Pope Francis Is Coming, He's Just Not Coming Here.

By Jennifer Haselberger
Canonical Consultation
September 18, 2015

http://canonicalconsultation.com/blog.html

If you have a 'google alert' set to tell you when news is posted about the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, your email inbox has likely been filling up quickly this week. With Pope Francis set to arrive in the United States next Tuesday, it seems as though every major media outlet in the country is running a story about the state of the Catholic Church in America, and no such story is complete without a reference to the place that has become, defacto, the Church's current 'ground zero'. In addition to the widely-circulated stories of the AP and Reuters, national and international TV stations have been sending crews to talk to people in Saint Paul and Minneapolis about the state of the church, and specifically about the bankruptcy, resignations, and sexual abuse by clergy.

With every news organization from Al Jazeera to PBS News Hour sending reporters and camera crews, producers and techinical staff, there is one conspiscious absence among the hubbub- Pope Francis. The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis might be 'ground zero' in terms of the public's perception of the Church, but we clearly remain flyover land in the view of those orchestrating the Pope's visit to the United States.

Not that I blame them. Anyone with even a smidgeon of an understanding of how public relations works can understand that no good (in the PR sense) could come from Pope Francis visiting our beleagured Archdiocese. What has happened here (and continues to happen) is too obviously a reminder of Francis's failures rather than his successes, and a visit would point out all the things that the Catholic Church is hoping will be forgotten once American Catholics are able to bask in the glow that is Francis himself. Why draw attention to the fact that we had abusive clergy in ministry for more than twelve years following the adoption of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People? Why higlight our declining attendance at Mass and a similar decline in financial contributions? Why raise questions as to whether the Archdiocese's strategy in bankruptcy is consistent with a 'victims first' mentality? And why, oh why, give people a reason to dwell on the fact that allowing bishops to resign (an ecclesiatical form of 'honorable discharge') undercuts the accountability that Francis has promised?

As someone who generally prefers action to perception, my answer to those questions is simple: there is work to be done. Obiously, Francis will be busy during the six days he will be visiting the United States, and he has important meetings scheduled with Congress, the United Nations, and the homeless. But, let's take a minute to think about what he could accomplish if he was to spend those six days in Minnesota instead.

Day 1: One would imagine that, were he to visit Saint Paul, Pope Francis would stay at the Summit Avenue Residence located next to the Archdiocesan Chancery. So, his first task would be obvious- he would have to help the current resident, Archbishop Nienstedt- to move out. This could bear fruit in many ways. If Archbishop Nienstedt demonstrated his curent recalcitrant attiude to Francis, the latter might quickly rethink his practice of letting such bishops 'resign'. We might also see quick action on that Tribunal he has promised. And, perhaps the Holy Father could exercise his considerable pastoral skills on the most recent 'emeritus' Archbishop and convince him that his conscience ought not to be clear, and that an apology is in order.

Day 2: No procedural reform will be sufficient to repair the broken system for declaring the nullity of Catholic marriage without a reform of the hearts and minds of those tasked with administering that process. For years, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis has prided itself on issuing negative decisions rather than affirmatives, with little apparent thought to the consequences for the individuals seeking to return to the sacraments. A day spent with the staff of the Metropolitan Tribunal might be beneficial both to the staff and to Francis, who will likely come to understand the obstacles he faces in bringing about his procedural reforms. He might also rethink the abbreviated procedure with its emphasis on the quick decision of the diocesan bishop (we don't have one), and the appeal process that relies on the Metropolitan See.

Day 3: Clearly, we need a new Archbishop. Earlier this week, the Holy See announced the appointment of a successor to Bishop Finn of Kansas City- St. Joseph, who resigned less than two months before Archbishop Nienstedt and Bishop Piche. The new appointment is a transfer, with Finn's replacement moving across the state from the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau. I think it extremely unlikely that a suffragan will be similarily elevated to the See of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, but if he visited the Twin Cities Francis could get a sense of the lay of the land that, hopefully, would in turn avoid a repeat of the last episcopal appointment, which is notable for its failure to match the appointee to the community. Earlier this week it was announced that Pope Francis has asked his College of Cardinals to examine the process used to vet and appoint bishops. He could use his trip to Saint Paul to take a more hands on approach to that process.

Day 4: After a few days of living at the Residence, one would imagine that the financial difficulties of the Archdiocese would be apparent to Pope Francis. From the 'for sale' signs that should be visible from the Residence windows to the disruption caused by tours of prospective buyers, by day four I would think Francis would have to turn his attention to the bankruptcy proceedings. This wouldn't be a purely intellectual exercise. Canon law requires that the Holy See give its approval prior to the Archdiocese entering into settlements to resolve individual or aggragate financial claims in excess of $7.5 million ($3.5 million if we were honest about the number of Catholics in the Archdiocese), as well prior to the sale of diocesan property valued above the same number. As of now, the Holy See's review seems to be limited merely to the financial arrangements, not taking into account the strategies or tactics used to reach any proposed settlement and the harm those cause to victims, the community, and the reputation of the Catholic Church. This should change, and a visit by Pope Francis would provide a perfect opportunity to both look into the question and to ensure that the Archdiocese's legal strategies are compatible with its mission.

Day 5: Having gotten a handle on a number of important issues, I would think that Pope Francis's next stop would be the Office of the Ramsey County Attorney. In my mind, the visit would serve two purposes. First, to chart a course for reaching a resolution to the criminal and civil complaints, which would have to involve the Archdiocese being open to the external review of its policies and practices. The second objective would be for Pope Francis to learn what went wrong in this Archdiocese, and how we got to this place of crisis. The Ramsey County Attorney's Office is the logical place to go for that information, because they are the only ones who have bothered to try and figure it out. Yes, Archbishop Nienstedt appointed a task force of well-meaning Catholics to look into things, but clearly they were kept in the dark and only fed tidbits of information. The County Attorney's Office, on the other hand, conducted a twenty-month investigation that involved interviewing countless witnesses. If Pope Francis's 'accountability' tribunal is going to have any sucess, it will need to use the same tactics to internally investigate the wrongdoing of bishops. And, the Church needs to learn these lessons, and quickly. While we here in the United States, and perhaps in Western Europe and Australia, we can talk of issue-fatigue when it comes to sexual abuse by clergy, and a crisis that has been surmounted, the same crisis has yet to arrive in other places of the world where the Catholic Church is prominent. Those who work on these issues know that a crisis is incipient in Eastern Europe, South America, the Philipines, and Africa. We should waste no time in putting the necessary procedures into place to address those crises before they explode.

Day 6: Once Francis has done all of the above, he can spend his last day meeting with victims, and with families, the clergy, and with the poor, imprisioned, sick, and elderly. Now, I realize that some will say that he should do this first, and that these activities should take up the bulk of his time. I agree. However, I also think that until he does the other things that I have mentioned, neither he nor any other representative of the Catholic Church can meet with victims or other vulnerable individuals with any credibility. Apologies and words of support ring hollow when Nienstedt is still drawing his salary and living in the Residence, and when bankruptcy proceeding are dragging on with only the lawyers receiving compensation. Until Francis gets the house in order on the matter of sexual abuse of clergy, all the other pastoral and charitable efforts of our Church are like sandcastles, destined to be washed away by the next big tide.