communion with the pope have separate laws.) See a Canon Law Society of America member listing here.

A reminder of the basic realities begins with Catholicism as a supremely hierarchical church centered on Francis’s own office. The code (#331) states that the pope as head of the college of bishops worldwide and the “Pastor of the universal Church on earth … enjoys supreme, full, immediate and universal ordinary power in the Church, which he can always freely exercise.”

Don’t miss the importance of that word “immediate.”


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Podcast: Is Cardinal Burke being 'political' by asking the pope questions about 'doctrine'?

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Podcast: Is Cardinal Burke being 'political' by asking the pope questions about 'doctrine'?

Let’s start with some basic facts about a hot, hot story on the religion-news beat — the escalating clashes between Pope Francis and doctrinal conservatives in his church.

We know that Pope Francis and the wider Synod on Synodality camp wants to bring a wave of “reform” to the Roman Catholic Church, with some openly stating that this includes the modernization of doctrines as well as the pastoral-care practices linked to traditional doctrines.

We know that Cardinal Raymond Burke and others — mostly leaders from the era of Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI — insist that their primary goals are to defend the church’s doctrines, primarily on moral issues, as stated in the Catechism and centuries of church tradition.

Thus, journalists need to thinking about the meaning of several words that they are using, over and over, in coverage of this clash inside the Church of Rome. These three words were at the heart of this week’s “Crossroads” podcast (CLICK HERE to tune that in).

What three words?

The first word is “reform.” In a previous post, I turned to online dictionaries and found this useful set of definitions for that loaded term:

Reform …. * make changes for improvement in order to remove abuse and injustices; "reform a political system" * bring, lead, or force to abandon a wrong or evil course of life, conduct, and adopt a right one; "The Church reformed me"; "reform your conduct" ... * a change for the better as a result of correcting abuses; "justice was for sale before the reform of the law courts" ... * improve by alteration or correction of errors or defects and put into a better condition; "reform the health system in this country" * a campaign aimed to correct abuses or malpractices. ...

What doctrines and pastoral traditions are we talking about?

The Associated Press report focusing on the pope’s latest actions against Cardinal Burke — the loss of his apartment in Rome and, most likely, his stipend — offers the following:

Burke, a 75-year-old canon lawyer whom Francis had fired as the Vatican’s high court justice in 2014, has become one of the most outspoken critics of the pope, his outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics and his reform project to make the church more responsive to the needs of ordinary faithful.

Twice, Burke has joined other conservative cardinals in issuing formal questions to the pontiff, known as “dubia,” asking him to clarify questions of doctrine that upset conservatives and traditionalists.


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Mainstream press ignores statements in which Pope Francis doubles down on doctrine

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Mainstream press ignores statements in which Pope Francis doubles down on doctrine

Catholics around the world are currently preparing for Advent. But there’s another period they are all currently experiencing that can’t be found on any liturgical calendar. 

Catholics are living in a post-Synod on Synodality church where the debates from the month-long meeting that took place at the Vatican last month continues to reverberate, even with the efforts by Pope Francis to put a lid on news coverage of the discussions and speeches that took place during that event.

Europe, in particular, has been the epicenter of the action since that meeting of bishops wrapped up on Oct. 29. The synod was led, for the most part, by Europeans.

Indeed, in a span of nearly a month, we’ve seen violence against churches — a trend we have documented here at GetReligion for years now — and Pope Francis’ letter saying German bishops are “increasingly” moving away from the church’s position on a number of issues. 

Let’s start with the church vandalism. 

This is what Catholic News Agency reported on Nov. 17: 

During the night of Nov. 14–15, unidentified persons destroyed the altar and stole sacred vessels from the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in the Archdiocese of Rouen, France.

According to the French newspaper Le Figaro, the prosecutor’s office confirmed that the Sacré-Coeur basilica was vandalized and that the unidentified persons also smashed a statue, although the Blessed Sacrament was not stolen.

The authorities have not yet identified the vandals, but local police have already launched an investigation to find them. 

CNA also reported this: 

A recent report from the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC) indicates that France ranks third for the most hate crimes against Christians in 2022, with 106 out of a total of 748.


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Plug-In: Why did Pope Francis fire Bishop Strickland? That depends on who you read ...

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Plug-In: Why did Pope Francis fire Bishop Strickland? That depends on who you read ...

Jewish groups rallied in Washington, D.C., in a vast show of solidarity for Israel, the New York Times’ Campbell Robertson, Michael Wines and Zach Montague report.

In Finland, a member of Parliament and a Lutheran bishop who said homosexual sex is a sin won a free speech victory, Christianity Today’s Daniel Silliman writes.

This is our weekly roundup of the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith. We start with Pope Francis’ removal of a conservative East Texas bishop.

What To Know: The Big Story

‘Saddened … but at peace’: News broke a week ago that Pope Francis had fired Bishop Joseph Strickland, “one of the pope’s most vocal critics in the U.S. hierarchy,” according to the Wall Street Journal’s Francis X. Rocca:

The Vatican said that the pope had “relieved [the bishop] of the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Tyler,” Texas, and appointed Bishop Joe Vázquez of Austin as “apostolic administrator,” or acting bishop, of Tyler.

“I’m saddened for the harm to the faithful but at peace in His Truth, stay Jesus Strong,” Strickland wrote via email on Saturday, in response to a request for comment. Asked about his plans, he replied: “Just praying for now.”

The conservative bishop’s departure comes after Francis complained this summer of a “very strong reactionary attitude” among elements of the Catholic Church in the U.S.

In May, the bishop wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that “Pope Francis is the Pope but it is time for me to say that I reject his program of undermining the Deposit of Faith,” or the body of Catholic Church teaching contained in the Bible and tradition.

On the Catholic left, the National Catholic Reporter’s Brian Fraga dug deeper into the Vatican’s reasons for the axing of the “firebrand prelate” and “darling of right-wing Twitter.”


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Modern world knows how to hoard lots of 'stuff,' but struggles with the higher virtues

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Modern world knows how to hoard lots of 'stuff,' but struggles with the higher virtues

Quoting Alexander Solzhenitsyn is not a typical cold open for an edgy Jewish comedian.

But the Russian-British Konstantin Kisin -- a self-avowed "politically non-binary satirist" -- wasn't joking during his recent speech to the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship in London's O2 Arena. He was describing what he sees as immediate threats to liberal Western culture.

Solzhenitsyn, who wrote "The Gulag Archipelago," noted: "The strength or weakness of a society depends more on the level of its spiritual life than on its level of industrialization. … If a nation's spiritual energies have been exhausted, it will not be saved from collapse by the most perfect government structure or by any industrial development. A tree with a rotten core cannot stand."

That quote came to mind, said Kisin, while watching throngs around the world celebrate the Oct. 7 raids on civilian populations in Israel.

"I am starting to lose faith. I don't know how long our civilization will survive. For years now, many of us have been warning that the barbarians are at the gates. We were wrong. They're inside," said Kisin, who offered serious commentary and dark humor. "I'm not going to be all doom and gloom. There are positives as well. Say what you want about Hamas supporters, at least they know what a woman is."

The ARC co-founders -- British Baroness Philippa Claire Stroud and Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson -- urged the authors, business leaders, artists, scientists and others who spoke during the three-day gathering to focus on a positive vision of public life.

Thus, ARC circulated questions such as, "Can we find a unifying story that will guide us as we make our way forward?" and "How do we facilitate the development of a responsible and educated citizenry?" But, in a pre-conference paper, Peterson and the Canadian iconographer and YouTube maven Jonathan Pageau noted that future progress will require dealing with the past.


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Attention U.S. Catholic bishops: You are not allowed to say that this pope isn't Catholic

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Attention U.S. Catholic bishops: You are not allowed to say that this pope isn't Catholic

If you look up the cliche “Is the Pope Catholic?” online, you will find several ways of stating the obvious.

As for me, I like this offering from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus: This is a response “used to say that the answer to a question you have just been asked is obviously ’yes’.”

At this point, it is safe to say that Pope Francis wants the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (these men in particular) to know that the answer is “yes.” He also wants them to know that — when it comes to worship and doctrine — he believes that he, and he alone, gets to decide the meaning of the word “Catholic.”

Oh, and Pope Francis gets to decide the “Catholic” status of German bishops who are marching forward on blessing same-sex relationships. Ditto for progressive Bishop Robert W. McElroy of (tiny) San Diego, who is now a cardinal, and conservative Archbishop Jose Gomez of (massive) Los Angeles, who is not. Pope Francis gets to judge the “Catholic” status of President Joe Biden and Jesuit social-media maven Father James Martin (watch for new photo opportunities).

In other words, the Donald Trumpian “You’re fired!” message that Pope Francis sent to Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler isn’t about one loud Texan. What matters in Catholic life, right now, is who gets promoted (in various ways) and who gets punished. Actions matter more than mere words.

If religion-news consumers want to know what happened in the Strickland case, they can turn to the Vatican to know what progressive Catholics are saying and to the Catholic press to learn what conservative Catholics are saying (and what candid progressives are saying in response).

That’s true, but it appears seems a few reporters are learning how to handle both halves of that equation. I say that in praise of the solid Associated Press story — “Pope Francis removes a leading US conservative critic as bishop of Tyler, Texas“ — that is running in newspapers far and wide. Let’s walk through a some key passages:

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Saturday ordered the removal of the bishop of Tyler, Texas, a conservative prelate active on social media who has been a fierce critic of the pontiff and has come to symbolize the polarization within the U.S. Catholic hierarchy.

Bingo. The U.S. Catholic bishops — who gather today in Baltimore — go in the lede.


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Citing spirit of synodality, German bishops say it's full speed ahead for same-sex blessings

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Citing spirit of synodality, German bishops say it's full speed ahead for same-sex blessings

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus proclaimed, "Judge not, lest you be judged."

Early in his papacy, Pope Francis told journalists: " "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?"

Citing those words, while expressing hope for future Synod on Synodality developments, a German bishop has officially asked his clergy to start performing rites blessing Catholics in same-sex relationships. He also included couples with secular divorces, as opposed to church annulments, who are then married outside the church.

"Both with regard to believers whose marriages have broken down and who have remarried, and especially with regard to same-sex oriented people, it is urgently time -- especially against the background of a long history of deep hurt -- for a different perspective," wrote Bishop Karl-Heinz Wiesemann of the Diocese of Speyer (.pdf here), in a translation from the German posted by the Catholic Conclave weblog.

The goal, he added, is "a pastoral attitude … as many of you have been practicing for a long time. That's why I campaigned for a reassessment of homosexuality in church teaching in the Synodal Path and also voted for the possibility of blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples. I stand by that."

The bishop stressed that new rites will not be "celebrating a sacrament, but rather about a blessing." This change in diocesan policy means that "no one who carries out such blessings has to fear sanctions."

Performing these blessings will require "empathy and discretion," wrote Wiesemann.

"It may be that the domestic setting (possibly also with the blessing of the shared apartment) is more suitable. … A blessing ceremony can also take place in the church," noted the bishop. "The celebration must differ in words and symbols from a church wedding and, as an act of blessing, should expressly reinforce the love, commitment and mutual responsibility that exists in the couple's relationship."

At the end of recent Vatican meetings, Synod on Synodality participants released a 40-page report that didn't mention changes on hot-button topics such as married priests, the ordination of women as deacons and a range of LGBTQ+ issues.

However, Bishop George Bätzing, president of the German bishops, noted signs of possible shifts in future synod sessions — even on "gender identity or sexual orientation" disputes that "raise new questions."


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What's happening to Polish Catholicism? This NYTimes story needs more religion stuff

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What's happening to Polish Catholicism? This NYTimes story needs more religion stuff

Every now and then, major news stories about religious trends in the real world actually have something to do with religion, as opposed to being driven by politics, alone.

I know, I know. It’s hard to imagine that.

Yes, it’s also possible for an important story about religion to involve factors other than “religion,” narrowly defined. These stories may involve economics, mass media, education and, yes, politics. Life is complex.

I thought about this when reading an important New York Times story the other day that ran with this double-decker headline:

Polish Bishop Resigns After Diocese Is Rocked by Sex Scandal

A priest in the bishop’s diocese was accused of holding a sex party in his church apartment that involved a male prostitute who lost consciousness.

Here is the long, but essential, overture for that:

A Polish bishop whose diocese has been badly tarnished by reports of a gay orgy involving priests and a prostitute resigned … , the latest in a long series of sexual and financial scandals in Poland’s Roman Catholic Church.

Grzegorz Kaszak, the bishop of Sosnowiec in southwestern Poland, announced his departure after one of his priests was placed under criminal investigation in connection with reports last month that he had organized a sex party during which a male prostitute lost consciousness from an overdose of erectile dysfunction pills.

Gazeta Wyborcza, a liberal daily newspaper, reported in September that one of the priests at the gathering, held in a building belonging to the parish of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Angels in the town of Dabrowa Gornicza, had called an ambulance. Others at the party prevented paramedics from tending to the unconscious man, the paper reported, but the paramedics called the police and the priests relented.

The priest who organized the gathering in his church apartment, identified by the diocese only as Father Tomasz Z., gave a statement last month to Polish media that disputed details of what had happened, quibbling over the number of priests present at the time of the alleged sex party and saying that “it is worth reading what the definition of an orgy is.”


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