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A church in transition

The Synod document observes that "when social institutions in a culture experience change, the Church is challenged as well" (Rome, 1 998: 1 4) . Social issues make their mark on Catholic people just as they do on other individuals and groups. As society has changed, so too has the Catholic Church. In response to a rapidly changing world, Pope John XXIII called an assembly of more than 2500 Catholic bishops and cardinals from every country in the world. The purpose of this Second Vatican Council ( 1 962-1 965) was the re-evaluation of the position and teachings of the Catholic Church in relation to that world. Prior to the sixties, the Catholic Church was:

Powerful, large, denominational, and tightly structured with a very visible creed, code and cult. The bishops held the people in unity by their authority, their knowledge of tradition, and their deep sense of responsibility to their flock (McDermott, 1 997: 67).

However, Pope John perceived a need to open up the Church to the modern world; to leave behind a post-Reformation mentality characterised by suspicion and isolation. The first issue addressed by the Council was the need to clarifY the nature and identity of the Church. The resulting document The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Vatican, 64) radically altered the way that the Catholic Church saw itself.

This signalled the end of a withdrawn, defensive and counter-reformation church and gave prominence to the church as a community with principles of subsidiarity and collegiality (Welboume, 1 997: 1 ).

Since 1 965, the Catholic Church has experienced a wide range of refonns involving sacraments; public worship; leadership; church structure; the role of non-ordained Catholics and religious orders; the Church's relationship with other Christian denominations and other World religions, and the role of the Church in relation to moral issues. The changes introduced in the church after the Second Vatican Council have been too many and too much for some Catholics who have retreated into ultra-traditional models of community. For others, the changes have been too slow, too little or too late and they have left the Church disillusioned. Currently, the Catholic Church lives with an inner tension created by radical changes that have moved it far away from the church of the Fifties, but that have not

completely fulfilled the promises and expectations of the Council . Issues such as divorce and remarriage; birth control and sexuality; ordination of women and married clergy are still matters of contention and anguish for many Catholics. The Roman Catholic Church is in transition and as such lives with uncertainty, division and confusion.

A multi-cultural church

In reference to the Australian Catholic Church, Hurley ( 1 997) observes that once "we were

an Irish church and now we are a multi-cultural church" (Hurley, 1 997: 6). This comment is

relevant also to the New Zealand Catholic Church since its historical roots are similar to those of Australia. The Irish flavour of the Catholic Church in New Zealand is changing as

a result of the ongoing influx of other ethnic groups. Coup ( 1 997) reports in The New

Zealand Catholic of 1 9 January, 1 997 that, in the Auckland diocese, Mass is regularly celebrated in Chinese, Croatian, Filipino, Indonesian, Korean, Polish, Samoan, Spanish, Tongan, Cook Island Maori and Vietnamese as well as in English and Maori. It predicts that "by the year 2000, more than half the Church in Auckland, the country's most populous

diocese, will be non-Pakeha" (New Zealand Catholic, 1 997, 1 9 January). Although

supported by their own chaplains, the influx of new communities of non-European Catholics has motivated the Bishop of Auckland to set up a diocesan commission to assist and advise him in leading this ethnically diverse church.

Declining membership

Drawing data from the 1 996 census, a report commissioned by the Catholic diocese of

Auckland found "a sharp reduction in the proportion of residents declaring Catholic faith"

(Marketplace New Zealand, 1 997: 2) even though the general New Zealand population is

increasing. It suggests that the trend indicates that:

Those fonning new households between 1 986 and 1 996 have been much less committed to the Church than their predecessors (Marketplace New Zealand, 1 997: 8).

Taking into account the factors of death and emigration, the statistics nevertheless show a

Survey in May 1 997 which "involved thirteen Christian denominations, 1 250 congregations and 72,000 New Zealanders" (Coup, 1 998 : 5 April). The survey indicates that "church membership is ageing faster than the overall population .,. In Catholic congregations, 68% are aged 40 or over, with people over 50 making up 49%. The lowest percentage is the 1 5-

1 9 age group (8%) and the 20-29 age group is little better (9%)" (Coup, 1 998: 5 April). Only Catholics from the Auckland region were surveyed, but it is reasonable to assume that a survey of the rest of metropolitan New Zealand would reflect a similar trend. The Catholic Church, therefore, is neither retaining nor attracting young people whilst it also suffers an _{overall loss of adult members. This decline in membership of the Catholic}

Church is attributed by some to dissatisfaction with the Church's teaching on contraception, pre-marital sex, remarriage after divorce, leadership within the church and a lack of relevance to modem life.

Priesthood: a crisis of leadership

There is a critical shortage of priests in the New Zealand Catholic Church. In the context of the Auckland diocese, fifty-three priests serve parishes in the region (Coup, 1 998: May 3 1 ). By the year 200 1 , it is anticipated that this will fall to forty-five, with a further reduction to twenty-nine within the following five years. The effect will be that by the year 2006, over twenty parishes in the Auckland diocese will have no resident priest "if the age of seventy-five is taken as the priests' retirement age" (Coup, 1 998, May 3 1 ). In a pastoral letter of 1 7 May 1 998, Patrick Dunn, Bishop of Auckland, bluntly communicates the grim statistics:

Over the next ten years, thirty of our current parish priests wil l reach retirement age. Yet our diocese has only five students currently preparing for the priesthood (Dunn, 1 998). The lack of priestly vocations over the last thirty years could be a reflection of the disillusionment of young Catholic men with the church in general, but whatever the cause, the effects are serious. Adding to the difficulties caused by natural attrition due to death and retirement, many men have also made the difficult and radical decision to leave the priesthood for personal reasons. Dennis Horton, a former Catholic priest, now married,

relates his story in the March 1 998 edition of the New Zealand Catholic journal Tui Motu

Interislands. He discusses his difficulties with celibacy as a condition of service as a

Catholic priest: "I can see now with the gift of hindsight that my commitment was to priesthood not to celibacy" (Horton, 1 998:6). Noting that six priests from the Auckland diocese left active ministry in 1 997, he claims that:

Others are asking searching questions about the nature of priestly ministry and the present difficulties of the Church (Horton, 1 998:5).

He suggests that these questions are indicators of a church in transition; a church that needs to confront a need for change in its fonn of ordained ministry, and expresses his belief that Catholic priests should be allowed to marry:

If it were an option for a priest to serve either as married or as cel ibate, then the true nature of the gift of celibacy would stand out all the more (Horton, 1 998: 7).

The issue centres, not only on celibacy, but also on who may serve the church as priest. In

spite of Vatican directives that the issue may not be debated further, the issue of ordination of women is still a contentious and difficult one for New Zealand Catholics.

The ever-decreasing numbers of priests in the New Zealand Catholic Church has made its impact on the functioning of the church at parish level. The Synod document states:

Vocations are declining to the point that in some areas vocations are unable to keep pace with the number of priests who die. Such a situation means that a good number of smaller communities no longer have a resident priest in spite of a growing popUlation ( Rome,

1 998: 33).

This document warns that the laity, that is, the non-ordained or 'ordinary' Catholic, cannot fill the gap, and that:

More attention needs to be given to coming to a clearer understanding of the roles and charisms proper to priests and laity in the Church ( Rome, 1 998: 33).

However, the parish is still recognised in the document as the "ordinary point of contact of the faithful with the Church" (Rome, 1 998 : 37). But how can these 'points of contact' be maintained if the parish has no serving priest to lead the local Catholic community and the

role of laity is perceived as limited? Fr Peter Murnane, a fonner parish priest and now tertiary chaplain, comments in Tui Motu Interislands ( 1 998, March) :

I have seen and shared in a lot of good in the parish ministry, but I have to ask myself whether this kind of Assembly, based on geographical divisions with each unit under the ful l legal control of one priest and one bishop is the best way for us to 'be Christ' in our times. Could the problem be that we have here a system which is outdated - even corrupt! (Murnane, 1 998: 9).

Strong words ! But perhaps, succinctly reflecting the concerns, frustrations and dismay of some who fear that church leadership, without change, will simply disappear through a process of attrition.

In response to this crisis in Auckland, in 1 998, Bishop Patrick Dunn initiated a process of Pastoral planning, co-ordinated by Rev. Bernard Dennehy. The purpose of the process, which involved a series of meetings in each parish and later, between neighbouring parishes, is the identification of ways in which the talents and skills of non-ordained Catholics could be used to ensure the continuing viability of the parish as a unit. Where viability is not feasible, neighbouring parishes may be required to amalgamate. Whatever the outcome of the Pastoral p lanning process, however, it is certain that the current system in unsustainable. Inevitably, changes will need to be made to current parish and diocesan structures.

In conclusion, all of these issues are interrelated in tenns of their impact on the New Zealand Catholic Church. None exists in isolation from the others. Who will take up the work traditionally undertaken by priests and religious brothers and sisters when the number of Catholics with an acknowledged relationship with the institutional church is also in decline? Surely one consequence must be an ever decreasing pool of talent and ability for the work of the Church.