Forum: The Key Constituencies
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While it is important to recognize and analyze the chief person in the operation of the Church, it is even more important to remember that the Church is a voluntary association. It must always appeal to the free will of its participants.
While the institution is important and its officers people of like importance, it remains a voluntary association of free and equal persons. The individual person is always paramount, and the institution exists for the individual and not vice versa. Therefore the individuals in themselves and in their constituencies are of supreme importance.
Today, in the United States, the Roman Catholic Church must face the disapproval and possible loss of three key constituencies. They are the women, young adults and Hispanics. The loss of any one group would be tragic, the loss of the three would be catastrophic for the institution.
Women have been, for a long time if not forever, the mainstay of the Church’s members. In our day, however, that is rapidly ceasing to be true. The greatest movement of our time, in this author’s view, is that of the equality of women and men. Where it will lead is anybody’s guess, but that it is a fact of contemporary life here is beyond doubt. The long age of male dominance is drawing to a close.
Evidence of the end of male dominance is to be found everywhere in American society. In the political and business realms, the dominant factors in this society, this is obvious to anyone who cares to look. Even within the family, the relationship of women to men is undergoing rapid change. The roles previously thought to be exclusively male or female are now changing, Where it will all lead, is generally unknown, but that it is a real development, is undeniable.
Another characteristic of contemporary American society is the role of young adults. Parents spend inordinate amounts of money and time on their youngsters. The weekends of most American families with youngsters approaching adulthood is governed by the schedules of the youngsters. Most of them are not yet old enough to drive and must be transported for their activities by their parents.
Church activities do not command much interest on the part of these
youngsters. Especially is this true of Catholic Church activities which are led by
poorly staffed and underpaid ministers. As a result, the entire family is being lost to
the Church. If the youngsters can be enticed to any Church activity, it is usually
that of a Protestant Church that takes youth ministry more seriously, It takes but
little time for the entire family to become engaged with that Church.
Also, the Church in the United States is in danger of losing the Hispanics. “There is no fighting the culture,” a saying as true today as ever. In the battle with individuals the culture wins in some two and a half generations. That is the time it takes for emigrees to become Americans. It holds true for Hispanics. So, the rules that hold for other American Catholics hold for Hispanics and the Church will experience nothing peculiar in this group. It will have to deal with them as it deals with everyone else.
Meanwhile, parish priests are now learning Spanish, to minister better to Spanish-speaking Catholics. It is a noble effort and praiseworthy although it is failing to achieve noticeable results. Many Hispanics are leaving the Catholic Church and joining Protestant Churches. The principal reason is that Protestant congregations are much smaller than Catholic ones and the individual receives much more attention in them. The individual Hispanic wants attention more than a minister who speaks to him or her in Spanish. The net result is a loss of Hispanics to the Catholic Church in the United States that promises only to intensify.
The above-mentioned problems, the breakdown of the delivery system of the Church centering upon the person of the local parish priest and the possible loss of three key constituencies, are real and matters for true concern. But, they do not negate the fact there is still much good news relative to the Catholic Church in the United States.The fact remains that Catholics are more authentically centered upon Jesus Christ than ever and have vastly improved resources for making contact with him. With the use of these resources they can know Jesus better and follow him more closely, thus fulfilling the true nature of their religion.
Moreover, the place of the Christian religion in this society is more firm than ever. At the present moment, the society is wrestling with some deep problems affecting most citizens and they all find their ultimate roots in beliefs that it has taken from the Christian religion. The society cannot abandon or change those beliefs without destroying its very self. It depends upon the Christian religion for its very existence.
So, an honest and thorough look at the religion reveals some real problems. They are not beyond the capacity of American men and women to solve. And the place of the Christian religion in American society is firm and secure. The basic news about the Church is truly good news, its signs of hope are multiple and manifest.
What do you think?
