The Council of Elders:
Tapping the Wisdom of the Vatican II Archbishops
ARCHBISHOP PHILIP HANNAN
Profile and Summary of the Interview
Frank Cunningham and Loughlan Sofield conducted the interview with Archbishop Philip Hannan in his home in New Orleans, LA, on June 9, 2005.
I. Background
Archbishop Philip Hannan is ninety-three years of age. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore-Washington in 1939. He was ordained as Auxiliary Bishop of Washington in 1956 and the Archbishop of New Orleans in 1965. He is one of the few living bishops who attended the Second Vatican Council. He served as a military chaplain for the 82nd Airborne Division in Europe during World War II. He served as a personal advisor to President John F. Kennedy on Catholic matters and delivered the eulogy at President Kennedy’s funeral. Since his retirement he has been very involved in Catholic television. He is currently producing three movies.
II. Major Issues Facing the Church Today
Archbishop Hannan identified five major issues facing the Church today.
A. The general lack of responsibility in people today, specifically among
Catholics.
B. The Church’s failure to minister effectively to young people.
C. The church’s failure to adequately convey the Second Vatican Council’s
teaching on the role of the laity.
D. The clergy
E. The hierachy
III. On Personal Responsibility
A. The lack of personal responsibility is a central issue facing our culture
and the church today.
B. It has developed since the end of World War II and is rooted in the communitarian
understanding of evil.
C. The Catholic failure of responsibility is attested to in people’s
attitude toward the sacraments and moral issues.
D. The answer lies in a renewed commitment to the Sacrament of Penance.
E. There is a prevalent attitude of apathy toward God.
F. If people accepted greater personal responsibility it would lead to a
dramatic reduction in the need for social services and in social costs.
G. In summary, Archbishop Hannan says:
• There is a need to assist all Catholics to develop a moral culture
that permeates every aspect of society.
• We must overcome the developing a culture of apathy that leads to
an erosion of moral values.
• Help people accept responsibility for their actions.
• Emphasizing a strong moral formation will assist people in making
decisions regarding life and death issues.
• Do more to form people to live moral lives of integrity and service.
IV. On Young People
A. Today’s failure to minister effectively misses on two counts:
it fails the young people, and it fails the parents who will stay with a
church that is ministering to their young.
B. Effective ministry to the young means being available to them.
C. Thirty to fifty years ago the church was more effective in ministering
to the young. New structures can be developed to recapture that effectiveness.
D. Education should be a priority for the parish priest. However, because
of the decreasing number of priests, this must become a greater priority
for laity and deacons.
V. On the Second Vatican Council’s Teaching on the Role of the Laity
A. The role of the laity provides an answer, at least in part, to the Pope’s
challenge to discover “new structures of participation, consultation,
and shared responsibility.”
B. Although the Second Vatican Council dealt with the role of the laity,
the church has never adequately implemented and practiced that teaching.
C. Bishops need to realize that they cannot do it all, and should delegate
more responsibility to the laity.
D. The problems that exist are problems for the whole Church. Bishops need
to sit down together with the laity. The laity can develop solutions to
these problems. They can form their own organizations and elect their leadership.
Archbishop Hannan offers a number of examples from his own experience. Moving
in this direction would make an enormous difference in the church.
E. There is a very practical reason for a greater involvement of laity:
the priests can no longer do it by themselves. The challenge today is to
develop structures that allow for broader participation, personal involvement
and deep ownership.
VI. On Clergy
A. Priest morale is not good for a number of reasons:
1. Priests are stretched too thin.
2. Lack of opportunities for priestly fellowship that formerly existed.
3. The sexual abuse scandal. Archbishop Hannan proposed a response that
was not accepted by the Conference of Bishops because it was seen as infringing
on the rights of the other bishops.
B. Recommendations regarding priests.
1. Priests must engage more with the people.
2. Priests must truly care about one another and take responsibility for
each another
3. Strengthen the role of the priest as teacher; involved in practical education
that helps people move from religious principles to concrete action.
4. Priests should be formed to animate the laity, realizing that God has
already empowered them to take leadership.
VII. On the Hierarchy
A. A primary role of bishops is to involve the laity in discerning their
needs and to engage them in responding to those needs in very practical
ways.
B. Acknowledge that bishops:
1. Should have been more aware of the sexual abuse issue and taken more
concrete steps in responding to the problem.
2. In general, did a poor job of implementing the Second Vatican Council.
3. May find themselves threatened as the laity become better educated and
take more responsibility for the church. When this is true it should be
addressed.
4. Have developed structures that are still too dependent on them.
5. Should realize that it is good for people to see the bishops openly argue
among themselves.
6. Should speak up at the national meetings.
7. Need to become more personally involved in implementing what they proclaim.
VIII. Key principles that influence Archbishop Hannan.
In reviewing the above summary we identified three key principles that
seem to influence Archbishop Hannan’s pastoral approach
A. Create forums for dialogue that allow freedom to raise questions. Everything
should be permitted to be voiced and questioned. The goal of the dialogue
is not to determine “the right” answers.
B. Foster practical moral education that leads to concrete action.
C. Leaders must become personally involved with people and issues.