Call To Action Takes On Bishop

More than three dozen people participated in a demonstration in front of the Diocese of Venice chancery office on Jan. 27, 2010. They were protesting some of the unjust actions taken by Bishop Dewane. Ellen McNally welcomed the participants saying, “We are here today to speak out to the injustices we have witnessed in our diocese. We stand in solidarity with the 18 employees who have lost their employment, with the 8 who chose to leave their jobs because of difficult and tense working conditions, and with the volunteers who are no longer allowed to minister in our diocese. We believe that Mother Of God House Of Prayer is a Catholic institution, that Call to Action is a Catholic organization, that our churches should be involved in outreach programs, and that theologians should be allowed to speak in our churches.” She then invited those carrying signs to speak about the grievances in our diocese. Here is a synopsis of some of the messages. Each was followed by a prayer of petition.

Unjust Firings Since Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Rerum Novarum - On the Rights of the Working Man, the Church has been in the forefront of standing by the side of workers seeking their rights. Bishop Dewane doesn't seem to know the church's teaching on the rights of workers. He has arbitrarily fired or commanded others to fire several people working for the Diocese of Venice. Without a hearing, their jobs were eliminated "for budgetary reasons," though in several cases others were hired to do the same job. He claims that he had nothing to do with the firings, that others were in charge and did the firing. His notion of subsidiarity is to tell others what to do and have them take the heat. Call to Action wants every worker to have a hearing when their job is being questioned or when they are faced with a possible firing. That, and the consultation with fellow workers, is a minimum called for by the social teaching of the church.

No Voice Given to Pastors Our Bishop is a control freak. He interferes in the running of each parish in the diocese which amounts to no decision making left to pastors. For example: a pastor cannot use his parish bulletin as he chooses, he is told what he can and cannot put in his parish paper; a pastor cannot decide what outside speakers may come to his parish; e.g. He cannot invite Bishop Gumbleton, Fr. John Dear, nor Fr. Charles Curran; a pastor cannot attend certain events being held in this diocese; e.g. He cannot come to the assemblies or lectures sponsored by VOTF and Call to Action.

Servant Leadership Jesus said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must place oneself last of all and be the servant of all." Jesus, the Suffering Servant, embodied this model of leadership. He called forth women and men disciples around himself. He enjoined them, led by the Spirit, to bring good news to the poor, to free the captives, to heal the blind, to announce the day of salvation. This is what we expect of our bishop – to lead by example. To call forth his priests, deacons, sisters and lay women and men, as the church, the people of God, to live and be together as Jesus. Bishops as Servant leaders listen, dialogue, empower those in the community rather than dictate and control from on high. A servant leader bishop has structures in place and a style that allows full participation of all, even the least and those often excluded. Perhaps it is difficult for a member of the hierarchy to be non-hierarchical, as was Jesus, but that is what is required in order to be a servant first, to lead in order to better serve others, rather than to increase their own power.

Defamation of Character As Chapter Organizer of CTA, I came to SW Florida to support our local members who are being vilified by Bishop Dewane. His decision to ignore my requests to sit down with him for dialogue simply demonstrates his inability to be "shepherd" to all. The SW Florida CTA members are faith-filled, dedicated Catholics who continually work for the good of the church. This is a great big church and there is room for everyone and differing theologies. No one should be labeled "unfaithful" or "dissident" because their theology differs from that of their bishop. Differing theologies have been part of the Christian community since it's beginning. Perhaps the bishops who refuse to speak with us do so because they cannot defend their argument that we are "unfaithful."

Interfering in Parish Matters Our bishop has interfered in parish decisions most of all by banning speakers from the diocese. I acknowledge his positive intent: to protect us from content he believes would be false or dangerous. For the same reason, my father had a list of TV programs I wasn't allowed to watch. But I was 11-years old! The bishop's actions demonstrate the need for respect - respect for his pastors and priests who should be making these decisions, and respect for us, the adult People of God, that we can evaluate whether content is true or not. Secondly, speakers are banned without any transparent process. The bishop simply says, "No." We have no criteria by which speakers are evaluated, and we receive no explanation why speakers are banned.

Oppression of Women Benedict XVI spoke out recently against the exploitation, discrimination and violence against women. He noted they are discriminated against in some places just for the fact that they are women. Anyone watching the Vatican lately? Notice all the celibate males ... where is discrimination against women more visible than at the Vatican? Of course the Bishops follow in line. Here in the diocese under Bishop Dewane, men and women have been denied access to speak on church property. John Dear SJ who speaks constantly of peace, a member of Pax Christi was forbidden to speak in the diocese because he was in favor of women’s ordination. Edwina Gately who has given many spiritual talks and retreats was also banned because she also was in favor of women’s rights. Charles Curran a noted Catholic theologian, also denied, believes in women’s right to birth control. Anthony Padovano because he believes under certain conditions a women’s right to abortion.

Financial Accountability The Catholic Bishops of the United States have spent over $3 billion dollars to settle law suits and buy off the victims of pedophile priests. For the most part, these settlements allowed the bishops to avoid testifying and accepting responsibility for failure to prevent the soul destroying activity performed by their pervert priests. The bishops have proven themselves to be poor stewards of the resources God has entrusted to them. Funds collected from the faithful, hard earned dollars donated to their beloved Church to do God's work, were diverted by their bishops to conceal the evils they had allowed. Funds that the faithful had donated to help the poor, build schools, educate our young and to do God's work, were squandered. The laity, the source of Church funds, must have an equal voice in how these funds are used. If the laity had a voice, these evils could not have been covered up. The bishops uncontrolled use of money allowed them to engage in activities which have destroyed the faith of an estimated 30 million ex-catholics.

The Primacy of Conscience The Post Vatican 2 Documents speak often of conscience. The role of conscience is a practical dictate, not a teacher of doctrine. Conscience is inviolable and no man or women made in the image of God is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his/her conscience, as the moral tradition of the Church attests. (Human Life in Our Day, p.14). Of course the formation of conscience requires deep and prolonged discernment that can include reading, studying, praying, and dialogue regarding the issue, as well as a review of Church teachings. For example, if one was concerned about the negativity of the Church's teachings on homosexuality and homosexual marriage, one could study the medical research on homosexuality as well as the new data on the role of human sexuality to the growth of the human person.

Unresponsive Bishop Although the bishop and I have had several written and telephone communications, his response was always that my concerns and those of CTA were not his concerns. We talk past each other, with different agendas, which makes dialogue difficult. He views the church as hierarchical, autonomous, responsive only to itself. Progressive Catholics want a voice in church affairs. We want transparency, some democracy, an input into diocesan decision making and allocation of funds.

Subsidiarity Two key concepts came out from the the Second Vatican Council in the early sixties. Collegiality, the realization that all the bishops in the world share a collegial relationship with the Bishop of Rome, who is simply a first among equals. This truth mirrors the fact that the Church is defined not by the hierarchy, but as the people of God. The equally important principle is “subsidiarity.” That all decisions should be handled at the lowest possible level. Bishop Frank Dewane claims that he adheres to this principle. That the Bishop had nothing to do with people fired from local parishes. That the people let go from the Rice School for Leadership were not influenced by the Bishop. But that just doesn’t match with the facts. When the spirituality director at Rice was let go in a budget cut, several people reported having heard the Bishop Dewane say her termination was his desire, but don’t let it be known. At St John’s in Naples, the people were fired soon after the pastor was replaced by someone who would acquiesce to the bishop’s dislike of liberal Catholics. Even more blatant is the bishop ruling that any speaker in the diocese would have to have his approval first. And now he insists whether a retreat house, an assembly or the local Call To Action chapter have the right to refer to themselves as “Catholic.” This does not sound like subsidiarity, the key principle from Vatican II, to us.