Reluctant Dissenter
Shannon, James Patrick
BOOKS A bishop of conscience Dennis O9Brien Reviewers like to say, "this is a book which everyone should read." I wouldn't say that about Jim Shannon's Reluctant Dissenter, but I would...
...I wouldn't say that about Jim Shannon's Reluctant Dissenter, but I would say that it is a book every American Catholic bishop should read...
...There is a personal tale of episcopal politics that is even more painful and which surely contributed to Shannon's difficult decision...
...She had read Humanae vitae...
...In 1967, NBC decided to do a special report on the changes being debated in the Catholic church because of Vatican II...
...Seeking an overall moderator for the program, and having been refused down by Archbishop John Dearden and Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, NBC turned to the NCCB media spokesperson, Bishop Shannon...
...Shannon, a priest from the diocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, had a brilliant early career as a scholar (Yale Ph.D...
...That won't exactly swell sales, but it would target the prop er audience...
...Binz was friendly but simply could not understand how Shannon could have any problems...
...The Commonweal 36 April 9,1999...
...in history), as president of the College of Saint Thomas in Saint Paul, and then as one of the youngest bishops in the American hierarchy...
...In conscience, he did not believe that the pope's ruling was defensible...
...The young woman reported that her husband's attitude toward her had changed dramatically and negatively after the second birth...
...He did not wish to face the contraception issue in the confessional...
...There are two parts to the story...
...Both stories are instructive...
...Shannon decided to continue the column, simply avoiding the topic of contraception (a practice now virtually universal in the Catholic press and pulpit...
...It was also my clear impression that the college of bishops, while respecting Pope Paul's reservation of the topic to himself, confidently expected that their views...would be reflected in any papal document or encyclical which Paul VI would eventually issue on this subject...
...When Paul VI issued the encyclical, Humanae vitae (1968), restating the traditional teaching that artificial contraception is forbidden in every instance, Shannon was stunned and deeply disturbed...
...The woman's story was simple...
...one is official, the other personal...
...Binz counseled Shannon that as a bishop, he had no choice but to accept the teaching on contraception...
...The official issue turned on church teaching about contraception...
...She and her husband had practiced the rhythm method since their marriage began because of difficult financial circumstances, which were not likely to improve markedly, given their skills and level of education...
...Here is his account of how the issue of contraception was viewed by the council fathers: The consensus, in my opinion as an attentive voting member of that assembly, overwhelmingly favored a more lenient position in Catholic teaching on contraception...
...Again they resorted to the rhythm method, again the woman conceived...
...So much for the official problem...
...Well, Shannon then wrote to Paul VI about his concerns, there were visits with the papal legate, a leave of absence from the diocese, suggestions that he might like to be relocated in Switzerland, and so on...
...As the young woman walked out the front door, Shannon went out the back door and drove to see his archbishop, Leo Binz...
...In the end, Shannon decided that the only honest course was to resign as bishop, which he did officially in June 1969...
...Shannon answered an unequivocal "Yes...
...A crisis occurred, however, when a young woman called at the rectory seeking counsel...
...A second child truly put this small family "at the edge...
...As a young, attractive, well-spoken bishop, Shannon had served as the official spokesperson for the National Council of Catholic Bishops...
...Nevertheless, a child was conceived and they were in fact overjoyed at the birth...
...James Patrick Shannon is the "reluctant dissenter" of the title...
...Shannon was on "house duty...
...He reluctantly agreed...
...An autobiography, the book chronicles the life of the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States to resign his office as a matter of conscience...
...Subsequently, he had a happy career at Saint John's College in Santa Fe and a happy marriage...
...Since he was at that time writing a weekly column for the Catholic press, he was faced with the sort of dilemma which caused John Cogley to stop writing his own syndicated comments on issues of the church...
...He was elevated to the episcopacy in 1965 in time to attend the fourth and final session of Vatican II...
...Any moral or intellectual scruples should just be overcome by the official teaching...
...He also announced to his fellow priests at Saint Helena's Parish that he was just too busy to hear confessions...
...Could she possibly practice some other form of birth control without committing serious sin...
Vol. 126 • April 1999 • No. 7
