The Council of Elders:
Tapping the Wisdom of the Vatican II Archbishops
ARCHBISHOP WILLIAM BORDERS
Profile and Summary of the Interview
Sister Carroll Juliano, SHCJ and Brother Loughlan Sofield, S.T. conducted the interview in his home in Baltimore, MD on June 1, 2005.
I. Background
Archbishop Borders is 91years of age. He was ordained a priest sixty-four years ago. He was ordained the Bishop of Orlando in 1968 and appointed as Archbishop of Baltimore in 1974. Archbishop Borders was involved in a number of priestly ministries. He was a campus ministry at LSU for fourteen years and, also, a professor of philosophy. He served as a chaplain in the infantry during the Second World War. He has published a number of pastorals and authored a book, The Spiritual Living of the Saints in Society.
II. Topics Discussed During the Interview
1. Young adults
2. Secularism and a subjective approach to morality
3. Second Vatican Council
4. Lay leadership
5. Collaborative ministry
6. Sanctity of marriage
7. The hierarchy
8. Leadership
9. Sexual abuse scandal
10. Vocations
III. On Young Adults
A. Archbishop Borders indicated that young adult ministry should be a priority.
B. The Church’s teaching should emphasize what it means to be church
and the unique and vital role that young adults have in that church.
C. Effective young adult ministry requires close, personal relationships,
ideally in small communities where there would be the opportunity to interact,
relate, listen and challenge.
D. Young adults have a readiness to reach out to others in service.
E. Philosophical lectures will not reach young adults. (This from a former
philosophy professor)
F. Based on his experience in campus ministry, Borders is hopeful that young
adults will respond if challenged and offered opportunities for involvement.
G. He believes that twenty-five years ago young adults had a subjective
approach to life. He sees this changing today.
IV. On Secularism and a Subjective Approach to Morality
A. Borders believes that secularism is still a major influence in our world
today because people don’t even recognize its presence. His recommendations
would be:
• To develop strong faith communities;
• To acknowledge that there is not one single answer but that secularism
expresses itself in a variety of ways in different sub-cultures
• To foster a thorough knowledge of one’s faith
B. Another concern of Borders is the subjective approach to morality on
such issues as abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research.
C. He advocates a local approach, emphasizing religious education and the
fostering of small faith communities.
D. He recommends beginning from the theology that proclaims that everyone
is personally responsible for the church. This belief must be lived and
it should begin in the family.
V. On The Second Vatican Council
A. Borders attended one of the work sessions prior to the Second Vatican
Council. The Council had a profound influenced on him as well as his generation
of archbishops, priests and scholars.
B. The Council challenged both the church and the world in ways that could
not have been imagined.
C. The process of the Council awed him.
D. The Holy Spirit was at the center of the Council.
E. Borders was present for the debates on Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes
and described the debates as extremely intense. He realized the workings
of the Spirit when more than three thousand, fairly conservative bishops,
who rarely had their authority challenged in their home dioceses, approved
those two radical documents.
F. He perceives Gaudium et Spes as the most radical document from a practical
point of view.
G. Borders acknowledges that some mistakes were made in the implementation
of the Second Vatican Council especially in the liturgy. In some cases the
process was too fast.
H. However, he witnessed progress in the development of faith communities.
I. He said that the results of the implementation of the Second Vatican
Council were imperfect. He added, “And that’s good.”
J. The absence of a common ecclesiology is one of the drawbacks in not fully
implementing the Second Vatican Council. He believes that we sill lack a
common ecclesiology.
K. There continues to be a diversity of understanding and commitment to
the full implications of the Second Vatican Council.
L. Listening and dialogue are the key elements needed to further the vision
of the Second Vatican Council.
M. His major conviction is that the People of God must own the church. In
order to accomplish this they must be willing to accept the difficult work
involved.
VI. On Lay leadership
A. Borders has a reputation as a bishop who has fostered lay leadership.
B. Lay leadership begins with listening. He believes that if you listen
you learn and hat if you don’t listen you don’t learn.
C. Borders is known as someone who empowers people’s gifts. The philosophy
not the ecclesiology moved him in this direction.
D. Listening is a key ingredient and one aspect of listening is that in
listening you begin to help people identify their gifts.
E. His experience as an administrator has led him to the conviction that
what works best is to motivate people to do more and to get them to work
together.
F. Bring people with a variety of expertise together and create an atmosphere
where they are free to share and challenge each other
G. His strongest motivation is his conviction that the church is the People
of God. The Church will only accomplish its mission to the extent that it
has all the People of God involved.
H. While he wouldn’t refer to the dearth in the number of priests
as a blessing, he certainly sees it as an occasion that makes it even more
necessary to call forth lay leadership.
I. The emergence of lay leadership does not detract from nor deny the need
for priests. The priests have a definite role to play. However, in many
areas the laity may have more competence than the priests.
J. Borders sees great hope in the development of the Permanent Diaconate.
VII. On Collaborative Ministry
A. In one of Border’s pastorals he described the church as “a
community of collaborative ministries.” When asked what that meant
to him, he replied that the mission of the church is to proclaim the gospel
and to share the love of Christ with all. Collaborative leaders must model
this.
B. If you expect others to live it, you must live it with them. This has
to be done on many different levels. There is no single organization or
program that will work.
VIII. On the Sanctity of Marriage
A. More than fifty percent of the marriages in the United States end in
divorce.
B. In addition, a fourth of new marriages are multiple marriages. One of
the reasons for this is a lack of knowledge of values.
C. Some people, including Catholics, grow up without any basic values.
D. Another reason for the break up of marriages is resistance or fear of
permanent commitments. This is evident in the business world also.
E. For a marriage to be successful there needs to be a deep love that can
overlook and work with the spouse’s faults, combined with a spiritual
commitment to make the marriage work.
F. Unselfish love is more important than knowledge. You can acquire knowledge.
You can’t manufacture love.
G. The church is improving in its fostering of Christian marriage through
such programs as marriage preparation courses and marriage encounter. However
there is a need for a number of programs, adapted to the variety of needs.
.
IX. On The Hierarchy
A. Borders had a number of recommendations about the hierarchy. He would
advise a new bishop to have the qualities of openness, prayer and listening.
B. If the Holy Father would let him appoint bishop, this is what he would
look for in a potential bishop:
1. A good strong pastoral and theological background. He would even put
that requirement before commitment to mission because you will not have
a commitment to mission unless you first recognize what is God’s will.
2. Knowledge both of the world and the church;
3. Someone who is an enabler. If you are not an enabler, you will fall on
your face.
C. Borders stated that you don’t form bishops. Bishops are formed
in the process of their priesthood. Either they have the qualities or they
don’t. Borders believes that most bishops have the right qualities.
D. He commented on the value of appointing bishops from the local Church,
as well as, the value of importing bishops from other dioceses.
E. Borders believes that there is a perception that bishops in the United
States are transferred from one diocese to another happens to frequently.
He doesn’t believe that this is a universal trend.
X. On Leadership
A. Leaders, including bishops, have to remember that the church is still
in the hands of the Holy Spirit. As humans we do not have all the answers.
Be realistic. Don’t try to do the impossible.
B. A bishop must be convinced that he cannot accomplish the mission by himself.
He must collaborate. He must find dedicated and knowledgeable collaborators.
C. One of Borders’ models for leadership was a theology professor
who was both a marvelous scholar and a good teacher. He constantly challenged
the thinking of the students. That professor taught him to arrive at conclusions
only after you have sufficiently studied the facts and the background.
D. The second influence on Borders’ style of leadership was a negative
experience. During the Second World War when he was a chaplain in the infantry
he observed some extremely incompetent people in leadership. The incompetencies
of leaders led to death of many young men. One third of Borders’ regiment
were either killed or wounded. This negative experience taught Borders to
listen to people, not because of their role, but because they offered something
positive in leadership.
E. One of Borders’ strongest convictions about leadership is that
without humility you will not be open to grace. You will not be objective
without humility. Without humility you merely fall back on your own ideology.
F. Leaders must accept the fact that the church is in motion. The struggles
that exist in the church are positive. There are no easy answers. Ultimately,
anyone in leadership in the church must be mature. That is, you must: know
what is your mission and vocation; acknowledge your limitations; and, not
be overly concerned about approval.
G. One of the primary roles of leaders is to create a climate where people
will accept responsibility, and are not afraid to make mistakes. Leaders
realize that they can’t give maturity to others.
XI. On Sexual Abuse
A. Borders believes that the publicity occasioned by the sexual abuse scandal
helped us to realize the seriousness of abuse and its history. It helped
to bring to consciousness a cancer that we didn’t realize existed.
B. Because we have become aware of this cancer, we have to address it with
better formation in the seminary.
C. In his opinion it will take the church a couple of generations to recover
from this scandal. He believes that many of the sexual abusers have tried
to deny the reality of what they did and the harm they caused.
D. At this time there are implications both for bishops and for leaders
of religious congregations. The bishops are being called to stronger spiritual
leadership. Religious life should be seeking quality, not quantity. Leaders
must use better methods for screening, realizing that no method will be
perfect. He believes that if we follow this course of action vocations will
improve. Leaders will become more focused and realistic in providing good
formation. He feels we will attract older, more mature people to the priesthood
and religious life. Religious congregations that emphasize service will
be the ones that attract candidates.
XII. On Vocations
A. Anyone who feels a vocation to the priesthood or religious life must be a person of prayer. There is no substitute. It is not easy. Sometimes you will try to be theoretical about it. Sometimes you will be bored. You must be persistent.