IN LITTLE WAYS

Who is the church?

Several things distress me about the sex abuse scandals involving priests, deacons, and religious. Here’s just one: The clergy are not the church. They are a part of the church, an important, necessary part. However, they are by no means the whole church.

There are over a billion Catholics in the world. There are about 400,000 priests. That’s 2,500 lay people for every priest. You and I are far more representative of the church than the pope is. So why is it that when someone mentions “the church,” they’re always talking about the clergy?

Certainly the hierarchy is the official source for church doctrine. However, what priests teach and what the laity believes is not necessarily the same thing. Many Catholics have, after prayer and study, chosen to differ from official teaching in certain areas of their life. They are still Catholic. The individual informed conscience must always be the final guide for our conduct.

The Vatican’s authority is persuasive not coercive. It has no powers of enforcement.

We decide to what extent its pronouncements will direct our behavior. When reporters write, “the church doesn’t let its members …” or “the church makes its members …,” they show that they don’t understand who and what the church is.

Saint Paul compared the church to a human body. Consider how much of this body is lay people. Our donations buy the land and erect the buildings. We pay the salaries, health benefits, and pensions. We teach the children, assist the celebrant, and visit the hospital. We set up, cook, and clean up for every function. We sweep the floors, decorate the sanctuary, and wash the fair linen. We collect food for the hungry, school supplies for the homeless, and the Sunday offering. We march against abortion, vote our values, and help disaster victims. You can have a parish without a pastor, but you can’t have a pastor without a congregation.

I would argue that, more than the clergy, the laity determine the health of the Body of Christ. Many of us have known an inadequate priest. He played favorites, refused all advice, or threw temper tantrums. He drank, stole, or had an affair. We came to church in spite of him. We got our babies baptized, our youngsters confirmed, and our adults married and buried. We received absolution and Communion confident that God’s grace doesn’t fail because of one man’s shortcomings.

When we read about the Catholic Church in secular history books, we read about popes, emperors, and missionaries. Monasteries, Crusades, the Inquisition, and the Reformation dominate the story. A more accurate account would show the millions of laypeople who quietly and steadily followed Christ for 2,000 years. They were faithful even when their leaders were unfaithful or unworthy. The very humbleness of their position protected them from the excesses of more powerful members. Today we laypeople continue to sustain the Body with our prayers and our service.

So, I don’t think the church is in trouble today. As long as you and I teach our children right from wrong, the church is healthy. As long as we pray, the church is strong. As long as we reach out to the lost, the sick and the poor, the church is Christ in the world.

The Holy Spirit protects and preserves the church. Right now, Mother Church seems battered by scandal, shame, and sorrow. These are like winds ruffling the ocean. Beneath the surface, there is peace and steady grace. We carry the church in our souls just as she has always carried us. “All will be well, and all matter of things will be well.”