VATICAN ISSUES WARNING AGAINST UNAUTHORIZED EXORCISMS (excerpt)

NEW YORK (RNS) — Leaders of the American Catholic charismatic renewal movement say typical pastoral practice among prayer groups will not be affected by a recent Vatican letter addressed to all bishops that they must ensure that "those unauthorized do not organize prayer meetings to liberate the possessed, directly interrogating the demons or seeking to learn their identity." The directive, in Latin, was sent out in November, 1985 by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Vatican's Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, but was not made public until February. The letter noted the "growing numbers of groups within the church meeting to pray to obtain deliverance from evil spirits" led by lay people "even though there may be a priest present." Such meetings, "even if they are not actual exorcisms" but only directed to cases possibly revealing "diabolitical influence," should be prevented, he said.

Formal liturgical exorcism cannot be done in the Catholic Church licitly "without first obtaining the express and special authorization of the bishop of the place," he continued, and went on to explain that only priests could receive such authorization.

Robert Wonderly, a spokesperson for the United States Catholic Conference in Washington, D.C., said his office was not aware of any problems with exorcism in the U. S. church. He characterized the letter as "a blanket statement really addressed to a problem in southern Europe but causing grief everywhere else." Cardinal Ratzinger's office acknowledged issuing the letter, but would not comment on the intentions and contents of the letter. While it does not explicitly refer to the charismatic renewal, its content and language referring to evil spirits and lay-led prayer meetings strongly suggest the renewal as one obvious focus.

But there is ambiguity in a close reading of the text. It is unclear where the line is drawn between lay and ordained authority. Those in the U. S. charismatic renewal, for example, use certain terms and engage in certain prayers and practices that they include under the general heading of "deliverance," but which fall short of formal exorcisms. There is also a question about whether Cardinal Ratzinger's main concern is abuse of authority, psychological harm to those preoccupied with demons, or instances where small groups have engaged in a kind of hysteria over what they view as demonic phenomena.

It is not clear whether his prohibition of "prayer meetings to liberate the possessed" conducted "under the leadership of lay people" includes deliverance services. These services are common among charismatics in the United States, according to Fred Lilly, managing editor of New Covenant, a leading periodical of the charismatic movement. "People are prayed over to be freed of the oppressive influences in their lives, of the interference in one's life by diabolic influences," he explained. Terms such as "discerning," "binding" and "rebuking" tempting spirits are common among charismatics, and are viewed as weapons in the arsenal of charismatic spirituality . . . Charismatics hold that all Christians are empowered to share in the authority and victory of Jesus over evil.

The chairman of the National Service Committee of Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the U.S. (NSC), the Kenneth Metz acknowledged that in "isolated instances there could be inappropriate uses" of deliverance prayer. He mentioned the conclusions of the Third Asian Charismatic Leaders' Conference held in November, 1985 in Bangalore, India which reviewed the question of deliverance prayer in the renewal in light of Cardinal Ratzinger's letter. The Asian leaders, he said, "felt there's maybe an undue emphasis on this kind of thing where what's really needed is repentance, inner healing, guidance and counseling." Sometimes, he said, immature and undiscerning practitioners have rushed to a diabolical judgment as a catch-all diagnosis for physical and psychological ills.

VATICAN ISSUES "POSITIVE" STATEMENT ON LIBERATION THEOLOGY

WASHINGTON (RNS) — The Vatican, in what appears to be an olive-branch offering to proponents of the doctrine known as liberation theology, has expressed its support for efforts to resist oppressive social, political and economic systems. In a 15,000 word document, the Vatican's Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith balanced out criticism which it had previously lodged against liberation theology, a social-justice doctrine with roots in Latin-American struggles.

The statement, titled "Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation," supports liberation theology's familiar battle cry for a "preferential option for the poor," urges the poor to "Take action" against unjust social structures, and even praises the controversial "base Christian communities" in places like Latin America. These grass-roots church communities have been on the front lines of movements against powerful interests and came under criticism in a previous Vatican document on liberation theology released in September, 1984. However, the new document issued on April 5 also reiterates the Vatican's warnings against the excesses of liberation ideas and activities and in particular any recourse to violence and class struggle.

The instruction, or statement of official church teaching, was issued as a companion piece to the same Congregation's 1984 "Instruction on Certain Aspects of Liberation Theology." The earlier document emphasized the "deviations" of liberation theology, particularly the use of Marxist categories. At that time, the Vatican announced it would also publish a "positive" document on liberation and freedom. "Between the two documents," the current statement notes, "there exists an organic relationship. They are to be read in light of each other."

Release of a positive statement on liberation themes came as the Vatican lifted an order of "penitential silence" imposed on the Rev. Leonardo Boff, a Brazilian liberation theologian whose critique of the church's hierarchical structure have angered Rome. This, as well as the pope's praise for "authentic Christian liberation" efforts in an address to Brazilian bishops in March, have signaled a lowering of the tension which has existed between the Vatican and supporters of liberation theology.

A "theology of freedom and liberation" which is firmly rooted in faith in God "is something needed by the times in which we are living," the document states. It is "perfectly legitimate that those who suffer oppression on the part of the wealthy or the politically powerful should take action, through morally licit means," to change unjust structures and institutions, it says. The church hierarchy, it says, accepts armed struggle "as a last resort to put an end to an obvious and prolonged tyranny which is gravely damaging the fundamental rights of individuals and the common good." But it adds that "passive resistance" rather than violence is morally superior and offers better prospects for success. Salvation and evangelization is described as the central mission of the church. But this mission also leads the church to "pursue people's true temporal good, help them in their needs, provide for their education and promote an integral liberation from everything that hinders the development of individuals," the document says.

Addressing another source of conflict, the statement adds: "The new basic communities or other groups of Christians which have arisen to be witnesses to this evangelical love are a source of great hope for the church." The document says these communities will deepen the communal nature of the church as long as they "live in unity with the local church and the universal church." In its earlier document, the Congregation had asserted that these communities sometimes uncritically accept liberationist and Marxist teachings, such as revolution and class struggle that are contrary to the Christian vision of life. Rome has also worried that the communities may sometimes see themselves as autonomous churches.

Reiterating a central concept in Catholic social teaching, the instruction adds: "The right to private property is inconceivable without responsibility to the common good. It is subordinated to the higher principle which states that goods are meant for all."

SURGE OF CATHOLIC LAITY IN SEMINARIES SIGNALS NEW ERA FOR CHURCH (excerpt)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (RNS) — Rita Cheresnowsky is in her third year of study at Weston School of Theology, a Roman Catholic seminary here. She is currently enrolled in a course on preaching and next semester will don liturgical vestments for a class on how to preside at various kinds of worship services. She is among a rapidly growing number of lay Catholics who are preparing for ministries and parish leadership roles that were once solely the domain of male, celibate priests. According to most experts, they are likely to alter significantly the face of American Catholicism over the next decade. And their presence sheds light on the changes that are occurring in Catholic life regardless of how larger debates over such matters as married priests or women priests turn out.

Today the expanding role of lay people is less a matter of debate in the church than of sheer necessity. Direct pressure for change has come from the reality of a worsening shortage of priests in the country. The Rev. Edward O'Flaherty, president of the Weston school, a Jesuit seminary, said church leaders expect that the number of active priests "will be cut rather dramatically" over the next decade. "Somebody is going to have to be doing something," he said in an interview here. "Either that or a lot of the things we do will simply fall by the wayside." Among these, he said, are basic pastoral services such as counseling, marriage preparation and other tasks traditionally performed by priests.

The seminary which Father O'Flaherty heads illustrates the shifting priorities of training for Catholic ministry. A decade ago there were no lay people or nuns enrolled at Weston. At that time, however, Weston made a formal decision to admit people who are not bound for the priesthood, in keeping with the international Jesuit order's declaration that it would encourage "collaborative ministry" between lay people and clergy. Now lay people and religious sisters make up a third of the 200 students enrolled at Weston. About half of the 32 full-time lay students are married and have children.

Nationally, there are no estimates of how many lay people are studying in the hundreds of institutes, colleges and seminaries which offer training in Catholic ministry, or of those already in pastoral ministry. But one indication lies in the changing composition of seminaries — which once served the exclusive purpose of turning out priests. From there, lay people go on to a growing array of ministries — ranging from positions as pastoral assistants, counselors, religious educators and administrators in parishes to campus ministries and missionary work.

The need for these lay ministers is perhaps best reflected in rural areas beyond the Northeast, and places like Gaylord, Mich. There, the diocese estimates that in two years fewer than a third of its 85 parishes will have priests. Virginia Sullivan Finn, who has advised the bishops' conference on lay ministry issues and is director of student services at Weston, says this means that non-ordained ministers will run more parishes in Gaylord than will priests. "The priest will come on Sundays, but a non-ordained person will head the parish during the week," said Ms. Finn.

Ms. Cheresnowsky said she wants to be able to perform the same tasks as a priest, and to do pastoral ministry among Hispanics. Next semester, her last at Weston, she will take a class which illustrates the new responsibilities that lay people are assuming in the church. She will sit alongside Jesuit candidates in a course called "presiding" which teaches skills needed to preside at celebrations of the Eucharist, baptisms, marriage ceremonies, Christian burials, confession and communion services.

Explaining the need for such instruction of lay people, the Rev. Peter Fink, who teaches presiding, said that only confession and the Eucharist absolutely must be administered by priests. Increasingly, he said, lay people are called on to preside at any of the other religious services. Even knowledge of confession is important for lay ministers because, he added, they will find themselves in situations where the lines between confession and counseling are blurred.

Preparation for many of the same ministries performed by priests has led some laypeople to question the distinction between clergy and laity. "We are trained exactly as the priests are, and even empowered, but we are not recognized by the church as being as qualified as the priests," said a first-year Weston student. Ms. Finn cited an informal survey taken by Weston in which almost two-thirds of the lay graduates of the school said they had no desire to be ordained priests. "Lay ministry has developed an identity of its own."

According to Father O'Flaherty, priests increasingly feel threatened by lay ministers who are performing tasks traditionally carried out by clergy. But lay ministers seem willing to risk an uncertain future because of the growing need and desire for their services in the church, he added. "We're at the beginnings of something here and I think the future is very hopeful," said Father O'Flaherty, who envisioned what he called a "less clerical" church in the future.

POPE LAMENTS DECLINE IN CONFESSIONS IN MESSAGE TO CLERGY

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope John Paul II warned against attempts to make priests "more like the laity" and voiced concern over the number of Roman Catholics who no longer confess their sins in his Holy Thursday letter to the clergy around the world. The pope urged the world's Catholic clergy to help believers "overcome prejudices, baseless fears" that keep them away from the confessional. He advised that "now, just when a great number seem to stay away from confession completely, for various reasons, it is a sign of the urgent need to develop a whole pastoral strategy of the sacrament of reconciliation."

The pope acknowledged that the shortage of priests in many areas makes confessions more difficult to obtain, but he also blamed the decline of the practice on "pastors today who are suffering from a kind of spiritual desert. The ministry of confession," the pope said, "presupposes on the part of the confessor great human qualities, above all an intense and sincere spiritual life. It is not the world which determines his (the priest's) status, as though it depended on changing needs or ideas about social roles. It is essential to the church that the identity of the priest be safeguarded. Attempts to make the priest more like the laity are damaging to the church."

Confession is a key practice in the Roman Catholic tradition and a prerequisite to taking part in communion. Holy Thursday is the day when Catholic priests traditionally renew the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience they took when they were ordained. It is also the day the Catholic Church recalls Jesus Christ's last supper with the apostles, when He initiated the practice of Communion by breaking bread and drinking wine with His disciples.