WelCom November 2024
Bishop Peter Cullinane shares a letter to Pope Francis about greater diversity within ordained ministries in the Church.
Oversimplified headlines have been giving the impression that Pope Francis has spoken definitively on the matter of women deacons. That is not my understanding. I understand that wider possibilities for the sacrament of Holy Orders need to be explored first, and simply latching on to the existing structures could further delay the wider discussion that needs to take place. We may lament the time this takes, but we can hardly dispute the need.
I can illustrate what I mean by sharing a letter I wrote to Pope Francis in July 2016, albeit abbreviated for the sake of space.
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His Holiness, Pope Francis, Vatican City.
18 July 2016
Dear Holy Father,
First, may I introduce myself…
I wish to make a suggestion concerning the possibility of greater diversity within the ordained ministries of the Church.
As you know, a greater variety of ministries existed in the early Church before they coalesced into the ministries of bishop, presbyter and deacon. Of course, other charisms, prophetic ministries and movements continued to exist alongside the ordained ministries, and continue to inspire and nurture the Church – not least of all the Religious Orders, and now the new ecclesial movements. But the focus of this letter is ordained ministry.
Greater diversity of ministries within the early Church is not, per se, sufficient reason for greater diversity in today’s Church. But there are other good pastoral reasons pertinent to our own times. I do not think our current ordained ministries are adequate for meeting the needs they are meant to meet, even with the support of various lay ministries.
This is not reducible to how ordained ministries are carried out. I take for granted that it needs to be ‘collaborative ministry’. Many lay people have shown exemplary leadership in exercising pastoral, spiritual and liturgical ministries, and formation for them. I am not advocating more forms of lay ministry because we must not obscure the fact that laity carry out the mission of the Church, and grow in holiness, in their secular callings. The Church’s mission is not reducible to ministries, ordained or lay. And ordained ministries are not reducible to their functions; all ministries are representative, in the sense of giving voice and visibility to what the Risen Christ is doing through them.
Having made the above clarifications, I now ask whether the Church’s universal episcopate should consider redistributing the ‘powers’ currently enshrined within the ministries of episcopacy, presbyterate and diaconate into a wider variety of ministries…
‘Powers’ presently distributed among the existing ordained ministries would live on, but in a wider configuration. The fullness of authority vested in the college of bishops (cum et sub Petro) would also live on. But the lesser participations in its teaching, sanctifying and governing roles would be redistributed among ordained ministries – old and new.
As you know, ordained ministries carried out in the name of Christ ultimately have their origin in Christ, but their structure and concrete forms were determined by the Church, during the apostolic period and continuing until late in the second century. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church of those times shaped its ministries to meet its needs. What the post-apostolic Church could do then, it can still do now. Being faithful to the Tradition involves more than just receiving what the early Church did; it involves doing what the early Church did, which includes shaping its ministries to meet the needs of its mission…
Adaptation to today’s circumstances has resulted in lay women and men becoming chaplains, or members of chaplaincy teams, in our hospitals, prisons, secondary colleges and tertiary institutions. We have all heard the occasional laments of some of these that they could have done so much more if they had able to celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation, and the sacrament of Anointing the Sick. They were available at certain kairos moments when a priest could not be; or in places where priests are not usually present.
A greater diversity of ordained ministries would also create a needed new context in which to discuss other questions that are still waiting to be resolved… Some answers that make sense within our current perspectives do not seem to fully satisfy, including questions whose lack of resolution has negative consequences for the Church. For example: questions about participation in governance and its relationship to Holy Orders; the ongoing distraction of clericalism; Anglican Orders, the ordained ministries of other Christian churches, and Christian unity; real and perceived inequalities based on gender…
The primary repository of what the apostles ‘handed on’ is, of course, the whole body of the baptised faithful. This body will always produce the ministries it needs for its nurture, and has the right to be adequately ministered to. Of course, the development of greater diversity in the Church’s ordained ministries would need to allow for differences arising from inculturation. This suggests the need for Bishops’ Conferences to take more responsibility…
I realise this far-reaching proposal should also involve the Churches of the East. Such dialogue would be mutually enriching, but given the different situations we experience in the West, the outcome of dialogue should not ultimately depend on East and West being able to move at the same pace…
In one sense, my proposal seems a ‘big ask’. In another sense it seems a small thing. You yourself have spoken of a ‘missionary option’ that is ‘capable of transforming everything’. I am reminded of a comment by Hans Urs von Balthasar:
…(the) Church will suffer the loss of its shape as it undergoes a death, and the more so, the more purely it lives from its source and is consequently less concerned with preserving its shape. In fact, it will not concern itself with affirming its shape but with promoting the world’s salvation; as for the shape in which God will raise it from its death to serve the world, it will entrust (that) to the Holy Spirit.
Holy Father, I believe that what I am proposing is possible doctrinally speaking, and that it could have far-reaching pastoral advantages. I will respect your own judgement on what to do with it.
Be assured of my prayers – for yourself personally and for your ministry. (You and I were born within 18 days of each other, and I am amazed at your energy).
Yours respectfully, etc.