KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter
August 21, 2018
By Mary E. Hunt
Clericalism is key issue, but problem lies within Catholicism’s foundation
Theodore McCarrick’s alleged flagrant and repeated abuse of power over those in his employ (not forgetting his abuse of a minor, but focusing on the workplace cases for the moment) raises the specter of clericalism and begs change.
Theologian Fr. Bryan Massingale agrees with Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich that a sense of entitlement prevailing among some ordained men could be conducive of exploitative behavior. Both agree that the issue is not whether the men are gay or straight (or, I would add, something beyond that binary), but that they have, by reason of their clerical status, access to privilege and power within the ecclesial community that can insulate them from accountability.
Massingale and Cupich cite clericalism as the problem. I concur to an extent, but I think the problem is deeper, indeed foundational, rooted in the very bifurcation of clergy and laity that grounds the Roman Catholic institution.
This clergy/lay, top-down structure conditions relationships and functions in the church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says ordination “confers an indelible spiritual character” on a priest that “cannot be “repeated or conferred temporarily” and “mark[s] him permanently” (1583). A priest is seen as ontologically different from a layperson. His place in the hierarchical structure reflects this difference. His roles as a sacramental presider and as a decision-maker are contingent on it.
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