Clericalism translated into a Church that is the “supermarket of salvation”, where priests are “only employees of a multinational”.
The big question is power, who is in charge, who decides, and what method is used to do it?
“The woman of the holy faithful people of God is the mirror of the Church. The Church is a woman, she is a wife, she is a mother.”
The hope is that this Synod, especially the time that passes between the two sessions of the Assembly, will help us to have the Church that Francis wants, the Church that is the faithful holy people of God.
One of the great legacies of the Second Vatican Council was the conception of the Church as the People of God, an image that is very present in the thoughts of Pope Francis, who has always determined that the decisions of the last council will belong to the Church. He knows the difficulty but remains firm in his purpose and does not miss the opportunity to show his position.
What was experienced last Wednesday during the 18th General Congregation of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops can be explained as complete blowjobfor the tone, with that Buenos Aires accent that he used when he wanted to explain things, and the moment he did it, before the discussions started about the Synthesis Document that would inform the elements contained in this first session of the Synodal Assembly, which began on October 4 and will close on Sunday the 29th.
Some of them seemed to be choking on their words. One can imagine the faces of those who tried on the ecclesiastical tailors of Rome. skirts and hats or worn alabas and rockets”. He has made it clear that Francis does not like such things since his public appearance shortly after being elected Pope, a position he has repeatedly expressed, despite little attention given to some, who are also in the Synodal Hall, to him.
A few words that he wants to fight against clericalism, which he said many times is a sin, and, in his speech this Wednesday, he said: “It is a scourge, it is a scourge, it is an image of worldliness that defiles and mars the face of the Lord’s wife; enslaved the holy faithful people of God”. Clericalism translated into a Church that is “the supermarket of salvation,” where the priests are “only employees of a multinational.”
The Synod of Synodality wishes to emphasize “the Church as God’s faithful people, saints and sinners”, the Church that Francis likes to think about. The big question is power, who is in charge, who decides, and what method is used to do it? This is not a question of authority, the problem is the power that others wield to get their will done, not God’s. A Church where people push, step on, and knock each other to climb the ladder, to rule, instead of serving.
In that Church of order and rule, the Church, “simple and humble people who walk in the presence of the Lord (the faithful people of God)”, are left, ignored, only interesting as cheap work. They are committed to a Church of the elite, the “holy faithful men of God” on the road, saints, and sinners, they do not count when making decisions, and they are not listened to, because they are considered ignorant. It is not important how you believe, but what you believe. Doctrine over Love, more than the poor widow in the Gospel.
All of us, including members of the hierarchy, are baptized and Baptism should rule. A Church of men and women that expresses itself in the “woman’s dialect”, a Church that Francis says is a woman, and is challenged to assume the characteristics of women, because “The woman of the holy faithful people of God is the mirror of the Church. The Church is a woman, she is a wife, she is a mother”.
Can we discover the need for a Church of the People of God, a Church where Baptism makes us equal? When will we leave a Church where some ministers “damage the people of God, tarnish the face of the Church with sexist and dictatorial attitudes”? When will we apologize for the extreme contempt, mistreatment, and marginalization of institutional clericalism?
The hope is that this Synod, especially the time that passes between the two sessions of the Assembly, will help us to have the Church that Francis wants, the Church that is the faithful holy people of God. For this all the baptized must participate, but also Who can make it a sprinkler and not a funnel?
