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CALL TO ACTION –
www.CTA-Philadelphia.org; E-Mail: CTAPhiladelphia@comcast.net
Last month,
the local Call to Action organization mailed a survey to 900 priests residing
within the Philadelphia Archdiocese asking them: “Do you favor an open
discussion of the mandatory celibacy rule for diocesan priests?” 130 priests responded to the survey. 47% said they favored open discussion of the
issue, with only 27% saying that “that
the People of God would be better served if the discipline of mandatory
priestly celibacy were discarded.” These
were some of the comments offered on the celibacy issue:
·
“I
am busy enough as a priest and have deep admiration for marriage and
families. I could not imagine having
enough time to dedicate to wife and children as a priest.”
·
“I
know of several priests who are struggling with celibacy and it is starting to
weigh on them and affect their ministry.
It is scary to think that we might lose them because they are good
priests and love what they do.”
·
“Let me quote the words of the Cardinal
Archbishop of
On the issue of women’s ordination, 50% of the priests said
that the Church does not have
authority to ordain women, and only 25% believed that “the People of God would
be better served if women were ordained.” This was one of the comments in defense of
the status quo: “As John Paul II has outlined so clearly, we simply do not have
authority to do have authority to ordain women.
Jesus broke many customs of his day, but called only men as priests.”
The one page survey also included questions regarding several
issues of pastoral practice:
·
Divorced-and-remarried
Catholics: 76% said that these couple should be encouraged to
participate in the life of the Church, but not to receive the Eucharist. The other 25% thought that people in their
situation “should be encouraged
prayerfully to follow their conscience regarding participation in the
sacramental life of the Church.”
·
Contraception:
77% said that married couples should be instructed that they are permitted the use of only natural means of family
planning. Only 23% thought that married
couples should be encouraged to “prayerfully
follow their conscience in choosing a method of family planning most
appropriate to their individual needs.”
·
Gay
and lesbian Catholics: More than 80% said that they “should be instructed on official Church
teaching regarding the sinfulness of homosexual activity;” 19% said that they
should be encouraged to “prayerfully to
follow their conscience regarding participation in the sacramental life of the
Church.”
One out of every five respondents added comments that
objected to, or modified, the use of the words “prayerfully follow conscience” in the questions about pastoral
practice. The following comments are typical
of the majority understanding of informed
conscience:
·
“As Catholic Christians we are
obligated to follow a rightly formed conscience, & obligated to look upon
the authority of the Church to teach and inform our conscience.”
·
“Follow conscience but only if in line
with Church teaching.”
Only one of the comments presented a more nuanced
understanding of informed conscience:
·
“Catholics should know what the
‘official teaching’ of the Church is.
The contested issue is: does this particular teaching settle the matter,
or should it be simply one important aspect of ‘informing’ one’s conscience.”
There were considerable differences among the demographic
groups represented in the survey. The 33
priests belonging to religious orders or congregations had viewpoints that were
different from those of the diocesan priests on several issues:
·
One survey question dealt with changes
in the directives for celebrating the Eucharist that emphasized separation
between ordained ministers and non-ordained faithful. “Do you
think that these changes have been pastorally helpful in understanding the
meaning of the Eucharist?” 67% of
diocesan priests answered Yes,
compared to 26% of religious priests.
·
79% of religious compared to 36% of
diocesan priests were in favor of open discussion of optional celibacy.
·
47% of religious compared to 18% of
diocesan priests favored ordaining women.
·
42% of religious compared to 14% of
diocesan priests would encourage the divorced-and-remarried to prayerfully
follow their conscience.
The identification of respondents by age-group also produced
interesting difference: 10% of the priests responding were 40 or Younger; 41% were from 41
to 60 Years Old; 49% were 61 or Older. The 40
or Younger group were the priests who adhered most resolutely to official
Church teaching:
·
85% believe that the Church does not have authority to ordain women.
·
92% would allow married couples only
natural family planning and bar the divorced-and-remarried from receiving the
Eucharist.
The cover letter that accompanied the survey included a straight-forward
description of the Call To Action agenda, to ensure that recipients really knew
what CTA advocates:
Call to Action is an organization of Catholics
dedicated to furthering the vision of
- "We call upon Church officials to incorporate
women at all levels of ministry and decision-making”.
- "We call upon the Church to discard the discipline
of mandatory priestly celibacy and to open the Priesthood to women and
married men...so that the Eucharist may continue to be the center of the
spiritual life of all Catholics”.
- "We call for extensive consultation with the
Catholic people in developing Church teaching on human sexuality”.
- "We call for open dialogue, academic freedom, and
due process, and for the Church to be a model of financial openness on all
levels”.
- "We call for a fundamental change so that young people
will see and hear God living in and through the Church as a participatory
community of believers who practice what they preach."
The use of business reply envelopes without return address
guaranteed anonymity, making it easy for respondents to express their
viewpoints freely. There is no reason to
think that the responses are anything but an accurate reflection of what
Fifty of 127 priests took the time to add written
comments. 80% of the comments were, in varying
degrees, critical of the survey or of the CTA agenda. These are some examples:
·
“Let me say that if you want to become
Protestants, there are over 20,000 congregations from which you can choose. Most of what you are calling for was called
for by Martin Luther. It has not worked
over the past 500 years, as I am sure you know. . .If
you don’t like it, get out!”
·
“God forbid that women should be
incorporated at all levels of ministry and decision-making. On issues of human sexuality, Roma locuta, causa finita!”
Other comments offered support and encouragement:
·
“I believe that adult Catholics should
be encouraged to form a conscience that can aid in discovering God in their
life situation.”
·
“We need to move some of the priests currently
in bureaucratic positions back into pastoral work. Too much time is spent on devising ‘liturgy
police’ tactics, worrying about titles given to Eucharistic Ministers, and where
they sit during
One priest expressed disappointment that the survey did not
address important issues such as the Church’s service to the poor:
·
“Many of the issues you present may be
important to many people in the Church, but I am distressed that you do not
address more important issues of closing
We thank the 130 priests who took the time
to respond and share your thoughts with us.
The Board of Call To Action –
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