Policy suggestions for the Church

In the June 2004 issue of Homiletic & Pastoral Review, Joseph A. Varacalli has an article entitled "Policy suggestions for the Church." He spends the first half of the article discussing the processes of "secularization from within" that have occurred at almost all levels of the Church, then, after briefly entertaining differing interpretations of what to do, turns his attention to some concrete steps that can be taken toward reorienting the Catholic Church back in the right direction. Here is a summary, along with some excerpts [note: the numbering schema is my own]:

No. 1: Catholic (re-)education: "The most basic concrete suggestion is that the Catholic Church in this country should radically change priorities, in terms of its ministries and apostolates, which would entail a change in its allocatin of personnel and spending priorities. Outside of the administration of the sacraments, there must be an almost exclusive emphasis give to Catholic education, with the ultimate goal being to offer all interested Americans, Catholic or not, a free K-12 education for their children that is shaped by an authentic Catholic worldview." (emphasis added)

No. 2: Catechetical (re-)instruction: "Related to this, all parishes must emphasize, much more than they do now, catechetical instruction in the essentials of the faith not only for their parishioners but for any potentially interested citizen, Catholic or not."

No. 3: Multi-media campaign: "Related to and supporting this ... would be efforts -- vita such instruments as cable television, radio programming, and fre continuing educatin courses -- presenting the Catholic worldview on a wide range of topics and issues through disucssions of theology, philosophy, the popes, the saints, social thought, social science and history, and social and public policy. Diocesan newspapers must be transformed into more serious religious, intellectual and moral vehicles, both promoting and explaining the Catholic faith and what is has to offer the individual and society."

In response to the objection that the Catholic Church has many charitable social welfare programs to support, Varacalli responds by pointing out, quite matter-of-factly, that "the present weakened condition of the Church does not allow the Church to do everything for everybody." He continues:

No. 4: Re-Catholicize Catholic higher education: "It is not secret that the state of Catholic higher education, judged by authentic Catholic criteria, is close to abysmal. The number of smaller orthodox colleges, either started over the past few decades or that have come home to the bosom of Mother Church, while heartening, is not an adequate response. At least some of the sacred Catholic soil that has been occupied by the secular pretenders to the throne of Catholic education during the past decades must be recaptured."

No. 5: Establish a Catholic education agency: "Another concrete suggestion is to creat a nationwide Catholic educational agency composed of orthodox Catholic scholars from groups like the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, the Cardinal Newman Society, and the Society of Catholic Social Scientists that is designed to help and serve those bishops concerned with the renewal of Catholic higher education."

No. 6: Host faithful para-Church groups: "... our functioning institutions must, of necessity, be asked to bear extra responsibilities and tasks that they were not originally intended to master. Alas, we must 'go into battle' with what we've got and what we've got are a few institutions, like Sacred Heart Major Seminary, which are fast heading back to Catholic orthodoxy. Such seminaries must be quickly expanded into developing liberal arts colleges and must also serve as 'hotbeds' of Catholic intellectual and evangelistic activity where faithful groups (e.g., Catholics United for the Faith, Opus Dei, the Legionaries of Christ, etc.) must be invited to run their programs.

Now there's a plan of action worthy of, say, the Jesuits after the Protestant upheavel of the 16th century!