Roman Catholicism – Whither Goest Thou?

[TheLightWithin]

Here's a precis of the concluding essay on a Substack feed: a Perennial Digression:

• Ordain married men—and women. Reform Catholic thinkers are mostly uniform on the question of priestly celibacy (it is unnecessary) and less uniform on the question of the ordination of women (with an increasing number trending in the direction of opening at least the diaconate to women).
• Enjoin much more serious, rigorous formation upon clergy—including many years of psychotherapy. We understand that the Church’s clergy shortage means that the prospect of forcing clergy to go through a long period of formation is often a losing one ... (but)
  To borrow an old metaphor, if the priest is a doctor of souls, then it ought to be basically as difficult and harrowing to become a priest as it is to become a doctor: not to gatekeep the job to an elite few, but to ensure that those who want it are sufficiently prepared for it and to bar the way to those unfit for its office.
• Recommit to the intellectual movements that led to the Council—in their present form.
• Recommit to the liturgical vision of the Council to enrich Catholic worship & praying life. The Council gave us the Novus Ordo and the Liturgy of the Hours. Both of these are good, but their regular celebration by most Catholics is lackluster: the average NO Mass in the United States often leaves much to be desired...
• Commit to synodal governance at local, regional, and universal levels. Empower the laity to
  a.) elect their clergy and hierarchy, which is the most ancient and original apostolic practice;
  b.) have plenipotentiary power over ecclesial funds and properties;
  c.) have a vote in the local synodal assembly; and
  d.) be represented at the global level of ecclesial synodality as well.
• Commit to the development of doctrine that defines Vatican II and the postconciliar Popes, especially Francis.

These all sound like good ideas.