Page 3 - The Priest, Summer 2015

The Chairman’s word
Father John Walshe
Idon’t know about you, but I would have to admit that the last few years have been challenging and testing
times to be a priest. Let me underline some of the great challenges that we have faced: the horror of the child abuse situ- ation and the realization of the damage done to those who are committed to our care, the doctrinal confusion that seems to be rearing its head again, and nally the continuing challenge to the right of the Church to speak in the public square.
We have been forced to confront the fact that members of our own presberteria have committed serious offences against children and vulnerable youth. The fact of one such case lls us with sorrow and shame but when a string of such events committed over decades are brought to- gether the effect is crushing.
We have all been on a fast learning curve other these last years to understand more about the nature of sexual abuse of minors and their ongoing effects. We have put in place protocols and have so altered the nature of contact between Church personnel and children that one could be- lieve that the safest place a child can be now is in a Catholic institution. We know this situation is evolving. Many people have been harmed by these horrors and if we are honest we would have to include, as well as the personal harm to people, the harm to the priesthood.
The response has to be a clear unam- biguous living of the priestly life with all of the divine helps that are offered us as well as the human support that we offer each other and also receive from the faith- ful.
Another area of concern is that of doc- trinal confusion. Many of us would have thought that the last 20 years had seen greater clarity of doctrine in the Church due in large measure to the appearance of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. There
has been clear and consistent response to emerging doctrinal questions that have drawn on the constant teaching of the Church. It would appear that this progress seems to have been derailed somewhat of late. The recently concluded Synod of Bishops acted as a catalyst to bring out every form of opinion, dissent and fuzzi- ness. We have the situation where particu- lar Churches declare that they are free to pursue their own line of thought that may be divergent from received Catholic doc- trine. It is sometimes even inferred that dogma may be changed. This is a very dif- cult environment within which to lead and instruct the faithful.
We must continue to teach and preach what has always and everywhere been be- lieved. We must always hold true to the sure teaching of the Church as taught by the Church’s magisterium that is present- ed to us in our own time by the Catechism of the Catholic Church. We need to read and study and pray much to keep our teaching true and nourishing for the faithful.
The third challenge, which I contend we confront, is that of the liberty of the Church to teach what she believes and to have freedom to express her voice in the public square. The matter of the com- plaint against Archbishop Porteous and the Australian Bishops to the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner is case in point. The complaint concerns the dis- tribution of the statement by the Austral- ian Bishops, Don’t Mess with Marriage, to all Catholic Schools in Tasmania. This will be a test case in regards to the Church’s right to speak. We must support the Bishops in prayer and by our own considered defence of the right of the Church to speak. The situation underlines the enormity of the challenge the Church faces in our cul- ture at this time. The late Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Francis George made
the following statement in an address to priests in 2010:
I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His succes- sor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civiliza- tion, as the church has done so often in human history.
The Cardinal was questioned at a later date about this quote and he said that he was trying to express in overly dramatic fashion what the complete secularization of our society could bring. He then stated that what he said is not prophetic, but “a way to force people to think outside of the usual categories that limit and sometimes poison both private and public discourse.”
Having outlined some of these chal- lenges I respond by af rming how much we need one another in the presbyterate and the family of the Church and espe- cially how important the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy is for us. We need the ongoing education in the faith that is of- fered us in our conferences and gather- ings. We need the spiritual stamina that comes from sincere growth in the spiritual life. We need the support that each priest gives to the other in our own particular Churches and religious communities, as well as through the special bond of frater- nity that we enjoy in the ACCC.
Thank you to all who have made 2015 a memorable year for the ACCC, espe- cially those who participated in our Ro- man Conference. The year 2016 beckons us and we look forward to a great confer- ence in Armidale in May. Let us be united in the unique priesthood of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and may we strive for an ever- greater conformity to his heart and will.
Yours in Christ the Priest, Rev John Walshe.
Journal of the Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy
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