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Call for Lay Voices at Lecture

Catholic Outlook
March 26, 2019

https://catholicoutlook.org/call-for-lay-voices-at-lecture/

The clergy sexual abuse crisis has been a “hell of a mess” and the answer lies in moving forward with faith, transparency and creativity, according to Father Tony Percy.

The academic, author and vicar general of the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn used his speech at the annual Bishop Manning Lecture on 21 March to make a call for the Church to “find its voice” at the national and local levels—which must include men’s and women’s voices.

During his speech at the Kirribilli Club in North Sydney, which was hosted by the Catholic Commission for Employment Relations, Father Percy addressed the topic ‘The Catholic Community in the 21st Century’, and responded to the questions ‘Where have we been?’ ‘Where are we now?’ ‘Where are we going?’ and ‘Who’s going with us?’.

He said that the current crisis may have brought the Church to its “darkest hour”, while society is also experiencing chaos. But Father Percy said that this is not a time for the Church to retreat in shame.

He drew upon the work of “the most truly modern pope” Pope Leo XIII, Scripture, Census data and insights from prominent Catholics, including Hildegard of Bingen and Pope Francis to suggest ways the Australian Church could make use of three pillars research shows are needed for church renewal: community, teaching and preaching, and music.

But first it must be acknowledged that the Church has lost people’s trust and that “trust is everything”, he said.

“The rebuild will take grace and courage. The abuse of children, youth, and the vulnerable by clergy is ‘everything we don’t believe in’. Precisely because we believe human sexuality to be symbolic of love and life we sense the ‘gravity of the depravity’. The price exacted has been enormous.”

The roots of the problem lie in narcissism, an entitlement mentality and clericalism, he believes, including an “overplay of the clergy” and an “underplay of the laity”.

The answer lies in faith and reason, the “two lights in which we see what God is asking of us”.

 

 

 

 

 




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