A culture of encounter and trust

 

The stage of the Festival of Social Doctrine in Verona at the moment the Pope's address was read 

POPE

• POPE FRANCIS
• SOCIAL DOCTRINE
• HUMAN FRATERNITY
• WAR
• LAITY

Pope Francis: “Encounter must become our greatest desire”

Speaking to attendees of the Festival of Social Doctrine in Verona, Pope Francis stresses the importance of trust and encounter given the “grim” situation of the current world scenario.

By Joseph Tulloch

The annual Festival of the Social Doctrine of the Church is underway in Verona, northern Italy. 

Pope Francis on Thursday addressed the conference, which is being held from the 24th to the 27th November, and spoke of the “grim” situation of the world today, urging that the way forward is “trust” and “encounter”.

The urgent need to build trust

The Pope began his address by noting that “Building trust: The beauty of encounter”, the theme of this year’s festival, is today more relevant than ever before.

“We live in a season of great conflicts that seem to negate that attitude of trusting in others,” he said. “Think of the many ongoing conflicts throughout the world - we are already in the midst of a third World War – and the resulting poverty, suffering, innocent victims, the future denied to children ... A grim scenario, which calls for decisive intervention and restorative work.”

He then turned to discuss the use of the world “build” in the event's theme, which, he said, “is very appropriate. The great ability, typical of craftspeople, of being able to see beauty already inherent in raw material comes to mind. A concrete commitment is thus already indicated: being crafters of trust!”

Trust implies encounter

Another key theme of Pope Francis' address was the connection between trust and encounter.

Whether we are giving or receiving trust, he pointed out, “we always need someone else. Trust, thus, cannot exist without the other. Only if we are willing to get to know them, to discuss with them, to see in them the face of Christ, to share their joys and sufferings, can we trust them. Encounter, thus, is the basis of trust.”

He added: “We were made for love … Encounter must become our greatest desire, our goal to be pursued tenaciously, because a human being is made in such a way that it is not fulfilled, does not develop and cannot find its fullness except through a sincere gift of self."

A landmark event

Pope Francis also had warm words for the organisers of the festival.

“This is an event,” he said, “that has now become a landmark for those who believe that the common good is not a mere possibility, but the cement on which to build a just, true and beautiful society.”

He thus ended his address by encouraging attendees to put into practice the ideas they would be discussing over the coming days:

“Entrepreneurs, professionals, representatives of the institutional, cooperative, economic and cultural worlds, gathered here in Verona, I ask you to promote and nurture, each in your own spheres, a culture of encounter and trust.”

Catholic Project study reveals Priests trust in Bishops has eroded

 

Study reveals priests’ trust in bishops has eroded

Our Sunday Visitor Staff October 19, 2022

A new study released today by the Catholic Project at the Catholic University of America reveals a deep crisis in priests’ confidence in the leadership of the U.S. bishops. Overall, only 24% of priests across America express confidence in the “leadership and decision-making” of the bishops.

The new research initiative, titled the National Study of Catholic Priests, is based on 3,516 responses from 10,000 diocesan and religious priests. Stephen White, director of the Catholic Project told Our Sunday Visitor: “The goal of this study is to better understand how our priests are doing.” “In particular,” White continued, “we wanted to better understand how the abuse crisis, and the Church’s response to that crisis, has affected trust between priests and bishops.”

In an early letter of support for the project, Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York write, “[The study] is an ambitious project with the goal of ascertaining the overall well-being of the American presbyterate with a particular emphasis on how the two decades since the Dallas Charter have affected relationships and trust between priests and bishops.”

Perhaps surprisingly, overall priests report remarkable well-being. Using the Harvard Flourishing Index — a comprehensive quantitative measurement index — the study found that on average, priests scored 82 out of 100. This average, the study reports, is “relatively high in comparison to the general population.” One priest said in an interview conducted by the study, “I feel remarkably fulfilled in my life as a priest. I mean, just being able to minister to people, being able to love them. Being able to be Christ for them. It’s just, it’s such a beautiful life.” Despite finding “ample evidence” of “challenges and stress,” only 4% of priests report considering departing from ministry.

One of the most significant findings of the study is the disparity of burnout indicators between diocesan and religious priests. “Our study finds that 45% of priests report at least one symptom of ministry burnout, which is unevenly distributed between diocesan (50%) and religious (33%) priests, and only 9% exhibit severe burnout,” an initial report says.

The study found another disparity between religious and diocesan priests: trust in leadership. While 67% of religious priests express confidence in their major superior, fewer than half (49%) of diocesan priests express trust in their own diocesan bishop. This factor of trust significantly impacts priests’ well-being. The study found that “An erosion of trust between a priest and his bishop is associated with an 11.5% reduction in that priest’s level of well-being.”

According to the new survey, 90% of priests “see their dioceses as having a strong culture of child safety and protection.” Since the adoption of the Dallas Charter, the 2002 national policy implemented by the U.S. bishops for the protection of minors, a culture of fear has grown among priests. In the present climate, the study found that “82% of priests regularly fear being falsely accused of sexual abuse.”

Furthermore, in the case of a false accusation, only 36% of diocesan priests report that they would be provided with sufficient resources by the diocese to defend themselves in court. Only 51% of diocesan priests believe they would have the support of their diocesan bishop in such a case. Again the discrepancy between religious and diocesan priests is significant, since 85% of religious priests believe they would be given sufficient resources for legal defense and 86% report that they believe they would have the support of their major superior.

Going forward, the study concludes by proposing three significant steps to improve priests’ trust in the bishops. First, priests report desiring a father figure, rather than an administrator. While 70% of bishops reported seeing themselves as a father to their priests, only 28% of priests report they consider their bishop a father. Second, priests desire great transparency around processes like making assignments and the review process for allegations of abuse. And finally, priests desire to see bishops held accountable in order to rebuild trust with priests and laity alike.

“Every Catholic I know, from the lay faithful to the bishops, wants to support our priests,” says White. “To do that well, we need to better understand both how priests are flourishing and how they are struggling. My hope for this study is that it will help do just that.”

Been feeling bummed lately but searching for answers

So I admit to feelings of being bummed out even though I'm taking off on my first cruise in like forever later this week.  But for me and a couple of million close friends from south Louisiana(and beyond) we have been dealing with the aftermath of the Saints armed robbery.  By now the events of the game and the incredible firestorm post game are all well know, dissected and discussed to death.  But this one will take a long time to get over because it is so egregious and the inactions of the NFL literally changed the trajectory of the Super Bowl.  For me, I will not watch the SB game this year in deference to my 50+ loyalty to the New Orleans Saints.  I never put a bag on my head, I never quit professing loyalty to the "home" team and I realized the football pinnacle of celebrating my team as Super Bowl Champs(February 2010).  It felt like this year was going to be the same as 2010, it really did.  Even though the Saints were not always as sharp as they should have been against those cheating Rams, the pass play that resulted in the greatest no-call ever most probably cost the Saints that 2nd Super Bowl.  So I'm still bummed, but I know what to do; I will not watch the SB or give any support to the NFL beyond cheering on forever my New Orleans Saints.

As I prepared to watch the game I knew that my church assignments had me assisting and preaching at 6 pm Mass.  For days I lamented what if the game goes into OT.  Indeed it did.  But as that incredibly long FG sailed through the uprights for those cheating Rams, I was so thankful to be heading to Mass.  Something about the Catholic Mass, the Eucharist, the Gospel, the gift of preaching that night, were all just what I needed to be reminded for sure about what is most important.  And we were not alone; I was very much surprised to see over 150 present for Mass, even those reeling from the Saints debacle.

Football isn't the world but there are also several worldly things that are also "bummed out" worthy.  Have you been following the government shutdown?  It's ridiculous no matter which side of the debate you are on.  While powerful and wealthy people, secure in their own fortunes, refuse to honestly dialogue, everyday paycheck to paycheck people are having their lives impacted by things called furlough, layoff, work for free, etc.  Sure the issues to debate are sober and yes we are told that all will eventually get their pay, but in the meantime they struggle.  Through no fault of their own, moms and dads have to explain to their kids why they can't:  buy food, go out to eat, get new shoes, attend a school event, drive to town and on and on.  When powerful people pontificate it is always the less powerful made to suffer.  I am glad to see such a robust response by food pantries, various charities and even many business institutions coming to the aid of these affected folks.  And yes the Church is right there in the middle of all this as well.  Whatever the budget solution needs to be, however we address border security or build a wall, I grieve the impact on the little guy and believe it to be shameful what the powerful do the "salt of the earth".

Another event has contributed to feeling bummed and it is that overblown over-viral event from DC between Catholic school boys and some adults who seem to be relishing in their "20 seconds of fame".  It literally took seconds to uniformly and uninformedly throw these boys under the bus; the media crucified them, those with a certain political agenda crucified them but then sadly here come crucifixion from the Catholic diocese and Catholic school from which they came.  Now I'm sure there was quite a bit of boys will be boys actions embedded in the event, but isn't it amazing how much truth came forward when a broader body of evidence was presented.  Meanwhile these are boys, average age of 16 and a wholesale crusade, including piling on by many members of the Church, sought to ruin their lives; talk of expulsion from school and declaring what punks they must be without knowing anything.  A judgmental lot we most certainly are!  Here is the real deal.  Friday was the March for Life.  It is pretty much well known that this march, to protest the evil of abortion and the law that safeguards such evil, was going to be this day; it would dominate all things in DC and the marchers would be primarily Christians.  And knowing a little of which I speak, all those Christians are led by about 75% Catholic turnout and many of it youth groups from across many, many dioceses.  And since the Pro-Life cause is also political there is no mistake that this would mean that among these Christians, mostly Catholics, would be political leaning Republicans since that is the party in today's reality that backs a Pro-Life agenda.  So the fact that a radical group calling themselves Hebrew something or another and indigenous people were roaming the streets of DC inside the largest march that DC ever experiences anymore, in the March for Life, is to me suspicious at best.  Whatever this all was, it was intended to call into question the Pro-Life movement and hopefully demonstrate that Pro-Life people are a bunch of back home hillbillies who are not properly enlightened and hate anyone and everyone that does not act or look like them.  Sadly they descended on a bunch of Catholic "boys" from Kentucky.  And the press and the left and even some, I stress some, inside the Church were all too quick to pounce.  Shame on them.

This one really has bummed me out because what gets swept under the rug, what does not get covered by the media, what is hidden as best the left can hide it is the overwhelming response and success to the March for Life, thankfully in large part to incredible Catholic witness; and many of those Catholics are young people; a generation I find to be fiercely in love with the Lord, loyal to the Church and incredibly Pro-Life.  They also understand the Godliness of things like abstinence over a jacked-up, hook up culture of casual sex and chemical birth control and they also understand the righteousness of marriage being one man and one woman.  This is an incredible testimony of these pro-life Catholic kids because it is so anti-cultural.  These kids, despite trying to live Catholic morals and teaching, have all the opposite values thrust in their face daily.  Still they persevere.  And when an opportunity arrived this week to at least accept and defend these young people, they were failed, especially by Catholic adults.  Bummed out.

But last night I facilitated our parish Bible study and of course we found great lessons in the hope and promise offered by Jesus the Christ in all kinds of troubled times.  More Jesus and less "all that" helps cure the feeling of being bummed out.

Trust in the plan of God for our lives and fidelity to all the teachings of His Holy Church will always see us through anything; even that darn Saints game!

Bummed out?  Rest in the Lord; be a follower of hope!