Moral Theology and the Liturgy: Comments   

Challenges to moral theology
Theology, including moral theology, can be a heady a-worldly discussion of sources, esoterica, quotations from learned colleagues. I would really enjoy a discussion that goes beyond this, tackling the real problems of today's church, today's world. We cannot talk only to ourselves. What is our American Christian moral response to the many refugees that search for lives not threatened by bombs, beheadings, and the total disruption of normal life? What is the gospel response and is there anything in the documents of Vatican II that can guide us?

From what I hear in private conversations with sincere people, some of them professional Catholic teachers and theologians, the "church" as institution is a symbol of scandal or insignificance rather than one that attracts. There is a moral component to liturgy, to application of rules, to interpretation of the message of Jesus. For many, the church does not represent love, acceptance, healing, etc. Rather, it drives people to questions, to become discouraged, to turn away. Do we have a role in changing this? Where in our personal and professional lives are we called to preach the gospel in a way that Pope Francis does?
Dee Christie, dlchristie@aol.com
John Carroll University

Who can read the Signs of the Times?
A key notion in bridging the gap between “social teachings of the Church” and the witness of the identifiable institutions of the Church and of individual Catholics, between social morality and personal morality is a notion that came to the fore during Vatican II—the signs of the times. This raises two questions: Who is the Church? And what are signs of the times?

Who is “the “reader” of the signs of the times? In North America the “Catholic Church” is ordinarily taken to mean the dioceses, parishes, Catholic schools, and other institutions and organizations that bear the name “Catholic”. What are dioceses, parishes, etc. doing to read the signs of the times? If asked to name the persons or communities who are actually engaged in the process of scrutinizing and interpreting the “signs of the times,” one might very well draw a blank.

“What do we mean by the signs of the times?” When we talk about the signs of the times, we are inquiring into the presence and purpose of God emerging in epochal societal and global developments that—negatively or positively—expose the deepest needs and expectations of the human spirit.

Today we are experiencing times of excruciating distress and despair. We are daily assaulted by reports of inhumanity that expose the depths of evil and threaten hope. ISIL, Boko Haram, Crimea, Syria, and even local terrorism; unprecedented homelessness, forced migration and refugee settlements, environmental destruction—any of these human events seems too large to comprehend. More difficult still is the ability be able to decipher in them the “presence and purpose” of God in the world.

Within the present ecclesiastical structure, however, any prayerful, Gospel infused interpretation of the signs of the times remains out of the reach of most Catholics. Confronted by the conflicts that embody ruthless disdain for human dignity and destroy any impossibility of meaningful life, Catholics feel great pain and compassion, but remain for the most part baffled and disoriented. It doesn’t fit in with their traditional understanding of “parish” or what they have been taught about God’s relation to the world.
Richard Shields, richshields@sympatico.ca
University of Toronto

Comments to Dee and Richard
I think Dee’s points about the need to concretize moral theology are especially important, and I also believe that such a movement was at the heart of Gaudium et Spes’s readings of the signs of the times. It seems to me that much of contemporary moral theology is attending to these kinds of questions. Many of those academics working in fields of applied ethics—from sexual ethics to economic ethics to social ethics—seem to be very attentive to the signs of the times.

Richard’s comments about the signs of the times indicate to me where the trouble lies in this movement toward an ever more relevant moral theology. Who can read the signs of the times raises a central: what is moral theology supposed to do? I think the answer very much hinges on our ecclesiological presuppositions. If the Church is (primarily) hierarchical and the laity are supposed to be the sheep, then presumably moral theology is about those who are wiser and more inspired handing on the right answers to the confused masses. If, however, the Church is more communal in nature and we wish to embrace a vision of the laity as mature members of the people of God, then moral theology ought to be more about providing the tools for a rich discernment process and less about spelling out precise answers. In order to move to a Church that seems more like the sacrament of Christ’s presence in the world described in the Second Vatican Council, I think moral theology needs to lean more toward the latter rather than the former.
Conor M. Kelly, conor.kelly@marquette.edu
Marquette University

The historicity of moral theology and the liturgy
At the risk of being accused of tooting my own horn, I would call your attention to my 2015 book, Deconstructing Sacramental Theology and Reconstructing Catholic Ritual. It proves that the Church's official sacramental theology, as enshrined in canon law, is totally grounded in the experience of ritual and its social consequences (e.g., the indissolubility of marriage) during the Middle Ages. Moreover, medieval sacramental theology was based on literal interpretations of biblical and patristic texts which today can be shown to be erroneous. Consequently, any honest assessment of the Church's sacramental laws must regard them as historically relative and as irrelevant to the religious and social experience of Catholics today. This finding is relevant to moral theology.

In his masterful 1967 work on contraception, John T. Noonan thoroughly deconstructed the medieval origins of the Catholic teaching on contraception, showing how crude and unsanitary techniques often resulted infections and death, thus "proving" that the practice of contraception was contrary to the natural law. Nonetheless, Pope Paul VI ruled in favor of the traditional doctrine one year later in Humanae Vitae.

The case for building contemporary moral theology on personal and social experience will be made stronger by theologians who, like Noonan, can demonstrate that today's official doctrines are not universal laws but are expressions of historical and social situations that have little bearing on the lives of contemporary Catholics.
Joseph Martos, jmartos@bellarmine.edu

Historical facts are filled with assumptions
Noonan's work illustrates that it is not simply historical "facts" that change the conversation, but the manner in which they are deployed, by the application of "metanarratives" of the Christian past. Noonan was arguing explicitly for a developmental understanding of Christian doctrine. His opponents (in the Minority Report) used his evidence against his argument, to make the claim that there had been an unbroken consensus on the subject until the early 1960s (which Noonan had acknowledged, with the qualification that this applied to published arguments, and not to the private opinions of moral theologians, who would not state their concerns in print). Paul VI chose the safe route of "semper eadem"– or a successionist (ahistorical) metanarrative – that Ottaviani and the minority on the commission pressed him to employ. Their fear was loss of moral authority. By acting on their fear, one might argue that they brought about what they sought to deter.

This is all to say, in matters of faith and doctrine, much depends on the "metanarratives" of the Christian past that we apply to the facts. As Maurice Blondel wrote to Friedrich von Hügel in 1903, "historical facts are always filled with metaphysical assumptions." The statement is as true now as it was then.
Kenneth Parker, kennethlparker@gmail.com
St Louis University

The promised land of the liturgy
“I have seen the promised land...” (King’s last sermon). I have seen the promised land of the liturgy, sometimes within 100 miles, more often far away. Here is what I have seen.

The liturgies of the Neo-Catechumenate way (1 million strong in Latin America) are very engaging (over 2 hours long) as they are lay controlled; only priests who cooperate are invited to celebrate with them. Charismatic liturgies (2-3 hours) are rare because charismatic priests are exceptionally rare. They are enthusiastic with thunderous music, praying in tongues and prophecy. Very similar to evangelical and Pentecostal services.

Priests may initiate good liturgies. For instance the “confession of sins” may be turned into a 10-15 minute penitential reflection once or twice a year, with a general absolution at the end. Communion may also be the highlight of the Mass. Communion is distributed individually in the pews; all hold the consecrated bread in their hands during a 10 to 15 minute silent prayer, all lights turned off, with a voice-over meditation by the priest.

In some churches the liturgy committee produces wonders: the whole church may be decorated differently each Sunday, or the emphasis of the whole parish may be on community life or social justice. The choir can have an impressive effect when singing is prayer rather than perfectionist performance. Creative contemporary music is always the norm.
Pierre Hegy, pierre.hegy@adelphi.edu
Adelphi University

Where have all the flowers gone?
Vatican II’s teaching on the Liturgy, in hindsight, is significant because it moved away from a quasi-magical, highly legalistic discourse to a language in which faith-grace-spirituality were to play a meaningful role. Most importantly, the introduction of the document placed liturgy within the context of the Kingdom of God as a historical reality proclaimed and realized in Jesus life, with all its hope and affliction and extended in time to which the Church is called to be witness!

The Liturgical constitution was followed by several prescriptive “instructions” giving the impression that liturgical reform was about formulating new rules. This culminated in the “new” translation of the Mass texts. The message: you really don’t have to learn how to be a worshipping community, we will give you regulations. Overall the promise of Vatican II to the Church about full and active participation in the liturgy (and the life of the Church) has gone largely unfulfilled.
Richard Shields, richshields@sympatico.ca
University of Toronto