Outspoken Catholic Priest Helmut Schuller Calls for Reform at Cleveland City Club Speech

By Rose Vardell
Plain Dealer
July 26, 2013

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/07/outspoken_catholic_priest_helm.html

The Rev. Helmut Schuller addresses an audience of about 150 people Friday at The City Club of Cleveland. (Rose Vardell, The Plain Dealer)

Female priests, married priests and same-sex marriage tolerance may not be compatible with the Roman Catholic church's teachings, but these changes are what the outspoken Rev. Helmut Schuller is calling for.

The Austrian priest offered these reformations to church doctrine as possible solutions for the growing priest shortage during a Friday luncheon at the Cleveland City Club. It was his second talk in Cleveland this week and part of his three-week, 15-city tour in the United States called "The Catholic Tipping Point."

Schuller said female priests were an essential contribution to the movement for a changed direction in the institutional church.

"A religion that says men and women are both made in the image of God must be reflected in the ministerial structure as well," he said.

Schuller was banned from Catholic churches in Detroit and Boston during the tour. Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley said Schuller's beliefs oppose the church's doctrine.

During the question-and-answer part of the Cleveland presentation, Schuller said opposition from the church comes from a growing sense of nervousness over his message.

"We must have touched an important nerve," he said.

Schuller, 60, has been an advocate for change in the church for a number of years.

The City Club speech attracted a subdued and attentive crowd of 150 people. The night before some 500 people listened to Schuller in Independence, a supporter said.

In his speech, Schuller appealed for a new approach to moral teaching to address issues such as pre-marital sex and same-sex marriage. He called for more discussion on the church's attitude toward homosexuals, and said he believes that relationships founded on confidence, trust and love must be acknowledged by the church.

These changes, he said, are not only part of what he described as a movement to increase participation in lay citizens, but also based on integrity. Though he acknowledges that embracing these controversial notions may mean losing members of the faith, he said the church must change.

"We have to stand up for these issues out of principle," he said.

The tour is sponsored by 10 U.S. liberal Catholic reform groups, including Lakewood-based FutureChurch. Sister Christine Schenk, executive director of FutureChurch, said she supports Schuller's message because it reflects the issues she and other organizations like FutureChurch are trying to tackle.

"We have many men and women called to priesthood, but they're denied because they're married, they want to have a family or they are women," she said. "There's no shortage of vocations, but we have a shortage of vision."