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Nov. 10, 2005
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Despite its problems, former rector
sees signs of hope for church
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Fr. Cozzens tells Call to Action crowd
to 'embrace Gospel simplicity'
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| CALL TO ACTION SPEAKER — Fr. Donald Cozzens, a priest of the Cleveland Diocese and former seminary rector, addresses a crowd of several hundred Catholics at the annual Call to Action national conference Nov. 4 in Milwaukee. (Catholic Herald photo by Sam Lucero)
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MILWAUKEE —The end of clericalism in the church and the return of credibility among church leaders has a simple solution, according to Fr. Donald Cozzens, former rector of St. Mary Seminary in the Diocese of Cleveland whose 2000 book “The Changing Face of the Priesthood,” sparked widespread discussion in the church because it addressed the growing numbers of homosexuals among the clergy.
The solution, according to the 66-year-old priest who teaches religious studies at John Carroll University, is to “embrace Gospel simplicity.”
“Imagine what the life of the church would be like if we embraced Gospel simplicity,” he told about 500 people gathered for one of the opening sessions during Call To Action’s annual conference held Nov. 4-6 at Milwaukee’s Midwest Airlines Center.
“I think the credibility of our leaders would be reclaimed if we clergy embrace Gospel simplicity. Clericalism would be dissolved. Then we would witness and model that what we preach,” he said.
Fr. Cozzens, a Cleveland diocesan priest, was vicar of clergy prior to heading the seminary. He followed up his first book with “Sacred Silence: Denial and the Crisis in the Church,” published in 2002. His presentation to Call to Action was titled, “Faith that Dares to Speak,” the title of his most recent book.
During his hourlong presentation, Fr. Cozzens described the church as a feudal structure which has served the church well for thousands of years. It’s now coming into conflict, however, with what he called the modern democratic culture rooted in participation.
“Yes, we embrace the teaching authority of the church,” he said, “but you see the style of this other culture, this other world view is quite different.” He described its style as pastoral and persuasive.
The clash of cultures exists in the church, said Fr. Cozzens, because the new style clashes with the long-standing feudal system where the bishops are vassels to the pope, the absolute monarch, and the priests are vassels to the bishops. At the very bottom are the laity, the serfs, said Fr. Cozzens.
Yet, he said, the feudal system does not work well when the serfs are educated, describing his audience as very educated people. The clash of cultures boils down to a clash in terms of identity, described Fr. Cozzens.
“Our identity is linked to our world view,” he said, “while the identity of the bishops is grounded in their feudal, aristocratic world. When you mess with somebody’s identity, you unleash an explosion of anxiety within themselves.”
“And I’d like to suggest there is a great deal of anxiety in our church today,” he said, explaining that groups like Call to Action, Voice of the Faithful, “mess with their spiritual identity.”
For some that identity meant, “You believe, you behave and you be saved.”
“You don’t really have to think, reflect, speak, question and act,” he said, explaining that if the believer followed the rules, salvation was guaranteed.
The clash of cultures is also defined by a clash between pre-Vatican II theology and post-Vatican II theology, which Fr. Cozzens further described as a clash of imaginations.
For example, post-Vatican II thinkers might see God as a stern loving parent, rather than seeing him as a stern judge.
“We understand the church as people of God and the Gospel is something essentially meant to set us free,” he said.
This clash of cultures leads to a sacramental crisis centering on the priesthood and the Eucharist. Because of the dwindling numbers of priests, Fr. Cozzens said the church and its followers face a “forced fasting from the Eucharist.”
Additionally, the recent clergy abuse scandal tarnished the credibility of the leaders, he described.
“We look for honest leaders; we find many of them among the laity,” he said. “We are especially looking for leaders in our bishops, but their credibility has been wounded severely and we begin to question their integrity.”
In spite of all his concerns for the church and its leadership, Fr. Cozzens said he sees signs of hope.
Renewal organizations like Voice of the Faithful and Call to Action include people who are trying to embrace a gospel of liberation, he said, adding he’s also filled with hope because of the growing numbers of associations and alliances of priests formed to address difficult issues in the church.
Fr. Cozzens hopes that the church’s future exercise of teaching authority will be loving and compassionate, authoritative and humble, he said, noting without that approach the church is not practicing the Gospel it preaches.
In the recent past, some church hierarchy have put the institutional church ahead of the wellbeing of God’s people, said Fr. Cozzens. Yet, if the church is understood as the people of God, it will return to the focus on Gospel simplicity and would witness and model what it preaches.
The annual Call to Action conference drew nearly 3,000 participants to Milwaukee. Call to Action members advocate reforms in the church including a married priesthood, ordination of women and rethinking its opposition to artificial birth control. |
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