World Radio Day: Calling the Church to conversion

(Vatican Radio) In observing World Radio Day, 13 February, Vatican Radio is featuring interviews with women who have inspired its female journalists by giving voice to other women around the world.

At a time when Pope Francis has underlined the need “to create still broader opportunities for a more incisive female presence in the Church” and to develop a theology of women, Laura Ieraci features compelling Canadian female theologian Catherine Clifford, whose reflections on the Pope’s vision of Church remind us that structures exist to serve mission. She inspires with her insight and pastoral zeal. Listen:

Hello, I’m Laura Ieraci. During my year here at Vatican Radio, I had the opportunity to interview Catherine Clifford, a professor of theology at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Canada, and vice-dean of the faculty.

Professor Clifford was in Rome this past fall to present at a conference on Jesuit philosopher and theologian Bernard Lonergan. She shared how she employs Lonergan’s method in theology in her work in ecumenical dialogue.

The director of the Centre for Vatican II and 21^st-century Catholicism and a professor with research interests in contemporary issues in ecclesiology, I took the opportunity to invite her into our studio to speak with me about her impressions of the vision of the Church that Pope Francis put forth in his first Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium.

I appreciated her clarity of thought and speech on an issue that can oftentimes become mired in metaphor or lost in broad statements. Her response was holistic, offering both academic reflection and concrete pastoral application. Professor Clifford gave theology breath, demonstrating how theology is called to witness in culture and to call others to faith.

Let’s listen to some of what she had to say: “The purpose of Church structures is to enable the Church to fulfill its mission. So the forms of ministry, the forms of prayer that we have in ecclesial life should enable the baptized to be those living witnesses of the Gospel in the world. And if those structures need updating, if they’re not effective, if they get in the way, if sometimes we get too hung-up on the structure itself and we lose sight of the end, which is to bring this Good News to humanity, Pope Francis is asking us to re-examine the culture of the Church and structures in the Church so that they are really at the service of that proclamation.

“He said the parish has to be not inwardly focused, but like the whole Church, outwardly engaged. And so he says, ‘The parish should not become a useless structure… It should not be a self-absorbed group.’ It should be in touch with people in the community, where they live, and be engaged and enable the members of the parish community to go out into the world. I teach students who are working in pastoral ministry, or they will be, and I challenge them sometimes and say, ‘Sometimes, we have a notion of ministry, whose aim is to bring people back to the parish on Sunday morning and that’s really not the end of ministry. The end is: to form this community of baptized disciples to go out and enable them and support them as they go out and live the Gospel every day of the week.’

"And so a parish community should be a community that is alert and attuned to the people in their neighbourhood, to know what are the needs of the poor in the neighbourhood surrounding our parish church. They should be asking themselves, ‘What gifts do we have that we can be putting at the service of the people in our community, the poor and the marginalised? Can we be working also perhaps with Christians from other neighbouring communities?’

“The structures of the Church and the form of its teaching, the form of its prayer are all at the service of mission. They all have to assist and enable the baptized to live the Gospel daily. And if we can’t see the connection between liturgy and life, Church teaching and daily practice, daily witness, and especially this call to be of service, to be a community that’s a compassionate presence of God’s love, particularly reaching out in service to the poor and the marginalised, then we’ve lost the heart of the Gospel message.”

Professor Clifford’s call in speaking about the Church and its structures is to conversion. Echoing Pope Francis, she says ecclesial structures and organizations must be adapted so that the Gospel can shine through. Her call is compelling and impassioned, grounded in both knowledge and conviction.

In this same Apostolic Exhortation, Pope Francis calls for the “need to create still broader opportunities for a more incisive female presence in the Church.” While the “presence” the Pope intends is yet to be defined, Professor Clifford certainly contributes a clear and intelligent female voice to the field of theology and theological reflection. Her insights offer Catholics a greater understanding of their faith and of their Church, inspiring a life of greater integrity with the Gospel.