Two months before Pope Benedict XVI's current six-day visit to the United States, the Vatican's top diplomat in Washington DC wrote a letter to monasteries across the country.
In his letter, Archbishop Pietro Sambi asked nuns, monks, priests, and brothers to pick an event on the papal itinerary and pray for its success. He said people should pray that the Pope's visit produces "a new youthfulness, a new springtime" for the Church in the Unites States.
So far news media attention on the Pope's visit has focused on his early comments about being "deeply ashamed" of the sex-abuse scandal. But the subject of a new springtime for the Church is worthy of discussion too.
There will be continued speculation on whether Benedict XVI will touch on issues like poverty, the Iraq War, euthanasia, abortion, gay marriage, and environmental degradation during his visit. But if we're seriously going to talk about a new springtime for the Church, the people of God must address an intangible --but important issue.
That issue can be summed up as an attitudinal problem. In short, we sometimes treat each other badly. This is exemplified when Catholics project nasty characteristics onto those who call for reform (or on those who oppose reform).
It's particularly troubling to see individuals defending the Church and hierarchy in a manner not keeping with the Gospel. On the other hand, it's equally disturbing to see reform-minded Catholics project negative characteristics onto the hierarchy. Often these characteristics are unfair (and even untrue).
If we're going to produce a new springtime in the Church, there must be a rejection of this poisonous attitude. It's how we treat each other that matters. In this way, the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi "to be understood as to understand" is a fundamental starting point.
Some reform-minded Catholic groups in North America have called on the Church to consider the election of bishops by the entire Church body. This is an example of an issue that doesn't have to create fear and hate. Understandably there will be tension around the matter. But why can't the issue be discussed in a charitable way?
Trying to understand each other isn't easy. In part, that's because we usually have to face rigid certainties and unfair assumptions we've made. But this is where individual growth occurs. And it's where the Church as a whole can flourish.
A new springtime in the Church can arrive if we embrace a spirit of understanding and trust. But these are difficult times for the People of God. It's easy to become defensive. Instead of recognizing the need to understand --there's a powerful temptation to use lazy rhetoric and fierce polemics.
But we must seek to understand each other as Catholics, because only then can we journey together with hope, love, and healing.
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