UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism
Jerry Slevin
The sexual and democratic revolutions are steadily advancing over the Vatican’s barricades. In response, Pope Francis so far has created a “holy mess” with his two-step, top down and coercive Synod strategy. It appears evident, after the first Synod step recently, that (1) there are at present no attainable satisfactory solutions, even in sight, to the sexual and structural challenges under review, and (2) a couple of hundred celibate “sons of the Church” in medieval costumes, as the only voting participants, cannot possibly find and agree on real solutions merely by means of a media “staged” Synod.
Many Catholics worldwide are now very confused by this “mess”. Who now decides for Catholics what is “sinful” and how “sinners” are to be treated in this life by the Catholic Church? The Pope? The Ex-Pope? A Synod of Bishops? The “People of God” (all Catholics collectively)? The conscience of of each purported “sinner”? What if some of them disagree? Why have a Synod then? Who is now the final word? Are any of them really “infallible”? Will it really matter much to over a billion Catholics? Pope Francis must step up now, no?
Pope Francis showed, as a younger Jesuit leader at risk, in his dealings with a murderous military in Argentina, that he can act decisively under pressure. He has enough power now, but must apply it to a papal management process that has a real chance of succeeding. Another Synod, without more, cannot possibly succeed, as I endeavor to explain below.
If Francis does not adjust his management process now, I can only then infer he is merely going through some public relations motions in all likelihood. I outline below how he can efficaciously and readily adjust his process, if he is serious about needed reforms and a solution. If he is not serious, outside governments will likely continue to press to reform the Vatican’s sexual morality and organizational structural flaws soon enough, as they already have begun to do in the financial corruption area.
Several competing factions among the Catholic hierarchy appear to be already pressing now ever harder for adoption, at the second Synod step next October, of even more inconsistent and inadequate positions on Church “sexual morality doctrines” and on Church structural reforms.
Pope Francis’ almost desperate attempt at the initial Synod: (1) to “cherrypick” the agenda issues and the bishop participants, (2) to try to control the Synod managers and Synod report draftsmen, and (3) to spin the media with arcane “graduality” and similar discussions and “natural family planning” cheerleaders, has failed completely.
Meanwhile, the unrelenting tsunami of sexual and financial scandals and government investigations and prosecutions is steadily swamping the Vatican in digital filth. Also, Francis’ political and biological clocks are seemingly running out, as the Vatican almost blindly seeks to avoid escalating outside government pressure on Pope Francis, (1) to share power, as the earliest popes did for centuries, with the other 99.9% of the Catholic “People of God” not participating at the Synods, and (2) to make the hierarchy transparently accountable to these Catholics generally, and to the rule of law honestly.
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