Renewal of America? The story of a new Catholic religious order and its implications for the U.S.

I received a letter today from Mother Assumpta Long, superior of a fairly new religious order of Catholic nuns. I had known of Mother Assumpta earlier in connection with a new grouping of monks and nuns that was established after Catholic religious orders began to break down, betray their principles, and melt away in the wake of Vatican II. But the new order was news to me.

It was founded under Cardinal O'Connell of New York, and later moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where with the help of Thomas Monaghan of Domino's Pizza it established a new house and began teaching traditional religion in schools.

Many Protestants will be understandably suspicious of any such Catholic order of nuns. But as a Catholic I have worked closely with many Evangelical friends, and for a while was president of a professional organization most of whose members were Evangelical. We got on very well together. I have found that the best way to get along is not, as early ecumenists insisted, for everybody to give something up, until they meet at the lowest common denominator and very little is left--as the liberal churches have done--but for everyone to be the best Catholic, the best Baptist, the best Lutheran that they can be, and then try to understand and work with one another.

It has long seemed to me that America will not recover from the corruption of its culture and the breakdown of traditional morality that began in the 1960s without something like a Great Awakening. Such an event would, hopefully, occur among Catholics, mainstream Protestants, black Baptists, religious Jews, and every other religious group in America that still has a serious claim to call itself religious.

Protestants have much to gain if Catholics become better and more moral Catholics, and Catholics have much to gain if Protestants become better Protestants. Nobody gains if our government is filled with Catholic politicians like Teddy Kennedy and John F. Kerry, or Southern Baptist politicians like Jimmy Carter and bill clinton. Nobody gains when the mainstream churches betray their principles and help lead the country into strange regions of disbelief.

It seems to me that this particular letter I received today, which led me to the websight of the new Catholic religious order, shows such promise. Vocations abound. Schools are being founded. Homeschooling is being helped and encouraged. Traditional values are being restored and taught to children. Catholics who are unfamiliar with these developments might want to help out; Protestants might consider how such developments might make things better for everyone living in our country.

I hope the moderators will leave this post here in the main forum for at least a while before moving it to religion. Culture is dependent, fundamentally, on religion. America has flourished because of the various religious faiths and moral commitments of her citizens. If we are to recover from the disastrous decline of the past 40 years, most likely it will come about through something like the Great Awakening of the nineteenth century. And it will best be done if Protestants, Catholics, and Jews can work together with real understanding--not to compromise their principals but to recognize what is best in each other and work together on issues about which we all agree.

"it will best be done if Protestants, Catholics, and Jews can work together with real understanding--not to compromise their principals but to recognize what is best in each other and work together on issues about which we all agree."

Absolutley true. And quite frankly i never realized that catholics and jews had any problem with my protestant beliefes, i know i never had problems with theirs.

No, most of us get on fine here together. But there's a lot of old resentments from the old days. It's important to persuade people that we have more in common on such basic issues as the right to life and the defense of our country than we have differences.

And also, that we don't have to be homogenized or give up anything that we value to work together.

I agree completely with this post. In my Episcopal service we pray for "Christ's church" and refer to "the blessed company of all faithful people". What we share is monumental, whereas what divides us is trivial. Of course, faithful Jews don't believe in Jesus Christ, but I prefer to think of it this way-- that if they're living the faith of the Old Testament, they're living exactly as Christ did. Christ said, "Follow me." Well, aren't they? Whether they know it or not? I think so.

I work in an organization with the best of the best. Whatever our denominations, and my supervisor is Bhuddist while I am a Traditional Catholic, we are all devoted to providing the best care for the people we help.

The whole issue is Respect for one another and for our differences. No one is out to make converts, but to give service.

I am pleased to see a new religious order forming. The Sisters under Mother Teresa's foundation are growing exponentially because of her philosophy toward life in all forms, and now this order is growing.

I hate to see the old orders fading as has happened to some Sisters I know under Franciscan rule, the youngest is 52, but the new revitalizes and puts the Church back on its path. It is exciting to see an awakening happening again as it has so many times in history.

I occasionally send some money to the Dominican sisters in New Jersey. Most of them are basically on the point of death, and they have no younger sisters coming into the order to look after them, as was the traditional practice. All the younger ones must have run off and done something else with their lives, leaving the older sisters to die without help.

That has happened in many orders. You could say it's their own fault, but for the most part the older sisters are not the ones responsible for what happened. Very sad.

This happened many times over the centuries. You have a new Domincan order as mentioned in this post. You have the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal working in the South Bronx. Back in the Sixteenth century you had St. Teresa founding the Discalced Carmelites to renew or replace the older Carmelite orders that lost their way.

Sometimes an organization can't be renewed from within but must be replaced from without.

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