Let me suggest something that, when you first read it, may appear utterly ridiculous. But think about it for a while and you may find yourself agreeing.
I believe that the Pontificate of Pope Francis will serve to usher in the next Ecumenical Council, Vatican III.
Why do I say this?
Because the various Curial reforms, the liturgical initiatives and, most especially, the pastoral directives which Pope Francis has encouraged have introduced divisions within the unity and integrity of the Catholic Faith which will require both clarity and resolution.
Only a gathering of the Bishops, joined together in Ecumenical Council (the supreme expression of the teaching authority of the Church), will be able to resolve the various controversies which have arisen as a result of Pope Francis’ Pontificate.
In my graduate studies at the Angelicum (University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome) decades ago, the professor who taught Church History offered us the benefit of his wisdom and insight. He insisted that Vatican I was all about the Supreme Authority of the Pope in matters of Faith, Morals, and Governance. He declared that Vatican II was all about the Office of the Bishop as the Successor of the Apostles and One with the Pope in the threefold mission of the Church to teach, to govern and to sanctify.
He went on to predict that Vatican III would be convened in our lifetimes and would address the Sacred Order of Priesthood, its ministry of pastoral service and its manifold expression in the modern world.
Lastly, he shared his belief that Vatican IV would be about the Laity and their role in the service to the Gospel and its continued proclamation to generations yet to come.
I believe that we are standing at the threshold of Vatican III. And only the Pontificate of Francis (or someone like him) could have brought us to this moment in time.
Certainly, many of the pastoral initiatives which Pope Francis has introduced (most notably his Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia), his enthusiastic encouragement and support for the discretionary role conferences of Bishops should exercise in matters related to the reception of the Sacraments and the Sacred Liturgy, as well as the openness he has shown toward the various churches of the Reformation as well as non-Christian faiths has been a source of controversy and division.
Some have accused the Pope not of bringing reform to the Curia but of introducing revolutionary (possibly even heretical) teachings regarding matters of faith and morals.
Thus far, the squabbles over these initiatives have been limited to a meager minority of conservative dissidents who have tried to bully Pope Francis by publicly disputing his words and criticizing his actions.
Thus far, the Holy Father has easily chosen to ignore the mad chatter against him, even as it has grown louder in recent days.
There are whispers of deep fractures within the Clergy itelf.
Still, Pope Francis enjoys considerable popularity among the Catholic faithful who quite like the fact that the circumstances of their complicated lives at least seem to be more easily accepted by the Catholic Church under his direction.
But the shock wave which the Church will experience as a result of this Pontificate has yet to be felt. That’s because the explosive event which will create it has yet to take place.
It is coming, however.
It will focus upon the mission and ministry of the Sacred Priesthood and the discretion which the Pope will give to conferences of Bishops to allow optional celibacy for future Priests in the Latin Rite.
The upcoming Synod in the Fall of 2018 will be the venue in which this revolution regarding the Sacrament of Holy Orders will trigger reactions so profoundly diverse and divisive that only an Ecumenical Council will be able to provide the necessary guidance and resolution such an initiative will require.
It is very clear that the Holy Father has already expressed his willingness to entertain a Priesthood which allows for optional celibacy in those instances where local conferences of Bishops determine that the People of God are suffering from a critical shortage of Priests to provide for Sacramental and spiritual needs of those entrusted to their pastoral care.
Out of reverential respect for the time-honored custom and tradition of the Latin Church, those already Ordained would not be permitted to marry. But, married men would be admitted to Sacred Orders, a practice which constituted the norm within the Church during the first 1200 years of its existence.
One thing is certain. No one could imagine the subject of a married Clergy ever being given any serious thought whatsoever by the two previous, staunchly conservative Pontificates.
Pope Francis has changed the landscape of Church teaching and practice in ways the Cardinals who elected him could never have imagined.
He has employed his now familiar metaphor that the Church should be a “field hospital” and not a “fortress”, open and accepting of the wounded who come for care and attention. He is intent that the "field hospital" have enough "doctors" (Priests) to treat the spiritually wounded.
The Holy Father has likewise shown that he is more than willing to tolerate the squabbles that have arisen over his pastoral initiatives.
The more conservative Bishops and faithful have not reacted well. Almost daily, their voices of dissent threaten schism or worse.
There have been public protests in the form of “fraternal corrections” by a handful of Cardinals to “filial corrections” by self-appointed defenders of the faith among little known scholars and theologians.
Pope Francis has chosen to ignore the complaints and entreaties and acted even more aggressively in establishing policies and procedures which empower local conferences of Bishops to exercise their mission and ministry according to their own discretion.
As a result, the Church finds itself caught in the middle of these tensions which will come to a head at the next Synod.
In October, 2018, Pope Francis will convene the Synod of Bishops to discuss the role of Youth in the Church.
However, just as the Synod on the Family took a drastic but much telegraphed turn and was the forum in which the pastoral care of the divorced and remarried became the central issue, I believe the Synod on the Youth will be the moment when Priesthood in the Latin Rite will revert to its original paradigm allowing married men to be admitted to Sacred Orders.
Communion for the divorced and remarried was addressed in a footnote attached to the post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia. Perhaps, a footnote attached to the Apostolic Exhortation which will follow the future Synod will contain the Papal approbation allowing local conferences of Bishops to decide whether or not to allow for the admission of married men to the Priesthood.
Who knows?
But should and when that happens, to borrow a phrase, "all hell will break loose".
That will set the stage for the only recourse the Church has to address and resolve the inevitable disputes which will arise by convening Ecumenical Council Vatican III.
Lord knows, I have been wrong so many times in my life. But....
We shall see what we shall see and not have to wait all that long to see it.
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