The Statue On My Desk

I keep a statue of St John Fisher on my desk. It's not because I have an extraordinarily intense devotion to him, though I do invoke his intercession every day, along with the other saints with whom I have a relationship. I picked the statue up in London, I think, a number of years ago and I was impressed by it. But there is a reason why I have it on my desk: it serves as a daily reminder. Of what, you might ask?  

It reminds me that when push came to shove in England, as Henry VIII was bullying the Church in England and wrenching her from her communion with Rome to satisfy his desires, only one bishop was prepared to stand up to him and say no: the saintly Bishop of Rochester, John Fisher. He lost his head for his heroic stance, but he kept his faith and integrity while the rest of the episcopal bench scurried like sheep and bowed to their king's demands. The statue of St John Fisher reminds me never to be disappointed with the weakness of our pastors, nor be surprised; they are but sinful men like the rest of us. And secondly, more positively, it reminds me to pray for our bishops and their ministry, and should push come to shove they will have the courage of John Fisher to take a stand.

The heroic pastor

I have been thinking a great deal about bishops lately, and not only because of what is coming out of Rome these days. I am writing a biography of St Thomas Becket and the research has led me to ponder on the many difficulties bishops face, perennial difficulties and conflicts that raise their heads time and time again. For example, Thomas's own struggle with Henry II is not too different from the situation in China today, where the secular authorities want to govern the Church. In his day Thomas said no and he fought to the death for the Church's freedom; today, it seems likely that will not happen in China. Just last Sunday a priest of our diocese was consecrated a bishop in another Irish diocese, and a friend of mine, also a priest of our diocese, was appointed to another diocese a few years ago. So as I read and research my thoughts are with them too as they turn to carry out their ministry in an Ireland which is becoming less and less Christian.

In his struggles, St Thomas found consolation in heroic pastors who preceded him. One of the greatest of these was St Anselm, now a Doctor of the Church, who served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. Though he was an academic and Benedictine Abbot, once installed as archbishop, he pushed up his sleeves and got down to preaching the faith and defending the Church as kings of England sought to usurp Church powers and assets. Anselm made it known before he accepted the appointment that he was going to enforce the reforms of Pope St Gregory VII which sought to separate Church and state and diminish the state's role and authority in Church affairs, particularly its appointment of bishops. Though the king, William II (William Rufus) agreed to some of Anselm's demands, he was shocked when the new archbishop followed through on his warning. Anselm was exiled for his efforts, but he eventually returned to England and continued the fight. The argument arose again under William's successor, Henry I, and this time it was far worse. Anselm was exiled again but he stood his ground, and at one point when the pope stopped short of excommunicating the king, Anselm wrote to Henry from his exile in Lyons to say that he was going to do what the pope would not. Terrified at the prospect of losing the loyalty of his subjects which would have resulted from his excommunication, Henry backed down and Anselm returned triumphant. 

The unmercifully thin tightrope

The Church has many such examples of heroic pastors who take a stand, regardless of the cost, in order to uphold Church teaching, the freedom of the Church, or the defence of the faithful. Later this year one of them will be canonised, Blessed Oscar Romero. Now many people have a problem with Romero, as I did myself for some time. Like many others, I believed he was an apologist for Liberation Theology and that he subjected the Gospel to Marxism. That leftists hail him as a hero of their ideology did not help. However, I was wrong. The image I had of him came from the propaganda of leftists within the Church who usurped the good Archbishop for their own ends. Blessed Oscar was a man who was forced to walk a very thin tightrope between an oppressive extreme right-wing state and extreme left-wing Marxist revolutionaries. Indeed it was unmercifully thin, and given his sensitivity, his sense of powerlessness and his fear, Blessed Oscar was a man torn apart. Robert Royal has written a very insightful piece on this, which I recommend you read (link here). For all his hardship, Blessed Oscar followed through on what was right and he was martyred for it; his martyrdom continued as the leftists used his name and reputation to further their aims. As one priest of undoubted orthodoxy said to me following Romero's beatification: 'We have to grab Oscar back from them'. He was right, we must.

Blessed Oscar's example is one which may help us understand what many of our bishops face today. Some want to remain true, but they are faced with extraordinary pressure from secularism, apathy within the faith and the legitimate desire to try and bring souls back to God. That means many of them will have to walk an unmercifully thin tightrope; they need courage, prudence and wisdom. Of course there are the heroic ones who, like John Fisher, Thomas Becket and Anselm, are strong and face into the battle with extraordinary insight and fearlessness, but they tend to be few in any age. And then I cannot deny there are other pastors who are afraid to do what their office demands and will do what they have to do for a quiet life. And there are others who will say 'The Church will do us for our day' and just skip from one confirmation ceremony to another, saying what needs to be said so they are asked to step in for selfies and avoid conflict by whatever means necessary. The Church is a net with many varieties of fish. 

Lily-livered cowards

For all of these pastors we must pray daily; as I do whenever I look at the statue on my desk. Some will blame the pope for appointing weak and unsuitable men to the episcopate; a fault we must find then with every pontiff, the great John Paul among them. But please remember those Our Lord appointed as the first bishops, the apostles. None of them were ideal. One betrayed him, and as for the rest, lily-livered cowards is too mild a phrase to describe them; when trouble came, they ran.  Remember when we complain about bishops being too concerned with their image that the apostles were forever fighting among themselves about who was the best and who deserved the place of honour. It was no pope who chose them, it was Christ himself. 

Yet for all their foibles, ambitions, cowardice and utter stupidity, eleven of these appointees turned out well; they all preached the Gospel faithfully and all of them, with exception of John who survived attempts to martyr him, died for their faith and have left us an extraordinary example of love and fidelity to Christ. So too with our pastors today. As they are the successors of the apostles, we must pray that they too will be shining examples of love and fidelity to Christ; that they will fearlessly teach and uphold the faith for the sake of the flock in their care. And never be surprised if a bishop should betray Christ by his life or teaching: there was one of the twelve who did that too, and the Lord, for all his foresight, intentionally included that one among his apostles - for a reason.

God's ways are not our ways, as we are reminded in the prophesy of Isaiah (cf. Is 55:8), and he can do all things, even the most difficult like turning human hearts. We need to keep that in mind as we look to our pastors. God knows what he wants to do with them and we must pray that he will have his way. Our task is to support God in this endeavour by our prayers and sacrifices, and, of course, understanding hearts.

The duty of the faithful

That said, if a pastor is failing in his duty, it is the duty of Christians, particularly members of his flock, to speak with him - charitably. The Code of Canon Law, often dismissed as a dry old book, has its finger on the pulse when in canon 212 it says:

Christ's faithful are at liberty to make known their needs, especially their spiritual needs, and their wishes to the Pastors of the Church. (canon 212 §2).

and,

They [the faithful] have the right, indeed at times the duty, in keeping with their knowledge, competence and position, to manifest to the sacred Pastors their views on matters which concern the good of the Church. They have the right also to make their views known to others of Christ's faithful, but in doing so they must always respect the integrity of faith and morals, show due reverence to the Pastors and take into account both the common good and the dignity of individuals. (canon 212 §3)

But to do this remembering the first article in this same canon:

Christ's faithful, conscious of their own responsibility, are bound to show Christian obedience to what the sacred Pastors, who represent Christ, declare as teachers of the faith and prescribe as rulers of the Church. (canon 212 §1)

Pastors include priests, parish priests, bishops, cardinals and the pope himself.

From personal experience I know liberal members of our Church are more than happy to invoke this canon. Many times I have had Catholics who dispute the very fundamental truths of the faith quote the above as they demand I no longer catechise according to the orthodox teaching of the Church. But orthodox members of the faithful should not be afraid to heed this law and do their duty under the law to correct, if necessary, a pastor who is failing in his duty, but again, to do so with charity and an expression of love and respect. That said, I am conscious that we now find ourselves in a situation where even simple questioning of some unorthodox views from senior figures in the Church earns rebuke and accusations of disloyalty and lack of Christian charity.  Such a response to honest questioning is unreasonable and quite revealing and should not deter the faithful from their duty.

The voice of God in our midst

In recent years the Church has raised up some of the most extraordinary bishops in the Church's history to number them among the Saints and Beati. That God is doing this at this time should encourage us. Each of these pastors had their own struggles, personal and public, and though each was often wanting due to human weakness, the grace of God triumphed in them. I suggest that you look at these holy bishops and become familar with their lives and pray to them for their brother pastors who now walk the pilgrimage of faith with a share of the burden of the Church on their shoulders.

Among these heroic pastors I would recommend Blessed Clemens von Galen who stood up to Hitler and the Nazi regime. He would not allow himself be silenced in face of the terror of Nazism and its evil ideology. So too Blessed Alojzije Stepinac who found himself accused by Nazis and Communists alike and who died a martyr, poisoned by those who had condemned him on trumped up charges. Another, St Rafael Guízar y Valencia, a Mexican bishop who carried out his ministry in hiding during the persecution of the Church there. Driven out of his diocese, he remained a hidden thorn in the side of his oppressors, refusing to abandon his people. Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky, Bishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in union with Rome, who endured years of hard labour in prison, under condemnation by the Communists for his faithful ministry. Gentle and kindly, Blessed Vasyl clung to his faith in Christ and Our Lady to face each day's suffering and to encourage his people. Blessed Carlo Liviero, the Italian bishop who in his ministry had to counter the attacks of socialists, liberals and Freemasons who tried to destroy him and his ministry. With wit, wisdom, determination and faith he taught the truths of the faith, founded initiatives to meet the needs of his people and dilute the influence of his enemies. He won and converted many of those enemies.

In these holy bishops, and in many others who share their office, we hear the voice of God in our midst calling out to us, and calling out to those men who share in the sacred ministry of bishop. They speak of trust in Christ, of fidelity to the promises of ordination, of courage and determination, of humility and hope, of the need for fervent prayer and spiritual closeness to Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady, the Queen of Apostles. As Pope St John Paul II said to the Bishops of Ireland during his visit to Ireland in 1979:

The basis of our personal identity, of our common bond and of our ministry is found in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and High Priest of the New Testament. For this reason, Brethren, my first exhortation as I come among you today is this : "Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who inspires and perfects our faith" (Heb 12 :2). Since we are pastors of this flock, we must indeed look to him who is the chief Shepherd—Princeps Pastorum (1 Pt 5:4) to enlighten us, to sustain us, and to give us joy as we serve the flock, leading it "in paths of righteousness for his name's sake" (Ps 23 :3)...

Our personal relationship with Jesus is then a guarantee of confidence for us and for our ministry. In our faith we find the victory that overcomes the world. Because we are united with Jesus and sustained by him, there is no challenge we cannot meet, no difficulty we cannot sustain, no obstacle we cannot overcome for the Gospel. Indeed, Christ himself guarantees that "he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do ..." (Jn 14 :12). Yes, Brethren, the answer to so many problems is found only in faith—a faith manifested and sustained in prayer. (For the full address follow this link)

The statue on your desk

So, my friends, let us pray for our bishops so they may be true witnesses to Christ, faithful teachers of the Word of God and, as St John Paul II urged them to be, 'true fathers of all their people, excelling in the spirit of love and solicitude for all'. I have no doubt that most of them are striving to be exactly that and they need our support and our prayers. Never forget that a bishop is a man struggling with sin and weakness, often in need of wisdom and very often tired and worn out. Circumstances conspire to keep him tied to a desk or drifting from one meeting to another. And there are many other tasks, influences and concerns that bear down upon him, and all of these take their effect, for good or bad.

Now I ask you, if you can, get a statue of St John Fisher and put it on your desk. Look at it every day and remember that only one already acknowledged as a Saint in his lifetime had the courage to stand up to a tyrant. And as you ponder on that, commend to his care and protection your own bishop, all the bishops of the Church, the Holy Father, and all those men who, in time, will be consecrated successors to the apostles. They are our fathers in the spiritual life, our shepherds and we have a duty to pray for them daily and to keep them in our hearts.