I am not even remotely qualified to even understand what it means to be the spiritual leader of something like the Diocese of Scranton. That said, I am full of opinions. Marrying the two, here are my thoughts on what the next Bishop could do to change the negative tone of discourse that currently exists within the Diocese of Scranton.
1. Talk to Mike Milz
Note that I didn't say "agree with", "acquiesce to", etc.; simply talk to the man. Hear him out. As someone who has never belonged to a labor union (and who doesn't always see eye to eye with labor leaders), I don't always agree with the organized labor agenda, but yet I can't fault Mr Milz for his complaint that the (soon to be former) Bishop never spoke to him. Begin some dialogue. If it doesn't lead anywhere, at least the new Bishop can rightfully claim to have taken the high road. SDACT was rightfully selected as a union by Catholic Lay Teachers; it was simply wrong for Bishop Martino to unilaterally remove it.
2. Participate in Parish Closing Ceremonies
Bishop Martino made the decisions as to which parishes were to be closed; the fact that there was a process to it all is fine, but in the immortal words of former President Bush, the Bishop was "the decider". The next Bishop can show true leadership by physically leading parishioners from their old parish homes to new parish homes. This is what shepherds do: they physically, actually lead their flocks.
3. Get Out & Stay Out of Politics
The next Bishop should have the right, as does every citizen, to speak out on important and controversial issues. However, the Bishop does not have the right to use a pulpit to tell people who they must vote for; doing so in my opinion...
...violates Constitutional separation of Church and State
...violates the tax exempt status of the Church under IRC section 501(c)(3)
...sets an incredibly dangerous precedent
The next Bishop needs to stay out of politics, once and for all. Abortion may be a political issue in Washington DC, but from Wyoming Avenue in Scranton it needs to be left as a moral issue.
4. Acknowledge the Obvious
The next Bishop can start his tenure on the right foot by acknowledging that all humans are flawed, Bishops included. Part of the "problem" with Bishop Martino is the perception, created by the man himself, that he was above his flock and somehow above even speaking to those who he had the ability to greatly impact. Use the local media...not just the "owned and operated by the Bishop" media (i.e. Catholic Light and CTV)...to reach people. View the media as a tool for communication, not a goon squad to be feared.
In the final analysis, included in the job description of all leaders is "salesperson". Exclusively leading with an iron fist always results in failure.
1 comment:
Steven,
Actually what you wrote is pretty reasonable, except the part about staying out of politics.
Why you would write that the next bishop should stay out of politics I don't know. Bishop Martino was never involved in politics in the first place.
When he called out the allegid "Catholic" politicians, he was not writting to them as politicians but as Catholics. Whether you like it or not, Catholics are Catholic first, whatever second. That is the reality.
If the allegid "Catholic" politicians can't deal with this becasue percieved church/state conflicts, then they are the ones who need to stay out of politics. It is not the bishop's fault that they want to claim Catholocism as their following, but then not live up to what they say.
They can't claim to be Catholic, THEN NOT LIVE CATHOLOCISM. Catholocism is not something that is spoken about verbally, it is something LIVED. I don't want to HEAR how Catholic Biden is, I want to SEE how Catholic he is. I don't want to HEAR how Catholic Guliani is, I want to SEE how Catholic he is. They can't have it BOTH WAYS. It is that simple. They are either going to be politicians or they will be Catholic- but they can't serve two masters, they can only serve one. If there is a conflict, then they need to make a choice and live with it.
Secondly Steve, I respect you, you are reasonable. But one thing you and all the readers of your blog need to understand is that the Catholic Church WILL NOT BE SILENCED on the issue of Abortion. We will NOT be bullied and brow beaten into silent submission as millions of babies are murdered each year, by the IRS, the ACLU, or ANYONE.
We will continue to speak to the ISSUE but not the PARTY. As I have said before and I will say it again: If Obama was pro-life and McCain pro-abortion, the Church would have taught that Catholics can never justify voting for a pro-abortion candidate.
Father Dave Bechtel
Post a Comment