3.3 The Episcopate: The Local Ordinary and Church Governance
3.3.1 The Presbyter: The Local Priest and Church Governance
The clergy in the Catholic Church comprises of three personnel Orders16 namely the episcopate as noted above, presbyter and diaconate. These three orders are gendered and are conferred only on the men as the Church determines that it is keeping to the tradition and practice of Jesus and the apostles and therefore not open to women (Dupuis and Neuner 2001:750, No:1752). In matters of governance the priests and bishops govern by possessing the “power of jurisdiction” within the institutional Church as authorize by the Code of Canon law (Pope S.J 2004:4-5). These go through rigorous training of usually four to six years in seminaries maintained by the bishops, the religious orders and or the Vatican. Members of the clergy are ruled by the discipline of celibacy (non-married) except the priests of the Eastern rites and recently with the acceptance of married men into the order of permanent diaconate due to the shortage of priests in administering the sacraments in certain dioceses and missions of the Church (Roman Catholic Church, 2015).
16 The “Order” is from the Latin word ordo meaning rank which is used to distinguish in the Church the traditional degrees of the clergy, conferred by the Sacrament of Holy Order (“The Holy Orders”
www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/orders Accessed 9 March 2015).
The priest falls under the second degree of the sacrament of orders and or of the second juridical ecclesial office. As a member of the clergy, the priests are described as follows:
…function of the bishops’ ministry was handed over in a subordinate degree to priests so that they might be appointed in the order of the priesthood and be co-workers of the Episcopal order for the proper fulfilment of the apostolic mission that had been entrusted to it by Christ (Presbyterorum Ordinis PO.2;
and CCC.1562).
One could only see more and more regulations that encourage and strengthen centralization of power around the bishop and even further separated from the fellow clergy at the ministry service to the gospel. It is to this notion that the Church’s documents affirm that the priests depend on the bishops in the exercise of their proper power. This means that the priest’s sacerdotal dignity depends on his loyal association with his bishop. Hence, modelled on the image of Christ, the supreme and eternal priest, the priest can only exercise his ministry in dependence on the bishop and in communion with him (LG.28; CCC.1567).
Finally, the last group order of degree in Church official governance personnel to be noted here is the diaconate. These men, mostly married, were slowly included in the Church’s governance. Lately, owing to massive lack of priests in the Catholic Church, there is need to supply clergy (deacons) to places where the regular priests could not reach or attend. In fact, it should be noted though, that the Catholic Church has sanctioned this ministry of married deacons, yet in most dioceses (for example in the South-eastern Nigeria); resistant to lay men to be part of the order of ministry is very high. Deacons, Arrieta (2000:13) notes, are not ordained to priesthood, but rather to a ministry of service in the liturgy, the preaching of the gospel and for charity work for the people of God. It is to such function that the Church states that deacons are ministers ordained for tasks of service of the Church and they do not receive the ministerial priesthood. The deacon’s ordination confers on him important functions in the ministry of the word, divine worship, pastoral governance, and the service of charity. These tasks are only carried out under the pastoral authority of their bishop and the presbyterate (CCC.1596, 1588; LG.29).
The work presented here elaborates the church structural and hierarchical order of governance. In what he calls “Participatory Hierarchy,” Nichols (2004) proposes a unity of power that carries the common consensus, voice and vote of all who belong and profess Catholicism. Hence, he writes noting:
…Thus, in a Catholic participatory hierarchy, authority is vested in the bishops and the pope, but also in the priests, the theological community, the religious, and the people. The Spirit acts simultaneously at many levels. …the current crisis in the church has been precipitated by its long drift into command modes of hierarchy. This has affected popes, bishops, and priests.
Yet if the Spirit is given to the whole church 1Cor.12) …then we must believe that the Spirit speaks to the church through many members, not just through the pope or even pope and the bishops (Nichols 2004:124).
The state and office of the clergy elevates all the ordained men (bishops and priests) into the office of administrators of dioceses and parish communities by which the “centralized nature of the Church governance” is established and experienced by all in a given Roman Catholic community. Women are not in any way part of this governing body. They have been made just as observers of men who are elevated to rule or govern. The question that may arise here therefore is where does this leave women? Are women not also called to governing or priestly ministry? The Catholic understanding and treatment of the priestly group in the exclusion of women among all the entities identified above, remains one of “high-class-group,”
“uppermost class,” “top-special-group” and the like of such position the clerical state occupies in the Catholic Church governance among the Igbo of Nigeria and elsewhere.
Noting the clerical group as the top most interest in the agenda of the Catholic Church while critically analyzing the Cardinal Hyacinthe Thiandoum of Dakar, Senegal in addressing the question of the recruitment, training, and adequate maintenance of all church personnel in the 1994 synod, Uzukwu deduced that: “…the poverty-stricken church in a poor Africa is first preoccupied with the adequate maintenance of her clergy!” “However, it is a very well- known fact that with foreign aid the clergy has been more than adequately maintained…”
(Uzukwu 1996:91). This clearly shows part of ‘how’ and ‘why’ the Catholic Church governance is seen as centred on and around men who are the clergy.
The clericalism question in the church cuts across a number of governance issues in the Catholic communities among the Igbo. This includes decision making which is reserved for the priest, who owns the power to change or to remain as usual, power of appointment to different positions and ministries in the community. The priest also decides on finances and the time factors that affect the entire community’s activities among a host of other organizational and managerial issues that is centred on and around the priest in the Catholic Church. Of course, the priest also has the ‘veto’ power over issues that linger around
communities for further discussions and consensus. Expanding further on the governance question in the Igbo Church, Uzukwu (1996) notes how and where the management challenges of the centralization governance and power in the Catholic Church lie. Such he calls “an incurable disease.” It is to such situation of ‘Clericalism’ that Groome (2004:200) accuses the Church of clerical colonization of the consciousness of the laity; thereby denying full and equal participation of the laity in matters of Church governance.
Hence, Uzukwu (1996:120) paints a challenging and damaging graphic picture of
“centralization” and “clericalism” that has almost discouraged growth and development in the Igbo Church and elsewhere. His thoughts are summed up as follows:
I. The church in Africa inherited this pattern of clericalism from the missionaries who naturally communicated the post-Tridentine17 image of the church. The training of the clergy did not permit any questioning of such structures.
II. In fact, our bishops and priests have no evident interest in changing the ‘status quo’ in this church which is “essentially an unequal society” made up of those who “occupy a rank in the different degrees of the hierarchy and the multitude of the faithful.
III. Those who occupy rank and possess the authority for promoting and directing the church are not inclined to tell the faithful who are led that there is an alternative.
IV. The privileged clergy are the principal beneficiaries.
V. The clergy are also victims of circumstance because they are inserted within the highly centralized and autocratic world church (of the Western rite).
VI. The pyramidal command structure of the Roman Catholic Church is an “imperial, monarchical, centralizing authority.
The Igbo Ohacracy governance tradition under consideration detests such structure of governance and management of life activities of a community as already noted above. Hence Uzukwu (1996:121) concludes that in spite of the revolutionary changes instituted by Vatican II, the church governance still comes through in such organizations that merit its study to be called “hierarchology” instead of “ecclesiology.” Indeed, the bishop remains the extension of the pope. The priests are the bishop’s extensions while the lay people remain at the receiving end of the ruling clergy. Of course the theology of Vatican II rejects such a “hierarchology.”
17 The Tridentine period relates to an Ecumenical Council held by the Roman Catholic Church in Trent, Italy, from 1545 to 1563, as a response to calls for reform and the spread of Protestantism which again centred on governance and authority in the Church of 16th century whence Luther protested against a host of issues that finally divided the church.
It rather prefers the theology of the “People of God” where all who belong to the family participate actively in its governance. But little has been done to put into practice this radical revolution of ecclesiology.
As pointed out in chapter 118, the presence of two kinds or natures of ‘statehood’ of nations in Africa which predate the colonial and Christian missionary adventure eras, the Igbo communities belong to the stateless or decentralized political arrangements. This is in contrast with other nations of centralized authority arrangements like the Oyo of Yoruba, the Edo of Bini, the Ashanti of Ghana, the Zulu of South Africa, and the Swati of Swaziland kingdom to name but a few (Uzukwu 1996:16). Although these African states can be identified as centralized nations, they are differently warded or organized in comparison with the Western style of centralised system as noted in the Catholic organization and governance. The Oyo of Yoruba for instance was organized in a confederation grouping together as Uzukwu (1996) notes, different units, chiefs, heads of clans and families, associations and age grades who played important roles on different levels and commands in the administration of the Kingdom. But, one important point remains that decision making on issues were much collegial in nature. Consultations and the search for consensus remain at the centre of governance in these kingdoms.19 It is from such a background and understanding that the study of Ohacracy model of decentralised governance tradition among the Igbo of South- eastern Nigeria is inspired to contribute and evaluate the need for modification towards the unconventional governance of Igbo Church as a response to a better life development and growth of Igbo Church communities in Nigeria. The next section proceeds to evaluate role of the laity in the Catholic Church governance.