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[Woodstock Report, December 1996, No. 48]
On page 12 of this issue of the Woodstock Report you will find a description of three books, published almost simultaneously, by three senior fellows of the Woodstock Center: Walter J. Burghardt, S.J., J. Leon Hooper, S.J., and Thomas J. Reese, S.J. They exemplify the variety and breadth of Woodstock's programs, but they also have one key thing in common. Each of them is an instance of "theological reflection on the human problems of today"-the mission mandate given to Woodstock by our late, revered Jesuit Father General Pedro Arrupe. To order these books, you can contact us by mail, phone, fax, or World Wide Web (see page 12).
The feature story of this issue of the Woodstock Report focuses on one of these three books, Tom Reese's Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church. At a November Woodstock Forum, Tom made a presentation of highlights from his study. Responding to Tom were the Most Rev. James W. Malone, retired bishop of Youngstown, Ohio, and Rev. James H. Provost, chair of the department of canon law at The Catholic University of America. Professor Elizabeth McKeown, who teaches history and culture studies in the department of theology at Georgetown University, moderated the lively discussion.
Discussion of the Vatican's politics and organization might, at first blush, seem pretty dry and fairly remote from life in the United States. But you soon realize that "the head bone is connected to the neck bone, the neck bone to the back bone," and so on down through the whole body of Christ. And what "connects" all these members is not just a bureaucratic organization but deeply cherished values, ways of looking at life, and an understanding of what it is to be human and Church today. It is a "culture," in other words, that the organization transmits--a faith-culture that Catholics hold in common but variously interpret sometimes. That's when disagreements get started.
This close connection between the Vatican and the Church in the trenches was illustrated by the wide and sometimes heated reaction to a talk that Archbishop John Quinn gave at Oxford University this summer. To over-simplify, he called for a downgrading of the influence of the Vatican congregations and administrative offices and an upgrading of the role of bishops, especially the regional or national episcopal conferences. From reactions it was clear that people saw the connection between organizational change and deeply cherished values.
As you'll see in this Report, Tom Reese and the panelists are wading into the same deep waters in a very responsible and enlightening way.
Finally, you will find a letter on page 11 about our annual fund-raising appeal. All of us at Woodstock are extremely grateful for the support you have given us over the years. I know we can count on it for '97.
Prayers for a joyous Christmas Season,
James L. Connor, S.J.