HELEN COSTELLO,
Sir, - It was heartening to read Angela Hanley's article (Rite and Reason, July 16th) about the new distance education programme in theology offered by the Priory Institute in Tallaght. She spoke, inter alia, of the many people who are now saying that a new Reformation is necessary, The reformers, she stressed, will be the ordinary people of God who are reclaiming the Church which "rightfully belongs to them as much as to any pope, prelate or priest (a fact successfully kept from them for years)."
Pope John XXIII, in calling Vatican 2 in the mid-1960s, did try to reform the institution along the lines Angela Hanley has in mind. Unfortunately, the paternalistic, hierarchical Church, supported no doubt by ultra-conservative groups within and without it, made sure that the hoped-for openness and inclusive reforms dear to Pope John did not materialise.
A great tide of concerned Christians across the world are now doing their best to raise the Church's awareness of the crucial issues which must be addressed, in partnership with lay people, to ensure that the Christian message is seen to be vitally relevant to today's troubled world. Angela Hanley mentioned the Voice of the Faithful group in the US. In Ireland groups such as Pobal, We are Church (affiliated with the International Movement WAC), Leaven and Basic feel called to get on with this responsible task.
Until now Church officials, with many notable exceptions, have tended to think that these groups in Ireland (and elsewhere) as "odd bods". The Vatican's lack of response to the IMWAC's delegation to Rome in 1996 speaks for itself. Even though the group had collected over 2 million signatures worldwide calling for a more loving, compassionate Church open to change, the appeal fell on deaf ears. It took the suffering of innocent children, the victims of clerical sexual abuse, to bring the institution to its knees under pressure from the media.
Mark Hederman, in his fascinating book The Haunted Inkwell, speaks of how great poets allow themselves to be filters of something beyond themselves, something transcendent. They allow the transcendent a "virtual space" in which to manifest itself.
While the Church has a grave responsibility to ensure that the truths of Christ's teaching are preserved, it must allow space for the Holy Spirit to manifest itself in new ways to meet the needs of the 21st century.
Why are the bishops so afraid to speak out against the status quo in the Vatican? No doubt they know that they will be clobbered for their efforts, but the time has come for them to have courage, with deep faith in the Holy Spirit, no matter what the consequences may be. The people of God will be behind them with their prayers and their conviction that change must come soon. - Yours, etc.,
HELEN COSTELLO, Eglinton Court, Dublin 4.