In mid-September, I ran into retired General Barry McCaffrey in the green room at the NBC studios in Washington. He was discussing the latest turn in the don’t-ask-don’t-tell wars; I was providing commentary on Pope Benedict’s visit to the U.K. In between our appearances (known in the trade as “hits”), McCaffrey asked me about my new work on John Paul II, The End and the Beginning, and we discussed the late pope’s role in the Long Lent of scandal in 2002, which I describe at length in the book. We then fell to talking about the reform of the U.S. military after the debacle of Vietnam, in which McCaffrey played a significant role. I mentioned that I had long had a hunch that there were lessons in that process of institutional self-renewal for the Church, and he promised to send me a book on the subject, Prodigal Soldiers by James Kitfield.
Prodigal Soldiers confirmed my hunch that authentic Catholic reformers have a lot to learn from the men who turned a crumbling Army—riven by racial hatreds, beset by drug problems far greater than those of society at large, weak in discipline and even weaker in strategic understanding—into the high-tech, high-energy, no-nonsense force that is the U.S. Army today. The American military, in 2010, is arguably the best-functioning major institution in our country, despite the strains caused by two wars and a large number of smaller overseas deployments. How did this happen?
The Army was in terrible shape after Vietnam, and it was its younger officers—the captains and majors who had seen their men’s lives wasted by stupid civilian strategists in Washington whom the brass declined to confront—who began to say, “Never again.”
They refused to accept the ingrained American attitude that, while our typical lack of preparedness meant that we almost always lost the first battles of any war in which we finally engaged, we would inevitably bludgeon the enemy into surrender with a vast industrial mobilization. There wouldn’t be time for this in future wars, the reformers believed; and in any event, it was an immoral waste of soldiers’ lives to use Napoleonic, massed army tactics rather than the maneuver warfare mastered by such great commanders as Alexander the Great and Robert E. Lee. Concurrently, the reformers jettisoned the hoary prejudices and ancient inter-service rivalries that had been another impediment in Vietnam, creating a new model of “joint operations” in which land, air and sea forces are thoroughly integrated in the command structure, with everyone therefore pulling on the same oar, in the same direction.
They insisted that the Army stop accepting social misfits in order to fulfill recruiting quotas. They were determined to rid the Army of racism, and took the educational and disciplinary measures necessary to do it. They worked vigorously to stamp out drub abuse, both by rehabilitation programs and by discharging those who couldn’t be helped. They convinced the authorities, both military and civilian, to make life something less than an ongoing, low-grade misery in barracks. They stressed educational opportunity for recruits, and they rebuilt the backbone of the Army, the career non-coms whose ranks had been particularly decimated by Vietnam.
Above all, they were self-critical, and learned to be even more thoughtfully self-critical in the revamped graduate programs they helped force into the military’s advanced command schools. They took risks in challenging superiors, and they challenged those of their peers who couldn’t cut it. They were prepared to resign rather than see out their careers in comfort, if the latter meant risking a repeat of the disaster through which they had lived as young officers.
There are important lessons here for seminary reform, for the relations between priests and bishops, and for relations among the bishops themselves. Catholic clerical culture today, especially at its higher altitudes, still exhibits some of the characteristics that helped turn what came to light in 2002 from sin and crime into scandal. The analogy to the post-Vietnam Army isn’t a perfect one, but there’s a lot for the Church to learn from the hard path of self-renewal taken by the U.S. armed forces.
George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.
Comments:
Start there.
There has been a complete lack of self reflection in the Church's senior "officer ranks." I was in the military during this time. The turnaround only began when "We always did it this way" was removed from the vocabulary.
FYI, Vietnam vets are less apt to have problems with drugs, crime, alcoholism, and homelessness than the general population. They are also better educated and more successful than the general public. The crazed Vietnam veteran is Hollywood myth.
We suffered during the Ford and Carter administrations when the democrats refused to fund our spare parts or man our units. Enlisted troops were offering to extend their enlistments to November 1980 when they knew if Carter would get another term. In one day at Homestead AFB in 1979, an entire fighter squadron went to military personnel and submitted their resignations.
The military recovered when Ronald Reagan was elected. Defense spending increased and America stood up against the expansion of communism.
Don't be coy. WHAT characteristics does clerical culture exhibit? I could list at least half a dozen for a start.
You also have a curious way of phrasing it, as if scandal were much worse than sin and crime.
As far as the seminaries go, well, rooting out the homosexual pedophiles would help but that would mean next to no recruits, so better to figure out how to keep the lid on the decadence, after all, if you are not caught then no harm has occurred, right?
Your comparison fails, because the obtuseness of the apostles was before the Resurrection. We are on the other side. In the instance of Pope John Paul, he not only failed to comprehend what was going on, in many documented instances he denied the evidence presented to him. Even Doubting Thomas was not willfully blind. Surely John Paul II was man of personal holiness, but his poor protection of the flock in perhaps the most grievous scandals of the millennium was tragic. The fact that he was sad about it at the end is tribute to his goodness, but it is not the stuff of greatness. For reasons beyond me, he could not order his own household, and Paul warned Timothy about that -after the Resurrection. The prayers of the Virgin make great leaders innocent indeed, but not naive.
Holiness is not the same as competence. The handling of the Maciel affair is somewhere on the continuum between criminal conspiracy and extreme incompetence coupled with an indifference to justice. The ahadlign of Maciel was an inexcusable breakdown of morality.
The kindest view is extreme incomeptence. If you seriously want to learn the lessons from the military, then the Commanding Officer should have been summarily relieved from command for extreme imcompetence.
Had felt a bit embarassed when the jewish guide pointed to the 'immovable' out of place ladder on the balcony of the Holy Sepulchre Church , as an evidence of incompetenece in the Church at large ...
May be it is allowed there in Divine providence , to help us to recognise that some things that seem simple and movable may be not so ..so that we so not judge based on appearences ..or incmplete information ...esp. about the very dark powers that possibly had to be dealt with at many levels , for the right actions to have been effected ..
and may be lots of gratitude is what is in order ...that The Church that was blessed with partial steps in unity by pain and efforts of Pope John Paul 11 is what has allowed the world at large to be freed from the grip of the dragon ..military might could not do it ...and in the case of the scandals too , may be there was a need for enough tears and pain before the fort could fall !
May the contd prayers of H.H JohnPaul 11 and other martyrs lead to more steps in unity and peace !
Despite improvements in the military post Vietnam, substantial challenges remain: Consider the abuse of female cadets just a few years ago. Even more recently, it came to light that Evangelical officers were essentially indoctrinating their students. And Abu Ghraib.
Some problems take time to remedy. In addressing priestly abuse, the Church faces two problems, as I see it. First (often as I often wonder why they don't excommunicate the most grievous sinners, or even place them under permanent anathema, like I understand Saint Peter did), their hierarchy is not set up like a corporation or the military, so management is complicated. Second, most accusations came in decades after the alleged behavior, which in most other organizations would have been considered too late and even dismissed out of hand. (The Catholic Church is apparently held to very high standards, even by atheists. As G.K.Chesterton said, this is probably an unintended compliment.) Would anyone disagree with the assertion that it is difficult to judge poorly or even totally uncorroborated allegations, even when the delay is only measured in months? Nevertheless, under John Paul II, very substantial reforms of seminaries were initiated, and the priests who have started their ministries in recent years appear to be generally excellent.
Anyway, I'd recommend that we give the friends of Jesus the benefit of the doubt: One is unwise to disrespect the friends of a strong man. I for one am confident that John Paul II is pretty tight with our Lord. And I thank God for sending us such a good and brave and effective servant.
Perhaps no one ever told you sarcasm is the lowest form of criticism (and the nearest to Hell). Perhaps you forget the biblical injunctions against false witness, slander, and the promptings to "set a guard over (our) lips" and "build up your brothers".
I need not spend much effort refuting your statement, as anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear knows the falsehood of your claim. Thirty percent of high school men consider becoming priests--clearly inconsistent with even the highest estimate of homosexuality proffered by society (psychologists estimate the range is 1-10% of males).
You know nothing of what you speak--may God forgive you.
One thing is certain...your attitude is precisely one of the things wounding the Church. May God heal you and bring forth witnesses of truth to counter the darkness your mouth has spoken.
article, processes clergy and soldiers together. The comparison is inaccurate,
apples and bananas. Spiritual discipline is the most arduous of all disciplines
suited for the struggles against the evil one. Clergyfolk that are pedophiles/homo
sexuals do not have spiritual discipline which is characterized by "dying to self". The Catholic Church will always be challenged by the evil one as Jesus himself was
challenged by satan quoting scriptures in the desert. Fasting for forty days anyone?
