Cardinal Friedrich Wetter of Munich, Germany said he will no longer listen to complaints about liturgy from people who haven’t first confronted the priest involved. This has become topical because the recent document Redemptionis Sacramentum reiterated the right of the laity to report liturgical abuses. But Wetter goes further, requiring confrontation with the priest first and recourse to the bishop only if he’s unresponsive.
That seems dumb. What if the pastor tends toward the vindictive? What if people are afraid of their pastor or being shunned or something else? The priest’s ministry is just an extension of the bishop’s ministry. So why the need for a “chain of command?” The bishop is your pastor and you have a right and duty to go to him with concerns and reports of abuses. After all, if we’re going to report physical abuse, in an ideal situation, we’d go directly to the diocese and to the bishop. Shouldn’t it be that much more so when it’s an abuse of the Eucharist?
and what if you work for the guy and fear retribution?
I understand what Cardinal Wetter is saying, it is good to try and resolve it with him if possible. However if anyone feels unable, uncomfortable or fearful he’s setting them up to not come forward when they probably need to.
Just google “Barbara Samide” to get an idea of what happens when you confront a priest.
In cases of retaliation is Wetter going to be on the side of his brother priest or this lay person who is retaliated against?
Doesn’t the cardinal have it backwards? It is HIS responsibility to see that there are no abuses, and given that, he should WELCOME knowledge of such abuses, so that he can carry out that responsibility. The ‘hear no evil, see no evil’ mentality of so many of our leaders is one of the (several) major problems which led to thousands and thousands of teenage boys (on a worldwide basis) being sexually molested by priests. And sadly, that mentality to some extent extends right up to the Pope. It is the Pope’s responsibility to put into place bishops and cardinals who take that responsibility seriously. In many, many cases, he (the Pope) has failed grieviously at that. He is wonderful and good at many things (particularly teaching) – but he has failed in that serious responsibility.
Uh, sinner, I think you mean he writes a lot, right?
The state of Catholic teaching has been pretty bad for 40 years, almost 75% of which has been with this papacy.
Anyone who’s ever actually taught anything can tell you there’s a world of difference between just going on and on, and actually teaching someone something so they learn it.