VATICAN CITY
Crux
John L. Allen Jr.June 14, 2016
EDITOR
On Tuesday, the Vatican released its latest reflection on what German Cardinal Gerhard Müller amusingly has called the “unplanned pregnancies” of the Catholic Church, meaning its sprawling galaxy of new lay movements, most of which have been born in the last 100 years and have had their real growth since Vatican II.
One has to say “latest” because this is hardly the first time various departments and officials in the Vatican have issued documents, released interviews, given talks, organized meetings, etc., on the relationship between the hierarchy and what English-speakers often call the “new movements.” …
For the movements, what they gain out of a healthy working relationship with the hierarchy is access to dioceses, institutional support, and long-term viability. For the bishops, what they gain, aside from the fresh blood of gung-ho lay missionaries and a reliable way to boost Mass attendance, is a degree of quality control and a way to handle problems when they arise.
A recent story out of Peru illustrates why that’s important for both sides. As documented in Crux by Austen Ivereigh, a large movement there called the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae has been rocked by an abuse scandal involving its founder, Luis Fernando Figari.
Ivereigh reported that a local church tribunal tried for four years to get the Vatican to act on those allegations before anything happened. Had there been a more cooperative relationship, it’s possible the problems could have been flagged and resolved earlier.
Probably, that story should also be a wake-up call for bishops with new movements in their own backyards to take a closer look, in the spirit of trying to defuse a possible bomb before it goes off.
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