America & the Vatican / Part 2

I have not read nor heard more about Fr. Reese’s resignation and frankly, I wasn’t searching for more information. I am also suspicious of the amount of press this resignation engendered – it’s as if the powers that be in the Vatican are trying to set an example out of Fr. Reese – which is a shame if that’s what their intention was. I hope Delia Gallagher pursues this news item – not just interview people and pass on the conversations to us – but really pursues it, like the why’s / where’s / what’s / how’s.

America magazine was the only Catholic print media item I ever religiously (no pun intended) read. I have great respect for Fr. Reese, his editorial staff, and his writers; they have managed to convey their message without being sappy or combative. Instead, they challenged the readers into thinking about the church in a much more logical and cerebral manner - much different from the Pentecostal diatribes so commonly heard nowadays.

Delia Gallagher – in one of her CNN appearances – explained that Pope Benny was open to “dialogue”, with the premise that you give your views and I give mine and we’ll talk. I find it ironic that Delia’s Benedictian Dialogue precludes his own flock; or that her definition of dialogue doesn’t necessarily conclude in a new (and presumably improved) position for both parties involved. I don’t want my church to be reduced to a bunch of sycophants; we are thinking human beings and it’s our duty to question and not just accept the things around us.

My introduction to Cardinal Ratzinger was his Notification regarding the writings of Fr. Anthony De Mello, SJ. Why Ratzi’s office felt compelled to issue such a document is beyond me, but if you have read Fr. De Mello’s work, there really is nothing in there that could “cause grave harm” to its readers. And let's be realistic, if you were half brain dead, you wouldn't really find yourself holding a De Mello book anyway. Fr. De Mello’s works were fables and stories, not meant to be taken as gospel or theological dissertation. I felt bad for Fr. De Mello because by the time the Notification was issued (1998), he was already dead and could not defend himself. But then again, I could only assume that Fr. De Mello would have taken Cardinal Ratzinger’s position with a grain of salt, given his spirituality and humility.

So – am I really surprised at Fr. Reese’s forced resignation? Probably not. What I don’t understand is how a Church which has survived for 2,000 years can think that its survival is predicated on the elimination of people who challenge the status quo.

And because we need a picture: