“Delicta graviora” defined as “grave crimes” against the Catholic Church is quite an intense title which recently has caused more complexity and angst among us. In the eyes of some, it smacks of heavy handed bureaucratic male-dominated authority that is essentially out of touch with real life experience. That too is a tough pill to swallow in this present age of ecumenism, progression, tolerance, inclusion, political correctness (that’s a big one), and an approach to change which seems to be focused on the present moment with minimal regard for the past – a “that was then, this is now” viewpoint in popular culture.
As the Catholic News Service reported, “Recently, the Vatican revised its procedures for handling priestly sex abuse cases, streamlining disciplinary measures, extending the statue of limitations and defining child pornography as an act of sexual abuse of a minor.” Who could argue with that? It is a good thing and certainly reassures the world that the Church is not taking a head in the ground approach to present day troubles. What this document does, a great help to canon lawyers, is bring together in an organized way those offenses both sacramental and moral, which would constitute automatic excommunication against any cleric or lay person who would carry out such offenses. The revelation of the contents of a sacramental confession (breaking the seal) by a priest has long held such a penalty. Now this document lists those other offenses and extends them somewhat beyond where they were.
As Msgr. Charles Scicluna, a Vatican spokesman said, “There are two types of ‘delicta graviora’ those concerning the celebration of the sacraments and those concerning morals. The two types are essentially different and their gravity is on different levels.” Again, this is a good thing and who can argue that such an approach is unnecessary to address abuses in the Church.
The grinding issue here, however, has once again become the question of the ordination of women. The same document lists the ordination of a woman as one of those grave offenses. At the present time, and likely to never change, is the fact that the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Communion stand alone within the Christian faith that prohibit the ordination of women. We well know the disintegration of Anglican unity that has taken place since that Church officially sanctioned the ordination of women which then opened the doors to other alternative choices for ordination: openly gay priests and Bishops and the ordination of women as Bishops in the Church. If we wonder what might happen within the Catholic body if the Church permitted the ordination of women, I think we need look no farther than the Anglican communion. That is not a judgment but simply an observation. On a practical level such disunity would indeed take place in the Catholic Church. Is the dissension, fractured unity, anger, near schism, and controversy a sign of the Holy Spirit presence in the Church? I wonder if it is. For a thought provoking perspective, read C.S. Lewis’ essay, Priestesses in the Church?
Could the Vatican have handled this more pastorally? Perhaps so. It might have been better to speak separately on this issue in a document distinct from listing this issue among other "delicta graviora." I don't think it would have diminished the seriousness of the issue and maybe given more space to a discussion that has already been covered multiple times but might benefit from further reflection to explain more thoroughly the position of the Church. But, the document is an aid to canon lawyers and to Bishops which puts it in a different category than a pastoral letter.
The larger question, and where the Catholic Church is coming from, is a question of theology and tradition (the lived history of the Church.) While the secular culture in which we live approaches the same issue as a question of equality and justice, two sometimes complimentary but often opposing forces, seem to me anyway, to be the rub.
If the question of women’s ordination was only a question of social justice or of equality between genders or of equal pay for equal work, then to deny women a place in the Catholic priesthood would indeed be a great injustice.
If we viewed the priesthood as a “right” as we do employment and appropriate rewards for work well done then to deny women the priesthood would still be a great injustice.
If we saw priestly service only as an extension of our baptismal call to holiness and service among the people of God, then again an injustice is acknowledged.
But Holy Orders is a sacrament of the Church. This sacrament, like the other six, has a divine foundation that has been lived out through the experience of the Church. The Church must be faithful to the mind of Christ as the Apostles implemented and as the Church has maintained. Yet, adaptation is nothing new. Since the time the Apostles were first confronted with the Gentile question (Acts 11: 1-18; 15: 1-29) the Church has been able to accommodate differences as well it must to survive.
Those differences,however, are not determined by social conditions alone. The Church though of human leadership is not of human origin. There is something more, much more, at play here that makes the Church the same yet uniquely different from other human only institutions – the constant guidance of the Holy Spirit. We as members of this Church must take a humble approach to the Spirit’s inspiration.
We believe that Spirit speaks to us in a “language” that preserves truth and maintains unity (different from uniformity) in the midst of our human limitations and sinfulness. At the risk of being repetitive, the growth and existence of the Church over more than 2,000 years is undeniable proof that in the end there is another, greater life and spirit that guides it. The Church remains because God wishes it to remain and it continues the work of Christ among us in every “here and now” where people live.
If we believe that Jesus founded a “ministerial priesthood” in the midst of all the baptized, then the question of who’s in and who’s not takes on a distinctly different vantage point. The priesthood is not viewed from the vantage point of the particular culture in which it serves in a way that another profession might be. Yes, as the human and social needs of society arise and change, the Church must adapt to those needs. Wasn’t this the spirit of the Second Vatican Council and the vision proposed by Blessed Pope John XXIII?
But, and this is a big exception, the mission of the Church while it reads the “signs of the time” must with equal importance be faithful to its tradition, to divine revelation, to the intent of its founder, Christ Jesus who brings the mind and heart of God. The priesthood, as all the sacraments, is guided by this important distinction.
That being so, why the Church so strongly resists the ordination of women is that to permit otherwise would be to abandon both theology and tradition as it has been developed over more than 2,000 years of lived experience. It’s not the same as the need to remodel a home, move locations for a better job, change careers, vote in a new President, or achieve a higher academic degree in order to secure a higher paying job or place within a company.
The same is true for the Sacrament of Marriage. If the Church defined marriage as a legal contract between two committed persons, then to deny two persons of the same gender legal marriage would indeed be a great injustice. But the Church does not define marriage as a legal contract.
It defines marriage as a Covenant relationship between male and female as God defines in the Book of Genesis 1: 24-31; 2: 18-25 in the story of creation and as Jesus states in Mark 10: 6-9. To say that the life long commitment of two persons of the same gender is equal to the same promise between a man and woman – aka Marriage – is to separate from and to be unfaithful to the mind of Christ as it has been lived out since the inception of Christianity – and before of course.
In the end, to turn away from such tradition is to be disingenuous because the Church does not have authority to do so since it is not something of this world alone. The Pope is the “Vicar” of Christ – he is not Christ and his power is not that of a dictator. He and all Bishops and priests must be faithful to theology and tradition as a servant and shepherd. The Church does not belong to Pope Benedict. He is not the Sun King Louis XIV who reigned for 72 years and declared, “L’etat c’est moi!” (I am the State!).
Tough times and great challenges in this present age. Let me know. Feel free to comment.
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