- Feb 5, 2002
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In discussing the removal or transfer of a pastor, Canon 1752 reads, ” … prae oculis habita salute animarum, quae in Ecclesia suprema semper lex esse debet” — in English, ” … keeping in mind the salvation of souls, which must always be the supreme law of the Church.”
The phrase resonates so deeply with me that I lately bring it to every matter of the Church and faith I spend time thinking about. I consider the reminder so fundamental to everything that touches the practice of Catholicism that part of me wishes the line concluded every pronouncement in the code.
My own broken instincts to despise Father Rupnik became tempered a bit when I applied ” … keeping in mind the salvation of souls, which must always be the supreme law in the Church,” to both the code and the whole frustrating story.
On one hand, the words are an excellent reminder to Church leadership to finally move on the case and either laicize Rupnik or produce the findings that might absolve him of all of those credible accusations — “for the salvation of souls” who are increasingly fed up, distrustful and wary.
On the other hand, they are an excellent reminder to me, too — that despite my own impatience and endless judgment, and “for the sake of the salvation of souls” (including my own), I must permit the traditionally slow-moving processes of the Church to in fact proceed slowly — if only for the sake of thoroughness, so that when the denouement of this dreadful drama descends and the headlines blare, there may be no room for doubt, no sense that justice has not been rightly applied or that other considerations have superseded what is just.
Because doubt eats away at belief, and “the salvation of souls must always be the supreme law of the Church,” the integrity of the Rupnik process must be above reproach. If that needs a bit more time, so be it.
Continued below.
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The phrase resonates so deeply with me that I lately bring it to every matter of the Church and faith I spend time thinking about. I consider the reminder so fundamental to everything that touches the practice of Catholicism that part of me wishes the line concluded every pronouncement in the code.
Father Marko Rupnik case: Balancing justice and mercy
For instance, pondering the ongoing priesthood of Father Marko Rupnik amid scores of claims of sexual and spiritual abuse, the weird, foot-draggingly slow investigation surrounding said abuse, and the continued use of the priest’s artwork in prominent places and publications, I read Canon 1401, on “Processes” and “Trials in General,” which states that the Church “has its own and exclusive right to judge” cases that “refer to matters which are spiritual or linked with the spiritual” and “the violation of ecclesiastical laws and whatever contains an element of sin, to determine guilt and impose ecclesiastical penalties.”My own broken instincts to despise Father Rupnik became tempered a bit when I applied ” … keeping in mind the salvation of souls, which must always be the supreme law in the Church,” to both the code and the whole frustrating story.
On one hand, the words are an excellent reminder to Church leadership to finally move on the case and either laicize Rupnik or produce the findings that might absolve him of all of those credible accusations — “for the salvation of souls” who are increasingly fed up, distrustful and wary.
On the other hand, they are an excellent reminder to me, too — that despite my own impatience and endless judgment, and “for the sake of the salvation of souls” (including my own), I must permit the traditionally slow-moving processes of the Church to in fact proceed slowly — if only for the sake of thoroughness, so that when the denouement of this dreadful drama descends and the headlines blare, there may be no room for doubt, no sense that justice has not been rightly applied or that other considerations have superseded what is just.
Because doubt eats away at belief, and “the salvation of souls must always be the supreme law of the Church,” the integrity of the Rupnik process must be above reproach. If that needs a bit more time, so be it.
Year of Prayer
Continued below.
Praying through the headlines in the year of prayer
Headlines are often sensationalistic and even when not, they are still jarring; they can quickly move us to gasping fury or fearful wondering. In our current Year of Prayer, perhaps they should also be moving us to engage with heaven as we read.
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