Francis: Is Schism on the Horizon?
Richard Renshaw, Niagara, ON
Volume 37 Issue 1, 2 & 3 | Posted: April 5, 2022
The Editor:
On January 27, the National Catholic Reporter organized a webinar on YouTube hosted by Dr. Michael Higgins, President of Corpus Christi College at UBC. The panelists included David Gibson, a journalist at Religious News Service, who has followed Pope Frances closely; Christopher Lamb, a journalist at The Tablet, who lives in Rome and covers the Vatican; Michael Winter, also a journalist who has worked extensively at the National Catholic Reporter, and finally Tina Beattie, a British author and professor.
https://youtu.be/gdSlYDm37n8
Some highlights from the discussion: An important minority of the US church is in fact in schism in the sense of rebellion against the Catholic Church as an institution. A schism does not require papal bulls announcing it. Schism is not heresy. It is not a refusal to accept doctrine. It is a refusal to accept communion. It offends charity rather than truth. In the United States and in certain circles of the Vatican Curia, it is a rebellion against the Second Vatican Council and Pope Francis’ attempt to return the Church to its spirit. The current Synod is clearly a response to the schism, a call to dialogue and acceptance of diversity.
The discussion focused principally on the Church in the United States, with some reference to Latin America, Europe and Africa. Certain bishops were said to be promoting schism in their rejection of Pope Francis and the presence of traditionalists played in. However, it was underlined that these latter were really a small minority of US Catholics. The difficulty seems to be, as one panelist said, with taste in liturgy and Church “style.” Nevertheless, the trend has reached dangerous proportions and needs to be addressed.
Among the institutional issues the Church needs to address has to be the segregation of candidates to the priesthood in seminaries and the exclusions, particularly of women, in those theological settings. It was also pointed out that there is a serious rift between American theologians and bishops who are not in regular consultation with them.
The cohesion of the viewpoints presented by these panelists was particularly impressive. The challenge to take up the difficult work of dialogue was powerful.
Richard Renshaw, Niagara, ON