3.  CLERICALISM Clericalism is a cancer at the heart of the church.   Holy Orders bestows on the priest power to turn bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ and to forgive sins. This power sets the priest, the cleric, apart from the rest of men and women.  Because of this power, priests historically have enjoyed an exalted position in the Catholic community.   An Exclusive Club.  Only a chosen few can enter the exclusive clerical club. The entry requirements include a desire to serve God and the church community, professional-level intelligence, and maleness. Heterosexual orientation is a requirement (Note 3.1), but is not enforced, probably because of the priestly vocation crisis. There are ongoing club dues:
		•        You must buy into a celibate lifestyle (some would say you must say that you buy into it) •        You must do what your superior, the bishop (or in the case of a religious order cleric, the provincial) tells you to do.
	One of the obvious effects of this clubby culture is that members have no personal experience of parenthood. There are no labor pains, no Catholic school tuition bills to keep you up at night. The club isolates you from children—out of sight, out of mind. If bishops were parents, would the sex abuse scandal have happened? If Cardinal Law had children and grandchildren, would Father John Geoghan have been free to abuse time and time again? The club is closed.  It’s like Augusta National, but the game is power, not golf. The rules of the game are clear. Silence is the number one rule. There shall be no discussion of changes in the celibacy requirement. There shall be no discussion of women club members. Rules are rules. Rome has spoken. No married men and no women—no way, no how. Amen. That’s all. End of story. Is it any wonder that many see the club members as out of touch, clueless, lost in tall weeds? Club members have a unique lifestyle, dress, and aura. Does anyone call the president, Your Excellency? Ring- kissing still exists in attitude, if not in practice. As a friend said, “When a priest or deacon goes through the process to leave, he is reduced to the lay state. Reduced is the verb the club uses for the baptized people of God, the Body of Christ….I think we need to elevate the laity...find the sacred in the ordinary. Nobody can tell me that my praying over my sick child at 2 am is any less sacred than the sacrament of the sick. We need to elevate parents, married and single folks, our precious kids.” Clericalism.  My American Heritage Dictionary defines clericalism as “a policy of supporting the power or influence of the clergy in political or secular matters.” It's all that and more. Some Catholics make priests gods. Where does clericalism come from? You can find the roots of clericalism in the priest’s theological power to turn bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ and to forgive sins. Theological power begets secular power. Power, we recall, tends to corrupt. But dictionary definitions are sterile. Let’s get down to the underlying attitudes—which are the objectives of our audit.   Attitudes of Clericalism.  In surfing the net, I came across an article on clericalism (Note 3.2) by Father Gerard Moloney, an Irish Redemptorist, that really hits the mark. The article is reproduced here almost in total:
		Most clergy I know are not consciously part of this culture [of clericalism].  They may be clerics but they are not clerical. They are uncomfortable with being placed on pedestals, do their best to listen to what lay people have to say, and are not into power games. They want only to serve God and the people to whom they minister. But that clericalism is deeply rooted in our church cannot be denied. Clericalism has nothing to do with wearing the Roman collar or with conforming to a rigid dress code, though that is part of it. It is, rather, a state of mind, a mentality that is strictly hierarchical and authoritarian. It is to belong to, and to see oneself as belonging to, an exclusive club – all-male, hierarchical, and celibate – that is closed and secretive; part of a system of privilege, deference, and status. It is a culture that is far removed from the Gospel model of how the disciples related to each other and to the Lord. In the clerical culture, the instinct is to protect the interests of the club, its reputation, at all costs, even – at times – at the cost of justice and truth itself. It is now clear that this has been a factor in the failure of some church leaders down the years to address the problem of clerical sexual abuse. The reputation of the institution came before the needs of victims. Men, who saw themselves as very faithful to the church – indeed precisely because they saw themselves as being loyal to the church – made decisions that further harmed people who had already been harmed by priest abusers. The culture of clericalism is damaging in many other ways too. Clericalism attests to the idea of the laity as the People of God. But this is merely lip service. For the clerical mentality believes that the proper role of the faithful is to pay, pray and obey. Members of the clerical caste, those on the upper rungs of the hierarchical ladder, are the ones who have a monopoly on wisdom and of access to the Holy Spirit. Clericalism is big into status and privilege. It loves titles and rank and pedestals. Woe betide the unfortunate who does not afford the clerical-minded one his proper title, or give him the respect which he demands as his right. Clericalism thrives on power and is sustained by it. It is a strong believer in accountability – but only accountability upwards, not downwards. Decisions and decision-making happen at the top. Lay people (and ordinary clergy) do not have to be consulted. And seldom are. Clericalism has no time for dialogue and debate. It regards those who talk about renewal in the church or who express any criticism of the church as dangerous, and as having a liberal ‘agenda’. But it doesn’t regard those with a conservative vision of the church as having any agenda. They are merely orthodox. Clericalism talks about service, and of the church as a church of service. But it loves ambition, and encourages careerism. To get ahead in the clerical world means always being careful to say the right things, to cultivate the right friendships, and to tow the party line on litmus-test issues such as celibacy, Humanae Vitae, and the role of women. Clericalism adores secrecy, and needs it. How appointments are made, why clergy are transferred, how complaints are dealt with, the reasons why decisions are arrived at, are seldom explained. They don’t have to be. Power and control are better exercised in a culture of secrecy. Clericalism is a cancer at the heart of the church. Thank God, most clergy do not suffer from it. But that it is immensely damaging and must be rooted out is obvious. If the sex abuse scandals help to speed up that process, then that will have been a very good thing.
	I’m forming a Father Moloney for pope committee. Ambition.  Father William J. Byron S.J. (Note 3.3), the former President of the Catholic University of America, says that ambition is also a factor:
		Doesn’t experience and common sense tell you that priests and bishops are caught up in a promotion culture (not unlike a military culture) that focuses on moving higher up, thus making them so protective of their own reputations that they chose not to let problems become public that would reflect badly on their leadership? In other words, can a case be made that…ambitious ecclesiastical executives permitted concern for their chances to advance override or blind them to concern for protecting children?
	Crimes of Clerical Power.  Rape is a crime of power. The rape of a minor by an adult is both a crime and an abuse of power. The rape of a minor by a priest is a crime, an abuse of power, and a rape of the victim’s soul. Abuse survivors tell how priests use their authority and Roman collar “to circle in on their prey like a vulture.” Mary Gail Frawley-O'Dea, Ph.D. (Note 3.4) argues that rape of a minor by a priest is incest. A bishop who covers up a rape of a minor by a priest and shuttles the abuser to a new, unsuspecting parish abuses his power, and, in my opinion, commits a crime against humanity. A bishop who does this should do jail time. I want my pound of flesh. Without punishment, there is no reform. Without penance or sacrifice, there is no expiation of sin.    Church Ownership.  A logical conclusion of clericalism is that the clerics—priests, bishops, and the pope— own the church, notwithstanding Vatican II’s often quoted “we are the church.”  Father Byron’s paper (Note 3.3), presents numerous proposals for change (e.g., seminary reform). But the best phrase in the paper is that the church is a family-owned business. I think this is a great answer to the essential question: Who owns the church? Byron writes:
		…the church is a “family-owned business” and all members of the family have a right be kept informed on how the business is doing. This means public audits of finances based on uniform accounting systems in all “branches” of the business (every diocese, every parish!). ,
	Who could argue with this wonderful insight? I can’t wait to get my stock certificates in the mail. Given the huge payouts to abuse survivors, I don’t expect dividend checks anytime soon. Conclusion.  Rooting out the intrinsic, long-standing evil of clericalism will take a real conversion of attitude and heart by all members of the church community—pope, bishops, clergy, and laity.
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