Hierarchs and lower-archs in the churchby Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
Sep. 24, 2009 The Peace Pulpit
Once again Thomas Gumbleton, Retired Bishop of Detroit has provided some solid theology and a mild rebuke to the emerging culture of "reform' coming from the Vatican. His
In recent weeks, Pope Benedict XVI -- every Wednesday he gives a talk to thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square every Sunday from his window in the Vatican Palace; he blesses the crowd down in the square and speaks briefly -- in one of those talks recently, because he has made this what he calls the “Year of Priests,” he told the crowd that Mary, the Blessed Mother, had (and these are his words) “a special affection for priests as her sons because they are more similar to Jesus.” In other words, the ordained priest, just by being ordained, has a status that puts him apart from, and obviously above, others in the church.
Now that isn’t the way of Jesus. At the Last Supper, what did he do? He got down and washed the disciples’ feet, but he was celebrating what we think of as the first Eucharist. He wasn’t presiding, overseeing; he was acting as a servant. He had given up power; he didn’t need power like that, the world’s power. And here were are, now they’re talking about putting the altar rail back so there’s a barrier between the priest and the people, make sure the priest is above and better, holier. Not true!0
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