Well, how about their Lordships putting their money where their collective mouth is.
Transparency and accountability are the latest buzzwords, or so I'm reliably informed. It is about time that the laity in England & Wales got to hear what their Bishops are pondering... and not just after the event.
The Bishops' Conference of England & Wales is currently meeting in Leeds. I must have blinked, because I only found out that they were meeting because of the comparison with the U.S. Bishops' Conference - they have had their meetings, votes, discussions and what-have-you openly broadcast on TV, live-tweeted, blogged and sent round the internet.
Now, the proceedings of the Bishops' Conference might possibly be as exciting as watching paint dry... but we really ought to know what is being discussed. It will affect us, the laity. I suspect that quite a few priests might like to know what is being discussed as well... certainly Fr. Ray Blake thinks it would be a good idea to have more transparency.
I want to know what the Bishops are doing with regard to the new translation of the Missal, among other things.
If their Lordships really want an empowered laity, and want to engage in collaborative ministry, they need to provide information to the laity so they can be involved in discussions when it actually matters, not just after the event, when the decisions have been made. Knowledge is power, as the saying goes.
Time to get round the table and share...
3 comments:
Mac they do indeed want an empowered laity - THEIR empowered laity - not any of us orthodox, devout, plate-filling hobbledihoys...
TV would merely reveal how utterly secular the whole thing's become...and you can't have ordinary Catholics having their worst suspicions confirmed that our Bishops 'don't do God'
Much as I like the idea of an INFORMED laity I am very uncomfortable at the thought of an "empowered" laity. It evokes for me the spectral vision of lay persons like Tony Blair holding forth in Westminster Cathedral. Brrr!
All together now, bishops: Amo, er amas, er amat, er........
I doubt open meetings here would achieve much in terms of transparency. The conferences would likely develop into the model of local councils, ie private caucus done deals in advance of very limited open discussion, which would be a verbal version of the current press releases. It would just increase the number of meetings. I wish I could be more optimistic but in the UK there is a general culture of secrecy by those in power, unlike the more open society of the US.
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