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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JANUARY 13, 1984
church--the fourth largest (51 million members) and by far wealthiest
Catholic Body. Far from it.
"The American church," summed up NATIONAL REVIEW magazine in an
introduction to a feature article in its November 25, 1983 issue, "has all
but turned its back on Rome. Dissent has become orthodoxy, rebellion its
rule. A good bishop is hard to find. But the Pope is going to have to
start finding some, and soon...•"
Nevertheless, reports this NATIONAL
REVIEW article, the Pope has his hands full with a wayward church, and
especially its leadership. The following is from this same article.
Since his election in 1978, John Paul has been generally
identified as a "conservative" on Church matters, which means
that he believes and teaches official Catholic doctrine and
expects priests and religious [sic] to do the same. During the
five years of his pontificate, meanwhile, it has also been
obvious that in many ways the Church in the United States is
moving in a direction, if not opposite to, then at least
obliquely away from the Pope's own••••
That the Pope realizes this was confirmed in a· series of
unu&ually blunt addresses � he gave to American bishops Tn
early September. In one, using the strongest terms he has yet
employed.•. [he] told them that the question of ordaining women to
the priesthood is closed and there is to be no more discussion of
it, warning them to "withdraw support" from groups that advocate·
it. He went on to deplore the decay of sexual morality and told
the bishops that they must oppose contraception, divorce,
premarital sex and homosexuality.
Reactions to that concern have been predictably negative. Sister
Donna Quinn, an arch-feminist nun, said the Pope's words mean
"more oppression coming down" on women. · Vincent Connery, a
parish priest in Norfolk, Virginia, wrote a letter to a secular
newspaper in which he announced a "time for revolt" and suggested
� American priests call � "selective strike" against the
Vatican•.••
During the decade of the Seventies the•••most outspoken
"conservative" bishops soon found themselves put on the sidelines
of the national Church--excluded from important committees, not
listened to at meetings, sometimes subjected to criticism from
more liberal bishops.... The best way to ensure being denied
promotion in the American Church was to be an outspoken defender
of traditional Catholic doctrine.... Practically no aspect of
Church life is free of serious disorders, many of them officially
tolerated. A reasonably complete catalogue would have to include
the following:
--Religious orders, especially but not exclusively orders of
women, openly dissent from all manner of official Church teaching
and use their institutions--schools, colleges, seminaries, hos
pitals, retreat houses--to promote dissent.•.•
--There is much tolerance, in clerical and religious circles, for
known violations of the laws of celibacy.