The Dissenters' Secret Meeting CRISIS Magazine 11 July,03 Deal Hudson
I
find it ironic that the same people who lambaste the bishops for being
"secretive,"
the
same people who want openness and transparency in the chancery,
are
now sneaking around behind the scenes, trying to escape the public eye.
Dear
Friend,
You're
about to get angry. Very angry. I'll tell you why in a
minute...
And
now, let me tell you the news that'll send your blood boiling.
This
morning, the Boston Globe dropped a bombshell of a
story...though
they seem to have little idea just how major it is.
The
title was "Bishops seek out opinions, in private: conference
focus
is church future," and began by explaining that some top
bishops
"met secretly with a group of prominent Catholic business
executives,
academics, and journalists to discuss the future of the
church."
The
gathering was convened by former Boston College trustee Geoffrey
Boisi
and was called "The Church in America: The Way Forward in the
21st
Century." Cardinal McCarrick hosted the event at the John Paul
II
Cultural Center in Washington, DC.
The
fact that any bishops were involved in a "secret meeting" is
strange...but
it gets a whole lot worse.
Reading
through the article, the author refers over and over to the
"prominent"
Catholics -- men and women, both lay and religious -- who
were
called to the secret meeting. Some of them, it turns out, aren't
so
prominent. In fact, I didn't recognize half of the names on the
list,
and I like to think that I'm pretty familiar with the Catholic
world.
As
for the others -- well, they're prominent all right. The list is
full
of the kinds of liberal and dissident Catholics that would make
a
Call To Action conference jealous.
These
are the people who are supposed to be representing the Church
in
a discussion about its future? Just look at a few of these
names...and
make sure you're sitting down:
*
Monika Hellwig -- director of the Association of Catholic Colleges
and
Universities. Dr. Hellwig needs little introduction. Most people
by
now are familiar with her infamous statement calling Humanae Vitae
Pope
Paul VI's "personal opinion" and her questioning whether Jesus
is
the only savior.
*
R. Scott Appleby -- left-leaning professor at Notre Dame and media
darling
who has been critical of Church conservatives for not being
open
to women priests and a married priesthood.
*
John Sweeny -- president of the AFL-CIO and open supporter of
abortion.
*
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend -- former lieutenant governor of
Maryland
and an infamous and enthusiastic pro-abortion "Catholic."
*
Peggy
Steinfels -- the former editor of Commonweal magazine,
Steinfels
is very open about her dissenting views. In fact, she laid
them
out in an article called "Holy Mother Church's Loyal Opposition:
Disagreeing
with official Catholic teaching on birth control and
other
issues should not cut us off." As you probably guessed, one of
those
tiresome "other issues" is abortion.
*
Kathleen McChesney -- executive director of the Office for Child
and
Youth Protection under the USCCB. McChesney has been reprimanded
by
some bishops for her willingness to meet with such dissident
groups
as Call to Action and Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), calling
into
question her impartiality when working for the lay review board.
Her
presence at this secret meeting certainly doesn't help.
*
Mary Jo Bane -- professor of public policy at Harvard. Also
intimately
involved with VOTF, she laid out her "personally opposed
but
publicly supportive" position regarding abortion rights in a
paper
presented at a Commonweal colloquium.
And
these are just the names I recognize at first glance. If these
people
are representative of those invited to the conference, I think
it's
safe to say that the real criterion for involvement was not
prominence
or influence in the Catholic Church but sympathy with
dissenting
points of view.
Other
names seem to be big players in Catholic businesses and
philanthropy
organizations. Frank Butler, president of FADICA
(Foundations
and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities), is one
such
name. Why were these people there? You have to wonder if they're
being
corralled in to fund a liberal reform agenda.
Another
thing I notice when scanning the list is the number of names
associated
with Boston College and the city of Boston in general.
More
and more, Boston College appears to be the very epicenter of
dissent.
Should it be surprising that the home of VOTF is also the
home
of those convening secret dissenting meetings?
And
that's what's so frustrating. Why on earth would high-ranking
bishops
-- including the president of the USCCB, Bishop Wilton
Gregory
-- entertain a meeting with such known liberals and
dissenters...and
do it in private? The author of the article
mentioned
the difficulty he had in finding participants willing to
talk
about the meeting in even the most general terms, let alone
allow
their name to be published. Those who participated were "sworn
to
secrecy," he wrote.
Frankly,
I find it ironic that the same people who lambaste the
bishops
for being "secretive," the same people who want openness and
transparency
in the chancery, are now sneaking around behind the
scenes,
trying to escape the public eye.
In
addition, these are the PRECISE questions about the future of the
Church
that liberals claim the laity has a right to address.
(Predictably,
the issues of women's ordination and priestly celibacy
came
up in some of the meeting's breakout sessions.) But how can we
be
a part of the great dialogue they champion when it's held in
secret?
This
says nothing of the fact that there isn't a single person on
the
list known for his or her stand in support of faithfulness to the
Magisterium,
the pope, and the teachings of the Church. If this was a
meeting
of "prominent Catholics," where are the prominent orthodox
representatives?
Where are George Weigel, Michael Novak, and Father
Neuhaus?
Why fly in representatives from little-known colleges in
Boston
when the orthodox president of Catholic University in DC, Rev.
David
O'Connell, has his office literally right across the street?
It's
absolutely absurd to call the meeting a discussion of the
direction
of the Church and not include representatives from the very
heart
of Catholic thought. Apparently, those Catholics faithful to
the
Church don't count.
Honestly,
can you imagine these bishops holding a conference for a
group
of prominent conservative Catholics...listening to their
concerns...noting
their advice? Don't hold your breath.
When
the pope called on bishops to crack down on dissent after the
sex
abuse scandal, I doubt this is what he had in mind. One final
irony
to top off this nonsense is the fact that the meeting was held
at
the John Paul II Cultural Center -- the Institute constructed in
his
honor as a testament to his life and dedication to the Truth.
But
alas, the pope probably wouldn't have heard about the meeting
anyway.
After all, it was supposed to be a secret.
Rest
assured that we're going to be following up with this story.
Deal
Hudson