Final Report - September 12, 2004 - by William J. Manseau, D.Min.

The North Atlantic Federation for a Renewed Catholic Priesthood held its first International Congress August 26 - 29, 2004 in Wiesbaden/Naurod Germany on the theme: Power and Sex in a Renewed Church and Priesthood. The North Atlantic Federation, a regional association of the International Federation of Married Catholic Priests, seeks primarily the reform of ministry and priesthood in a renewed Catholic Church. It does this by addressing concrete pastoral needs in the cultural context of its own region. Membership is open to all groups which share the same goals. Persons from 11 countries participated.

Three groups based in the United States were represented: CORPUS, A National Association for an Inclusive Priesthood; The Federation of Christian Ministries' Roman Catholic Faith Community Council, (FCM/RCFCC) and The International Society of the Apostles, Sts. Peter and Thomas. FCM/RCFCC was welcomed as a new member of the Federation; William Manseau, FCM/RCFCC co-chair and a former FCM President and John Raymaker, a veteran FCMer, Lonergan scholar and interfaith activist served as its delegates.

The theme of this Congress was in response to the explosive revelations of sexual abuse and cover-ups by Catholic clergy and hierarchy. Five presenters offered insights from the disciplines of sociology, psychology, theology, scripture and pastoral psychotherapy that support the lived experience of the human family, not often supported by Church "official" pronouncements. Highlights included:

• Church structure has been guided by historical events more than the "mind of God."
• Expressing sexuality is expressing God's gift of love shared with humankind.
• The Church has been consistently incorrect in its teaching on marriage and sexuality due to its abuse of power, and disregard for constantly increasing knowledge of human biology and psychology.
• Compulsory celibacy is a form of sexual abuse.

Sociologist, author of 10 books and married priest, Dr. Leo Laeyendecker of Holland set the stage for our considerations by reminding participants that the lens of sociology sees all social reality as humanly constructed daily with three identifiable stages: externalization of ourselves in words and deeds, objectivation of these externalized products and their legitimations, and the internalization of this new reality. The Church and its activities including its responses to the sacred is an object of research as any other social phenomenon. This analysis prepares the way for a fundamental renewal in Church organization.

Jack Dominian, MD, a Catholic layman, author and practicing psychiatrist from Great Britain addressed the topic: The Evolution of Sexual Morality from Biology to Love. He did this by a sweeping retrospective of Christianity's thought on sexuality from its origins to the present organized into sections on the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures; the teaching of Greek and Latin Fathers in response to the virginity of Mary, the single state of Jesus, Stoicism, Gnosticism and Manicheism all of which set the stage for the 301 Synod of Elvira calling for sexual abstinence by the clergy; St. Augustine, "a theological giant whose influence remains to this day and a Christian sexual catastrophe whose shadow also remains to this day;" the Middle Ages to the 20th century with Thomas Aquinas, Martin le Maistre and others, the Council of Trent, and Francis de Sales; The 20th Century with Pius XI, Pius XII, the Vatican II, Humanae Vitae; Psychology and Love; Sustaining; Healing; Growth; Sexual Intercourse: "Theologically, when we make love we enter the direct presence of God who is love. It is a sacred act. It the single recurrent, most important act of prayer of the couple& With this spiritual description we have come to the other end of the spectrum from Augustine. I have formulated, published and lectured this model of marital love since the 70's all over the world, and to date no one has seriously criticized it."

Dr. Anthony Padovano, author, theologian and married priest, proposed against the background of the previous presentations that sex becomes a problem when power becomes a problem. He noted that neither Jesus nor the New Testament had much interest in sexual ethics. Jesus rejected power for himself in both the secular and religious arenas.  Church councils are the best structures for the collegial nature of the Church. Unless the power structure of the Church is reformed via the use of a council its sexual teaching will be deficient. The papacy is only an interim administrative structure between councils. Aristocratic structures in the Church impede its mission to make disciples. It is not submissiveness to an institution but personal calling that makes a disciple. The Church needs to be liberated from its divine illusion and needs to be marginalized in the lives of believers.

The human heart is more sacred than the sacraments. Sexuality gives God the human face that Christology demands. Our most sacred icon is the human parent rescuing its child it sexually generated. There is no community without pleasure. The overall experience of marriage must give pleasure. The fundamental value of all Christology is human community. All religious systems call for responsible sexuality within community norms of mutuality and community standards. Rights must be exercised in the context of mutuality and community norms. Reproductive rights are a new category in human thought. Religion is more effective with sexual ethics when it is less specific. Our healing is more important than our orthodoxy.

Dr. Heinz-Jurgen Vogels, a German theologian and New Testament exegete and married priest brought a New Vision of Human Sexuality Based on the New Testament. He explained that the Hebrew Scriptures present humanity or "the man" (adam) as requiring both male and female "only together are they human" (adam) "they depend upon each other to be fully human." Together in the begetting of children they create a spiritual house or room of life and mutual exchange of words and values, a house full of life. This realization provides a frame for ten more specific teachings about human sexuality. These are: Marriage is an image of heaven; Marital intercourse is a duty for all couples; Celibacy and Marriage are each separate charisms to be followed by those so gifted; Christian children are engendered and born holy; Marriage can be contracted "in the Lord";  Marriage is a sacrament which makes holy; Only prayer will change natural desire into self-giving love and repentance can lead to a new marriage as the practice of the Eastern Church demonstrates; Marriage is honorable; Sexual intercourse brings us closer to God; Let us rejoice in sexual intercourse as one of God's greatest inventions.

Pastoral Counselor Maria Hubert von Staufer, married mother of three grown children specializes in counseling Catholic priests in Great Britain in the Archdiocese of Cardiff and staffs an international internet Help Line for Married Priests. She spoke on the topic, Healing Aspects in Physical, Emotional and Mental Health for Priests. She is particularly concerned about "the welfare of priests, whether young, old, active or out of active ministry" as they attempt to cope with the demands of ministry in today's Church and the need to find their own adaptive paths whether in or out of canonical ministry. She noted that in her journeys around the world she has observed that everyone seems to have stepped forward with the requirements of Vatican II except Italy. Italy seems to have gone backwards. A major problem she encounters is the lack of adequate support at every level including retirement benefits for those who have left the canonical ministry and have reached retirement age. She also noted the suffering of some women who have married priests and are aware of their husband's sense of loss even in the midst of their happy marriages and of those women who have become "shadow wives", living secret lives in the background.

The General Assembly of the Congress took place on August 27th. The Executive Committee having received an application for membership from the FCM/RCFCC invited its co-chair William Manseau to address the Assembly before it acted on the application. Manseau indicated that he and John Raymaker, currently living in Germany, were attending on behalf of FCM/RCFCC whose descriptive brochure had been made available to the Congress participants. He cited its history as the first association on behalf of a married priesthood in the USA having been founded in 1968 as the Society of Priests for a Free Ministry and its subsequent developments including its Ministerial Certification Program and Global Ministries University. Mention was made of its current participation in the National Catholic Ministerial Alliance and the Alliance's Sacramental and Pastoral Care Mentoring Initiative with Women's Ordination Conference (WOC) members on behalf of women being ordained to the Catholic Diaconate and Priesthood. He also noted that WOC may be interested in joining the Federation. FCM/RCFCC's application was unanimously approved. The membership of India was affirmed.

Other actions taken by the Assembly included the reception of greetings from the International Federation and others, approval of the NAF Founding Conference Minutes and Executive Committee minutes; the Treasurer's Report and discussion of its relationship with the International Federation. President Jack Shea of Canada announced that the North Atlantic Federation will convene a conference in Ottawa in May, 2005 to be co-sponsored by CORPUS USA, CORPUS Canada, National Capitol Region and FCM/RCFCC. The Federation will also participate in the International Federation of Married Catholic Priests' Congress to be held in Weisbaden/Naurod from September 16 -19, 2005.  A Final Declaration from the Congress was prepared and the Congress participants celebrated a concluding Eucharist. The Congress Press Release called for the following changes in Church policy:

• Allowing divorced people to remarry in the Church.
• Recognizing of the validity of committed homosexual relationships.
• Opening to women all functions in the Church, as the Church expects to happen for women in society.
• Abolishing obligatory celibacy for priests and bishops.
• Making all Church ministries accessible for both men and women, regardless of marital status.
• Acknowledging that adults have God-given rights to make their own decisions about their sexual lives, including contraception.
• Remembering that Jesus required care for the poor, powerless, and oppressed, not blind adherence to rules and laws.

A Church which proclaims this would indeed be feeding its people and speaking to the world.