c. 1996 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY _ There is something wrong with the papacy.

It’s been whispered for years inside the Roman Catholic Church and hinted at in ecumenical dialogues that this monarchial office is an anachronism in modern times, out of touch with people it serves and faltering in its mission to unify the world’s Christians.

But now, in language that is sometimes strident, but more often polite, calls are being heard for change in the Holy See’s encrusted bureaucracy and in the very authority of the pope who sits at the top of the pyramid of power.

Pope John Paul II himself issued an invitation to make debate over reform of the papacy public more than a year ago, in his May 1995 encyclical,”Ut Unum Sint”(That They May be One). But while his suggestion of openness was received with enthusiasm among those critical of the papacy, few now believe the near future holds any significant change.

Retired San Francisco Archbishop John Quinn, considered one of the most thoughtful members of the American hierarchy, is the latest to respond the pope’s call _ and the latest to be snubbed.”In considering the papal office and the call to Christian unity, we have to confront the challenging truth that (we are) not permitted to defer unity until there is a pope who can fulfill everyone’s expectations or agenda,”Quinn said in a speech June 29 at Oxford University’s Campion Hall.”We cannot hold unity hostage until there is a perfect pope in a perfect church.” Quinn called for a worldwide church council on par with the Second Vatican Council to be held at the dawn of the new millennium to address burning social and theological issues. He also said the Vatican bureaucracy, or Curia, of some 3,000 officials, had become too powerful, and said its authority should be stanched.

Quinn’s proposals prompted lively discussions among liberal Catholics in the United States. But the Vatican responded with silence. And privately, several officials reportedly chided the retired prelate.”The man is grandstanding,”said one Vatican official.”He’s trying to make some points and stretching what was in the encyclical.” Irish Bishop Brendan Comiskey was met with an equally chilly response in 1995, when he called on fellow Catholics to sit down and discuss whether the ban on priestly celibacy was necessary, useful or even desirable.

He may as well have been talking to a wall.

The Vatican wagged its finger disapprovingly, Ireland’s top Catholic prelate squelched the idea and Comiskey went into virtual seclusion. He refused to be interviewed about his proposal, and still won’t talk about it.”He just thinks that he’s said enough,”said Comiskey’s spokesman, Walter Ford.

Apparently, so does the Vatican. The formidable circle of cardinals and bishops loyal to John Paul reportedly told Comiskey that his call for openness on a potentially incendiary topic was not welcome.

Calls for changes have also come from outside the church.

The Rev. Konrad Raiser, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the international body of 330 Protestant and Orthodox denominations from around the world, also responded to the pope’s invitation for dialogue.

Earlier this year, Raiser suggested that the world’s main Christian traditions begin preparations in the year 2000 for a universal church council, including Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant leaders, to resolve the main issues that divide Christians _ including the nature of the papacy.

Raiser’s proposal, unlike Quinn’s and Comiskey’s, was met at the Vatican with at least a polite response. But no action has been forthcoming.

Such muted responses from the Vatican have dampened the hopes of many Catholics for reform of the papacy or the church.

And what has become increasingly clear, if unspoken, is that with the pope in the twilight of his papacy, many Catholics and people outside the church are pegging their hopes for change on John Paul’s successor. And while no one can predict whether the next man to fill the Shoes of the Fisherman will be more receptive to reform than John Paul, the disputes that now simmer will surely come to a boil. “Who knows what the future will bring? But all those questions are there. They won’t go away. They will have to be addressed,”said Maureen Groarke, secretary of the Irish Commission for the Laity of the Irish Episcopal Conference.

Ireland is not alone. Nearly every Catholic country in Europe has some major grievance with the church, whether concerning artificial contraception in Germany, married priests in Austria or the rights of women to be ordained in the Netherlands.

Similar complaints are heard from Catholic laity in Canada and the United States.”The people who are very engaged in the Catholic Church know that it is not possible to change from one day to another,”said Robert Mitscha, a reporter at Kathpress, the Austrian Catholic Church’s news agency. But he said,”many Catholics share the opinion that change will not come until there’s a new pope.” (STORY CAN END HERE. OPTIONAL TRIM FOLLOWS).

The internal Catholic drive for reform takes place in virtually every European country, including the pope’s Polish homeland. Church attendance and donations have declined steadily in the past several years. An increasing number of Catholics are openly defying church bans on abortion and artificial contraception. And polls show many Catholics have lost faith in the church’s moral leadership.

Not all disenchanted Catholics support all the aims of reform movements. But many agree that the organizations are a useful vehicle to prod the church.”In Austria, people today think better of our agenda than they did before,”said Bernhard Deflorian, a leader of the Austrian reform movement called People of the Church.”There was a great process of discussion of these grievances.” The group, which became something of a harbinger in Europe, showed impressive strength when it collected half a million signatures among 7 million Catholics on a petition that called for five reforms. They included optional celibacy for priests, opening the priesthood to women, equal rights for women, acceptance of gay Catholics, and more autonomy among Catholics to choose their bishops.

Since then, Deflorian said, his group has gained visibility in the Catholic hierarchy by meeting regularly with bishops and has expanded its reach among Catholics by hosting workshops on reform initiatives.”It is not too important always to look at what Rome says or does,”he said.”It’s important to get the people to understand what we are thinking. The point is that the future must be prepared. Everybody knows that in the church, change always needs a lot of time to take place.” The effort is aimed at two fronts: forcing the Catholic bishops, selected by Rome, to understand reformers’ wishes and seeking to impress their demands at the Vatican.

The church in Austria is financially heavily dependent on its flock, which is dwindling rapidly. Catholics pay about 1.5 percent of their salary as a church tax. The windfall is an impressive $400 million a year.

Germany has a similar tax system, and much of the same discontent evident in Austria.

The dissent was showcased during the pope’s recent visit to Germany, which was met by large protests against church orthodoxy.

A German petition modeled on the Austrian referendum has been signed by 1.5 million Catholics. There are about 28 million Catholics in Germany, though only about 5 million attend Mass regularly. A similar petition drive is currently underway in the United States.”Our aim is to keep the goals of our referendum alive,”said Christian Weisner, spokesman for the German lay reform movement We Are Church, which in the past year has organized in all 27 Catholic dioceses.”The bishops need to become conscious of their role between the Vatican and their dioceses here,”he said.

Goep Mourets says he has heard this argument before but is not convinced. The spokesman for the Dutch Catholic Bishop’s Conference said the recent reform drive in his country, which has one of the most liberal churches in Europe, would further polarize Catholics.”The church in the Netherlands has suffered a lot of polarization in the last 25 years and now that we are starting a process of dialogue in the Roman Catholic Church, it is not the right moment for a referendum,”he said.

The Dutch petition seeks to open the ministry to women and make celibacy optional for clergy.

Referendum organizers, calling their group Kerk Hardop (The Church Aloud) say the debate over church doctrine has for years been suppressed. Catholics, they say, need to express their opinions so they can set the terms of debate for the future.

Mourets said he believes the loud chorus of dissent in Europe is part of a”worldwide movement or an international strategy aimed at reform”that the next pope, whether more or less conservative than John Paul II, will be forced to confront.”A lot of people think that with this pontificate there will be no change of this kind and so perhaps the discussion can start in a new pontificate,”he said.

MJP END RNS