took and mixed in with three measures of flour until
all of it was leavened." Matthew 13:33
From the April/May 2005 Issue
If Vatican II is Dead, What Do We Do Instead?
Bill Sulzman
Bill Sulzman is a long-time Colorado peace activist who writes about increasing militarism in the U.S. and the Church.
A few weeks ago I visited with a retired Catholic Bishop friend at his convalescent home. At one point in our conversation he stated “I hate to say this, but I think that Vatican II is dead”. I’m sure he was speaking about the hierarchical level of the church since, until just a couple of years ago, he continued to attend the national Bishops’ meeting and he knows that strong lay led groups continue the fight to keep it alive. . But it was still a jolt to me to hear him say that. Not that this conclusion was strange to me but the finality of his pronouncement still made an impression.
So what happened between the 1960’s council and today’s church reality in Denver and Colorado Springs both plagued by right wing Bishops whom I would call Christian Fascists? Clearly the Vatican II reform movement stalled and then went into reverse. Almost all the council documents contain compromise language meant to assuage opposing points of view. And the hierarchical structures which preceded the council survived it more or less intact. Most of those inhabiting those hierarchical positions took a minimalist approach to interpreting what had happened. Then a more or less conservative Pope took over and the rest is history.
We have it especially bad in Colorado Springs and Denver. The Bishops here tow a Fascist line, exalting the military and economic power of the national government, only raising their moral voices on issues consistent with the message of the religious right of James Dobson, Jerry Falwell and Ted Haggard. Some examples:
- In 2001 Charles Chaput hired a pro war retired Air Force Major to head
the Denver area catechetical offices of the Church. In a dialogue about
that hiring and the ensuing blank check approval of the war in Afghanistan
he made it clear to me that he supported the open-ended version of
the war on terror.
- In July 2003 the Archbishop spoke out in opposition to the Plowshares
Nuns on the occasion of their sentencing for their disarmament action
at a Minuteman III nuclear missile silo in Weld County in his diocese.
He made it clear he supports current U.S. policy on nuclear weapons.
- During the election campaign of 2004 Chaput strongly encouraged Colorado
Catholics to vote Republican. He tried to use language that would not
threaten the Church’s tax-exempt status but his intent was obvious.
- In a recent speech and press conference the Archbishop again identified
moral issues in a very narrow spectrum. In reading the press reports
one could easily have imagined that it was James Dobson speaking instead
of a Catholic Bishop.
- Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs was even more explicit
about voting Republican in the last election. His pastoral was so blunt
that it got the attention of People United for the Separation of Church
and State who have filed an inquiry with the IRS concerning the tax-exempt
status of the diocese. The New York Times covered the story.
- Sheridan took his support a step further by leading the prayer to open
a Bush-Cheney campaign rally and fundraiser in the closing days of
the campaign.
- In private conversation Sheridan has stated his support for the war
in Iraq and told a questioner that he thought the Pope was misinformed
when he came out against the war.
- In February 2005, Sheridan presided at the installation of a Catholic
tabernacle in the Catholic portion of the Air Force Academy Chapel,
making it clear that he and the local diocese are fully on board with
the various military missions of the Air Force.
- On March 4, 2005 St. Mary’s Cathedral hosted a worship service entitled ”A
Soldier’s Stations of the Cross.” Each station depicted U.S.
soldiers on duty in Iraq and identified them in some fashion with a traditional
station. Two uniformed soldiers alternated in narrating the slide show
presentation.
- Bishop Gomez who left Denver to become the Archbishop of San Antonio openly touted his status as an Opus Dei bishop.
The list could go on and on. One could make a list of equal length detailing the important moral issues that both ignore. The question is “what do we do about this?” Or perhaps a better question, “what do we do instead?” In a recent exchange of letters with Sr. Ardeth Platte, one of the Plowshares Nuns, she strongly suggested that we in Colorado undertake a long term “Faith and Resistance” campaign such as has been conducted in various parts of the country. I wrote back and suggested that I thought that could work if she came here for a year or two and led the effort. But the broader question still remains, can lay Catholics in Colorado get better organized and put a different face on the mission of the Church in our area? Or must we finally agree that “Vatican II is dead”?