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Attack on pope puts old whine into old whineskins

What are we to make of « The Vatican Tomorrow » or « Demos II » as it is being called, the anonymous musings about the current pontificate and what issues should determine the selection of the next pope? It claims to draw inspiration from the anonymous letter entitled « The Vatican Today » published in March 2022 and subsequently (and posthumously) attributed to the pen of the late Cardinal George Pell. This text, too, claims to be the work of a cardinal

The complaints are familiar. After acknowledging Pope Francis’ strengths, it lists the « shortcomings » of the current pontificate: « an autocratic, at times seemingly vindictive, style of governance; a carelessness in matters of law; an intolerance for even respectful disagreement; and — most seriously — a pattern of ambiguity in matters of faith and morals causing confusion among the faithful. » The text continues: « Confusion breeds division and conflict. It undermines confidence in the Word of God. It weakens evangelical witness. And the result today is a Church more fractured than at any time in her recent history. »

« Confusion. » Way back in 2014, Archbishop Charles Chaput complained about the synod on the family at an event sponsored by First Things. He said, « I was very disturbed by what happened. I think confusion is of the devil, and I think the public image that came across was one of confusion. » Now, we know that Chaput did not author the current treatise because it claims to have been written by a cardinal, and Chaput is the first archbishop of Philadelphia in a century who was never made a cardinal. 

It should surprise no one that Chaput’s longtime amanuensis, Francis Maier, has a fawning article about « The Vatican Tomorrow » at First Things. George Weigel joined Maier for a discussion of Maier’s new book, True Confessions, at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. That conversation was, ahem, interesting. 

The « Vatican Tomorrow » text goes on to explain that the next pope needs to return to basics, such as: « no one is saved except through, and only through, Jesus Christ, as he himself made clear; » and « man is God’s creature, not a self-invention, a creature not merely of emotion and appetites but also of intellect, free will, and an eternal destiny, » and « God’s Word, recorded in Scripture, is reliable and has permanent force. » Is there any doubt that Pope Francis holds all these truths of our faith? It is how one holds them that is the issue and the raison d’etre for theology. 

A doctrinal claim such as « no one is saved except through, and only through, Jesus Christ, as he himself made clear » is not self-explanatory. In St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians, 1:16, we read, « For in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities — all things were created through him and for him. » How does this text bear on the doctrinal claim? What of the people « created in him » who have never explicitly heard his name? Are they damned forever? That is not what the church teaches. 

The supposed cardinal goes on to list « practical observations [that] flow from the task and list above. » Top of the practical observations is this: « Real authority is damaged by authoritarian means in its exercise. The Pope is a Successor of Peter and the guarantor of Church unity. But he is not an autocrat. He cannot change Church doctrine, and he must not invent or alter the Church’s discipline arbitrarily » (emphasis in original). Where is there evidence of this autocratic behavior? Where has Francis attempted to change church doctrine? 

The complaint continues: « A new Pope must restore the hermeneutic of continuity in Catholic life and reassert Vatican II’s understanding of the papacy’s proper role. » How does one « restore » what was never there? How many times must it be pointed out that Pope Benedict XVI, in his famous 2005 address to the curia, did not, repeat did not, call for a « hermeneutic of continuity. » Yes, he specifically spoke against a « hermeneutic of discontinuity » but Benedict proposed, instead, a hermeneutic of reform, saying: « It is precisely in this combination of continuity and discontinuity at different levels that the very nature of true reform consists. »

Demos II continues the assault on Francis:

Third: Ambiguity is neither evangelical nor welcoming. Rather, it breeds doubt and feeds schismatic impulses. The Church is a community not just of Word and sacrament, but also of creed. What we believe helps to define and sustain us. Thus, doctrinal issues are not burdens imposed by unfeeling « doctors of the law. » Nor are they cerebral sideshows to the Christian life. On the contrary, they’re vital to living a Christian life authentically, because they deal with applications of the truth, and the truth demands clarity, not ambivalent nuance.

Has the author ever spoken to a young person today? Ambiguity is a reality of life in modern, pluralistic societies. In fact, it was probably more of a reality in previous times and less pluralistic cultures too, it was just hidden from view or has been lost to history. Complaining about ambiguity, and proposing that the church essentially ignore it, is like complaining about the wind. The complaint doesn’t make the wind die down. 

My favorite « practical observation » is item 5:

Fifth: The Church, as John XXIII so beautifully described her, is mater et magistra, the « mother and teacher » of humanity, not its dutiful follower; the defender of man as the subject of history, not its object. She is the bride of Christ; her nature is personal, supernatural, and intimate, not merely institutional. She can never be reduced to a system of flexible ethics or sociological analysis and remodeling to fit the instincts and appetites (and sexual confusions) of an age.

Ah, yes, Mater et magistra, Pope John XXIII’s compelling social encyclical that also produced the first time a prominent American layman publicly dissented from papal teaching! William Buckley famously responded with a vigorous defense of American capitalism entitled, « Mater — Si!; Magistra — No! » It is always good to note the existence of cafeteria Catholicism on the right has a pedigree too.

Setting aside that happily coincidental historical footnote, when does Francis say he wishes to « reduce » the Catholic Church to « a system of flexible ethics? » When does he deploy « sociological analysis » in place of the Gospel? Where has the pope indicated he wants the church’s teaching « to fit the instincts and appetites (and sexual confusions) of an age? »

What the pope did say, and say powerfully, in the text that is the bugbear of the culture warrior Catholics, Amoris Laetitia, is this: « At times we find it hard to make room for God’s unconditional love in our pastoral activity. We put so many conditions on mercy that we empty it of its concrete meaning and real significance. That is the worst way of watering down the Gospel. » 

Let this anonymous author, whether he be a cardinal or not, respond to that very clear statement of the Holy Father’s. Does he really not see how Francis is very clear and spot-on in that observation?

The text concludes with a shameful admission: « Readers will quite reasonably ask why this text is anonymous. The answer should be evident from the tenor of today’s Roman environment: Candor is not welcome, and its consequences can be unpleasant. » Unpleasant? Does he mean his brother cardinals might hold him accountable for his insinuations? Cardinals wear red as a sign of their willingness to shed their own blood for the faith, but this man is unwilling to risk a little unpleasantness? For such great matters as the integrity of the faith? 

We may never know who penned this attack on Francis. But we know one thing assuredly: The author is a coward, one who confuses easily.

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Vie de l'église

The Catholic Church needs married priests now

Without the Eucharist, it seems obvious: There is no Catholic Church. It feeds us as a community of believers and transforms us into the body of Christ active in the world today. But according to Catholic theology, we cannot have the Eucharist without priests.

Sadly, in many parts of the world, there is a eucharistic famine, precisely because there are no priests to celebrate the Eucharist. This problem has been going on for decades and is only getting worse.

Last year, the Vatican reported that while the number of Catholics worldwide increased by 16.2 million in 2021, the number of priests decreased by 2,347. As a result, on average there were 3,373 Catholics for every priest in the world (including retired priests), a rise of 59 people per priest.

The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate reports that in 1965 there were 59,426 priests in the United States. In 2022, there were only 34,344 . Over much the same period, the number of Catholics has increased to 72.5 million in 2022, from 54 million in 1970.

Priests are also getting older. In 2012, a CARA study found that the average age of priests rose to 63 in 2009, from 35 in 1970. When a Jesuit provincial, the regional director of the order, told Jesuits at a retirement home not long ago that there was a waiting list to get in, a resident wag responded, « We are dying as fast as we can. »

In many rural areas of the United States, priests no longer staff parishes but simply visit parishes once a month or less frequently. In 1965, there were only 530 parishes without priests. By 2022, there were 3,215 according to CARA.

All of these numbers are only going to get worse.

In the early 1980s, the archbishop of Portland, Oregon, came to a rural parish to tell them they would no longer have a priest and that most Sundays they would have a Scripture service, not a Mass.

A parishioner responded, « Before the Second Vatican Council, you told us that if we did not go to Mass on Sunday, we would go to hell. After the council, you told us that the Eucharist was central to the life of the church. Now you are telling us that we will be just like every other Bible church in our valley. »

Many American bishops have tried to deal with the shortage by importing foreign priests to staff parishes, but Vatican statistics show that the number of priests worldwide is also decreasing. New U.S. immigration rules are also going to make it more difficult to employ foreign priests in the United States.

The Catholic hierarchy has simply ignored the obvious solution to this problem for decades. Under Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, the discussion of married priests was forbidden. Leaders in the hierarchy tended to live in large cities where the shortage had less of an impact than in rural areas.

Even Pope Francis, who expressed his respect for married clergy in Eastern Catholic churches, did not respond positively when the bishops meeting at the synod for the pan-Amazon region voted 128-41 to allow married deacons to become priests. At the recent meeting of the synod on synodality, the issue of married priests was hardly mentioned.

The decline in the number of vocations has many explanations depending on whom you ask. Conservatives blame the reforms coming out of the Second Vatican Council.

Certainly, the council did emphasize the holiness of marriage and the vocation of the laity. Priests seemed less special after the council. Prior to the council, only a priest could touch the consecrated host. Today, lay ministers of Communion do so at nearly every Mass.

However, sociologists note that vocations decline when families have fewer children and when children have greater educational and employment opportunities.

Thus, in a family with only one or two children, the parents prefer grandchildren to a son who is a priest. And, in the past, priests were the most educated person in the community and therefore had great status. Today, parishes can have many lawyers, doctors and other professionals, and becoming a priest does not confer the status it used to.

Those who point to the continued increases in vocations in Africa and Asia need to listen to the sociologists. Already, there are fewer vocations in urban areas of India where families have fewer children and more opportunities for education are available. Africa and Asia are not the future of the church. They are simply slower in catching up with modernity.

Anticlericalism has also impacted vocations, first in Europe and now in America. Priests are no longer universally respected. They are often treated with ridicule and contempt. Being a priest is countercultural. 

Despite this, there are still many Catholics who are willing to take up this vocation. People are being called to priesthood, but the hierarchy is saying no because those who feel called are married, gay or women.

A 2006 survey by Dean Hoge found that nearly half of the young men involved in Catholic campus ministry had « seriously considered » ministry as a priest, but most also wanted to be married and raise a family.

Having a married clergy will not solve all the church’s problems, as we can see in Protestant churches. Married ministers are involved in sex abuse, have addictions and can have the same clerical affectations as any celibate priest. But every employer will tell you that if you increase the number of candidates for a job, the quality of the hire goes up.

Nor is allowing priests to marry simply about making them happier. For the Catholic Church it is a question of whether we are going to have the Eucharist or not. At the Last Supper, Jesus said, « Do this in memory of me. » He did not say, « Be celibate. »

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Editorial: For Catholics, religious freedom is at stake at the border

It’s the same drill every election cycle: The rhetoric hits new lows, the vitriol new highs, the tactics and attacks new levels of questionable. Just as predictably, dutifully concerned citizens wring their hands into a gnarled nest. But nothing really changes — everyone just watches and waits for the latest low. 

The wait, for now, is over. The target: a Catholic organization in Texas that has worked quietly and effectively to aid immigrants for more than 45 years.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican who remains under criminal indictment and who narrowly escaped impeachment last year, has gone after those who give humanitarian assistance to asylum-seekers. He has filed a lawsuit against Annunciation House in El Paso, seeking to put the nonprofit out of business and liquidate its assets. Other, similar organizations are under his office’s scrutiny, as well. 

This signals a new rock bottom in the push to classify all immigrants as criminals of one kind or another. In fact, those who feed and shelter people asking for asylum are now also being labeled criminals, accused by some of complicity in human trafficking across the border. This apparently makes not just Annunciation House, but every diocese that takes up a second collection, every congregation of nuns that sends volunteers, and every Catholic Charities agency that donates clothing or personal items, unwitting patsies in some vast shadowy operation.

And the Texas attorney general is not alone. A shelter in Arizona was visited by two conservative operatives calling themselves « undercover journalists. » A pair of Republican congressmen tried to enter the same facility with cameras rolling.  One can imagine there will be more such examples to come as this election cycle slogs on. 

By now it is clear that this year immigrants and immigration will be the central wedge issue used to animate voters on the political right. People are starting to feel the effects of an improving economy, stabilized inflation, and higher wages. While many say the overall economic picture is downbeat, they voice optimism about their own personal economic condition and prospects. That means politicians and campaign consultants need to cook up conflict beyond those pocketbook concerns in order to bring their base to the polls.

Enter the migrant issue. 

This is not to deny that the country faces a real challenge at the border. Experts of nearly every political stripe agree the nation’s immigration system is a mess, causing pain and harm to everyone involved — including asylum-seekers and other immigrants. 

It was no surprise, then, that senators from both sides of the aisle recently came together to craft an immigration reform bill. In that process, Democrats — eager to address an issue that they knew had become an election-year distraction — gave in to nearly every point Republicans put forward. These included new authority for the border patrol to shut down the border entry points at a moment’s notice, and stricter standards for granting asylum. 

But when Donald Trump instructed Republicans to reject the bill so he could continue to stoke the issue until Election Day, House Speaker Mike Johnson quickly obliged. He declared the proposal — which also included funds for Ukraine and Israel — « dead on arrival. » Anti-immigrant forces swiftly pivoted to headline-making theatrics over substantive reforms. Ken Paxton’s lawsuit made news all over the country — as he, no doubt, knew it would.

But the Texas attorney general’s move is more than a stunt. It is, essentially, a lawsuit aimed at Catholic social justice teaching and Gospel values. Matthew 25:35-36 makes explicit the obligations our faith puts on us: to feed the hungry, care for the sick, tend to the needy and invite in the stranger.  

People who take those Gospel instructions to heart can do more than wring their hands this time. They can fight back. They can increase support for nonprofits such as Annunciation House in El Paso, the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas, Casa Alitas in Tucson, Arizona, and many others. Catholics can donate money, food, water and clothing; they can volunteer, take up second collections, organize service trips and write letters to the editor. They can create a new narrative at the border.

Simply by doing what we are called to do as Christians, we can counteract the cynicism that pervades this issue and ignores the lives damaged.

Those on the right have for several years now used « religious freedom » as a handy rationale for opposing anything from health care reform to who gets to bake a wedding cake.

But the situation at Annunciation House is far more critical. The Texas lawsuit is unquestionably an issue of who ultimately decides how one lives out the central tenets of their faith. Catholics are not voiceless here. And we must make ourselves heard.

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Nicaraguan, exiled from his home country, finds community at DC parish

The number 222 is now a part of Miguel Flores’ identity as much as his name. That’s because a little more than a year ago, he was one of 222 Nicaraguans the government put on a plane en route to the capital of its biggest enemy: the United States.

« Of course I was scared, scared that we didn’t know where we were going, » Flores told National Catholic Reporter, recounting the experience of Feb. 9, 2023, the last time he saw his native Nicaragua. 

He was 25 when he became a political prisoner after participating in anti-government protests. Using his tweets defending democracy as evidence, the government convicted him of conspiracy and spreading fake news, among other charges, and sentenced him to up to 10 years in prison. 

But he had barely served two weeks when he found himself being transferred from a prison cell to a plane.

A year later, with support from parishioners at Washington’s Holy Trinity Catholic Church, his English vocabulary has expanded; he has independent housing and graduated from an apprenticeship that trains refugees in the District of Columbia for jobs in the culinary field. He recently started a job in the kitchen of an upscale Washington hotel. 

But the past year hasn’t been easy, no matter what it looks like from the outside, he said. He misses his mother and the rest of his family. He misses his country and all that means home to him, the streets of Managua, Nicaraguan food, and the smell of coffee at home.

« I’ve had to face a lot of things, » he told NCR. « But I told myself, ‘I will move forward. I will not let them ruin my life.’ « 

The « they » he refers to is President Daniel Ortega, those who surround him and are responsible for changing the life of many Nicaraguans, and not for the better, as Flores sees it. He still keeps tabs on what Ortega and others say. Recently, a video of Ortega rankled him. 

« Those who commit treason against their country are apatridas [without a country], » Ortega railed before an audience of young Nicaraguans. « They no longer have a country. »

Attempting to make fun of the 222 he expatriated, Ortega said they must be proud now of being « Yanquees. »  

While Flores is grateful to be in the U.S., he’s had some time to think back on the headlines and descriptions of what happened to him and « the 222. »

« We hadn’t even crossed into the airspace of the United States when the news began spreading in Nicaragua that they were stripping us of our citizenship and we were automatically disappearing from the public registry, » he recalled. « That’s when we became stateless, without a country, and so, in the end, our freedom wasn’t real because freedom means being able to remain in one’s country. »

That’s also the stance of the Organization of American States, which said on the day they were stripped of their citizenship that what took place was not a « liberation. »

« Where are they sending us? Are they sending us to Venezuela? The fear was real, » Flores recalled, almost as if transporting himself mentally back to the moment. He recognized other political activists, as well as some priests among the group.

The idea of being sent to Cuba or Russia, allies of Ortega, crossed his mind. 

« We never imagined they would send us to the United States, » Flores said. 

He didn’t have time to understand what was happening. After landing with the others at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, he was given three days in a hotel, $300, and a smartphone to start a new life. 

Flores went to live with a family in the Maryland suburbs who took him in for a few days and later allowed him to rent a room. That’s where he said he first got a sense of freedom, looking for a coffee shop on his phone and walking without worrying that someone was following him. It was a rare feeling given that he has been an activist since he was 15 and was used to looking over his shoulder.

« But when I got there, I realized, I didn’t know how to order coffee, » he said. « It was funny so I decided I really need to learn English. »

Practicing English and enjoying fellowship with the « migrant familia, » a group made up of Trinity parishioners and displaced people from around the world, has helped him get his bearings, he said. Among them he has found that his story, unfortunately, is all too common.  

« I’ve found people with stories similar to mine, » he said. « The stories of these people are incredible. They come running from war, governments like ours. »

Though he studied political science in his native Nicaragua, he said he has found a new professional love in the kitchen and wants to one day become a chef. 

But his philosophical convictions continue and they became reinforced in his apprenticeship, where he found that he shared with refugees in the program a similar way of thinking.

« They told me, ‘We have to change. No one should have to flee their own country,’  » he recalled. « It was interesting because while we were learning about the kitchen and restaurants, we also learned that our stories were connected. »

He doesn’t know whether one day he’ll once again pick up political science, but said he plans to continue to talk about his country. 

« I’m still committed to defending democracy, come what may, » he said. « I can’t look the other way. » 

Though he’s not Catholic, he said he’s concerned about the persecution of the church, the way church members have been detained and their properties taken over by the government. 

« And that’s just in Nicaragua but it happens all over the world, similar situations, » he said. « My goal is to contribute to society so that we can do things differently. »

He spent his 26th birthday last year drinking coffee with a friend and talking about human rights with a group. This year, he plans to celebrate putting his culinary skills to use and cook for those who have supported him, including some Trinity parishioners. He’s not going to be silenced, he said. 

« The [Nicaraguan] government’s plan was to destroy our lives by sending us to a place we didn’t know, » he said. « Did they do us a favor? No. Did they give us freedom? No. On the contrary, they gave us a different kind of prison, a complicated prison with obstacles. But I’m going to do something positive with my life to show them and show myself and show other Nicaraguans that despite the darkness we’re living in, we can move forward. I’m focused on it. »

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Después de dos años de guerra en Ucrania, las hermanas son una presencia constante y acogedora

A medida que los vientos se acercaban al pueblo de Preobrazhenka, en el sureste de Ucrania, en una tarde clara y despejada a principios de este mes, también lo hacían los sonidos de los bombardeos de artillería.

El ruido, procedente de las fuerzas ucranianas en la línea del frente a unos 8 kilómetros de distancia, no inquietó a los residentes de la pequeña aldea, quienes se han acostumbrado al constante estruendo desde que comenzó la invasión rusa a gran escala de Ucrania el 24 de febrero de 2022, dos años marcados por el terror y la resignación, el desplazamiento y la pérdida.

« No podemos planear nada », dice Inna Sirinok, de 52 años, profesora que vive junto a su marido Yurii, de 55, con unos amigos en otro pueblo, porque la casa de la pareja quedó destruida en una serie de bombardeos en 2023. « Ahora vivimos con miedo, asustados todo el tiempo », contó.

Se trata de los ucranianos más pobres, campesinos que sobreviven cuidando pequeñas parcelas y huertos, criando vacas y gallinas. Sus carreteras están sin asfaltar y llenas de barro. Permanecen donde están porque no ven otra alternativa que quedarse allí y esperar lo mejor: que la guerra termine, que cesen los bombardeos del lado ruso.

« Te acostumbras », dice Yurii y añade: « Lo llamamos el canto de los pájaros ». 

A pesar de tales expresiones de ironía, una de las vecinas de los Sirinoks en Preobrazhenka, Tetiana Bilyk, de 33 años, dijo que la guerra ha alterado la visión que el pueblo tiene de la vida misma: « Hemos cambiado nuestra forma de entender el mundo; ahora es muy difícil. Ahora valoramos más que nunca la paz y la tranquilidad ».

Y sin embargo, « con la ayuda de Dios, sobrevivimos », dijo.

Esa fuente de esperanza se hace tangible gracias a la presencia de las Hermanas de la Orden de San Basilio el Grande, quienes siguen visitando Preobrazhenka y otros pueblos cercanos al menos una vez al mes, aunque ahora no con tanta frecuencia como durante el primer año de la guerra, cuando ellas recibieron mucha ayuda humanitaria donada que distribuían entre los necesitados.

Pero las hermanas, que viven en la ciudad de Zaporizhzhia, a unos 65 kilómetros al norte del pueblo, siguen siendo una presencia constante siempre bienvenida en un momento en que los ucranianos de pueblos pobres como Preobrazhenka hablan de la importancia de no ser ignorados. A los ucranianos de todos los lugares, tanto de las pequeñas aldeas como de las grandes ciudades, les preocupa que el mundo en general —preocupado por otros acontecimientos globales, como la guerra de Gaza— se olvide de su causa.

« Todos estamos cansados de la guerra. Nuestro primer deseo es la paz », dice la hermana Lucia Murashko, de 49 años, quien junto con la hermana Romana Hutnyk, de 54, repartía paquetes de detergente y artículos de limpieza a los aldeanos de Preobrazhenka. « Pero eso no significa que nos rindamos », añadió. 

« Sí, nos hemos acostumbrado a la guerra y eso es muy poco natural », dijo Murashko y agregó: « Pero no tenemos elección. Tenemos que vivir para sobrevivir. Si vivimos, significa una victoria; la victoria sobre la muerte ».

También significa una férrea determinación sobre la causa ucraniana, como lo afirmó una aldeana, Klavdia Paslavska, de 67 años: « Todo lo nuestro debe ser nuestro ».

« No nos rendiremos », asevera Diakova Lubov, de 58 años, superviviente de un cáncer y desplazada de un pueblo cercano, quien ahora vive en una residencia para desplazados en Zaporizhzhia, y también recibe otras ayudas de las hermanas de San Basilio. « Esperamos la victoria », expresó.

Un « agujero en el corazón de todos”

La persistente esperanza de que, en última instancia, Ucrania prevalezca en la guerra sigue intacta entre muchos ucranianos que hablaron en entrevistas recientes con Global Sisters Report, algunos de los cuales también fueron entrevistados en 2023.

Pero se reconoce que la guerra ha pasado factura en el último año y que el estancamiento en el frente se deja sentir con intensidad, al igual que la preocupación de que pueda disminuir el apoyo de Occidente, y de Estados Unidos en particular, a la causa ucraniana.

« Esta guerra ha hecho un gran agujero en el corazón de todos », afirma Yanuariya Isyk, una hermana de San Basilio, de 53 años, cuyo ministerio se centra en la capital. « Pero estoy agradecida a los países que aún creen en nosotros », agregó.

« Ha sido un año difícil », reconoció el padre dominico Petro Balog, de 46 años, quien dirige el Instituto de Ciencias Religiosas de Santo Tomás de Aquino en Kiev. « Creo que mucha gente —no toda, pero sí mucha— se siente pesimista en estos momentos », advirtió.

La esperanza de que Ucrania pudiera derrotar a las fuerzas rusas e incluso recuperar las fronteras de 1991 que compartía con Rusia tras la caída de la Unión Soviética se está atemperando ahora con el reconocimiento de que, a pesar de la mala actuación inicial de Rusia a principios de 2022, su ejército sigue siendo una fuerza formidable. (Esto fue reconfirmado esta semana por las noticias de una retirada ucraniana de la ciudad oriental de Avdiivka).

Tetiana Stawnychy, presidenta de Cáritas Ucrania, señaló: « La guerra ha pasado por diferentes dinámicas a lo largo de los dos [últimos] años ».

« Al principio, fue un shock, y luego hubo esta determinación de hacer todo lo que pudiéramos para responder, una especie de enfoque ‘sin remordimientos’ para responder a ese enorme número de personas que huían al principio », añadió Stawnychy.

Según datos de Naciones Unidas, a mediados de febrero, 6 479 700 refugiados habían huido de Ucrania a causa de la guerra. Además, según otra estimación, el conflicto ha desplazado a más de 3.6 millones dentro del país.

Tras la crisis inicial, algunas zonas liberadas de la ocupación rusa necesitaron ayuda, explicó Stawnychy. Pero luego vino una « especie de espera de lo que sucedería después, y hubo cierta anticipación de que habría ese movimiento continuado en 2023 ».

Eso no ocurrió de la manera que muchos habían previsto, dijo, « pero la respuesta humanitaria sigue siendo enorme, [porque] las necesidades siguen siendo enormes ». 

Stawnychy citó un informe de las Naciones Unidas que señalaba que hasta 15 millones de ucranianos, aproximadamente el 40 %, necesitan algún tipo de ayuda humanitaria.

Sin una victoria ucraniana en el horizonte inmediato, la situación humanitaria de Ucrania « se ha vuelto aún más extrema », afirmó en un  informe Denise Brown, quien coordina la respuesta de las Naciones Unidas en Ucrania.

« A medida que la guerra asola pueblos y ciudades cercanos a la línea del frente », afirmó Brown, « las necesidades humanitarias en estas zonas están alcanzando niveles catastróficos. La situación no puede mejorar a menos que cese la guerra ».

Y añadió: « Comunidades enteras cercanas a la línea del frente están siendo golpeadas a diario, dejando a millones de personas con escasa o nula capacidad para valerse por sí mismas y dependientes de la ayuda humanitaria ». 

Según los observadores, todo ello pasa factura.

« No creo que la gente se sienta tan optimista o incluso entusiasmada [con la guerra] como hace uno o dos años », dijo Balog, citando la desilusión con la corrupción del Gobierno como uno de los factores, aunque añadió: « No podemos imaginar un futuro sin victoria ». 

Esto se debe a que, ante la evidencia de las acciones de Rusia tanto desde 2022 como en las anexiones en territorio ucraniano desde 2014, a los ucranianos les preocupa la posibilidad de « un nuevo tipo de genocidio », dijo Balog. Esto se basa en el temor de que Rusia quiera eliminar la cultura y la lengua ucranianas.

No obstante, Balog afirma que cree « en los milagros » y que, en última instancia, Ucrania se impondrá a la dominación rusa, aunque pueden pasar años.

Refugiados en Croacia

Mientras tanto, la llegada de refugiados ha cambiado la faz de muchos países, especialmente los que en su día estuvieron en la órbita de la Unión Soviética.

En Croacia, que formó parte de la antigua Yugoslavia, se cree que más de 22 000 ucranianos habían entrado a finales de 2022, aunque es posible que muchos abandonaran el país en busca de otros destinos, según Stanko Perica, director regional del Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados con sede en Zagreb, la capital croata.

Perica calcula que en Croacia quedan unos 10 000 ucranianos. Tres de ellos son miembros de la familia Ouchynnikova, que se ha instalado en la ciudad costera de Split, aunque, como otros ucranianos en el último año, han empezado a hacer  viajes de corta duración a Ucrania para ver a su familia.

Una comunidad de hermanas pertenecientes a la congregación de las Hermanas de la Caridad de Zagreb —una de las muchas congregaciones de Europa que abrieron sus puertas a los refugiados tras la invasión de 2022— los acoge en el espacio disponible.

María, de 37 años, se marchó con sus hijas Sofía, de 16 años, y Anastasia, de 8, y llegó a Croacia un mes después de que comenzara la invasión a gran escala.

Maxim, marido de María y padre de Sofía y Anastasia, permanece en Járkov, en el noroeste de Ucrania, para seguir trabajando en una fábrica militar. Madre e hijas visitaron a Maxim a finales de 2023 durante dos semanas. Ellas dicen que despedirse y volver a Croacia fue difícil.

« Sigue siendo mejor estar aquí. …Todavía no es realmente seguro estar en Járkov [que a menudo es blanco de los bombardeos rusos] », afirmó María, quien añadió: « Pensábamos que estaríamos aquí dos meses, pero ya han pasado casi dos años ».

Las dos hijas van a la escuela y aprenden croata. Sofía ha recibido elogios por su actuación en el equipo de natación del instituto. María, que fue abogada en Ucrania, trabaja como cocinera en un restaurante.

Adaptarse a una nueva vida no ha sido fácil, aunque la familia dice que las hermanas les han acogido con mucho cariño. « Son como una segunda familia », dice María y agrega: « Las queremos mucho ».

La superiora provincial, M. Andrijana Mirčeta, de 69 años, y sor Marija Blaga Bunčuga, ex superiora general, de 71, dijeron que cuando la Conferencia Episcopal Croata pidió que las comunidades religiosas del país abrieran sus puertas a los refugiados que llegaban, para ellas significó una decisión fácil de cumplir. La congregación disponía de espacio en su convento Split, y sus miembros rezaron y discernieron que era algo que san Vicente de Paúl, cuyo carisma sigue la congregación, seguramente querría.

Las hermanas dicen que también influyeron sus propias experiencias en la guerra de independencia croata de los años noventa. Ambas vivían entonces en la ciudad de Zadar, azotada por la guerra; Mirčeta ayudó a repartir ayuda a los refugios de desplazados y Bunčuga recuerda atrocidades como cuando una bomba lanzada por los serbios cayó en su convento el 31 de diciembre de 1991. Sin embargo, afortunadamente nadie murió ni resultó herido, porque las hermanas mayores que vivían allí habían sido llevadas a una zona segura el mes anterior.

« Fue una experiencia horrible », dijo sobre el atentado. Recordó que huyó del edificio y añadió que sus pensamientos inmediatos fueron rezar por los enemigos de Croacia. « Eso fue muy importante », aseveró.

Mirčeta dijo que, dadas esas experiencias, no dudaron en ayudar a personas en « situación desesperada ».

Añadió que siente que existe una « conexión muy estrecha » entre ellos [los croatas] « y el pueblo ucraniano ».

« Luchábamos, y ellos luchan ahora, por la liberación », dijo y añadió: « Así que sabemos lo que es eso ».

Esa historia puede explicar por qué los croatas acogieron bien a los ucranianos. Ciertamente, dijo Perica, del Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados, él y los miembros de su personal « están muy contentos con la forma en que los ucranianos fueron y siguen siendo acogidos en la sociedad croata ». 

Perica dijo que la acogida es una prueba de que Croacia « podría ayudar a mucha más gente ». « Y en la crisis ucraniana, demostramos que estamos preparados y somos capaces de hacerlo », agregó. 

Una mirada al futuro

Si echar la vista atrás a otras guerras europeas forma parte de la historia de los dos últimos años, también lo es mirar hacia el futuro, un futuro que todos esperan que sea más brillante y seguro que el actual.

Algunos ya trabajan para curar las heridas de la sociedad.

Mykola Vouchenko, terapeuta y psicólogo, dirige una organización con sede en Kiev que ayuda a los veteranos que regresan con trastorno de estrés postraumático y se están adaptando a la vida civil. Afirma que esta labor se ampliará en los próximos años con el regreso de un mayor número de veteranos a su vida anterior.

La sociedad ucraniana tiene la oportunidad de « construir un país mejor » acogiendo a los excombatientes « de vuelta del infierno » y creando una atmósfera que les permita convertirse en ciudadanos bien adaptados, afirmó Vouchenko.

« La parte del contrato del soldado era proteger al país », dijo. « Nuestra parte del contrato, la segunda, es ayudarles en su transformación para convertirse en personas de sabiduría », acotó.

Al hacerlo, dijo, los veteranos pueden « ayudarnos a crear un gran, gran país ».

Del mismo modo, la Hna. Anna Andrusiv, de 35 años, cuyo ministerio como parte de las Hermanas de San Basilio el Grande se trasladó en 2023 de la ciudad occidental de Lviv a la capital Kiev, dijo que su congregación compró recientemente una residencia de tres pisos en el noroeste de Kiev con la esperanza de convertirla en un monasterio para las hermanas, y también en un centro de rehabilitación de heridos y un centro para soldados y sus familias, especialmente niños.

El centro estará abierto a todos los que busquen consuelo espiritual. « Ya sabemos que esto es necesario para todos los que sufren traumas », dijo.

El componente espiritual es muy importante, explicaron Andrusiv e Isyk en una entrevista en un pequeño apartamento que sirve de monasterio urbano a varias hermanas de San Basilio.

Por su parte, Isyk ha continuado su ministerio coordinando los esfuerzos de los voluntarios para enviar suministros a los soldados y a los niños que viven cerca del frente en el este de Ucrania. Pero le preocupa que el país pueda estar perdiendo de vista su orientación espiritual a medida que se prolonga la guerra.

Isyk asegura que la gente era más « profundamente orante » en el primer año de la guerra. Pero le decepciona que esa disciplina parezca estar disminuyendo entre muchos ucranianos. Por ejemplo, ella ve menos interés en el grupo de oración que dirige, en donde la asistencia ha disminuido.

« Ojalá la gente volviera a Dios », dijo.

Demasiado para soportar

En Preobrazhenka, los pensamientos se vuelven hacia Dios, pero también se mezclan con las realidades terrenales de la supervivencia y el miedo. Mientras continúan los bombardeos diarios, familias como la de los Sirinok se preguntan qué les deparará el futuro.

Su consuelo proviene de los encuentros regulares con las hermanas de San Basilio, cuyos abrazos, dicen los aldeanos, son en cierto modo más importantes que la ayuda que traen. En esos encuentros, las cargas de la vida se alivian, aunque solo sea por un momento.

Aun así, los habitantes del pueblo reconocen que a veces las condiciones pueden ser demasiado difíciles de soportar.

En la casa que Inna Sirinok y su marido han abandonado, Inna señala a las hermanas el estado en que se encuentra el edificio: zonas de estar en ruinas, cubiertas de fragmentos de cristales de ventanas y muebles destrozados.

Hablaba con ansiedad mientras describía la difícil situación de la pareja.

« Sinceramente, no tenemos fuerzas para recuperarnos », dijo Sirinok por los daños tan considerables sufridos por la casa. « Queremos volver », manifestó y agregó: « Pero no sabemos cómo ni cuándo ».

« Tenemos que empezar de nuevo », añadió Yurii. « No tenemos fuerzas. Somos mayores », apuntó.

Stawnychy, de Cáritas, señala que en Ucrania una de las piedras angulares de la red de seguridad familiar es la vivienda en propiedad, ya sea en una ciudad o en un pueblo como Preobrazhenka.

Puede que haya unos dos millones de hogares destruidos en Ucrania en estos momentos, afirmó. « Es un número enorme de personas cuya red de seguridad ha sido de algún modo atacada o arrancada de cuajo », explicó.

Esos son los costes físicos. Pero hay otros peajes, algunos de ellos indescriptiblemente trágicos, como el del vecino de los Sirinok, quien murió tras entrar en pánico y sufrir una sobredosis accidental de ansiolíticos.

« Estas historias son una parte de los horrores que hay aquí », dijo Inna.

Sin embargo, Inna sigue impartiendo clases en línea a alumnos de primer curso, entre ellos tres con necesidades especiales; y el amor que se profesa la pareja y su fe en Dios, así como el apoyo incondicional de sus vecinos, la sostienen.

Y las hermanas visitantes.

Aquella tarde, en Preobrazhenka, los bombardeos se hicieron más intensos a medida que arreciaba el viento, pero los aldeanos parecían tomárselo con calma.

« Siempre rezamos », dijo Inna, « y confiamos en Dios ».

Nota: Este artículo fue publicado originalmente en inglés el 22 de febrero de 2024. 

Catégories
Catholisisme

Chords of Love

(Third Sunday of Lent-Year B; This homily was given on March 2 & 3, 2024 at Saint Augustine Church in Providence, Rhode Island; See Exodus 20:1-17 and John 2:13-25) 

Catégories
Vie de l'église

Right-wing Catholic outlet Church Militant to close in April

Church Militant, the far-right Catholic media network, will cease operating at the end of April, according to a press release issued March 1 by the law firm Todd & Weld LLP.

The law firm announced that Church Militant, operated by St. Michael’s Media, had lost a defamation lawsuit to the Rev. Georges de Laire, a canon lawyer and priest in the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire. Church Militant agreed to pay $500,000 and apologize to de Laire, said the law firm, which represented de Laire.

On Jan. 17, 2019, Church Militant published an anonymously written story titled, « NH Vicar Changes Dogma Into Heresy, » about de Laire. After de Laire sued the outlet for defamation, the author of the article was revealed to be Marc Balestrieri, a canon lawyer who was representing a client in a dispute where de Laire was representing the diocese of Manchester.

In that dispute, the Diocese of Manchester had accused the Saint Benedict Center in Richmond, New Hampshire, of violating canon law, according to Todd & Weld. The Saint Benedict Center and its members, who call themselves, Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, had promoted the position held by their founder, a Jesuit priest named Leonard Feeney, that salvation is only possible through the Catholic Church.

Feeney, who died in 1978, was excommunicated for this view, though he was later reconciled to the church.

The Southern Poverty Law Center also added the center to a list of hate groups in 2007 for its members’ antisemitic beliefs.

In 2019, the Diocese of Manchester forbade Catholics from participating in activities with the center and the center from calling itself Catholic because they said that they had warned the group that their position is contrary to Vatican teaching.

The law firm alleges that Balestrieri used his article to « discredit Father de Laire and the Diocese and to raise funds, » some of which would go to pay for Balestrieri’s legal work.

After he was sued for defamation, Balestrieri did not appear to defend himself nor did he appear for a deposition, according to both Church Militant and Todd & Weld.

For his article, Balestrieri claimed to have talked with anonymous sources who allegedly made negative personal and professional comments about de Laire, but Church Militant and Balestrieri never identified any sources who said anything negative about de Laire.

« SMM and Church Militant regret that the article was not properly vetted, » the outlet’s apology says, using an acronym for St. Michael’s Media.

« SMM sincerely apologizes for their part in any distress or damage they may have caused Father de Laire, » they wrote.

On Feb. 24, The Washington Post reported that Church Militant leader Michael Voris’ resignation in November came after his habit of sending shirtless photos of himself to staff and a donor led to those photos appearing on the outlet’s cloud-storage account.

Voris had previously publicly repented for his relationships with men, even as he led prominent anti-LGBTQ+ campaigns and mudslinging.

While Church Militant reported $79,248 in net assets in their tax filing for the fiscal year ending in December of 2022, St. Michaels Media disclosed $2,699,449 in net assets for the same period.

Also on March 1, the city of Baltimore agreed to pay Church Militant $275,000 in a settlement in Church Militant’s lawsuit over the city’s attempts to cancel a 2021 rally outside the U.S. bishops conference.

The city said they attempted to block the rally because « of a legitimate fear that it would incite violence » because far-right provocateurs Steve Bannon and Milo Yiannopoulos were planned speakers and the event might draw counter-protesters.

While Baltimore « vehemently objects to the group’s message of hate, given the court’s initial decision, the city feels the best course of action is to settle this matter now to mitigate further exposure were the matter to proceed to trial, » the Baltimore City Law Department wrote in a Feb. 29  statement.

Catégories
Vie de l'église

Third Sunday of Lent: A call to reevaluate our religious identity

When you ask someone what their religion is, the chance that they will say « none » has increased dramatically in the past few decades. Religiosity used to be a defining characteristic of U.S. culture. Protestants were known for the word and avoiding statues; Catholics attended Sunday Mass and abstained from meat on Fridays; Jewish people were notable for their faithful observance of the Sabbath.  

Today, Exodus recounts God’s self-description: « I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt. »  This tells us that Israel’s God gets involved in human history by calling on people like Moses to carry out divine plans. Then we hear God’s commandments, which were not really very extraordinary; most mirrored the ethics of civilizations of their time: No society condoned lying, stealing or abandoning the elderly.  

But Israel’s Sabbath was unique. Imitating their God, Israelites consecrated one of every seven days for worship, family celebrations and leisure. The Sabbath affirmed that people are more important than work, that strong relationships with God and others outvalue any accomplishment and that everyone needs time for re-creation, for recentering themselves in relation to everything else.

Sabbath became an approach to life sacramentalizing the people’s time and leisure. The Sabbath enhanced the people’s relationship with God and also intensified their shared identity. The attitude of Sabbath honed Israel’s appreciation of the sacredness that surrounded them and highlighted places and practices that sharpened their awareness of the presence of God and the meaning of their life.

While the God of Israel could appear anywhere, the temple functioned as a focal point for prayer and other expressions of the peoples’ relationship with God. It was a holy place. The day Jesus entered the temple he observed not faith, but sacrilege. This place of worship, the religious center for all God’s people, looked like a bazaar — one in which distinctions between male and female, clergy and laity, wealthy and poor were on display and reinforced. 

Rather than being an inducement to prayer, sacrifice had become a business, supporting the money changers and merchants who made fortunes by selling supposed access to God. Operating as the opposite of what it was intended to be, the temple could impede people’s experience of a merciful, loving God. In Jesus’ eyes, the temple had become a blasphemy, the anti-reign of God.  

After evicting the religious retailers, Jesus made the famous statement, « Destroy this temple and in three days, I will raise it up again. » John explains that « this temple » referred to Jesus himself, not an architectural wonder.

As in his conversation with a woman at a well, that phrase taught that God’s presence cannot be captured in structures — be they buildings, tabernacles or even particular practices. We discover God’s presence like Moses did. He experienced a mystery that called him to an impossible vocation, a vocation that came to fruition through the help of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus claimed that he definitively replaced the temple and sacrifice. He sacramentalized the presence of God through his loving relationships and all that flowed from them.

When we say that God is love, we assert that God’s presence is mediated in relationships. Institutions may facilitate our awareness of God’s presence, but we encounter God in prayer and in the love among us that makes God’s own love palpable in our world.  

When we say that we are Christians, we claim with St. Paul that we believe that God’s greatest self-revelation came to us in Christ whose cross revealed that the foolish vulnerability of divine love expresses the greatest power in creation. The power of divine love is neither controlling nor coercive. God’s love attracts and woos us.

Jesus’ vehemence in the temple sprang from the fact that people had distorted their faith and desecrated God’s house. They offered a counterfeit relationship with God based on sacrifice over love. If the desecrators of the temple had been asked what their religion was, one honest answer would have been « profit, » and another would have been « power. » The most cynical and honest might have said, « none. »

Contemplating Jesus’ fury in the temple calls us to take account of ourselves. What religion do we proclaim in our worship and our daily actions? Do we take advantage of holy times for re-creation that can permeate our week or have our Sabbaths slipped away, taking second (or third) place to work, profit, sports or any other activity that distracts us from taking the time to create ever-deeper relationships with God and neighbor? 

This third week of Lent calls us to reevaluate our religious identity. If we ask not what we call our denomination, but what our behavior reveals about our real beliefs, what’s the honest answer? How do we want to answer? 

Catégories
Vie de l'église

Your letters: Women in the church, Gannon University, same-sex blessings, synodality

Following are NCR reader responses to recent news articles, opinion columns and theological essays with letters that have been edited for length and clarity.


Open every door

Years ago a documentary on species extinction was accompanied by lyrics which have haunted me in many ways: « Will you still be there when we learn to care. » The crises which face the church and the world may make the full peership of women seem of low priority (ncronline.org, Feb. 26, 2024). Look at it this way though, solutions necessitate all necessary elements in place and in proper proportion. Preconditions matter.

Even the stereotype of women created by the church to exclude and diminish paradoxically cry out to demand the fullness of women in peership. It is not merely about ordination to the priesthood, yet it is. Only through ordination women as persons can be the ‘persona’ of the feminine in creation, in the church and in the world become efficacious. Pious rhetoric, ‘left-handed’ adulation and poetry as theology by men cannot substitute for person in place(s).

If we believe that the church will endure; if we believe that the world needs Christ, then we must ‘care’ enough to open every door, avenue, nook that humans occupy to women. 

DENNIS MACDONALD
Bedford, Nova Scotia

***

A social justice issue

As a Gannon University alumnus, I have never been so disappointed in their lack of ethics and social responsibility (ncronline.org, Feb. 19, 2024). Gannon expresses pride in being a part of Pope Francis’ first cohort of Laudata Si’ universities which calls for sustainability in the spirit of integral ecology. They claim to be building a better future together with « profound care of each other, our Creator and all creation » through their Project NePTWNE.

The Blasco Library is the only library in the City of Erie, home to a large low-income population. With no public meetings before engaging in this bargain-basement, long-term lease, Gannon is taking space from the Erie public and taxpayers along with the Blasco Library program staff who offer programs and opportunities for personal, educational and economic development. The Gannon lease includes space where the library provides access to free equipment (computers, WiFi, printers), meeting rooms and staff offices. The equipment is used to find and apply for jobs, housing and benefits, renew prescriptions and take classes. The meeting rooms provide space for online job interviews, meetings with counselors to get help to find housing, mental health care and educational support. 

This is a social justice issue. Gannon, who is well-endowed financially, has lost their way and the Catholic values I learned as a student. With this lease, Gannon is stealing from the citizens of Erie.

MARCYANN BENCIVENGA
McKean, Pennsylvania

***

Public space

Gannon University’s disregard for the people of Erie — many of whom have voiced valid concerns with the shady, underhanded and secretive process that led to the leasing of space within the public library — shows how degraded the institution is (ncronline.org, Feb. 19, 2024). How can an institution claim to educate an informed citizenry when the institution itself chooses to thumb its nose at the prospect of allowing the public a say in the placement of a project in a public space from the very start? Gannon chose to collude with the county executive in a months-long effort to keep the citizenry in the dark while they brokered a back door deal to give away public space in the public library for pennies on the dollar. 

MARCIA K. FARRELL
Erie, Pennsylvania

***

It’s no wonder

The reactions of many anti-Francis prelates to the opening and welcome of our church is telling (ncronline.org, Feb. 21, 2024). They seem to prefer the old days of exclusivity as opposed to reaching out to all. The nature of the blessing is, from all accounts, independent of the marital relationship of the couple. The state decides who is legally married. The church decides who is married sacramentally and the state could not care about the latter distinction. If the church refuses to marry two people of the same sex in much the same way in the past it refused to marry people of different races, that is not of concern to the state. But treating our faithful brothers and sisters as second class has no place in the Catholic Church of today.

The church blesses buildings and pets. Why can’t Bishop Cary see that two people, as individuals, are much more important than animals and objects? The individuals would feel welcome and a part of their church. If the church wants to retain exclusivity it should not wonder why the pews fail to fill.

CHARLES A. LEGUERN
Granger, Indiana

***

Learn from the past

While all the bickering goes on about the synod, Murphy’s article offers a view that is « restorative » rather than one of « synodality » (NCR, Feb. 2–15, 2024). This covers a wider scope of Catholics. The Synod is truth-telling and can therefore be a recognition of past harmful practices that were accepted by the church, but no longer. For example, it was once acceptable for Catholics to own slaves. We need an ongoing process that will address the past as well as problems today. We cannot change the past, but we can learn from it. 

CONSTANCE WILDER-WOKOUN
Hamilton Square, New Jersey

Catégories
Vie de l'église

Paulists say they are preparing to close ministries, due to fewer priests

The morning Fr. René Constanza, president of the Paulist Fathers, spoke with National Catholic Reporter, a member of his community had died in hospice care. It was a poignant reminder of the topic of the scheduled interview: the Paulists’ declining numbers, and their recent announcement that « we have discerned that change is coming. »

In an undated letter signed by Constanza on the Paulist website — titled « An Important Message From the President of the Paulist Fathers » — he wrote, « The current reality of fewer Paulists demands that we enter into a process by which we decide which ministries we can continue to staff and which we will have to entrust to others to carry on the good work we’ve begun. »

An accompanying chart anticipates the potential ministerial shift, projecting a continuous contraction of numbers: In 2004, there were 98 Paulists in active ministry. Twenty years later, in 2024, that number has shrunk — by almost half — to 50 in active ministry. And of those, almost two-thirds — 62% — are in their 60s, 70s, and 80s.

By 2034, the Paulists predict they’ll have only 31 members in active ministry.

For Constanza, the necessity to plan ahead became first priority after his June 7, 2022, installation as president. The General Assembly — the highest deliberative body of the Paulist community — met immediately afterward to determine priorities for the next four years.

« From that assembly of two weeks, we knew that this is the reality and we need to take a look at all these ministries that we have — and we need to start making decisions now and be proactive, and not just be reactive, » Constanza told NCR. « I feel that it’s important for us to start doing that — because the worst thing is for us to just be in a reactive mode. »

« In some ways, » said Costanza, « that’s where we’re at. But we still have the luxury of imagining — reimagining — our mission, and then locating our resources and personnel based on that. »

The Paulists’ losses, said Jesuit Fr. Thomas Gaunt — executive director at Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) — are not surprising.

« I wouldn’t say it’s more dramatic than the average; it’s about average, » Gaunt noted. « They’ve lost about half. Overall, there’s been a decline of about 35, 40% — so it’s not that different. The loss and decline is really due to the large number of men who entered religious life post-World War II, » he said. 

« The declining in numbers is really mortality. That’s what’s driving this more than anything else, » said Gaunt.

Paulists serve in nine U.S. states and the District of Columbia, primarily at parishes, college centers, and through various ministries, programs and offices.

Constanza’s letter is direct: « We believe that sometime this year we will likely have to say farewell to two or three parishes or institutions where Paulists are currently serving, » it reads. 

« Additionally, this process will likely involve reimagining some of our national ministries with different structures or leadership, » it continues.

The letter adds that « no decisions have yet been made, but they will be soon. »

Soon, Constanza told NCR, will be a March 5-6 General Council meeting. Consisting of nine Paulist Fathers, the General Council meets quarterly.

Elaborating, Constanza emphasized, « No decisions have been made because we don’t have a list of ‘These are the three or five or whatever that we’ll be choosing.’ We don’t have that. We will be discerning that — but we have been collecting data from our various ministries for a long time now. »

The mission « is quite clear, » Constanza said. « One of the criteria that we will be assessing, based on Paulist mission and charism: How do the ministries allow us to live our charism now, and also help us fulfill our mission in the next five years? »

Of special concern are those on the peripheries of the church.

« We listed those in that assembly, » said Constanza. « Women, we need more women in leadership in our ministries; the members of the LGBTQ+ community, those who identify as LGBTQ+; those in their 20s and 30s; and people of color. »

What will remain consistent, said Paulist Fr. Dave Dwyer — first consultor of the Paulist Fathers and host of SiriusXM satellite radio’s « Busted Halo » show — is their dedication to evangelization through the media. 

« We remain committed to using the modern media to spread the Gospel, for sure, » Dwyer told NCR. « What that will look like later this year, or five years, or 10 years from now — quite honestly, I hope it will look different. Because I hope that means that we’re responding to the signs of the times. »

Reflecting on the Paulists’ founder, Fr. Isaac Hecker — whose canonization cause was taken up by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in November 2023 — Dwyer emphasized flexibility. « Just because Fr. Hecker started publishing in print — I mean, I think if he was alive today, he’d say, ‘Well, I probably need a TikTok account,’  » said Dwyer.

Constanza said, « Every time we have to leave places, it’s also sad for us, a dying for us. And yet, we have to realize like St. Paul — who was a great missionary — he left, but he left communities and laypeople that understood the Gospel and the mission, and they were the ones who spread it. »

Laypeople, he believes, will have an ever more critical future role.

« There’s no other way, » Constanza said. « And it’s sad that many are only understanding this aspect of it when push comes to shove. It shouldn’t be that way. It should be that we understand the importance of lay leadership; we value it — and we know that this is the way forward for the church. »