ROME IN TURMOIL

After Dublin, where does Rome stand on the family?

Not one but two World Meetings of Families took place in Dublin from 22 to 26 August. One was the official event that ran according to the planned programme centred on religious and cultural activities; the other was dictated by the vast echo of the scandals related to sexual abuses committed by Catholic priests and the unexpected controversy caused by former nuncio Carlo Maria Viganò, who accused vast sectors of the Roman Curia of covering them up, and invoking Francis’ resignation due to his inability to properly deal with the abuses. It is fair to say that the second meeting caught the attention of the public opinion much more than the first.

Mixed outcomes

After Dublin, during the General Audience given in St Peter’s square on 29 August, Pope Francis soberly acknowledged the fact. After recalling the different moments that had punctuated the meeting (i.e. encounters and exchanges with different people, masses celebrated, Marian prayers at Knock Shrine) he readily admitted: ‘Sadly, the joy of my visit was clouded by the recognition of the suffering caused by the abuse of minors and young people by some members of the Church. I begged forgiveness for these crimes and encouraged the efforts made to ensure that they are not repeated’.

The outcome of the meeting was therefore mixed, certainly with much less impact than expected by Rome in terms of reinvigorating the family in the world and presenting the Church as its chief advocate. Moreover, much attention was received by the presentation of James Martin, an American Jesuit who controversially urged his church to have an inclusive and welcoming attitude towards LGBT people. All this happened in Ireland where ‘The Catholic Church made the huge mistake of becoming so identified with Irish culture that it was left behind when Irish culture changed rapidly (a traditional society transitioned to postmodernism without even going through modernism!)’.

Amoris Laetitia

The Dublin meeting came after two synods of bishops on the family (2014 and 2015). There the Catholic Church discussed the general crisis that the family as a basic social institution is going through and the pastoral approach that the Roman Church needs to pursue in order to support it, especially as far as ‘irregular’ situations are concerned. The 2016 post-synodical exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love) summed up some of the themes of the traditional understanding of the family and at the same time introduced the possibility for innovations when it comes to re-admitting divorced people to the eucharist.

Amoris Laetitia – which formed the background of the Dublin meeting – reflects the more general approach of the present Pope. Francis has little interest for the ‘doctrine’ of the family and is more concerned with concrete and individual life situations.

‘Culture wars’ are over

This is quite different from the recent past. Under John Paul II and Benedict XVI, the Roman Catholic Church had positioned itself as a ‘militant’ army fighting for the family in a ‘culture war’ against the secular trends that wanted to dismantle it. With Pope Francis, Rome has significantly changed strategy. One of his preferred metaphors for the church is that of a ‘field hospital for the wounded’. The time of ‘culture wars’ against the West is over and the task of the Church is to convey forgiveness and mercy.

Pope Francis is not outspokenly changing the traditional Roman Catholic positions on the family, which continue unchanged. What he is doing is making sure that the church does not appear too critical of alternative views. Where this strategy will lead the Roman Church is difficult to know.

Systemic problem

The sexual abuse crisis received centre stage in Dublin, although the issue has been on the table in a dramatically growing way since the years of Benedict XVI. Its increased scope was one of the reasons Benedict XVI felt overwhelmed, contributing to his resignation. Ireland first, then Australia, then Chile and more recently the USA: these are just four regions where the scandals could no longer be covered up, being exposed with all their traumatic evidences.

The Roman Catholic Church has been trying to deal with the issue first by using the analogy of the ‘black sheep’: these are terrible but isolated events and the church is dealing with them. Then the magnitude and extension of the scandal revealed that the problem is not regional, nor related to individual cases, but lies within the culture and the structures of the church itself. Hence, Francis’ recent letter to the Catholic people (20 August) calling for repentance and envisaging stricter procedures in the recruitment of the clergy, in the prevention of abuse and in the prosecution of abusers. The ‘black sheep’ metaphor is no longer adequate. The problem is systemic and pervasive.

What can be done?

The public image of the Catholic Church that came out of Dublin was that of a disrupted institution with wavering ideas about family ethics and one going through a season of internal turmoil and external loss of credibility.

There are several issues that are at stake here. When nearly half of the priests are sexually active (as many books testify), a structural problem is evident that leads to the following questions: its conviction about celibacy with regards to the priesthood?

• Will the Roman Church change

• How will the church deal with the issue of homosexuality among its priests and its members?

• Will the church’s hierarchical structure be used to defend the victims or to adopt a self-defending attitude?

• More radically, will the church change the historical practice by which it would ‘control’ consciences and create a state of emotional dependency in its pastoral activity?

• Will the church ever change its view of the priesthood as being a separate, somewhat superior state?

• Will Rome change its top-down hierarchical structures that create this dependency? After Dublin, these continue to be standing and open questions.