Perspectief 2014-26

2014-26 Towards a Healthy Future of Catholicity in the Roman Catholic Church 45 Reag eer church institutions, basic communities and small communities, movements, and forms of association” as a Spirit-driven “source of enrichment for the Church” if at least some integration in the life of the particular Church takes place. (§ 29) Not only does the pope promote diversity at the level of the local Church, but, as the relatio of LG 13 did 50 years ago, he also clearly despises uniformity. As he states in Evangelii Gaudium : “It always pains me greatly to discover how some Christian communities, and even consecrated persons, can tolerate different forms of enmity, division, calumny, defamation, vendetta, jealousy and the desire to impose certain ideas at all costs, even to persecutions which appear as veritable witch hunts. Whom are we going to evangelize if this is the way we act?” (§ 100) In his CELAM address the pope also pleads for a greater involvement of lay people in the mission of the Church. In both diocesan councils and parish councils lay people should “participate in pastoral consultation, organization and planning.” The Pope believes that, “on this score we are far behind.” 6 As one of the most important pastoral dangers in Latin America, he warns against clericalism, also in the form of clericalizing the laity and thus again not taking the voice of all Church members seriously. In the Jesuit interview he is also aware that our communities need to better respect the contribution of women. “The feminine genius is needed wherever we make important decisions.” 7 6 Cf. also Evangelii Gaudium , § 102: “Lay people are, put simply, the vast majority of the people of God. The minority – ordained ministers – are at their service. There has been a growing awareness of the identity and mission of the laity in the Church. (…)At the same time, a clear awareness of this responsibility of the laity, grounded in their baptism and confirmation, does not appear in the same way in all places.” 7 In Evangelii Gaudium , § 104 the pope insists that the Church is only not entitled to grant “the power to administer the sacrament of the Eucharist” to women. “This presents a great challenge for pastors and theologians, who are in a position to recognize more fully what this entails with regard to the possible role of women in decision-making in different areas of the Church’s life.” Somme commentators ask attention for the symbolic actions of the pope in this regard. See e.g. Michel Dubost, “Sortir aux périphéries,” Le grand tournant: l’an I de la révolution du pape François (Paris: Cerf, 2014, 49-72, p. 70: “En lavant les pieds le jeudi saint à deux femmes, il a probablement donné plus de rayonnement à la pensée de Jean-Paul II sur les femmes que la lettre apostolique Mulieris Dignitatem .”