So what of all this talk about two Churches--a Church of the North, a Church of the South? A Church of the developed world, the Church of developing world--each with widely divergent needs.
I decided to call someone for whom "two worlds-two churches" is not a theoretical construct but an everyday reality in his life, Monsignor Arturo Banuelas.
"Why does it have to be one or the other?" Msgr. Banuelas asked. "As if we are talking about this whining, selfish, materialistic American Church with no values and no major problems versus the compliant, patient, suffering rest of the world. The issue is to be a prophetic Church throughout the entire world, meeting the needs of each culture and place head on.
"We hear that we need more priests to make this. To me the answer is not to ordain more priests that have a perfect orthodoxy, but to allow all Catholics to be prophetic in addressing whatever it is in their particular circumstances that the gospel can transform--bishops also.
"Where are those prophetic voices today?" Msgr. Banuelas asked. "I am listening, but I do not hear them. Forget about north and south. We as a Church have a big credibility gap: We have to present a God that people not only have to believe in but want to believe in. A God as symbolized not by dogma or doctrine--we have enough dogma and doctrine and it is good; I studied it, I know it--but by making our faith come alive in the lives of people. That is a big job--but for those of us who live on the border, straddling two cultures, that is at the top of the list for the next pope to address."
(excerpt from Paul Wilkes)
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