Can the bishops’ concluding document please everyone?
A pair of high-profile invitations came to Pope Francis last week – one from China and the other from North Korea – while the XV Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops had several headline-making developments.
The invitation to China came from Bishop Joseph Guo Jincai of Chengde – the newest diocese in China, which Pope Francis erected only last month – during his two weeks at the synod. “In these days we have invited Pope Francis to come to China,” Bishop Guo told Avvenire, the official paper of the Italian bishops’ conference. “We are waiting,” Bishop Guo said. “The Lord knows when.”
A visit to China, virtually out of the question until very recently, became a good deal more plausible on September 22, when the Vatican signed a provisional agreement with the Chinese government principally regarding the appointment of bishops in the country. That deal was a long time coming, and has been the subject of much criticism, especially from Catholics outside China.
“When there is a peace accord or a negotiation, both sides lose something,” Pope Francis said when asked about the new arrangement. That is certainly true, and a visit would arguably go a good way towards shoring up confidence in the workability of whatever arrangements have been made.
The invitation to visit North Korea came via the president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in during his hour-long meeting with the Pope at the Vatican last Thursday. President Moon’s office quoted Pope Francis as responding in a non-committal way.
“Your message is already sufficient,” officials from the South Korean president’s office quoted the Pope as saying, “but it would be good for [North Korean president Kim Jong-un] to send a formal invitation.” Pope Francis reportedly went on to say: “I will definitely answer if I get the invitation, and I can go.” Those are two big “ifs”. Short version: don’t hold your breath.
The news from #Synod2018, meanwhile, ranged from the not quite sublime to the fairly ridiculous.
There was a dust-up over a stylised Latin American youth crucifix, some talk of how the Church could use social media to reach young people (which the Tablet billed as the Church “going digital”) and significant discussion of the need for the Church to find ways to be welcoming and inclusive of gay and transgender people.
The controversy over the crucifix appears to have resulted from a misunderstanding. The rainbow-hued crucifix, which Pope Francis was wearing when a few candid photos were snapped, caused a stir on social media, especially among people concerned about the promotion of an LGBT agenda at the synod. But the crucifix was a creation of the Latin American Youth Ministry, an office of CELAM, the continent’s umbrella conference of bishops’ conferences.
Addressing the question of inclusive ministry at a briefing last Friday, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago told reporters: “We have to make sure that we don’t put obstacles in the face of God’s grace.” He explained: “We take people where they are, walking with them, moving forward … Sometimes in that journey they stray, or they take a step back, but we’re still with them in order to keep that journey going.”
That’s not too controversial a statement on the face of it, but the thornier question is: how? With limited input from the synod fathers going directly into the final document, there is concern over just how representative of the full spectrum of opinion that document will be.
All this to-do led to lots of spilt ink and even more fuss, the upshot of which was a good deal of befuddlement about what’s really going on: almost as though the tail and the dog were trying to wag each other. That might be just fine with the Vatican, given the ongoing – and daily widening – crisis of leadership over sexual abuse and cover-up.
News broke last week of a federal grand jury investigation into every diocese in Pennsylvania, and one in New York, following a scathing Pennsylvania grand jury report released over the summer, in the wake of which the US bishops announced their intention to ask Pope Francis for an apostolic visitation of the whole US hierarchy – a request it appears Francis is not prepared to grant, even as the US bishops’ credibility remains shattered and anger among the faithful and rank-and-file clergy continues to grow.
This weekend, the Santiago-based La Tercera reported that Chilean victims of Fernando Karadima have won a major victory over the Santiago archdiocese.
La Tercera said an appellate court had found Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz and his successor, Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati, both covered up abuse suffered by Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and José Andrés Murillo.
The court later denied the report. But major secular news outlets including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have begun to question not only the Pope’s ability, but his willingness to address the crisis. And as it continues to deepen and spread, patience wears thin. Distractions will only buy so much time.
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