CATHOLIC CHURCH PROFESSIONALS
In: The annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Band 387, S. 77-85
ISSN: 0002-7162
Statistics documenting the manpower shrinkage of the Amer Catholic Church in the past decade are cited. Seminarians of religious orders have decreased by 35% since 1965. The main losses are in the specialized ministries which used to draw the best-educated. The effects of this manpower shrinkage on the operation of the Catholic church in the US are examined. There is a trend toward greater involvement of the laity in the operation of the parish & a wide exp'tion with parish councils. The central concept of collegiality, which concerns the general relationship between authority & obedience in the church, is shifting. In pol'al terms, it implies a shift in the power centers, from the Vatican Curia to the Episcopal Synod, from the diocesan chancery to the clergy senate. It does not mean popular democracy but it does tend to move the Catholic church from a strongly authoritarian structure to a semblance of representative or participatory democracy. The practice of collegiality has proceeded further in the religious orders than elsewhere in the church. A profound change in the life-style of the church professional is implied, toward acceptance of a sense of personal responsibility & self-direction. This change lifts instit'ized restrictions that had long been felt to be a barrier to initiative, maturity, & creativity. There is also a switch of emphasis from the diocese to the primary group or small task force which carries overtones of an anti-instit'al bias. The instit represents both bigness & repression. The need for self-confidence & self-fulfillment is emphasized & the younger clergy & religious are often very critical of church leadership. The increasing openness of the church is reflected in the seminaries & training places of church personnel, who are now receiving a much broader & diversified professional preparation. The youthful & decimated generation of trainees will unquestionably add a new dimension to the whole ecclesiastical profession of the future. They appear to be adaptive to sudden change & willing to accept the challenge of a more professional approach to the work of the new church. Modified HA.