Catholics at Cobo Blast Leaders, by Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press, June 11, 2011

Catholics at Cobo Blast Leaders

By Niraj Warikoo
Detroit Free Press
June 11, 2011

http://www.freep.com/article/20110611/NEWS01/110611007/Catholics-Cobo-blast-leaders?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Kevin Ryan, left, and Betty Leon, both of Grosse Ile sing a hymn during the American Catholic Council services at Cobo Center in Detroit on Friday, June 10, 2011

In sharp words, a wide range of Catholics blasted their church's leadership Friday at the opening of a three-day conference in Detroit that seeks to reform what they said is an outdated and secretive club of men out of touch with reality.

"They are like the Kremlin in the last decades" of communist rule in the Soviet Union, said the Rev. Hans Kung, a priest from Switzerland, in a taped address to about 2,000 people at Cobo Hall. "This system has no future."

Kung, a widely known theologian among Catholics, took aim at the current and previous popes, calling the late Pope John Paul II "a catastrophe" whose tenure involved covering up the sexual scandals of child abuse, which he said continues today with Pope Benedict XVI.

Kung, who could not attend in person because of health reasons, was applauded by the audience, a mostly elderly crowd disappointed at what they see as the church's rightward turn.

But they hope this conference, led by the American Catholic Council - an umbrella group of about 30 Catholic reform organizations - can impress upon Catholic leadership to change. The conference comes at a time when many are leaving the church in the U.S. and Europe.

"We cannot go on like this, " said Kung, whom the Vatican has ruled can no longer teach theology. "It's a Potemkin church. You have thousands of parishes without priests anymore."

In another keynote address, Jeanette Rodriguez, a theology professor from Seattle University, praised Latin American liberation theology - which has been criticized by the Vatican - and said the church must side with the poor and oppressed.

In a statement before the conference, the Archdiocese of Detroit slammed Rodriguez, Kung, and others, saying: "All of the invited keynote speakers have manifested dissent from Catholic teachings or support for dissenters."

Archbishop of Detroit Allen Vigneron has asked Catholics to stay away from the conference and said priests and deacons could be defrocked if they attend a Sunday mass at Cobo. But that didn't deter local Catholics. Attendees included former seminarians, antiwar activists and those calling for women and married priests.

All said laypeople should have more say in church decision-making, such as being able to help decide who becomes a bishop and where pastors are assigned.

Jerry Schoof, 68, of Sterling Heights was born and raised a Catholic. He said he was frustrated by the leadership.

"They want to drag us back to the 15th Century, " he said.

The conference comes on the 35th anniversary of Call to Action, a conference that was held in Detroit and led by Cardinal John Dearden, the former archbishop of Detroit, to discuss the Second Vatican Council changes of the 1960s, in which Kung participated. Participants at this weekend's conference praised the Second Vatican Council and Dearden, describing him as a progressive who listened.

Tim Westfall of Detroit once attended Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, a place that educates many future priests. But he said the institution, like the broader church, is a close-knit society clueless about the lives of Catholics.

"It was just repressive, " he said.

Westfall and others also were upset at Vigneron's warning to clergy to stay away. "To make that threat is very anti-Christian, " he said.

One problem with change is that church power is concentrated, Kung said. "Few people realize how powerful the pope is, " he said.

Of particular concern to the Archdiocese of Detroit and its supporters is the list of keynote speakers, which includes Matthew Fox, a former priest who was expelled in 1993 for beliefs that the church said were anti-Catholic.

The archdiocese is supporting an alternative conference, Call to Holiness, today at Burton Manor in Livonia.

Contact: nwarikoo@freepress.com