Silence of the Bishops : Becker Francois from France, writes to CCV
Dear James Kottoor,
Thank you very much for the document that wrote and circulated about the silence of the bishops about the preparation of the Synod and about the question of endogamy.
I fully agree with you about your position about the family and about endogamy.
I found your paper very interesting and I shall circulate it within the team preparing the workshop on the family of the gathering of delegates of the project Council 50 that I presented to you in my mail of December 14th 2014.
Since then, the project Council 50 developed nicely and you will find attached letter 3 with the program of the gathering of delegates and the list of workshops.
Why this project Council 50 ?
– Since the end of Council Vatican II, the Church, as an institution, went back, it is withdrawing into the pre conciliar time: end of collegiality and people reduced to silence, Curia omnipresent and clericalism continuously rising, Pretension/claim of being the only ones to hold the “truth” and the way of expressing it. Intra-church dialogue is almost impossible, leaving out a large fraction of the catholic people;
– The voice of our Church is less and less audible due to its particular judgment on the real issues of the contemporary world (family, gender, sexuality, scientific and theological research, “hemi-anthropia” (a word that I propose to say that our Church is sick of being based on half the humanity, namely the male part of it, leaving the female part in second positions), human rights, ethical issues, etc.)
– Our Church has often non evangelical attitudes on several issues, particularly those regarding various scandals (pedophilia, money laundering, …). Its commitment for a world of peace, solidarity and social justice is not a priority; Happily, Pope Francis is changing that!
– Despite the desire of Pope Francis, the Synod showed once again the difficulties of our Church to evolve from a dogmatic attitude, to a pastoral and evangelical approach,
Therefore, after 50 years there is a need to relight the flame of Vatican II to enlighten with the Good News of Jesus our 21th century world and our Church so that they may live according to the spirit of Jesus. There is a need to transform the "disenchantment" of more and more people that turn away from the Church, and even worse from Jesus, into "wonder" for His good news; There is, for the whole of us, a need to respond to the call of Jesus for building a world where everyone can live according to His spirit and respond to His call.
We know that there are many groups, associations, parishes, communities that does work and act according to the spirit of Council Vatican II and the spirit of Jesus and do want their Church to do so. Therefore, we need to tell each other’s how we try to live according the spirit of Jesus, in the world and in the Church, we need to know and make known another side of the Church, inspired by Vatican II, that lives in the 21st century according to the spirit of Jesus and the Gospel, and that demonstrates its commitment to a world of peace, solidarity and justice, respectful of men and women, and of our planet; We need to create a global network to connect experiences and groups, and to help and support each other in this endeavor.
Hence Council 50 is not a celebration of the past (Lc 9, 62). It is an impetus toward the future, built on the steps forward and the insights inspired by the spirit of Jesus, many of which being prompted by the spirit of Vatican II. It is thus supporting Pope Francis in his fights to reform our Church.
