I have not been able to post for the past few weeks due to the final illness and death of my mother on the 17th April. It was a bittersweet occasion. My mother was a unique personality who affected all who knew her and changed the lives of a number of people for the better in her 94 years on this earth. A few days before she died, she received the Sacrament of the Sick and despite her extreme frailty made the sign of the crosss with great reverence and recited the Hail Mary with the priest - adding one of her own for good measure.
As with everything in her life, she had a unique approach to the Focolare Movement when I became involved with it in the 60s and 70s. She was extremely generous to the Movement, lending it substantial sums of money, interest free for many,many years, and financing the education of the brother of an African focolarino - although she was far from wealthy herself. At the same time, she subjected the Focolare Movement to the unflinchingly honest appraisal which characterised her approach to life. I will be away for a few days, but my next post will be on my mother's views on the Focolare Movement and its teachings.
Wednesday 2 May 2012
Wednesday 29 February 2012
Papal favour is no guarantee of authenticity
While he was still Cardinal Ratzinger, Benedict XVI claimed that in certain cases - and he was referring to the New Movements - only the pope is able to discern the the authenticity of a charism. The chaos which is currently convulsing the Legionaries of Christ religious order and its lay off-shoots, the male and female branches of Regnum Christi, which are numbered amongst the New Movements, would seem to invalidate this claim.
The Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi were highly favoured by John Paul II, so highly favoured in fact that numerous accusations of child abuse against the founder of these organisations, the late Mexican priest Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, were hushed up by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - then headed by Cardinal Ratzinger - until after John Paul's death. This story - and the compelling evidence provided to the Congregation and Ratzinger - is recounted in detail in the book Vows of Silence by Jason Berry and Garald Renner (Free Press 2010). It makes sobering reading. Maciel not only systematically abused seminarians of his order over many decades, but he absolved them from the acts (such as fellatio) he forced them to commit with him; absolution under these circumstances is an offence which, under canon law incurs automatic excommunication for the priest. He also used these young followers of his to procure the prescription medication he needed to feed his substance addictions. The order capitalised on the Vatican's silence to issue strenuous denials of the charges against their beloved Father.
Ratzinger pursued the matter as soon as he became Pope. But this is not greatly to his credit as it only goes to show that he believed the accusations were true but failed to act on them earlier under some misguided belief that disciplining a favourite of the late Pontiff would somehow be disrespectful to the papal office or the person of John Paul. Surely this reveals what a cockeyed system of values prevails in the Vatican: a far cry from the teachings of Jesus who reserved his strongest condemnation for those who corrupt the young and innocent, and had no time for puffed-up religious authorities.
Once the facts about Maciel's history of abuse began to come out, it seemed that what had previously emerged was only the tip of the iceberg. Maciel's voracious sexual appetite not only included young boys but also several women with whom he fathered three children (at least to date - I have also heard the estimate set at six!). Cases of Maciel's abuse of seminarians have been estimated at between twenty and a hundred. Although the CDF did investigate Maciel after John Paul's death, its final decision, with the blessing of Pope Benedict, was to close the case without any canonical action due to Maciel's advanced age and frail health. He was required to renounce every public activity, including his position as the Superior of the Order, and pursue a life of prayer and penance. Father Marcial Maciel died in 2008.
In 2009 Pope Benedict authorised an Apostolic Visitation to investigate all branches of Maciel's organisation - both the Legionaries of Christ and the male and female branches of Regnum Christi. Since then, members have left in droves. Between 200 and 400 of almost a thousand consecrated women of Regnum Christi have left the movement since the facts about Father Maciel emerged. Then, on 17th February 2012, the leader of the women of Regnum Christi, Malen Oriel, announced that she was leaving the organisation with thirty other women. The Oriols are a wealthy and influential Spanish family who played an important role in the development of Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi. Four of Malen's brothers who were priest members of the Legionaries of Christ have already left the order. On 27th Febraury, it was announced that Oriol has started a new organisation called Totus Tuus (the motto of John Paul II) based in Chile with the thirty women who left with her. It has been approved by the Vatican and has the blessing of Pope Benedict. Some observers believe that this could be the start olf the unravelling of the entire organisation.
Orders have survived the disgrace of their founders before. One of the founders of Capuchin branch of the Franciscans became a Calvinist and married. It remains to be seen whether Maciel's can do the same. One beneficial effect of the Maciel affair is the Vatican's questioning of the excessive power of charismatic founders of new movements and congregations. A meeting was held on 13th June last year between the heads of the Vatican congregations and Benedict XVI at which the Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone read a paper on this question, pointing out that these leaders often demanded greater loyalty to themselves than to the Church.. How seriously this will be taken remains to be seen; Bertone was a great admirer of Chiara Lubich and presided at her funeral mass. One thing is for sure though, papal approval can no longer be regarded as a guarantee of anything!
The Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi were highly favoured by John Paul II, so highly favoured in fact that numerous accusations of child abuse against the founder of these organisations, the late Mexican priest Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, were hushed up by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - then headed by Cardinal Ratzinger - until after John Paul's death. This story - and the compelling evidence provided to the Congregation and Ratzinger - is recounted in detail in the book Vows of Silence by Jason Berry and Garald Renner (Free Press 2010). It makes sobering reading. Maciel not only systematically abused seminarians of his order over many decades, but he absolved them from the acts (such as fellatio) he forced them to commit with him; absolution under these circumstances is an offence which, under canon law incurs automatic excommunication for the priest. He also used these young followers of his to procure the prescription medication he needed to feed his substance addictions. The order capitalised on the Vatican's silence to issue strenuous denials of the charges against their beloved Father.
Ratzinger pursued the matter as soon as he became Pope. But this is not greatly to his credit as it only goes to show that he believed the accusations were true but failed to act on them earlier under some misguided belief that disciplining a favourite of the late Pontiff would somehow be disrespectful to the papal office or the person of John Paul. Surely this reveals what a cockeyed system of values prevails in the Vatican: a far cry from the teachings of Jesus who reserved his strongest condemnation for those who corrupt the young and innocent, and had no time for puffed-up religious authorities.
Once the facts about Maciel's history of abuse began to come out, it seemed that what had previously emerged was only the tip of the iceberg. Maciel's voracious sexual appetite not only included young boys but also several women with whom he fathered three children (at least to date - I have also heard the estimate set at six!). Cases of Maciel's abuse of seminarians have been estimated at between twenty and a hundred. Although the CDF did investigate Maciel after John Paul's death, its final decision, with the blessing of Pope Benedict, was to close the case without any canonical action due to Maciel's advanced age and frail health. He was required to renounce every public activity, including his position as the Superior of the Order, and pursue a life of prayer and penance. Father Marcial Maciel died in 2008.
In 2009 Pope Benedict authorised an Apostolic Visitation to investigate all branches of Maciel's organisation - both the Legionaries of Christ and the male and female branches of Regnum Christi. Since then, members have left in droves. Between 200 and 400 of almost a thousand consecrated women of Regnum Christi have left the movement since the facts about Father Maciel emerged. Then, on 17th February 2012, the leader of the women of Regnum Christi, Malen Oriel, announced that she was leaving the organisation with thirty other women. The Oriols are a wealthy and influential Spanish family who played an important role in the development of Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi. Four of Malen's brothers who were priest members of the Legionaries of Christ have already left the order. On 27th Febraury, it was announced that Oriol has started a new organisation called Totus Tuus (the motto of John Paul II) based in Chile with the thirty women who left with her. It has been approved by the Vatican and has the blessing of Pope Benedict. Some observers believe that this could be the start olf the unravelling of the entire organisation.
Orders have survived the disgrace of their founders before. One of the founders of Capuchin branch of the Franciscans became a Calvinist and married. It remains to be seen whether Maciel's can do the same. One beneficial effect of the Maciel affair is the Vatican's questioning of the excessive power of charismatic founders of new movements and congregations. A meeting was held on 13th June last year between the heads of the Vatican congregations and Benedict XVI at which the Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone read a paper on this question, pointing out that these leaders often demanded greater loyalty to themselves than to the Church.. How seriously this will be taken remains to be seen; Bertone was a great admirer of Chiara Lubich and presided at her funeral mass. One thing is for sure though, papal approval can no longer be regarded as a guarantee of anything!
Thursday 16 February 2012
Tragic Death of Marisa Bau
At the end of January, the shocking and tragic news broke in the Swiss and Italian press that the body of Italian focolarina Marisa Bau, aged 48, who had been missing since before Christmas, had been found in a barn near the Focolare centre at Montet, Swtizerland, where she had been based for the past 15 years. It was not until the farmer who owns the barn moved a bale of hay that her body was revealed hanging from a metal beam. By 2 Febraury, an autopsy and the findings of the police pointed to suicide.
Official statements on the Focolare Movement website accept this possibility. Marisa Bau's family, however reject this explanation on the grounds that suicide would conflict with her Christian beliefs. Prior to the discovery of the body, a high profile appeal for information on the missing woman, spear-headed by the Focolare's official website, seemed to suggest that the movement's leadership was convinced that, whether Bau had left voluntarily or not, she would be found alive. At first the appeals insisted that she had been in good spirits at the time of her disappearance, but gradually there were hints that maybe she had been troubled in some way. She had just returned from a journey to Brazil and was jet-lagged and complaining of a severe headache. While hardly an explanation for suicide in themselves, as the Focolare's official website seem to suggest, short-term disorientation could have aggravated an existing state of mind. If indeed this was suicide - and, if so, circumstances would suggest a firm intention, rather than a cry for help - one can only guess at the depth of despair and isolation she felt. Yet there seems to be no indication that those closest to her were aware of what would have been a profoundly disturbed mental state.
Those unfamilair with the inner workings of the Focolare Movement, might conclude that this would rule out suicide. The final results of the autopsy will not be available for a few weeks and so, for the moment, any explanations must be speculative. Yet from my own experience of leaving the movement, after a number of years as a celibate focolarino with vows, I would suggest that suicide is certainly a possibility despite the lack of obvious motivation.
Like other similar 'New Movements' in the Catholic Church, Focolare encourages an 'angelistic' approach. Whatever extremes of personal anguish they may be feeling, members are encouraged to maintain an impression of smiling serenity, the hallmark of the focolarini, which strikes some observers as attractive and others as zombie-like. Thus even their immediate colleagues might remain unaware of personal problems - which might only be revealed to higher authorities such as the 'capizona', the regional leaders.
Although my exit from Focolare was carried out in agreement with the movements' superiors and through the official channels, right up to the day I left I was still expected to lead meetings. I remember translating recordings of Chiara Lubich's talks and feeling my mind almost literally split in two. The only way I could describe this schizoid state was that it was as though there were a sheet of glass dividing my brain - on one side was my Focolare self, on the other was the self waiting with bated breath to escape. The mental strain was immense.
I know how alone it is possible to feel when you reach a point where to stay in the movement would destroy you, yet outside there appears to be no hope or even damnation, a concept that is ceaselessly drummed into members. To leave the movement would mean betraying and losing all your friends (anyone who has been in the movement for many years has long since forfeited or deliberately cut off any friendships outside its confines) but you also feel that you would be betraying your family by being a bad example and putting the movement in a bad light and you are therefore reluctant to seek their support. For this reason it is highly unlikely that family members would have the least inkling of any problems. Hearing of the long and tragic experiences of others who have left the movement, I consider myself lucky; I had only been 'inside' for 9 years and was only 26 at the time of my exit and therefore still flexible enough to adapt to a new way of life and a new way of looking at the world. Although I never had suicidal feelings, I can remember moments of personal crisis during my time in the movement when I felt on the brink of madness and my behaviour was bizarre and out of character. I can understand that for someone like Bau who had been in the movement for 25 years, failure to measure up to expectations could appear to be unutterable desolation.
Extremes of depression and desperate actions could be possible in such unbalanced moments.
Marisa Bau had been based at the Focolare's village in Montet for the past fifteen years. The atmosphere at these centres is even more intense than in the small Focolare houses based in towns and cities where you at least have contact with the outside world. In these self-sufficient villages or 'towns' of the Movement, members are required to be 'up', in the jargon of the movement, at all times. When I was at Loppiano, the movement's 'town' in Tuscany, I would sometimes wonder if the illusion was not sustained by the suppressed anguish of all the inhabitants. Chiara Lubich herself once said that Loppiano could be a paradise or a terrible prison depending on ones state of mind. Bizarrely, the Focolare authorities sometimes used these centres - whose main purpose was a 'novitiate' for full-time members - as a kind of prison for members with 'problems'. The fact that generally these centres were in physically isolated locations, made them ideal for this purpose. I remember one focolarino at Loppiano at the same time as me - although some years older - who, we were told, was suffering from depression and was tormented with suicidal thoughts. What no one seemed to realise was that Loppiano was probably the last place he should be, with its pressure-cooker atmosphere, likely to aggravate his mental state and any feelings of despair or worthlessness.
When the Vatican were having problems with the African Archbishop Milengo a few years ago, they appointed the focolarini as his 'gaolers' - and very good they were at it too, according to Vaticanologist Sandro Magister of the Italian news weekly L'Espresso. One of the places they took the Archbishop was O'Higgins, the Argentinian equivalent of Loppiano, probably the remotest of all the Focolare centres, in the midst of the pampas, miles away from anywhere. It is easy to see how the intensity and isolation of such an atmosphere could trigger serious depression.
It was also my experience that the shock of leaving this rarified atmosphere even for a short period such as a holiday or visiting family - and Bau had just been on a trip to Brazil on Focolare business - could trigger a sudden crisis, or the flaring up of repressed problems. One was highly susceptible to the 'temptations' of the outside world. Manifestations of sexuality in posters, on television or in films, for instance, which the general population are so used to that they hardly notice them, could have an overwhelming impact on such 'innocents abroad'. Despite the fact that focolarini are exorted to practise 'custody of the eyes', in today's world you would have to walk around blindfolded to do this effectively. Thoughts and feelings which most people would consider normal, could be deeply disturbing and unbalancing for those used to a very sheltered environment.
At least the Focolare Movement has not tried to hush up the facts of Bau's death - which would have been difficult in view of the publicity. Even though they are forbidden to watch TV or buy newspapers, the news would inevitably filter down to internal members. But the response of Maria Voce, the successor to Chiara Lubich as President of Focolare, while sympathetic, is ambiguous and could be understood to deflect blame from the movement. She says that with Bau's death 'we see the Movement more than ever identified with the dramas of humanity today'. The implication could be that somehow Bau was contaminated by 'the world', rather than aknowledging that somehow the demands of the movement could have pushed her over the edge. When I first told the male Focolare leader in the UK that I was gay, his main concern was that I shouldn't blame the movement, an idea that had never entered my mind. There was a knee-jerk reaction to safeguard the institution first and foremost.
If indeed this was a tragic suicide, those closest to Bau, and the leadership of the movement, must surely feel compelled to examine ways in which they may have failed to meet her needs in this crucial moment of personal crisis. Many people both inside and outside the movement, including Bau's family, the civil authorities and - one would hope - the Catholic hierarchy will be asking far-reaching questions. On this occasion, smokescreens of fine spiritual words will not suffice. The one positive thing that could emerge would be an extensive enquiry into the circumstances leading up to Bau's death, including questioning structures and internal procedures as amongst possible causes, and that the results of this enquiry should be made public. If the Focolare Movement does not do this, then hopefully the civil or religious authorities will. In facing up to Marisa Bau's demons, perhaps the Focolare Movement might face up to its own.
Official statements on the Focolare Movement website accept this possibility. Marisa Bau's family, however reject this explanation on the grounds that suicide would conflict with her Christian beliefs. Prior to the discovery of the body, a high profile appeal for information on the missing woman, spear-headed by the Focolare's official website, seemed to suggest that the movement's leadership was convinced that, whether Bau had left voluntarily or not, she would be found alive. At first the appeals insisted that she had been in good spirits at the time of her disappearance, but gradually there were hints that maybe she had been troubled in some way. She had just returned from a journey to Brazil and was jet-lagged and complaining of a severe headache. While hardly an explanation for suicide in themselves, as the Focolare's official website seem to suggest, short-term disorientation could have aggravated an existing state of mind. If indeed this was suicide - and, if so, circumstances would suggest a firm intention, rather than a cry for help - one can only guess at the depth of despair and isolation she felt. Yet there seems to be no indication that those closest to her were aware of what would have been a profoundly disturbed mental state.
Those unfamilair with the inner workings of the Focolare Movement, might conclude that this would rule out suicide. The final results of the autopsy will not be available for a few weeks and so, for the moment, any explanations must be speculative. Yet from my own experience of leaving the movement, after a number of years as a celibate focolarino with vows, I would suggest that suicide is certainly a possibility despite the lack of obvious motivation.
Like other similar 'New Movements' in the Catholic Church, Focolare encourages an 'angelistic' approach. Whatever extremes of personal anguish they may be feeling, members are encouraged to maintain an impression of smiling serenity, the hallmark of the focolarini, which strikes some observers as attractive and others as zombie-like. Thus even their immediate colleagues might remain unaware of personal problems - which might only be revealed to higher authorities such as the 'capizona', the regional leaders.
Although my exit from Focolare was carried out in agreement with the movements' superiors and through the official channels, right up to the day I left I was still expected to lead meetings. I remember translating recordings of Chiara Lubich's talks and feeling my mind almost literally split in two. The only way I could describe this schizoid state was that it was as though there were a sheet of glass dividing my brain - on one side was my Focolare self, on the other was the self waiting with bated breath to escape. The mental strain was immense.
I know how alone it is possible to feel when you reach a point where to stay in the movement would destroy you, yet outside there appears to be no hope or even damnation, a concept that is ceaselessly drummed into members. To leave the movement would mean betraying and losing all your friends (anyone who has been in the movement for many years has long since forfeited or deliberately cut off any friendships outside its confines) but you also feel that you would be betraying your family by being a bad example and putting the movement in a bad light and you are therefore reluctant to seek their support. For this reason it is highly unlikely that family members would have the least inkling of any problems. Hearing of the long and tragic experiences of others who have left the movement, I consider myself lucky; I had only been 'inside' for 9 years and was only 26 at the time of my exit and therefore still flexible enough to adapt to a new way of life and a new way of looking at the world. Although I never had suicidal feelings, I can remember moments of personal crisis during my time in the movement when I felt on the brink of madness and my behaviour was bizarre and out of character. I can understand that for someone like Bau who had been in the movement for 25 years, failure to measure up to expectations could appear to be unutterable desolation.
Extremes of depression and desperate actions could be possible in such unbalanced moments.
Marisa Bau had been based at the Focolare's village in Montet for the past fifteen years. The atmosphere at these centres is even more intense than in the small Focolare houses based in towns and cities where you at least have contact with the outside world. In these self-sufficient villages or 'towns' of the Movement, members are required to be 'up', in the jargon of the movement, at all times. When I was at Loppiano, the movement's 'town' in Tuscany, I would sometimes wonder if the illusion was not sustained by the suppressed anguish of all the inhabitants. Chiara Lubich herself once said that Loppiano could be a paradise or a terrible prison depending on ones state of mind. Bizarrely, the Focolare authorities sometimes used these centres - whose main purpose was a 'novitiate' for full-time members - as a kind of prison for members with 'problems'. The fact that generally these centres were in physically isolated locations, made them ideal for this purpose. I remember one focolarino at Loppiano at the same time as me - although some years older - who, we were told, was suffering from depression and was tormented with suicidal thoughts. What no one seemed to realise was that Loppiano was probably the last place he should be, with its pressure-cooker atmosphere, likely to aggravate his mental state and any feelings of despair or worthlessness.
When the Vatican were having problems with the African Archbishop Milengo a few years ago, they appointed the focolarini as his 'gaolers' - and very good they were at it too, according to Vaticanologist Sandro Magister of the Italian news weekly L'Espresso. One of the places they took the Archbishop was O'Higgins, the Argentinian equivalent of Loppiano, probably the remotest of all the Focolare centres, in the midst of the pampas, miles away from anywhere. It is easy to see how the intensity and isolation of such an atmosphere could trigger serious depression.
It was also my experience that the shock of leaving this rarified atmosphere even for a short period such as a holiday or visiting family - and Bau had just been on a trip to Brazil on Focolare business - could trigger a sudden crisis, or the flaring up of repressed problems. One was highly susceptible to the 'temptations' of the outside world. Manifestations of sexuality in posters, on television or in films, for instance, which the general population are so used to that they hardly notice them, could have an overwhelming impact on such 'innocents abroad'. Despite the fact that focolarini are exorted to practise 'custody of the eyes', in today's world you would have to walk around blindfolded to do this effectively. Thoughts and feelings which most people would consider normal, could be deeply disturbing and unbalancing for those used to a very sheltered environment.
At least the Focolare Movement has not tried to hush up the facts of Bau's death - which would have been difficult in view of the publicity. Even though they are forbidden to watch TV or buy newspapers, the news would inevitably filter down to internal members. But the response of Maria Voce, the successor to Chiara Lubich as President of Focolare, while sympathetic, is ambiguous and could be understood to deflect blame from the movement. She says that with Bau's death 'we see the Movement more than ever identified with the dramas of humanity today'. The implication could be that somehow Bau was contaminated by 'the world', rather than aknowledging that somehow the demands of the movement could have pushed her over the edge. When I first told the male Focolare leader in the UK that I was gay, his main concern was that I shouldn't blame the movement, an idea that had never entered my mind. There was a knee-jerk reaction to safeguard the institution first and foremost.
If indeed this was a tragic suicide, those closest to Bau, and the leadership of the movement, must surely feel compelled to examine ways in which they may have failed to meet her needs in this crucial moment of personal crisis. Many people both inside and outside the movement, including Bau's family, the civil authorities and - one would hope - the Catholic hierarchy will be asking far-reaching questions. On this occasion, smokescreens of fine spiritual words will not suffice. The one positive thing that could emerge would be an extensive enquiry into the circumstances leading up to Bau's death, including questioning structures and internal procedures as amongst possible causes, and that the results of this enquiry should be made public. If the Focolare Movement does not do this, then hopefully the civil or religious authorities will. In facing up to Marisa Bau's demons, perhaps the Focolare Movement might face up to its own.
Monday 28 November 2011
Papal Document on New Evangelisation Imminent
Following recent posts on the Movementisation of the Church, Benedict XVI's focus on New Evangelisation - and thus the new evangelisers in the form of the New Movements - continues apace with the announcement of a forthcoming papal document on the subject. Over the past month, the Pontiff has been meeting with the American bishops on their ad limina visits to Rome. Last week he pointed out to an episcopal group that 'one of the aims of my pastoral visit to the US [in 2008] was to encourage the Church in America to recognise, in the light of dramatic changes in the religious and social spheres, the urgency of the New Evangelistion.' He took the opportunity to inform them that 'with the aim of furthering this goal, I'm planning to present some thoughts in the next few months which I believe you will find useful in the discernment of what you are called to do in your role of guiding the Church in the future that Christ is unfolding for us.'
Monday 14 November 2011
Rebooting Vatican II - The Movementisation of the Church (Part 2)
October 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the Second Vatican Council. Pope Benedict has recently announced two closely-linked events to celebrate that date. On 17th October 2011, he issued a motu proprio entitled Porta Fidei - the doorway to faith - announcing that 11 October 2012 will be the start of a Year of Faith for the whole of the Catholic Church, echoing a similar event launched by Paul VI in 1967 to mark the end of the Council. The second event is the Synod on 'The New Evangelisation for the Transmission of the Christian Faith' to be organised by the newly formed Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation.
As I reported in my last post, given the key role both Benedict and his predecessor have given to the Movements in the New Evangelisation, one of the aims of the Synod will be to encourage the reception of the charisms of the Movements by the Church as a whole. Addressing an international meeting of bishops in Rome in 2008, Pope Benedict extolled the New Movements as 'a gift of the Lord, a valuable resource for enriching the entire Christian Community with their charisms.' Just as they were for his predecessor John Paul II, for the Pontiff, they are the embodiment of the New Evangelisation with their 'vigorous missionary impetus, motivated by the desire to communicate to all the precious experience of the encounter with Christ, felt and lived as the only adequate response to the human heart's profound thirst for truth and happiness.'
The New Evangelisation is also to be a basic theme of the Year of Faith which, according to the Pope's motu proprio, is to have a strong missionary impetus: 'Today too there is a need for stronger ecclesial commitment to new evangelisation in order to discover the joy of believing and the enthusiasm for communicating the faith.' He calls for the kind of public demonstration at which the Movements excel: 'All ecclesial bodies old and new are to find a way, during this year, to make a public demonstration of the Credo.' Gargantuan events such as the World Youth Day and the Holy Father's Meeting with Families, inspired and animated by the Movements, have become landmarks of the New Evangelisation. No other organisations in the Church can compete at this level: the Year of Faith will offer them opportunities for such high-profile events on a global scale, compressed within a relatively short time-frame. They will grab the headlines and dwarf the efforts of more traditional Catholic groups such as religious orders and parishes.
But what has this got to do with the Second Vatican Council? Vatican II was an epoch-making event in the history of Catholicism. No matter how much of an embarrassment its liberal tone might be to the Vatican's present incumbents, they could hardly afford to ignore this anniversary. But Pope Benedict, who has been outspoken in his criticism of the Council's reforms and its negative influence, has gone one better. With the Synod and the Year of Faith, he is rebooting the Council and making the celebrations into the launching pad for the project closest to his heart - spreading the 'Movement effect' to the whole Church.
Pope Ratzinger is certainly well acquainted with what the Council was all about. He attended as a peritus or expert theological adviser to Cardinal Frings of Cologne. At that time, he was part of the liberal majority. Since then, due to a number of personal and historical factors, his career and views have followed the classic trajectory of the neo-conservative - from forward-looking liberal to backward-looking traditionalist. But he has managed to salvage one positive element from the car-crash of the Council. By some strange alchemy, in Benedict's mind, the New Movements and the Second Vatican Council have become inextricably linked. 'The Ecclesial Movements and New Communities are one of the most important innovations inspired by the Holy Spirit in the Church for the implementation of the Second Vatican Council,' he told the bishops in 2008. 'They spread in the wake of the Council sessions especially in the years that immediately followed it, in a period full of exciting promises but also marked by difficult trials. Paul VI and John Paul II were able to welcome and discern, to encourage and promote the unexpected explosion of the new lay realities which in various and surprising forms have restored vitality, faith and hope to the whole Church.'
In fact this is a re-writing of history because none of the New Movements was actually inspired by the Council. Of the largest and most influential of these organisations, Focolare began in the forties, CL had its roots in the fifties with the Gioventu Studentesca movement of CL founder Don Giussani, and the Neocatechumenate was started in Madrid in the early Sixties while the Council was still in mid-session. Opus Dei, which denies being a movement but which strongly resembles those organisations, actually began in Spain as far back as the twenties and reflects the Catholicism of that era. What all these Movements have in common is their proud boast that they are precursors of Vatican II, that in some way they foresaw it. Unlike the traditional religious orders, therefore, that recognised the need for radical self-examination and reform in the spirit of the Council, the New Movements complacently decided that had no need to change in the Post-Conciliar period.
In reality Benedict's principal concern is to stem the tide of secularisation in the countries of Europe which have been traditionally Christian. On many occasions he has declared that the rot set in with the Enlightenment - two centuries ago. This world-view has more in common with that of the First Vatican Council rather than the Second. The Council of Pio Nono was called to supply 'an adequate remedy to the disorders, intellectual and moral, of Christendom', which sounds very much like what Benedict is seeking today. The orientation of the Second Vatican Council of Pope John XXIII on the contrary explicitly set out not to condemn but to find common ground with, and look for the good in, the modern world - of which Pope John saw a great deal such as the desire for peace, equality and tolerance, and such values as freedom of speech and conscience. To suggest that the conservative New Movements which, together with Benedict XVI, view the modern world, and Europe in particular, as a moral wasteland, are the first fruits of Second Vatican Council is to stand the true meaning of that historic event on its head.
'How is it possible,' Benedict XVI pointed out to the bishops in his 2008 speech, 'not to realize...that [the] newness [of the Movements] is still waiting to be properly understood in the light of God's plan and of the Church's mission in the context of our time? The important task [is to promote] a more mature communion of all the ecclesial elements, so that all the charisms, with respect for their specificity, may freely and fully contribute to the edification of the one Body of Christ.' This is Pope Benedict's goal. The not-so-hidden agenda of the Synod on 'The New Evangelisation for the Transmission of the Christian Faith' and the Year of Faith to be held in its wake, therefore, is a nothing other than a more sweeping Movementisation of the Church?
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