The Press THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1969. Pressure For Change In The Church

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32120, 16 October 1969, Page 12

The Press THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1969. Pressure For Change In The Church

Pope Paul has focused attention on the central problem of the Roman Catholic Church—the crisis of authority—by his statement that this week’s extraordinary meeting of the Synod of Bishops in the Vatican will discuss how the power of the Roman Catholic hierarchy should be exercised. The Church’s many grave problems could be solved, he said, only if it was first decided how the Church should be governed. At the same time he reaffirmed strongly his own authority, and said his personal supremacy, which came from God, could not be tampered with. To some, this will seem to have closed discussion of the issue in advance, although the Pope added that he wanted to give the bishops a more effective role in Church government

By political analogy the Church is in the throes of transformation from an absolute monarchy into something else; but what it will become, and whether it is to be changed by evolution or revolution, is still to be seen. One tentative move towards a less rigid way of reaching decisions was followed by a swift return to the hierarchic and authoritarian principle when the findings last year of the majority of the committee set up to consider birth control were rejected in favour of the Pope’s own pronouncement.

Now the bishops are reviewing another cautious attempt at liberalisation, the findings of the Second Vatican Council, 1962-65, on the role of bishops. That Vatican Council left undisturbed the decision of the first council in 1870 concerning the primacy and supremacy of the Pope. It did, however,

provide a complementary definition of the status of bishops. The College of Bishops “is the subject of “ supreme and full power over the universal “ Church ”, In exercising this power the college must act with the Pope, who is the head. But the Pope, who is also the subject of full and supreme power, is not similarly restricted. However sound the theology behind this, it is hard to translate it into practical arrangements. What the liberals among the bishops are hoping for now is to establish a working convention that the Pope does not act in matters of major importance without the full collaboration of the College of Bishops.

This is not as remote as it might seem from the more widely-discussed controversies within the Church—contraception, clerical celibacy, liturgical innovation, and ecumenism. In fact, it is the central issue, for all the others concern the exercise of authority. They are acute problems because authority in the Church—what it is, where it resides, and how it is derived—is under question. Even so, greater opportunity for the bishops to advise the Pope would not go far enough for many advocates of change among laity and clergy. A conference of so-called “ rebel ” priests is meeting in Rome at present also, and millions of Roman Catholics around the world have begun to ignore pronouncements from the Vatican when they feel no sympathy with them. The question now for many Roman Catholics, both clergy and laity, is not whether a change in the authority structure is possible or desirable, but rather the speed at which it should proceed and the form it should take. Liberals and traditionalists alike are aware of the dangers of resistance to change in institutions which have become out of step with the society they serve. They also know that precipitate change may encourage further radical demands. On the political analogy, there are few who would want to rush to the anarchy of local self-government in a fragmented Church; at least some want to see a democratic structure emerge within the monolithic hierarchy. Certainly sentiment in the Church is moving some formula corresponding to a constitutional monarchy. In the end, even this might require a reassessment of the dogma of Papal infallibility. Any change in this direction, however cautious and tentative, would be a major step into the unknown; but it is a step which many within the Church hope to see taken.