In Japan As on the Banks of the Rhine. The Church's Surrender
The responses of the Japanese and central Europeans to the questionnaire for the synod on the family register the yielding of Catholics to the dominant “uniform thought.” But also the pastors' inability to lead
by Sandro Magister
ROME, June 6, 2014 – So far six episcopal conferences have violated the terms of confidentiality and have made public the responses to the 39 questions of the preparatory questionnaire for the upcoming synod of bishops, convened on the issue of the family.
German:
> Pastoral challenges to the family…Austrian:
> Fragebogen zur Bischofssynode...Swiss:
> Risultati della consultazione...Belgian:
> Rapport de synthèse...French:
> Les défis pastoraux de la famille...Japanese:
> Response to the Secretariat...As can be noted, five of the six episcopal conferences belong to the central European geographical area that was the activist wing of the innovations of Vatican Council II but afterward was also the one most marked by the phenomenon of secularization.
Today it is above all from this area that the strongest pressure is coming for a change of teaching and pastoral practice concerning marriage, in particular with the request to give communion to the divorced and remarried.
It is known that Pope Francis does not appreciate this insistence on the sole question of communion for the remarried. He said so in responding to journalists during the flight from the Holy Land back to Rome. For him, the question is “much, much broader” and must be confronted as a whole. It concerns the family as such. Which is in crisis everywhere, he said: “It is in crisis worldwide.”
The responses of the Japanese bishops to the pre-synod questionnaire are a glaring confirmation of this conviction of the pope.
But there's more. They are confirmation that the eclipse of the Christian vision of the family is the product not only of the dominant “uniform thought,” but also of the Church's surrender to this thought.
The Japanese bishops recognize this with candor:
“The Church in Japan is not obsessed with sexual matters.”
In this and in some of their other statements there is the admission of a widespread abandonment, for decades, of presenting the Christian news on the crucial terrain of life and the family.
There are only 440,000 autochthonous Catholics in Japan, 0.35 percent of a population that has never been Christianized as a whole. But from the bishops' description one gets the image of a Church that is anything but a "creative minority" in mission territory. A Church very much bent on managing the status quo. Very close to the average profile of the residual, strongly secularized Catholicism that is typical of the central European region.
From this point of view, even the idea dear to Jorge Mario Bergoglio of a Church that was too unbalanced, if not “obsessed,” during the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, on the questions of abortion, homosexual marriage, and contraception, appears to be contradicted by the facts.
In fact, according to the responses to the pre-synod questionnaire made public so far, it does not appear in that in central Europe or in Japan “Evangelium Vitae" or "non-negotiable principles" have been a fixture of the Church's pastoral practice in recent decades, on the level of bishops, priests, and faithful, nor that in place of this the Church has produced a missionary impulse concentrated on "the essentials" of the Gospel message.
Neither of these things has happened, as proven by the following selection of the responses of the bishops of Japan to the pre-synod questionnaire.
The document of the Japanese bishops - signed by Peter Takeo Okada, archbishop of Tokyo and president of the episcopal conference - is all the more interesting because it is the result of a consultation restricted only to bishops and major superiors of men's and women's religious orders.
It is a sort of explicit confession of surrender on the part of those who still have the duty of guiding that little Church among the modern "pagans."
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Selections taken from:
RESPONSES TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE ON THE FAMILY
Conference of the Catholic bishops of JapanIt is not unusual for people to live together without marrying… Abortion and contraception are common, and many fetuses are buried before they are born... These phenomena and trends related to marriage apply to Catholics as well…
For the most part, people are unaware of teachings [of the Bible] and documents [of the Church on the family]. What they know is fragmentary at best, and comes from comments that they hear from priests who may not be well informed themselves…
Generally speaking, people are only aware of the bans on abortion, artificial birth control, divorce and remarriage. They are more influenced by societal mores than by those teachings, especially where birth control is concerned… Even among Catholics, many people are critical of the Church’s stance toward contraceptive methods such as condoms…
In terms of faith education, on the national, diocesan and parish levels we must admit that there are no pastoral programs [for the family]. There are, of course, dedicated activities by dioceses, parishes, priests and parishioners, but they rely too much on individual efforts…
Even many Catholics do not differ from the common opinion in matters of divorce and remarriage as allowed in civil law, prenatal diagnosis, abortion etc. and they criticize the Church for its teaching on pregnancy and childbirth… Many people feel that teachings on divorce and separation violate conventional wisdom…
Marriage with unbaptized people and nonbelievers using the Church’s rites has been a normal part of the Church’s activity in Japan for many years, with the approval of the Holy See. The usual practice is to require at least some premarital instruction that focuses on the Church’s vision of marriage. In addition, there must be no canonical impediments to marriage (such as divorce), though individual pastors generally tend to leniency…
Marriage preparation is generally haphazard, with regular programs in some places, but in most situations it relies upon the interest and ability of the pastor. Marriage encounter and engaged encounter were introduced in Japan, and were popular for a while, but seem to have been something of a fad that has faded…
One respondent said: “Nearly all the couples I have married in the last few years had begun living together several months before the wedding. None among them recognized that it goes against the teachings of the Church…"
In developing a pastoral orientation, it is perhaps important to recall that the only time in the Gospels that Jesus clearly encounters someone in a situation of cohabitation outside of marriage (the Samaritan woman at the well), he does not focus on it. Instead, he respectfully deals with the woman and turns her into a missionary…
Most divorced and remarried people are apparently indifferent… They have made the decision to either receive the sacraments or not and follow through on their decision… There are people who do not know that they cannot receive the Eucharist if they have remarried after divorce. Even among those who know, there are people who receive the Eucharist, and there are priests who do not say anything even if they know that fact…
There is no special ministry [for the divorced and remarried]. Pastors respond as pastorally as possible, but the People of God seem to have moved beyond the need of such ministry. They make decisions and live according to those decisions…
In Japan there is no legal recognition of same-sex relationships… The State does not promote such marriages and the Church has not developed a particular attitude toward the possibility of eventual change…
Contemporary Catholics are either indifferent to or unaware of the teaching of the Church [on birth control]. Most Catholics in Japan have not heard of Humanae Vitae… While there may be some mention of the Church’s teaching on artificial birth control in premarital instructions, most priests do not emphasize it… The moral teaching of Humanae Vitae is generally unknown and untaught, and where known it is not followed…
The Church in Japan is not obsessed with sexual matters… Apart from abortion, there seems to not be much of a sense of guilt regarding contraception…
While it is important to continue to stress the importance of the family and life, the Church must also present a healing, supporting and encouraging face to those who cannot fulfill the ideal rather than being judgmental and critical...
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The preparatory document for the synod of bishops on the family, with the related questionnaire:
> Preparatory Document__________
English translation by
Matthew Sherry, Ballwin, Missouri, U.S.A.
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For more news and commentary, see the blog that Sandro Magister maintains, available only in Italian:
> SETTIMO CIELO
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6.6.2014
