Editorial: Pope Francis indicates
a way forward
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| A Catholic Church in Chicago.- AFP |
The Editorial Director of the Dicastery for Communication,
Andrea Tornielli, describes how Pope Francis’ Letter to the Bishops of the
United States, indicates a path forward for the whole Church.
By Andrea Tornielli
The letter that Pope Francis sent as a sign of his personal
closeness to the American Bishops, gathered in spiritual retreat in Chicago,
offers a key to understanding his perspective on the abuse crisis, with a view
also to the February meeting in the Vatican. In his speech to the Roman Curia
on December 21st, the Pope expressed himself in a wide-ranging,
determined, and powerful way on this subject. Now, in his message to the
Bishops of the United States, he does not dwell on examining the phenomenon of
abuse of power, conscience, and sexuality against minors and vulnerable adults,
but goes to the root of the problem by indicating a way forward.
"The Church’s credibility”, says the Pope, “has been
seriously undercut and diminished by these sins and crimes, but even more by
the efforts made to deny or conceal them". But the central point of the
Letter must be sought in the answer that he suggests. Pope Francis warns
against trusting too much in actions that appear "helpful, good and
necessary", and even "correct", but which, if they tend to
reduce the response to evil to an organizational problem only, do not have
"the ‘flavor’ of the Gospel".
A Church transformed into a "human resources
department" does not always have "the ‘flavor’ of the Gospel".
Such a Church simply puts its faith in strategies, organizational charts and
best practices, instead of trusting, above all, in the presence of the One who
has guided it for two thousand years, in the saving power of grace, in the
silent day-to-day workings of the Holy Spirit.
For several years now, the Popes have introduced more
fitting and stricter rules to combat the phenomenon of abuse: further
guidelines will come from the collegial gathering of the Bishops of the whole
world united with Peter. But the remedy could prove ineffective if it is not
accompanied "by a change in our mind-set (metanoia), our way of
praying, our handling of power and money, our exercise of authority and our way
of relating to one another and to the world around us".
Credibility is not rebuilt with marketing strategies. It
must be the fruit of a Church that knows how to overcome divisions and internal
conflicts; a Church whose action springs from its reflection of a light that is
not its own, but that is continually given to it; a Church that does not
proclaim itself and its own abilities; a Church composed of pastors and
faithful who, as the Pope says, recognize themselves as sinners and are called
to conversion, precisely because they have experienced, and continue to
experience within themselves, forgiveness and mercy.
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