DESPlTE its somewhat off-putting title, this is a useful and even valuable study of the institutional centre of the Roman Catholic Church, and of the relations between the centre, and the worldwide network of local churches which go to make up the Church catholic.
Dr Reese, an American Jesuit priest who has previously, led readers inside the power structure of the Church in the US, brings impressive qualifications and experience as a political scientist to this far wider study. He distinguishes with admirable clarity such entities as the Vatican City State, the Curia, and the Holy See, and considers their inter-relationship, as well as the discreet roles of the Pope as Bishop of Rome, Primate of Italy, "Monarch of Vatican City" and Head of the College of Bishops.
This last title has become familiar since the Second Vatican Council, when "collegiality" became a buzzword. In this connection, the author reflects on the contemporary status of national and regional episcopal conferences, with special reference to that of the United States (NCCB). He notes that any disagreements between Rome and the Conference have been "eventually worked out", but that "when the Vatican was adamant, the NCCB backed down". One bone of contention was apparently "the open and consultative process used by the NCCB in drafting pastoral letters". Dr Reese adds the wry comment that "the NCCB has become even more conciliatory as John Paul II has remade it, through the appointment of bishops more in keeping with his ideas".
The process of filling episcopal vacancies is, of course, more complex than this comment might suggest, involving - as Dr Reese himself points out - bishops in the "home" province, the Nuncio (or other Papal legate) and a Roman Curial department or "congregation", before the Pope finally makes an appointment.
But it has recently been quite often suggested that a procedure originally introduced as a precaution against secular political interference is unnecessarily centralised for the Church of today. In particular, the role of the Papal representative is seen as improperly outweighing that of the local church. Indeed, it is often said that Vatican diplomats, wherever they are placed, remain in their thinking and culture part of the Roman Curia.
This, the oldest and most entrenched bureaucracy in the world, the bete noire of those to whom it is the enemy of collegiality and the paternalistic oppressor or the local church, is admittedly a tough nut to crack. It is the special virtue of Dr Reese's study that he succeeds where many have failed in providing an analytic critical and comprehensive account of how it works.
The total effect is one of a very welcome demystification, not least in the chapter on Vatican finances, which, he concludes, are better managed today than they have been for a very long time. Which is not to say that he gives them a totally clean bill of health. And indeed, he has many criticisms, to make in regard to the whole interlocking government of the Holy See and Vatican City.
His proposals for reform and renewal include holding an ecumenical council every quarter-century; making the Synod of Bishops more "open" and effective with wider powers, including that of Papal election (long the privilege of the College of Cardinals): new methods of recruitment and promotion for the Curia, and a general modernisation of procedures and structures.
I should have expected even stronger criticism of the dominant position of clerics throughout the Curia effectively blocking women from posts of seniority and power ("the Vatican position has been that non-clerics should not have authority over clerics," irrespective, apparently, of qualifications) - and, especially, the automatic appointment as bishops of "prefects, presidents, secretaries, nuncios and other officials". This has been described as a grave misuse of the sacrament of Orders.
IN general, Dr Reese looks and hopes for a clearer and more positive response to modernity, to the demands democracy and to the fact that western culture is no longer dominant - indicating the need for genuine inculturation in the Church's life and worship.
He points to the dangerous alienation of women, and pleads for the abandonment of a siege mentality and of a fear of pluralism (as distinct from relativism), notably in the treatment of theologians, as well as an adoption in practice of the principle of subsidiarity. Readers in this country may be interested to know that neither "Ireland" nor "Irish" appears in the index. There, are of course several names from our diaspora.