(John
Thavis*) Two of the College of Cardinals’ most colorful characters,
American Timothy Dolan and Australian George Pell, offered somewhat
different takes
on the Synod of Bishops during an event with English-speaking
journalists Tuesday evening.
On marriage
and family issues, Dolan the
optimist seemed to see the
glass half-full, while Pell the
“realist” tended toward
half-empty.
Asked what
had struck him most about the synodal assembly so far, Pell said his
answer would probably be seen as “ecclesiastically incorrect,”
but he continued: “The thing I’ve taken from the first three days
is the level of trouble we’re in, right around the world, with
marriage and the family. There are very, very few societies where the
trend is running in the direction of strengthened family life.”
Pell spoke,
for example, of the “radical
disarray in family life”
among working class people in countries like the United States.
Pell added
that while bishops all want to show understanding and mercy to their
people, especially those in difficult and irregular situations, that
didn’t mean they could bend the rules or teachings. Referring to
divorced and remarried Catholics, he said: “As Christians, we
follow Jesus. I might have hoped Jesus would have been a little bit
softer on divorce. But he wasn’t, and I’m sticking with him.”
Cardinal
Dolan quickly jumped in and quipped to reporters, “There’s your
soundbite for tomorrow: ‘Cardinal
Pell sticks with Jesus.’”
Pell, of
course, is among those who have publicly criticized a proposal by
Cardinal Walter Kasper to find a way to re-admit divorced and
remarried Catholics to Communion.
Cardinal
Dolan, on the other hand, said he was most impressed with the synod’s
new methodology, including a
move to listen to a married couple at the start of each session.
“That’s very refreshing, and very instructive. The pastors of the
world are listening.”
Dolan added
that so far, the bishops have shown that they care about their
people, especially their “broken
people” who are outside the
church. It bothers bishops in the United States, he said, that only
50% of young Catholics today even approach the sacrament of marriage.
But while
that’s an obvious problem, Dolan said, there’s not much
hand-wringing at the synod, and no “doom and gloom.” There is
candor, Dolan said, but not a
sense of panic.
The two
cardinals spoke at a launch of “Crux”,
an online project of the Boston
Globe that focuses on Catholic
news. Both men said interaction
with the media was essential
for the modern church, and that to communicate well the church has to
update its language.
Dolan, for
example, said the term “natural law” is still an important
philosophical concept in understanding the church’s teachings, but
it doesn't have much meaning to contemporary people.
“When
(the bishops) talk about some kind of renewal or reform of our
vocabulary, they don’t mean to soften it to dilute the teaching.
They are trying to find better ways to say it, to make our
teaching more credible and cogent.
So it’s not a code word for side-stepping tough things,” Dolan
said.
Asked if
the cardinals knew what they were getting when they elected Pope
Francis, Cardinal Pell said it was clear that the Vatican needed
change, and Francis has not
disappointed. Pell was
appointed by the pope to heads a new Vatican financial organization
that’s implementing far-reaching economic reforms.
Dolan said
he’s been most surprised by Pope Francis as a captivating
public figure. “I thought of
him as a very shy, retiring man. In no way did I think of him as
charismatic, someone who would electrify the crowds,” Dolan said.
*Vaticanista,
www.johnthavis.com
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