The Council of Elders:
Tapping the Wisdom of the Vatican II Archbishops
- Description of the Project
- Archbishop Profiles and Summary of Individual Interviews
- Summary of Interviews (with Individual Transcripts)
- Transcript of the Notre Dame Meeting
- Audio Highlights
- Archbishop Borders: Young People; Vatican II
- Archbishop Gerety: Vatican II Vision, Vatican II Mentality
- Archbishop Hannan: Evaluation of the Second Vatican Council
- Archbishop Hurley: Mandatory Celibacy
On September 11, 2004 Pope John Paul II met with the Bishops of New Jersey and Pennsylvania for their ad limina visit. The Pope spoke to the Bishops of the "crisis of confidence" in the church leadership in the United States and the need for "accountability in the Church's governance at every level." He stated that the current situation calls for "a spiritual critique of certain styles of government." The Pope expanded on this, calling for "better structures of participation, consultation and shared responsibility,” and indicated the need to involve the laity at every level. He concluded with his conviction that the wisdom of the Second Vatican Council contains the pastoral responses needed today.
The Archbishops who were in leadership in the church of the United States during and immediately after the Second Vatican Council are in a unique position to provide the spiritual and pastoral answers and insights for today's issues. They implemented the ideals of the council during those exciting and challenging times. Tapping into the wisdom of these elders can provide a roadmap of new, creative, pastoral responses to the major issues facing the church today. These men can offer the church hope-filled solutions to present problems. They represent a unique group whose individual and corporate memories are a rich source of wisdom for the entire Church.
Individual Interviews
The men selected were those ordained as Archbishops prior to 1971. They include Archbishops Borders, Flores, Gerety, Hannan, Hurley and Quinn. These six agreed to be interviewed. Two other Archbishops who met the criteria, Hunthausen and Cronin, declined participation, stating that they believe this is a worthwhile and interesting project. Both men made the decision to refuse to grant interviews after they retired. Archbishop Gerety, at ninety-four years of age is the oldest of the group.
The Archbishops were asked what they perceived as the major issues in the Church today. They were then asked what they would propose as possible responses to these issues.
Notre Dame Meeting
Subsequent to the individual interviews, we convened those who were able to join us for a two-day conference at Notre Dame, sponsored by The Institute for Church Life of the University of Notre Dame. Because of illness and other commitments only Archbishops Gerety and Hurley were able to attend the conference. Monsignor Frank Seymour, the archivist of the Archdiocese of Newark, who accompanied Archbishop Gerety, joined them.
The meeting was dynamic with a spirited dialog between Archbishops Gerety and Hurley. They covered a variety of subjects including:
- The future structure of the Church on many different levels
- The need for relational and collegial. structures
- Faith as the foundation for all structures
- The bishops’ response to the sexual abuse scandal
Material Contained on This Website
The following material will be found on this website:
- A brief biography of each Archbishop
- The transcription and summary of the individual interviews with the following exceptions: Archbishop Quinn asked that we not make his material public. There is a transcript but no summary for Archbishop Flores. He became ill during the interview and the interview had to be concluded prematurely.
- A general summary of the six interviews
- A transcript of the meeting at Notre Dame
- Highlighted quotes from the audio files
The Project Team
The project team consisted of:
Mr. Frank Cunningham is recently retired as Publisher and President
of Ave Maria Press, located at the University of Notre Dame. Cunningham
had a distinguished career in Catholic publishing and was presented with
the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Catholic Book Publishers Association
in June 2005. The National Catholic Education Association and the Catholic
Library Association have also acknowledged his work.
Sister Carroll Juliano is a member of the provincial leadership
team of the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus. She has worked with the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Women in the Church and
in the World, developing a process for greater collaboration between laity
and priests. She has also conducted workshops worldwide and is co-author
of a number of prize-winning books.
Brother Loughlan Sofield is a member of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity. He is Senior Editor of the journal, Human Development, and a leading consultant on ministry and personal development. Brother Loughlan has worked in over 200 dioceses on five continents. He has coauthored eight books, several of which have received first and second place awards from the Catholic Press Association.
Project Sponsor
The project was conducted under the auspices of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, an American founded congregation committed to fostering the development of lay leadership and working among the poor and abandoned in the United States and Latin America.
The project was made possible through a grant from an anonymous foundation and the generosity of The Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame.