Just before death, Martini: ‘Church 200 years out of date’

The Church is “200 years out of date and in need of a “radical transformation,” Italian Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini said in an interview two weeks before his death.

The progressive cardinal died Aug. 31 at the age of 85. [2]
His remarks appeared Saturday in the Italian news daily, Corriere della Sera, and have been published in English by various international news services.

“The church is tired,” Martini said in the interview. Catholics lack confidence in the church, he said.

“Our culture has grown old, our churches are big and empty and the church bureaucracy rises up, our religious rites and the vestments we wear are pompous.”

He singled out church teaching on marriage and divorce as an important issued the church must face.

“Unless the church adopts a more generous attitude towards divorced persons, it will lose the allegiance of future generations,” the cardinal added. The question, he said, is not whether divorced couples can receive Holy Communion, but how the church can help complex family situations.

“A woman is abandoned by her husband and finds a new companion to look after her and her children. A second love succeeds. If this family is discriminated against, not just the mother will be cut off but also her children.” In this way “the church loses the future generation”, Martini said.

“The child sex scandals oblige us to undertake a journey of transformation,” Martini said, referring to the child sex abuse that has plagued the church for several decades.

The advice he leaves behind to attack what he called “the tiredness of the church,” is a “radical transformation, beginning with the Pope and his bishops”.

Pope Benedict XVI met privately with the cardinal during a visit to Milan in June, and was informed of his ailing health Thursday, the Vatican press office said, according to Catholic News Service.

The cardinal was a prolific author whose books were best-sellers in Italy and included everything from scholarly biblical exegesis to poetry and prayer guides.

He retired as archbishop of Milan in 2002, where he was known as a strong pastor and administrator, and as a very careful, thoughtful advocate of wider discussion and dialogue on some delicate and controversial church positions.

At various times, he expressed openness to the possibility of allowing married Latin-rite priests under certain circumstances, ordaining women as deacons and allowing Communion for some divorced Catholics in subsequent marriages not approved by the church.

During a special Synod of Bishops for Europe in 1999, he made waves when he proposed a new church wide council or assembly to unravel “doctrinal and disciplinary knots” such as the shortage of priests, the role of women, the role of laity and the discipline of marriage.

His carefully worded remarks at the time reflected his belief that the church would benefit from a wider exercise of collegiality, or the shared responsibility of bishops for the governance of the church. The idea of a new council was not taken up formally by the synod.

Martini was much loved and thousands paid their respects at his coffin in Milan cathedral on Saturday.

Catholic News Service also contributed to this report.

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IN 2002 THE CHURCH HAD A CLOSE CALL

by Abyssum

In 2002, Martini reached the Catholic Church’s mandatory retirement age of 75 and was succeeded in Milan by Dionigi Tettamanzi. At the time of the 2005 conclave, he was 78 years old and hence eligible to vote for the new Pope (being under 80). For years many progressive Catholics harboured hopes that he himself might eventually ascend the papacy.^{[citation needed]} However, when John Paul II died, most commentators believed that his election was unlikely, given his liberal reputation and the fact of his suffering from Parkinson’s disease.^{[citation needed]} Nevertheless, according to La Stampa (an Italian newspaper), he obtained more votes than Joseph Ratzinger during the first round of the election (40 vs. 38).  If you think the Church is in terrible shape today because of liberal bishops, one cannot imagine what the Church would be like today if Martini had been elected Pope in 2005.  The Holy Spirit was clearly at work in the 2005 conclave.

Here are some of the positions held by Martini, some good, some bad (from Wikipedia):

Often considered to be one of the more liberal members of the College of Cardinals, and prelates in general, he achieved widespread notice for his writings, earning him popularity in some circles, criticism in others. On occasion Martini’s views proved to be controversial, thus bringing him comparatively large amounts of media coverage. In the final interview he gave, shortly before his death, he urged major reforms to the Catholic Church, calling it “200 years out of date” and arguing that, “Our culture has aged, our churches are big and empty and the church bureaucracy rises up, our rituals and our cassocks are pompous”^[5].

Martini was known to be progressive on matters concerning human relationships, the possible ordination of women to the diaconate and some bioethical questions, notably contraceptive use in certain more complex situations.^[6]

Dominus Iesus

In 2000 he criticized the declaration Dominus Iesus and described the document as “theologically rather dense, peppered with quotations, and not easy to grasp”.^[7]

Contraception

In April 2006, in response to a very specific question from physician and politician Ignazio Marino, director of the transplant centre of the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Martini opined that in certain cases, the usage of condoms might be allowable stating, “The use of condoms can, in certain situations, be a lesser evil”.^[8] He stressed the particular case of married couples where one has HIV or AIDS.^[9] But he quickly noted that it’s one thing the principle of the lesser evil in such cases, and quite another the subject who has to convey those things publicly, thus it is not up to the Church authorities to support condom use publicly, because of “the risk of promoting an irresponsible attitude”. The Church is more likely to support other morally sustainable means, such as abstinence.^[10] On another occasion the Cardinal stated that “I believe the Church’s teaching has not been expressed so well… I am confident we will find some formula to state things better, so that the problem is better understood and more adapted to reality,” earning him a reputation for having a more liberal stance toward contraception.^[11]

Beginning of human life

Martini’s position on the start of a distinct human life during the fertilization of oocytes was rebuked by certain Vatican officials.^[12] Some of his other positions may have frustrated Church leaders, but official response from the Roman Curia was limited.

Right to refuse treatments

Cardinal Martini, speaking about the right to die debate said that “terminally ill patients should be given the right to refuse treatments^[specify] and that the doctors who assist them should be protected by law.”^{[13][dead link]} It is traditional Catholic moral teaching that one is morally bound to apply “ordinary” treatments, but not “extraordinary” treatments.^[14][15] The distinction was the basis of the declaration by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1980 that, “when inevitable death is imminent in spite of the means used, it is permitted in conscience to take the decision to refuse forms of treatment that would only secure a precarious and burdensome prolongation of life, so long as the normal care due to the sick person in similar cases is not interrupted.”^[16] The Catechism of the Catholic Church also states: “Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate”.^[17] Martini, in fact, refused medical treatment^[specify] as his illness advanced.^{[citation needed]}

Collegiality of bishops

He called for greater collegiality in the governance of the Church and urged continued reflection on the structure and exercise of ecclesiastical authority.^[18]

Role of women in the Church

He demonstrated a desire for further theological enquiry on issues relating to human sexuality and the role of women in the Church. He expressed support for the ordination of female deacons.^{[citation needed]}

Sacramentum Caritatis

In March 2007 he openly criticised the attitude of the Church authorities, whilst speaking at the basilica of the Nativity^[where?] to a congregation of over 1,300 visitors, he remarked that “The Church does not give orders.” Martini stated that “It is necessary to listen to others, and when speaking to use terms that they understand.” These remarks came days after Pope Benedict XVI published the 140 page apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis. Some interpreted this document as being an attempt to influence Catholic politicians, particularly at a time when Italian government was trying to pass legislation offering legal recognition of same sex unions.^[19]

Social work

Furthermore, he promoted combating social ills, often calling for greater action to be taken in assisting socially underprivileged. Martini wished that the Church rekindle a “burning fire in the heart” of men and women today.

Catholic schools

Martini was a stringent supporter of Catholic schools and many times he spoke in favour of state contribution to Catholic schools. He said that one hour a week of teaching of Catholic religion in the Italian high school was not enough and the time dedicated to religious teaching in the school had to be increased.

Same-sex unions

In his book Credere e conoscere, published shortly before his death, Martini set out his disagreement with the Catholic teaching against homosexual civil unions. “I disagree with the positions of those in the Church, that take issue with civil unions”, he wrote. “It is not bad, instead of casual sex between men, that two people have a certain stability” and that the “state could recognize them.” Although he stated his belief that “the homosexual couple, as such, can never be totally equated to a marriage” he also said that he could understand (although not necessarily approve) of gay pride parades when they support the need for self-affirmation.^[20]

His Eminence Carlo Maria Martini SJ
Church	Catholic Church
See	Archdiocese of Milan
Enthroned	29 December 1979
Reign ended	11 July 2002
Predecessor	Giovanni Colombo
Successor	Dionigi Tettamanzi
Orders
Ordination	13 July 1952 (Priest)
Consecration	6 January 1980 (Bishop) by Pope John Paul II
Created Cardinal	2 February 1983
Personal details
Born	February 15, 1927 Turin, Italy
Died	August 31, 2012 (aged 85) Gallarate, Italy
Nationality	Italian
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