Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests (Ascension)

GOFP 55

Chapter 1: Priestly Life

be challenged to meet the needs of the increasing population with fewer priests than required, and with staff and volunteers who are making heroic efforts to help and lead in the Church but who are also limited by their family and work responsibilities. 53 In addition, some priests and people are frustrated and demoralized by the impact of the sexual abuse scandals that seem never to go away. Many priests feel that they are laboring under a perpetual shadow of suspicion, cast not only by wider society but by their own people, who are affected by the relentless media stories on clergy malfeasance. Many priests, too, worry that their diocesan bishops will not support them in the event of an accusation. Also, priests sometimes fear that, if accused, they will not be afforded the presumption of innocence prescribed by canon law 41 and central to the US legal system as well. 54 An atmosphere that can be perceived as divisive can be inflamed by an erosion of ecclesial and fraternal communion. Deep theological and liturgical differences often can be found among priests of different age groups, differences that impede cross-generational fraternity. This division is exacerbated by overwrought websites, of both the progressive and traditionalist variety, that present themselves as a kind of “parallel Magisterium” purporting to be more reliable than the actual Magisterium of the Church. Furthermore, as in every age, clerical envy and comparisons continue to diminish the unity that we should enjoy as brother priests. From the Wider Culture 55 Then we must consider the obstacles that arise from the wider US culture. Social divisions, of course, have always been part of our diverse society. Today, however, they seem to have reached a new

41

See CIC, c. 1321.

25