He will be in Rome in a day or so to talk about reform with the other seven cardinals Francis appointed to his Council of advisors. It is likely he has already had some exchanges with Cardinal Rodriguez Madariaga at the conference on the new evangelization, held between 16-19 November at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The Franciscan archbishop of Boston, Sean Patrick O’Malley is the biggest Francis enthusiast among the American cardinals. “Pope Francis exalts a spirituality that is based on understanding and friendship,” the archbishop told Terre d’America. “And friendship comes from the recognition that what unites us as an American continent is stronger than cultural or language differences. Soon, very soon, the majority of Catholics in the US will be of Hispanic origin due to immigration from Latin America. I think this can be considered the most important event of the century. As well as the election of a Latin American Pope…”
The Pope’s “culture of encounter” as O’Malley calls it, will play an important role in the reforms being discussed. According to him, the laity needs to be a protagonist in these reforms. “Without them, there can be no Church reform,” The Franciscan said before going on to convey a heartfelt mea culpa.”We are the ones who clericalise them,” he argued. “The minute any lay person approaches the Church, we immediately give them liturgical tasks instead of catapulting them into the world and transforming them…” “Build a stadium and the people will come,” the cardinal said, recalling a popular saying. This worked for a long time but not any more. He sees it as the legacy of an identity-making Catholicism. “I grew up at a time when if you were Irish, Italian or Lithuanian, you were a church-going Catholic who paid and obeyed.” Archbishop O’Malley cast his mind back to his childhood to illustrate this. “I remember once when I was a child, the pipes at home froze one very cold winter. My father was not able to get hold of our usual plumber, so he looked another one up in the Yellow Pages. My mother practically begged him to call a Catholic plumber. For my Irish parents there was nothing worse than a Protestant laying their hands on our damaged pipes.” Things have changed since then. Today’s plumbers are probably anything but religious.
There had been a tremendous “disaffiliation”, Archbishop O’Malley said. “The Pope’s culture of encounter and the emphasis he has placed on a social Gospel, have generated a great deal of enthusiasm. I know many people who are now taking another look at the Church.” But Pope Francis’ approach also works well in terms of fighting the battles that currently need to be fought. “During a recent euthanasia prevention campaign in Massachusetts we asked Evangelicals, Muslims, Mormons and black Protestant Churches for help and we came out on top.” Archbishop O’Malley praised the Latin American Pope’s commitment to the issue of the family today. “It’s strange; when we received the 38 questions, we started getting complaints about there being insufficient time to complete the answers and that the consultation process had been poorly organised by the Vatican … my vicar general was a bit distressed. So I told him: “tomorrow we have the diocesan pastoral council meeting. Let’s send the questions off today by email and start discussing.” The next day I was shocked to see how happy they were to have been consulted on such an important issue. We decided to send the questions to all dioceses … The young priests – who were ordained in the last five years and whom I have been meeting every month – are also glad to be taking part.” This is partly why he believes the consultation method should be adopted for other issues too. “It is a way of getting people involved, getting their ideas on how family pastoral care can be improved, whilst at the same time understanding how they perceive the Church’s teachings in this field.” “It is not a referendum on Catholic doctrine as some have tried to portray the Pope’s initiative,” Archbishop O’Malley stressed. He was referring to the criticisms made by traditionalist circles. And he wished to draw a distinction here. “There are no big Lefebvrian groups in the US as there are in France and other European countries … instead, we have conservative groups which would like the Pope to always talk about abortion … My response is this: the Holy Father is providing us with the context of our teaching, which is God’s goodness, mercy, the power of transforming our relationship with Christ. We are pro-life because we are compassionate people, not because we like to grumble and tell people off when they make mistakes. As Christians we show mercy to a woman who in a moment of crisis takes a decision that will make her suffer for the rest of her life…
Archbishop O’Malley considers Pope Francis’ current presence in the Church as the work of the Holy Spirit. “There are many Americans who are taking another look at the Church, fascinated by the goodness, mercy and love the Pope has been talking about … this is what we need.”
The paedophilia crisis that shook the American Church to its very core is behind us. “In Boston it exploded in 2002; there have been over 4000 cases of priests accused of sexual abuse, most of which was committed between 1960 and 1985. We have paid enormous sums out … two million dollars if I’m not mistaken and at least eight dioceses have declared bankruptcy. We have learnt a lesson, a tough lesson, which has led us to introduce rules that make child protection a priority.”
Archbishop O’Malley considers Pope Francis’ current presence in the Church as the work of the Holy Spirit. “There are many Americans who are taking another look at the Church, fascinated by the goodness, mercy and love the Pope has been talking about … this is what we need.”
The paedophilia crisis that shook the American Church to its very core is behind us. “In Boston it exploded in 2002; there have been over 4000 cases of priests accused of sexual abuse, most of which was committed between 1960 and 1962. We have paid enormous sums out … two million dollars if I’m not mistaken and at least eight dioceses have declared bankruptcy. We have learnt a lesson, a tough lesson, which has led us to introduce rules that make child protection a priority.”
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