Yesterday, I spent part of the day at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, for orientation for the Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program, which I will begin participation in come January. As part of the orientation, we were asked to read and reflect on Henri Nouwen's book on pastoral leadership, In the Name of Jesus. Nouwen's take on the specific way pastoral ministers are called to lead is that they do so in the background, by developing the habits of prayer, forgiveness, and theological reflection. This vision of leadership is not marked by personal accomplishment, being the most relevant person in a community, or widespread acclaim; rather, the Christian pastoral leader strives to direct people to the person of Jesus Christ, who is the true leader in any Christian community.
It is with those thoughts in mind that I read the transcript of the interview Pope Benedict XVI gave to a group of reporters earlier today while in flight to the United Kingdom. Here's one particular question and answer that struck me:
Q. - The UK, like many other Western countries - there is an issue that you have already touched on in the first answer –it is considered a secular country. There is a strong atheist movement, even for cultural reasons. However, there are also signs that religious faith, particularly in Jesus Christ, is still alive on a personal level. What can this mean for Catholics and Anglicans? Can anything be done to make the Church as an institution, more credible and attractive to everyone?
A. - I would say that a Church that seeks to be particularly attractive is already on the wrong path, because the Church does not work for her own ends, she does not work to increase numbers and thus power. The Church is at the service of another: she serves, not for herself, not to be a strong body, rather she serves to make the proclamation of Jesus Christ accessible, the great truths and great forces of love, reconciling love that appeared in this figure and that always comes from the presence of Jesus Christ. In this regard, the Church does not seek to be attractive in and of herself, but must be transparent for Jesus Christ and to the extent that she is not out for herself, as a strong and powerful body in the world, that wants power, but is simply the voice of another, she becomes truly transparent for the great figure of Christ and the great truth that he has brought to humanity. The power of love, in this moment one listens, one accepts. The Church should not consider herself, but help to consider the other and she herself must see and speak of the other. In this sense, I think, both Anglicans and Catholics have the same simple task, the same direction to take. If both Anglicans and Catholics see that the other is not out for themselves but are tools of Christ, children of the Bridegroom, as Saint John says, if both carry out the priorities of Christ and not their own, they will come together, because at that time the priority of Christ unites them and they are no longer competitors seeking the greatest numbers, but are united in our commitment to the truth of Christ who comes into this world and so they find each other in a genuine and fruitful ecumenism.
What a great perspective for all Christians to reflect on! The full text of this press conference can be found here.
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