By Sch. Emmanuel Akilan SJ –
When I started to pen down my thoughts and reflections, one of the phrases which is often used by one of my philosophy professors strikes my mind, “Silence too speaks”. The silence of St. Joseph all through the gospels really speaks and speaks volumes. Speaks about his integrity, values he held dearly and his humble submission to God not just by words but deeds and more than that, by his life itself. All his silent prayers have brought us so far and I strongly believe that it will lead us where He wants us to be. I purposefully use the word “us” because that is the core of being and becoming a synodal church, a church not just dreamt by Pope Francis but by God who loves to journey with each and every one of us playing an active and vital role in our lives. The Synodal church invites every faithful for communion, participation, and mission which involves mutual listening, a thing of the past. Listening involves patience, being open to the other, and love for the person who speaks one’s heart out to the other without a tinge of fear of being judged. Thus, the synodal church is the need of the hour in the timeline of God who can write straight even with crooked lines. From being hierarchical to becoming a synodal church involves a lot of challenges from every nook and corner and I feel that clericalism will be the first challenge to be faced, addressed and overcome.
A Thorn in the Flesh
As St. Paul said in his second letter to Corinthians, a thorn in the flesh which would torment him was Satan but for the Church it is clericalism. According to Merriam Webster, “clericalism is a policy of maintaining or increasing the power of a religious hierarchy”. Clericalism is so deeply rooted in our structures and way of thinking that we almost cannot imagine how things could be otherwise. In 2018, in “Letter to the People of God,” Pope Francis condemned the sins of sexual abuse and the abuse of power in the church and linked those sins to clericalism. He firmly said and wrote that “To say no to abuse is to say an emphatic no to all forms of clericalism”. Clericalism has given rise to a lot of evils that are tormenting the Church and even shaking its very foundation on which our faith relies on. It is the unsaid duty and responsibility of every faithful to take part in this reformation of becoming a synodal church where clericalism has no place to reign over the lives of the laity and in the life of our mother Church.
A Storm to Face
Clericalism is a storm against which the Church must stand strong to become synodal. The process will never be easy but it is worth taking the risks. Clericalism is just a symptom of a disease that plagues the Church. It is the attitude of the clergy that “theirs’’ is the “final say” in everything that regards the Church and other matters too. Clerics are often trained to think that they are set apart from and set above everyone else in the church. Their behaviour, lifestyle, words, and deeds are not to be questioned. They lord over the activities of the Church.
It is not just the clerics who are clerical but often the laity foster it by glorifying them. Though I say only the clerics, it involves the nuns, religious and other people who are closely connected with the running of the church. Now as the ball is in our court and it solely depends on the faithful who must collaborate and engage in dialogue which would result in active participation of the laity.
Silent Struggle
St. Joseph was known for his silence all throughout his life. It was not a silence that supported any form of discrimination in any way. It was, a silence that speaks, a silence that surpasses sound, a silence that pricks our conscience, a silence that makes us feel guilty for our sinfulness and finally a silence that brought in conversion, reformation and transformation.
In every struggle, as said by Martin Luther King Jr., “It’s not the violence of the few that scares me, it’s the silence of the many.” This becomes true because nowadays people have become indifferent for the cry of their neighbours. The silence which was held dearly as an instrument of peace and reconciliation by St. Joseph has lost its value in this world of complexity. Silence by those who should be at the forefronts of every fight against injustice has become the order of the day.
Even today, silence is heard in many corridors of power, positions, pomp, and vanity. Clericalism supports, advocates every one of these and it is against these that we must raise our voices. Our mother Church struggles silently and is weeping because of the wounds that have been caused to her. In this silent struggle against all the evil forces that haunt us, it has become our prime duty to stand by her side and lend our supporting hand in facing the challenge of clericalism.
A Ray of Hope
There is light at the end of every tunnel and every cloud has a silver lining. Though the church is facing insurmountable challenges in becoming synodal, there is still a ray of hope because again as said by St. Paul, our mother Church is not man-made but instituted by our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. When He is by our side, we need not be unduly worried about the storms we face because He will never fail and let us down.
Finally, any challenge can be faced when we really fall in love, stay in love with Jesus Christ who strengthens, leads, guides and protects us in every moment of our lives because only in Him we move, live and have our being.