Bishop Egan requests
Extraordinary Synod on life and ministry of clergy
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| Bishop Egan. |
The Bishop of Portsmouth
made the request the Pope Francis as the abuse scandal continues
Bishop Philip Egan of the
Diocese of Portsmouth, in southern England, has written to the pope asking him
to convene an extraordinary meeting of the Synod of Bishops in the wake of
recent scandals.
The letter was sent to the Holy
Father on August 22, and published on the website of the Diocese of Portsmouth.
Bishop Egan says that his suggestion was prompted by the recent scandals of
clerical sexual abuse in the United States, especially following the
publication of the Pennsylvania grand jury report, as well as in Ireland, Chile
and Australia.
“Clerical sex abuse seems to be
a world-wide phenomenon in the Church,” Egan wrote to the pope. “As a Catholic
and a Bishop, these revelations fill me with deep sorrow and shame.”
Egan said that, in addition to
expressions of sadness, he felt compelled to offer a more “constructive
suggestion” and asked the pope if he would consider calling an Extraordinary
Synod on the Life and Ministry of Clergy.
The bishop proposed that such a
meeting could be preceded by a “congress” attended by, and intended for bishops
but organized and run by members of the laity with particular expertise in
clergy abuse scandals and in forming policy for safeguarding children and other
vulnerable people.
The results of this meeting,
Egan suggested, could be carried into a formal session of the Synod of Bishops
in Rome.
Suggested topics for the synod
to treat could include discussing the “identity of being a priest [or] bishop,”
and devising guidance on “life-style and supports for celibacy,” to proposing a
“rule of life for priests [and] bishops” and establishing “appropriate forms of
priestly [and] episcopal accountability and supervision.”
Egan said the results of such a
synod could be used to inform changes to canon law and help dioceses draft
their own “directories for clergy.” He also noted that as a diocesan bishop he
had “few tools” to help him in the day-to-day management of clergy, and
compared this with the structures and supports which existed in seminaries to
help formators assess and develop vocations.
“By contrast, once ordained,
priests [and] bishops have few formal on-going assessments or ministerial
supervision,” Egan wrote.
“It ought to be possible to
devise mechanisms to help bishops in their responsibilities towards clergy and
to help clergy realize they are not ‘lone operatives’ but ministers accountable
to the direction and leadership of the diocese.”
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