Chinese Regional Bishops’ Conference

Tuesday, 6 April 2009

Your Eminence,

Your Excellencies,

      Thank you most sincerely for the kind invitation to join you for the Spring Plenary Meeting of your Conference on this Easter Tuesday. Christ, our hope, is risen! His resurrection brings us hope and new life.

      At your Autumn Plenary Meeting, I spoke about the relationship between the pope and bishops, and the relationship among bishops. As I said: a profound and intimate communion among Bishops – unity in mind, heart and affection which is expressed in common action – is the pre-condition for a profound and intimate communion between Bishops and their priests, and between Bishops, priests and lay faithful. The focus of these remarks will be on the relationship between Bishops and priests.

      [Some of what I will say is taken from a talk entitled: “Father – Brother – Friend: Bishop-Priest Relationships” by the Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory, Archbishop of Atlanta, 7 March 2010. When I was writing this address, I read Archbishop Gregory’s talk; what I wanted to say, he says much better.]

      Relationships are at the very heart of the Mystery of the life of the Triune God. God reveals Himself as a God of relationships. Through the revelation that we have from Jesus Christ Himself, we know that God lives in a perfect communion of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We also believe that because of God’s own gracious design, we human beings are now invited to enter into a graced relationship with God through His Church and ultimately destined to be made perfect in the life to come where our mortal persons will be joined in complete joy and fulfillment in relationship with the Triune God.

      Our calling to be in relationship with others is also wondrously and distinctively present in the Church. We Catholics belong to a unique family of faith that includes men and women from every age, culture, nation, race, and background. The Church is the place where our relationships with all other individuals of faith are bound together in love and sanctified by the Holy Spirit through the Sacraments as we profess one faith in the Love of God.

      While the Church enjoys the gift of oneness, the gift of communion, we experience that unity in the midst of a variety of gifts and relationships that distinguish the different members within the Church. When those relationships are healthy and strong, all of the members of the Church benefit. And conversely it is also true that when those relationships are in disorder and dysfunctional, the entire Church is negatively impacted.

      Now, during this Year of the Priest, I would like to turn my attention to a consideration of the importance of the relationship between bishops and priests in the midst of a local presbyterate.

      The bishop-priest relationships and the relationships among priests have a profound significance for the entire Church and in each diocese. In point of fact, when the relationships between bishops and priests and among their own brother priests are healthy, happy, and well-grounded, the entire Church is the beneficiary of that grace.

      The Sacrament of Holy Orders is constituted for the service of the People of God and when we in Orders are in right relationship among ourselves, the People of God are best served. When those in the Sacrament of Orders are in proper relationship, our prayer life, our apostolic endeavors, our personal lives are most effectively at the service of our people.

      No doubt every diocesan bishop is habitually mindful of and frequently prays about his relationship with his priests. If those relationships as a matter of fact happen to be positive, favorable, and affable, then bishops worry about how those relationships might be maintained and indeed strengthened. If however they are uncertain, argumentative, and mistrustful, then bishops worry about how those relationships might be remedied, enriched, and solidified.

      Priests everywhere – including here in Taiwan – judging from my contacts with priests from everywhere on the island and the letters I receive – are also very much concerned about their relationships with their bishops. If they believe that they are fortunate enough to have an affable, sensitive, and thoughtful bishop, then they are concerned about his health, his age, and his potential for being transferred. On the other hand, if their relationship with their bishop is contentious, acrimonious, and distrustful; they frequently consider his age, his health, and his potential for being transferred! Our relationships are critically important for every bishop and for all priests. This year dedicated to Priests is thus a welcome opportunity and a reminder for bishops and priests to reassess our relationships with each other. And with the poignant news reports of these past days about clerical sexual abuse, which are deeply felt among all bishops and priests – and indeed amongst all of the faithful – it would be more than appropriate to consider how we might all improve and strengthen the spirit of unity and harmony within each local presbyterate. Each presbyterate must consciously work on strengthening the bonds that unite bishops and priests and those among priests themselves.

      This topic obviously is important for the whole Church since as we have all recently witnessed to our great chagrin that when the relationships between bishops and priests are not in fact healthy and proper, the rest of the Church can be catastrophically and adversely impacted. The converse is also true, when bishops and priests are in right relationships, the People of God are better attended and more faithfully served by a clergy that is spiritually and professionally healthy and focused on the mission of the Sacrament of Orders which takes the care of souls as our primary concern and the ultimate source of our holiness and spiritual goal.

      Just after my fifth anniversary of ordination to the priesthood, I was transferred from the parish where I had been for those five years to another parish. I had just finished unpacking when the phone rang. A voice asked, “Father Russell?” When I responded affirmatively, the voice said, “Please hold for the Cardinal!” My first thought was: “I must be in trouble!” Now I could not think of any reason for me to be in trouble, but for me a telephone call from the Cardinal Archbishop must mean that I was in trouble. For some priests, the only time that they have a social or personal encounter with their bishop is for a disciplinary matter. I hope that here in Taiwan, if you were to telephone one of your priests, his first reaction would not be a sinking feeling. I hope that you yourselves do not have a similar sinking feeling when you receive a telephone call from the Nunciature!

      Whether consciously or unconsciously, we who hold authority in the Church sometimes model ourselves and our actions on secular authority. The Church is not the Celestial Empire and the Bishop is not the Emperor. The Church is not the government – national or local – and the Bishop is not President, Magistrate or Mayor. The Church is not a business and the Bishop is not Chief Executive Officer. Jesus teaches us how authority is to be exercised. He washed the feet of his disciples; he is in our midst as one who serves. If we must take a model of authority from secular life, the best model is the family, and the best model of family life is that of the Holy Family.

      We are approaching the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. The Decree on the Pastoral Office of the Bishops in the Church Christus Dominus and the Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests Presbyterorum ordinis provide the proper spiritual framework for understanding the bishop-priest relationship. The documents use a three-fold relational description: Father-Brother-Friend. This offers a valuable perspective on how Bishops and Priests ought to view and to relate to one another and as a consequence of that relationship more effectively serve the entire Church.

Paternal-Filial

      The Ordination Ritual for Priests is overflowing with many references of the Bishop as a Father to his priests as indeed bishops are and must always strive to become ever more perfectly so.

      The father’s role in relation to his family is often described as that of protector and provider, including providing discipline and support. A father defends his family and each of his children; he protects his family from danger. A father provides for the needs of his family; this often entails great sacrifice on his part. A father provides the disciplinary framework for his children. Studies have shown that fathers whose parenting style is authoritative – combining control with warmth and regard – are more likely to have children who feel secure and demonstrate good mental health. All of these aspects of fatherhood can be applied to a bishop’s relationship with his priests.

      The paternal-filial relationship is perhaps most immediately appropriate for young priests as they begin their sacramental ministry. They are, after all, inexperienced, enthusiastic, optimistic, and usually somewhat naive and the bishop obviously should see himself in his relationship to them as generative, encouraging, wise, and probably a little protective.

     This paternal-filial relationship over the years should usually continue to develop much as the natural relationships between sons and fathers do as young boys pass from childhood, through adolescence and finally into manhood and through each of these stages of growth they relate to their fathers in new and life-giving ways that are satisfying to both fathers and sons.

      Here each one of us can think of the personal supportive paternal-filial relationships which have enriched our own lives. No doubt you, as I, have been blessed to know great priests who cared for me lovingly as their son. They have set very high standards for me to emulate.

      Bishops and priests when reflecting on this paternal image must now also be aware that not every one of us, especially in today’s environment, may have had the grace of a perfect or even supportive paternal-filial relationship within our own personal family histories – if such a reality as a perfect relationship ever did exist in any age. Unfortunately within our own contemporary society the paradigm of the paternal-filial relationship increasingly does not always result in a universally positive memory for everyone.

      Where that is the case, bishop and priest each must acknowledge and candidly admit that we may have to reconsider what any genuinely healthy and loving paternal-filial relationship must entail in our lives today. As men of faith, we must also focus upon that one paternal-filial relationship that is perfect in each and every respect – that is the relationship between Jesus and His Father. It is that model that must be the ultimate guide and paradigm when we consider how bishops and priests are to live as father and son in the Church.

      Some young priests tell their bishops that they want and expect the bishop to be a father for them. No doubt you have had this experience. But we have to ask them, according to which standards? As Jesus and His Father who are perfectly united in love? Or somehow as a substitute or surrogate father? Or as a prolongation of the relationship that they might have had with their own fathers?

      Bishops, as much as they might truly love their priests, cannot nullify or substitute for an unfortunate paternal relationship – neither should bishops attempt to rectify a regrettable personal history nor should bishops be blamed for such painful histories. In all humility, bishops realize that they can never measure up to that perfect Father-Son relationship that Jesus enjoys with His Heavenly Father. Yet they can and must love their priests with the heart of a true father. And priests have every right to expect that from their bishop. Of course that perfect relationship that Jesus enjoys with His Heavenly Father does include complete submission and total obedience as a sign of the Son’s love for His Father. And bishops may also suspect that such complete and perfect submission and obedience may have occurred only once!

      It is no mere coincidence that the title that Catholic priests have carried within the Church for many centuries is the title “father”. That title bears within itself a vital reminder and summons that we priests stand in relationship within the entire Church as the father of a family. The bond that links a bishop with his priests as father cannot – indeed must never – exclude the relationship that the Bishop has with the entire Church which is comprised of all of his sons and daughters equally worthy of a father’s love, concern, devotion, and protection.

      No doubt you have found tremendous joy in watching your young sons grow in their priestly ministry, in their confidence as youthful ministers of the Gospel, and in the development of their expertise as Servants of God’s People. Perhaps you find in that satisfaction a similar joy that biological fathers discover when they witness their children develop into those fine people that God wants them to become and that they do become in conformity with God’s grace.

Brother

      The fraternity of the Priesthood is a well-known and cherished phrase that seeks to describe the way that priests are related to one another and to their bishop. Fraternity is a warm and obviously manly term of endearment. Fraternities – any group of men – can indicate a rowdy, unkempt, and often unruly way of relating to each other, such as in the military or university or seminary. Usually those boisterous friendships from the military, university or seminary also managed to establish the foundation for friendships that endured for a life-time. Fraternities were and still provide moments of transition from young adulthood into mature, professional, and enduring relationships. To belong to a fraternity is to be identified with a group of men who have shared both adventure and growth. In its best sense, a fraternity is an association of men who have transitioned together through important events of maturation, growth and commitment to shared ideals and goals. In that sense, the fraternity of priests can be a happy memory and cherished aspiration in the life of a presbyterate as they recall seminary experiences and the early adventures in ministry. The elder members of the fraternity are [or should be] sources of wisdom and good example. The younger members regenerate [or should] the enthusiasm that priests share for the ministry of the Church bringing with them the bright-eyed energy and zeal that their elders may have forgotten.

      All the members of the presbyterate belong to a single fraternity – those who are native sons to the diocese, those who come from other places and backgrounds, and yes – even the bishop, diocesan priests and religious priests. Establishing a fraternity among the priests of a diocese is a challenge when the members of the presbyterate come from so many different cultures and ethnic communities, as is true here in Taiwan. Each priest carries within himself the image and ideal of priesthood that he gained from his own personal heritage. Yet a presbyterate must congeal in such a fashion that individuals are respected and the people of God are well served according to the cultural circumstances operative in the diocese.

      The bishop must be a brother among brothers. This sense of fraternal love is critical between priests and bishops and for the health and holiness of the local Church. Priesthood offers us a fraternal bond that links us all to Christ and to each other and ultimately all for the sanctification of the people entrusted to our care.

      Brothers do not always agree! Any one fortunate enough to have a brother and to be a brother knows exactly what that reality means. Brothers love one another with a sincere and yet often times a quite competitive love. Brothers help one another to grow up, to develop skills, and to learn what it means to be a member of a family. A bishop is a brother to his priests and like any fraternal relationship – at times it can be a test for both.

      Because a bishop is a brother, he can be challenged and tested as any brother can be and usually are with some regularity. Because a bishop is a brother, he can be assertive and competitive in prodding a brother priest as frequently happens. Because a bishop is a brother, he can be expected to be a source of support and a trusted confidante as bishops must always be. A bishop is a brother to his priests when he realizes that they belong to the same family and share a common Father and are loved by the same Mother.

      This fraternity is not intended to overlook or displace the larger familial reality that links the entire Church together as God’s family but rather summons all the ministers within the Sacrament of Orders to better understand and live out the responsibilities that flow from that Sacrament for the pastoral care of the entire flock of the Lord.

      The fraternity of the presbyterate experiences difficulties when it becomes insular and forgets its purpose of service to the other members of the Church. A presbyterate is a fraternity so that it can jointly and lovingly serve the needs of the entire People of God. Priestly fraternity was never intended to be an exclusive club whose sole purpose is simply to maintain the prerogatives and privileges of the club.

      One of the saddest commentaries of the entire sexual abuse scandal that has so devastated the Catholic Church during the past decade and which has erupted again in the past weeks has been the revelation that the poor judgment and lack of proper oversight exercised by some bishops resulted in the violation of the young. Also in far too many cases some members of a presbyterate knew or suspected that one of their brothers was engaged in inappropriate or at least questionable behavior and they did nothing to confront or address that situation with the individual or with someone in authority. Some priests may have excused their failure to act with the earliest question of the fraternal bond: Am I my brother’s keeper? This lack of honest fraternal concern frequently meant that children were harmed, the presbyterate was humiliated, and the entire Church was subjected very harsh criticism. Among your agenda items is a discussion of the Holy Father’s Letter to the Catholics of Ireland. In the light of this document, I encourage you to review sexual abuse norms for the Church in Taiwan. Our first concern must always be for the victims. Sexual abuse of minors is not only a sin, it is a crime. Every credible accusation should be met with immediate suspension and duly reported to civil authorities; at the same time, the case must be forwarded to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. We must also work on preventing situations of abuse. Abuse does not suddenly occur; it is preceded by other actions, sometimes over a number of years. We must have concern for one another, look out for one another and take responsibility for each other, so that situations of abuse are stopped long before they occur.

      Priestly fraternity should not be misconstrued as a protectionist relationship that forgets or denies the other relationships that belong to the heart of God’s family. A spiritually sound fraternal relationship among priests is never against the other members of the Church, but is always a sense of togetherness in the service of the Church.

Friend

      Married couples enjoy a unique relationship that brings life, joy, and holiness to a man and woman. This treasured union is also one of the most ancient symbols of the love that Christ has for the Church. The spousal union enjoys sacramental dignity and plays an irreplaceable component in the generation of human and ecclesial life. I have often marveled at listening to how husbands and wives describe their bond of love. Often they resort to proclaiming to the entire world that not only are they each other’s spouses, partners, and colleagues in establishing a family and a home, but they are each other’s best friend.

      Friendship in the marriage union is often listed as the fundamental way that their love has drawn them together. It is the same type of friendship that Christ Himself must have intended when in Saint John’s Gospel, he bestows upon the twelve the gift of His friendship. Friends know one another deeply and personally. Friendship establishes a reciprocity that suggests a mature love and respect.

      Friendship is based ultimately upon disclosure – the revelation and acceptance of the intimacy of one’s heart to another person. Friendship allows one to remove the barriers of initial camouflage and privacy so that a person sees another without disguise. Husbands and wives over a life-time of sharing come to know one another’s strengths and weaknesses, dreams and fears, hopes and promises. Friendship is a gift that comes with time in a mature relationship. Sons and fathers who have the grace of a long and mature relationship often become best friends in addition to the biological relationship and the same is true when brothers enter those experiences of adulthood that transcend and transform their earlier youthful rivalry.

      Bishops and priests should strive to enjoy such an adult relationship that is also a spiritual reward that comes with knowledge of one another, collaboration with one another, and trust in one another. The prescribed responsorial refrain proposed to be sung during the sign of peace at the Ordination of Priests refers to the Johannine text: No longer do I call you servants but my friends because you know all that I have done among you. Friendship of this sort is a gift from the Lord and represents a goal to be achieved between bishops and priests – the fruit of a mature love and respect one for the other. Such a friendship does not blur the individual responsibilities or obligations that each has within the Sacrament of Orders, but strengthens the bonds that should tie one to the other.

      Bishops and priests enjoy such a friendship as the result of their prayer with and for one another. As they stand together around the Lord’s altar and even when they preside at the Eucharist individually we must pray for one another and imagine what the Lord is calling each of us to become with and for one another. The Chrism Mass becomes a highpoint in the life of each diocese when dramatically bishops and priests renew their promises of fidelity in service to the Church. At that moment, we also need to reaffirm our love for and care for one another in Christ.

      Bishops and priests enjoy these three relationships not as isolated moments but as increasing encounters of grace throughout the years. Obviously, human relationships do not develop in a never-ending progressive and intensifying manner. There are peaks and valleys that represent moments of challenge and advancement. Yet when bishops and priests learn to love and respect one another, they do pass from initial paternal-filial bonds, through the fraternal expressions of trust, to those experiences of friendship that married couples so often describe as the pinnacle of their long years of trust and love for one another.

      Such a friendship is dependent upon the individual. It must respect a person’s ability to engage another and it may not always be achievable. Some priests may not be comfortable encountering a bishop as a friend. Some bishops may not be able to have such a friendship with every one of his priests and ultimately may be fearful of being considered partial in his treatment of his priests.

      When the Church of Christ is served by bishops and priests who may have developed strong and lasting expressions of care and affection, everyone in the Church benefits. Parishes are well served, the young and the old are edified, the sick and the lonely are comforted, the stranger is welcomed, the poor are ministered to, and above all, God Himself is praised within the Church that He loves most perfectly and completely.

     Thank you for your kind attention!