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And, following the same theme, the Archbishop of Minneapolis-St. Paul is warning his clergy across Minnesota that there should be no "open dissension" of the church's strong backing of a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would define marriage as a union only between a man and woman.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/137358543.html

Dialogue has become Monologue in today's Church

Most of the bishops raised up in the last 30 years have convinced themselves that in their dioceses THEY are the teachers.

In a January 2 column in ncronline, prolific theologian Richard McBrien wrote about a solitary bishop who was asking questions about why millions have left the Roman Catholic church. "Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, N.Y," McBrien writes " is the only U.S. bishop I know of who has explicitly taken into account the report of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life that appeared more than two years ago and found that one in 10 Americans has left the Catholic church." This amounts to about 30 million people. (See Press Briefs in the current edition of nctsf for a link to the complete article or click on http://ncronline.org/blogs/essays-theology/bishop-ponders-reasons-americans-leave-catholic-church)

One might wonder why so few in leadership positions are asking this question. Any other organization which ignored such an extraordinary number of defections would soon cease to exist. At the very least the CEO would be fired. Apparently not in the Roman Catholic Church.

Ordinary folks might ask why is this so.

After all this is the same Church which recently canonized Cardinal Newman, the great promoter of the sensus fidelium, the idea that the spirit is given not to a subset of clerical leaders but to the entire Body---which just might have something of value to offer the whole Church.

Vatican ll was often called a "signs of the times" Council, a refreshing and humble realization that the Holy Mystery can never be captured by any religious community, least of all, as Karl Rahner stated. by the Roman Catholic Church.

As the past two Vatican administrations have consistently attempted to undo much of the Council's thrusts and genuflections to a more humble stance, we once again are reminded of Rahner's warning shortly after the Council ended and the forces of reaction were beginning to mobilize. In his prophetic book The Shape of the Church to Come (1971) Rahner stated:

When we speak of ourselves today as the beginning of a ‘little flock', we first remove a misunderstanding. 'Little flock' does not mean a ghetto or a sect, since these are defined by a mentality: a mentality which the church can afford in the future even less than today. A sectarian or ghetto mentality is propagated among us -- not under this label, but under the pretext that we are becoming Christ's little flock which has to profess the folly of faith and of the cross. Any deviation must be fought with the utmost severity in the name of true faith and authentic Christianity.

Pope Benedict has often referred to "the little flock"...in this case Rome and monochromatic bishops who have convinced themselves that the Magisterium only includes themselves. Rahner continued:

If we talk of the 'little flock' in order to defend our cosy traditionalism and stale pseudo-orthodoxy, in fear of the mentality of modern society; if we tacitly consent to the departure of restless, questioning people from the church (our italics) so that we can return to our repose and orderly life, and everything becomes as it was before, we are propagating, not the attitude proper to Christ's little flock, but a petty sectarian mentality. This is dangerous because it shows up, not under its true name but in an appeal to orthodoxy, church-loyalty" and strict, Rome-dictated morality.

Most of the bishops named in the last 30 years have convinced themselves that in their dioceses THEY are the teachers. There is no need to listen to wounded cries of the faithful. It is as if Pius lX is still on the papal throne and his British secretary George Talbot is speaking:

The role of the laity is to hunt, to shoot, to entertain. These matters they understand but to meddle with ecclesiastical matters they have no right at all.

Well we've come a long way from those days.

Pope Paul Vi insisted on serious dialogue in his 1965 encyclical Suam Ecclesiam:

Confidence is also necessary; confidence not only in the power of one's own words, but also in the good will of both parties to the dialogue. Hence dialogue promotes intimacy and friendship on both sides. It unites them in a mutual adherence to the Good, and thus excludes all self-seeking.(# 81)The best-educated generations of Catholics do not experience "the intimacy and friendship" which Paul Vl speaks of above.

To many it is a monologue in today's Church---bishops parachuted into dioceses, refusing to hear what the faithful have to say on a myriad of topics. This is the modus operandi of the last two papacies, more suitable to the Kremlin and other top-down administrations. Find an ultra conservative prelate, slavishly loyal to Rome and impose him on the People of God. Refuse to hear what other church citizens are thinking and saying about celibacy, ordination of women, homosexuality inter alia.

This is a Church of dialogue?

Perhaps the command-central-administration fear that the People will contradict the "Roman line" on disciplines and teachings which can be changed.

When was the last time your Bishop invited the People of God to a listening session? When was the last time he dropped his crozier and mitre and "adopted the way of life of the most humble" that Paul Vl promoted? The answer in our experience is ‘Hardly ever'. Sadly. "I am THE Teacher" is the unstated arrogant attitude. Léglise, c'est moi.

Paul VI continued:

Next we must forego all privilege and the use of unintelligible language, and adopt the way of life of ordinary people in all that is human and honorable. Indeed, we must adopt the way of life of the most humble people, if we wish to be listened to and understood. Then, before speaking, we must take great care to listen not only to what men say, but more especially to what they have it in their hearts to say. Only then will we understand them and respect them, and even, as far as possible, agree with them.(#87)

Where has the dialogue gone that Paul championed in 1965?

Catholics particularly in democratic venues, increasingly well educated and theologically sophisticated, are no longer interested in a dialogue of the deaf. Maybe that is why so many are walking

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And who is the commander in chief in this war against dialogue?

Matthew Fox, former Roman Catholic and now Episcopalian, has written more than thirty books. ... [His} most recent book, "THE POPE'S WAR: WHY RATZINGER'S SECRET CRUSADE HAS IMPERILED THE CHURCH AND HOW IT CAN BE SAVED" is a powerfully incisive critique of Pope Benedict XVI's reform strategy to shift the Catholic Church back to the nineteenth century.

As Matthew Fox outlines it, the current Ratzingerian reform relies on three powerful and secretive pillar organizations: Opus Dei, the Legionaires of Christ, and Communion and Liberation. No surprises here; but as Fox tells it, it becomes all the more unsettling. Power. Absolute power. And corruption. So very far from the humble man of God from Nazareth. ...