DENVER (CO)
Crux
February 17, 2019
Father Jeffrey F. Kirby
Later this week, the Church will celebrate the annual feast of the Chair of Saint Peter. The holy day is a time to solemnly honor the authority and call to service that was entrusted to Saint Peter (and his successors) by Jesus Christ.
From Peter of Galilee to Francis of Buenos Aires, there have been 266 holders of the office of chief apostle and leader of the universal Church.
The feast day is a time to foster greater devotion to the papal office and the man who has been called to exercise it. Ironically, the holy day this year will fall in the middle of an international gathering of the pope with the presidents of bishops’ conferences from throughout the world. The meeting is not a happy one. It is not a celebration of accomplishments or an impetus to a deeper living out of the Great Commission.
Truth be told, the meeting is a belated and embarrassing clean-up job of sexual abuse of vulnerable people by predator priests and bishops, of the abuse of power, of a disgraceful intimidation or neglect of victims, and of massive cover-ups of such abuse by leadership.
Or, at least, that’s the hope of believers. Will this meeting produce real results or is it the usual bella figura of the Roman bureaucracy? Will the pope act decisively and consistently or will the Church have to suffer through more lip service?
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