Where the Church is Headed – Raised Catholic 199

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The following is a transcript of a Raised Catholic podcast episode. To listen to the episode, click here.

Today is episode 199: Where the Church is Headed

Hi friends. As you may have heard, we are in the final stretch (at least for now) of the Raised Catholic podcast. Last week, we told the story of the podcast through the lens of the fire and rebuilding of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Today we’ll chat about my take on the future of the Church and the ongoing second meeting of the Synod on Synodality, and next week we’ll center in on what’s next both for me and for this community through a prism of profound gratitude and the crazy, grace-filled serendipitous workings of the Holy Spirit. And that is one that you won’t want to miss, I promise! I’m honored to have you with me to walk this out together, friend, so thank you, really, from the bottom of my heart.

Now, I think it is fair to say that had I been spiritually fulfilled in the existing church structures and super positive about the direction of the American Catholic Church, that this podcast simply would not have existed. There’d be no need for it, after all, and I would hazard to guess that if that were the case, that you might not be listening, either. So, yes, I think it’s fair to say that the modern Catholic Church has fallen short in all kinds of ways from the horrific sexual abuse of children by priests to the decades long coverups from the bishops and hierarchy, the family separation, physical and sexual abuse and stripping of cultural identity that happened in Catholic indigenous schools in the U.S. and Canada, and the ongoing politicization of the clergy, alignment with worldly power, clericalism, hypocrisy, and the movement toward what I described in episode 148 as ‘outside the cup Catholicism’, which is simply an emphasis on the externals of worship over how we follow the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels. And if you ask most people outside of the Church about just how we’re doing these days reflecting a loving and self-sacrificial Jesus, you might just find as I did in episode 20: Church People, that the answer to that question is: not great.

And though we as a Church today are so divided, we do have one thing we have in common these days, and that is a feeling of precarity. As I said in episode 121: What We Have in Common, “It seems to me that in this time of political, social, and religious upheaval, the two things that most people might agree on is that:

Things are not as they should be, and we have no idea what will happen next.”

We who were born and raised Catholic, whether we’ve stepped away from regular faith practice, find ourselves on the margins of church, or are just sitting in pews wondering whether there is more to the experience of faith than what we are currently receiving from the institutional Church – well, I would hazard to bet that each one of us regardless of political affiliation or whether we lean toward a progressive or traditional Catholicism or somewhere in between, I think it’s fair to say that we would all agree on this: Things are not as they should be, and we are not at all sure what will happen next.

And this feeling of precarity motivates quite a lot of action – some based in fear, in which many want to return to some made-up ideal of past perfection in the Church, and some which is rooted in hope for a better and more inclusive future.

And, for me, the Synod on Synodality is one of those places where I have put quite a lot of hope, actually. Finally, I thought, the Church was endeavoring to listen to the Holy Spirit through the voices of lay and clergy alike, and to those inside and outside of Church walls. Finally, we would make progress on issues so central to the future of the Church – the role of women, an opening to married priests, welcome of LBGTQ people, and a return to Gospel-centered action on faith and justice issues as reflected in our Catholic Social Teaching. But in reality, I have found so much of the expression of the Synod to this point in time anyway, kind of deflating and this week, seriously enraging. For one, not every parish or diocese took seriously the call to listen to the people. There was quite a lot of skepticism on the part of leaders who maybe were more motivated by keeping tight reins on control than by letting the wild goose of the Holy Spirit change our course. In my parish, and maybe in yours, too, the open listening sessions that Pope Francis required of every parish just didn’t ever happen. And though the structure of the Synod showed so much promise – in the equality of participants from all around the world sitting at round tables together, listening and speaking, equal regardless of clerical title or station, the required retreat and silence built in to allow for a move of the Spirit, the beautiful and challenging opening meditations from Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, the seething and news making critique on clericalism by Pope Francis – despite all of this, it seemed by the end of the first meeting of the Synod last year in October of 2023, that the promise of the Synod might just be withering on the vine.

For one, the initial Synod discussion and report did not accurately reflect the issues that were listed as top priority by the global listening sessions – the treatment of LBGTQ Catholics and the possibility of married priests. And the role of women, or the possibility of ordaining women to the deaconate was sent to yet another study group, as the second meeting of the Synod was not even allowed to discuss the topic around their tables. And this after at least two full Vatican studies on the topic have already been undertaken, the results of one of them never released. And this very week, we learned that the study group responsible for the question of the role of women in the Church, study group 5, in contrast to every other Synod study group, never made its members’ names publicly available and seems to be a collection of Vatican insiders from the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith. Synod members who had hoped to speak with the committee were turned away at the door, prompting outrage not only in the hall, but extending out to faithful like me who had hinged quite a lot of hope on the model and idea of synodality, of the possibility of the Spirit moving and speaking in and through God’s people. And it is not an overstatement to say that this ‘hidden group’ and lack of transparency, plus Pope Francis’ hard ‘no’ to women deacons in a 60 Minutes interview earlier this year – well, all of this really does put the credibility of the whole Synod at risk. Because in light of these developments, it bears asking, is the Spirit being allowed to speak and move, or not? And what should we in the pews who have been hanging on, waiting for change, do now?

To be honest, for me, at age (almost) 53, I do sometimes wonder what I’m still doing here. If it weren’t for my love of the mass and the Eucharist, I probably would have left a long time ago, but I want so much for our Church to embody its potential and goodness, to become a place of thriving and welcome for all of God’s people. But so many in positions of power just won’t make a shift on any level, or even consider that a shift is needed. And this makes me think of that scene from the movie “Mr. Mom”, when Michael Keaton’s Dad character insists on going the wrong way in the school drop-off line on that rainy school morning. I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but you must see it. It’s a great movie. Well anyway, on that rainy day, everyone is beeping at him, and Annette the crossing guard has him pull over and he rolls down his window and she just says, “Hi Jack. You’re doing it wrong.” And I feel like that scene embodies so much of my take on the Church today, like guys, we need to fix this. People are getting hurt, it’s dangerous, it’s confusing, and there is a better way if you would just listen.

My experience of teaching mirrors this hopelessness I feel at times. I’ve been working as a preschool music teacher for over twenty years, and in this time, I’ve seen a ton of changes around kids’ behavior and ability to focus at school. There are lots of reasons behind these changes, but for me, I’ve had to simplify my curriculum at times over the years and drop some of the activities that I love because generally speaking, kids just can’t pretend the way they used to. They’re much more literal, much more self-focused, and they sometimes have a harder time being a part of a classroom community. And this is similar to the American Church, right, where there’s a lack of imagination, where we’ve become much too self-referential, and the closed-box nature of the smaller, purer Church that many imagine and are actively working toward is leaving behind the ideal of the beloved community.

But then sometimes I’ll be in front of a group like I was earlier this week, and I’ll experience the eager joy in a little boy’s face in response to the music that looks like my son’s face at that age or the complex and thoughtful answer from a little girl that reveals some deep thought that reminds me of my daughter at that age, and I’ll just have to humbly say: I don’t have the whole picture of what is going on here. It’s complex, it’s always in motion, and there is no such thing as ‘arriving’ when it comes to a Church or a society or a school. I don’t want to embrace the defeatism of “kids these days” or “church these days”. I want to embrace possibility and a wider story of that which I do not yet know, because God is bigger than all of it. God is God and I am not.

I’ve gotten into the practice of reading one psalm every night before I go to bed, and I’m often surprised by the honest lament, followed by hope that exists even within the same psalm. And when it comes to the state of our Church today, I guess that’s where I’m at. Prayer, study, honest lament, and hope for what I don’t yet know. Because one thing I do know is that the Spirit is about hope, despite the circumstances. He is moving, making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, despite the moves of men to stop it. The Spirit of God cannot be stopped, and it’s my aim to let Him speak and live in me, as much as I can. That’s the only part I can control, after all.

Well friend, as always thanks for listening today. If you need me, you can find me on Instagram @kerrycampbellwrites, at Substack at kerrycampbellwrites.substack.com, or on my website at kerrycampbell.org. Thank you so much for rating, reviewing, subscribing and most importantly, sharing this podcast with a friend. Yes, still, because that makes a real difference in growing this community which I hope will live on, so thanks. If you would like to support this podcast financially, there are a couple of ways for you to do that in the show notes, along with some resources related to today’s episode. One thing for sure though, friend, you will want to subscribe over on Substack, so once again that’s kerrycampbellwrites.substack.com for updates on what is next for us. But for now, let’s pray together.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Lord, you alone know the future of this Church that you’ve made. Give us wisdom to discern what’s next as we trust in you. And so, today we pray the words of the psalm which a good friend once gave us as a meditation:

Be still and know that I am God.

Be still and know.

Be still.

Be.

Thanks so much for listening today, friend, I’ll see you next time.

Show Notes

As I mentioned in the last couple of episodes, we’re in the home stretch (at least for now) of the Raised Catholic podcast. Last week, I told the story of the podcast through the lens of the Notre Dame Cathedral fire as an allegory for the state of the Church and as a model for how an unlikely ministry sometimes finds us. This week I’ll share my take on the state of the Church.

Thanks as always to my friend, Peter Vaughan-Vail, for providing the beautiful harp music you hear in this and every episode.

Here are some resources I hope will help you to engage with this week’s topic in a deeper way for yourself:

1. Raised Catholic 148 transcript and link to episode: ⁠The Gospel vs. Clericalism and Outside the Cup Catholicism⁠

2. Raised Catholic 20 transcript and link to episode: ⁠Church People⁠

3. Raised Catholic 121 transcript and link to episode: ⁠What We Have in Common⁠

4. Article: ⁠A Love Letter to my Catholic Friends⁠, by me, at Where Peter Is, from October, 2020

5. Article: ⁠Synod on synodality report is disappointing but not surprising⁠, from National Catholic Reporter, from November, 2023

6. Text and video, from School for Synodality: ⁠Synod retreat meditations from Fr. Timothy Radcliffe OP ⁠

7. Video: ⁠60 Minutes Pope Francis interview with Norah O’Donnell⁠

8. Article: ⁠Pope Francis intervenes at Synod, calls clericalism a ‘scourge’ that ‘enslaves’ God’s people⁠, from America Magazine

9. Video: ⁠Carpool scene⁠ from Mr. Mom “You’re doing it wrong.”

10. Article: ‘Palpable outrage’: ⁠Synod delegates react to women deacons study group meeting⁠, from America Magazine

Psalm 46:10: “He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’”

Translation from The Message: “Attention, all! See the marvels of GOD! He plants flowers and trees all over the earth, Bans war from pole to pole, breaks all the weapons across his knee. “Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything.”