In attempting to restore the church's credibility as a teacher, Pope John Paul may have eroded it further, writes Andrew Greeley
Pope John Paul II determined early in his pastorate to restore order and discipline to the Roman Catholic Church in response to the destabilisation of church structures after the Second Vatican Council. Faced with what he saw as widespread chaos in the church, he moved to restore obedience to the Catholic tradition.
He did not reject the council, but denounced what he considered the abuses that occurred in its name. He quashed the radical changes in the church of the Netherlands, although many Dutch Catholics left as a result.
Dissenting theologians were silenced or punished, including Hans Küng, who lost his "licence" to teach Catholic theology. He tightened the control of the Roman Curia - the civil service of the church - over bishops of the world.
He dedicated himself to correcting the errors he saw many Catholics embracing, strongly condemning birth control, demands for the ordination of women, in-vitro fertilisation, premarital sex, abortion and, more recently, homosexuality.
He appointed bishops and cardinals who were faithful to his strategy and encouraged conservative organisations such as Opus Dei and Legionnaires of Christ. He tried to tighten control over seminary faculties and Catholic universities.
The Curia investigated and disciplined many priests against whom conservative Catholics (a vocal, if small, community in most countries) complained. More recently he directed Catholic politicians on how they should vote on matters such as homosexual marriage.
His campaign to reorganise the church was certainly successful in reshaping its internal structures. His extensive travel boosted his image and the impression of a man firmly in control. The government of the church is now substantively similar to that of pre-council days. Local bishops are now little more than functionaries in the service of the Curia.
Few would deny that these were John Paul's central administrative goals. However, the question remains whether he successfully attained them. Did Catholics turn away from a style of being Catholic on their own terms? Did they abandon their approval of birth control, divorce, masturbation, a married clergy and other issues?
An attempt to restore the power and credibility of the central church must be judged finally by whether or not it worked. It is hard not to conclude that the Pope's project was unsuccessful.
Surveys in many Catholic countries suggest his campaign against chaos may have increased the amount of chaos. Throughout Europe, North America and Australasia, the majority of Catholic populations stubbornly refused to change their minds on matters such as birth control, premarital sex, in-vitro fertilisation and married clergy. Moreover, Catholic attitudes in the last quarter-century seem to have moved further from those on which the Pope insisted.
With Catholic church attendance falling around the world, the Pope's strategy appears to have been counterproductive. In attempting to restore the church's credibility as a teacher, he may have eroded it further. In his endeavour to use the authority of his office to unify the church, he left it badly polarised.
After the Vatican Council, there were hopes in some Catholic circles of a more open discussion in the church, of reforms to the Curia and of participation by local bishops in church governance.
These hopes were largely frustrated. It is at least an open question whether such governance would have been more effective.
As the Tablet remarked, the Pope aborted reform in the church. A sociologist is tempted to say that he could at least have given it more of a chance. Between the French Revolution and the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church was governed by structures that emphasised order, discipline, fear of mortal sin and, most important, conviction that the church cannot and will not change.
At the Vatican Council it did change and destabilised the old structures. New wine was poured into old wineskins, and the wineskins burst. Confusion and chaos emerged.
Most Catholics continue to accept the core doctrines of their faith: God, Jesus, life after death, presence of God in the sacrament and Jesus in the Eucharist. However, they also reserve the right to make up their own minds on issues of sex and gender. In a certain sense, Pope John Paul II fell back on the old structures to re-establish order, though these structures no longer exist.
This failure to reimpose the old order on the laity and lower clergy is central to an evaluation of the papacy. No amount of spin can cover it up, though it does not negate the Pope's piety, his good intentions, his enormous public impact.
Nevertheless, much of the positive effect of the Vatican Council eroded during his pontificate. However glorious John Paul's reign may have been in many respects, it is hard to interpret the empirical data any other way: his successor will inherit a polarised and fractured church, but one made up of hundreds of millions of loyal Catholics who will not leave, even if the leadership tries to throw them out.