Reengineering the priesthood?

WE are now ending the Year for Priests launched by Pope Benedict XVI
last year on the occasion of the 150th death anniversary of the patron
for priests, St. John Mary Vianney.

The year-long event was envisioned “to encourage priests in the
striving for spiritual perfection on which, above all, the
effectiveness of their ministry depends.”

And true enough, all through the year many programs of pertinent
activities were carried out in dioceses and parishes. In our country,
the highlight I think was the holding of the 5-day National Congress
for the Clergy last January.

I am sure many fruits have been reaped with this celebration, though
they may elude direct and clear accounting. It’s almost impossible to
put into words, much less into numbers, these effects that mainly are
spiritual and pastoral in character. But they certainly are there.

Even the negative events that, I must say, were made to erupt as if
to embarrass the Church and especially the Pope, were good occasions
to clarify certain issues.

Yes, issues there always will be. These are no new things that should
surprise us. They are part and parcel of our human condition that
never disappears even if one is already consecrated into a sublime
spiritual and supernatural office such as what the priesthood is.

Just look at Jesus Christ, the son of God who became man to be our
savior. He being God must be all-knowing and yet he chose among the
apostles, who were the people closest to him in his redemptive work,
Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.

God opens himself to all the possibilities contained in the freedom
of man, including its misuse and abuse. But he knows how to derive
good from evil. He is not frustrated by the sinfulness of men, even of
those supposedly very close to him.

This is how we should look at the issues regarding priests and
priesthood in general. The power, goodness and mercy of God, which we
should try to imitate, are not meant to rationalize our mistakes.
Rather, they are meant to occasion a deeper and more extensive
purification and renewal.

And so it’s not a matter of rethinking the nature of priesthood,
which is already written in stone, carved in granite. It’s more of
reengineering our attitudes and ways of living the priesthood.

This reengineering, being subjective and set for Christ’s infinite
ways, will always require continuing improvement. This duty will be
endless, coterminous with nothing less than life itself. May we never
say ‘enough’ in exerting the suitable effort.

As of the moment, I am happy that the Holy Father not only went
through a rigorous review of the nature and ministry of the
priesthood, but also pointed out concrete problematic areas that still
beset the world of priests and bishops.

This he did most especially when he had to explain and ask for mercy
and understanding, on behalf of those concerned, for the many scandals
involving some clerics. Think of the cases in Ireland and Germany and
the States.

He was forthright in admitting the mistakes of Church personalities
as well as the defects in Church life and structure, including certain
aspects of the priestly culture. This is a welcome development, since
many Church officials are rather evasive about these issues, perhaps
also because of some good reasons.

To me, another enriching data that came as a result of these scandals
springs from the area of psychology. I am quite familiar with the
spiritual and theological underpinnings of the issues, but certainly
these issues also have a strong psychological aspect that urgently
needs to be addressed.

I recently read two articles by psychologists with some exposure to
priestly problems and these introduced me to the concept of “emotion
deficit.” This may not be a major issue, but I believe it can hold a
crucial role in the way the priestly problems evolve.

If left ignored and unattended, it can be the small stone, mentioned
in the Bible, which can crash the magnificent image made of precious
metals except for the feet that were made of clay, an image of our
human condition.

I think it’s time we give due attention to this aspect, even if in
the over-all scheme of priestly life and ministry, it only plays a
minor role. The continuing formation for priests should include this
as an integral part that should not be lightly considered.

Besides, the structure and culture of the priestly environment should
reinforce the need to satisfy this requirement for normal, let alone,
priestly, life.