Posted on 02/08/2014 3:06:20 PM PST by ebb tide
The life of consecrated religious communities worldwide “is really enjoying good health at this moment,” Archbishop José Rodriguez Carballo, the secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for Religious, has reported.
His evidence? The archbishop told an EWTN interviewer that in his travels around the world he has found many convents and monasteries where religious lead exemplary lives. There are problems, he conceded, but “there is a lot of holiness in our monasteries.” He issued a challenge: “Whoever doubts of the holiness of consecrated life, let him go to monasteries.”
That’s not good enough.
Would you trust a doctor who pronounced his patient healthy because he detected a strong heartbeat, overlooking signs of cancer? Would you be satisfied with an economist who said that the economy must be really quite healthy, since Bill Gates and Warren Buffett enjoyed an excellent return on their investments? Of course not! A very sick man can have a strong heart; a weak economy can produce good returns for some investors.
Yes, I know that there are some religious communities whose members devote themselves completely to prayer and good works: convents and monasteries where Archbishop Rodriguez could certainly find the holiness he describes. But I have also met self-indulgent monks, and women religious who no longer practice anything recognizable as Christian prayer. If he were to be candid, the archbishop could certainly name such unhealthy communities, too.
There are always saints in the life of the Church, even in the worst of times, and sinners even in the best. Which sort of religious community predominates: the healthy or the unhealthy? With his pious report that one can find holiness in the monasteries, Archbishop Rodriguez Carballo does not answer that question.
A corporation on the verge of bankruptcy might still have a small cadre of loyal customers. Pointing to those customers will not save the company from disaster. When they report on corporate prospects, we expect business executives to take a hard-headed, dispassionate look at overall trends. We should expect Chuch leaders to do the same.
Archbishop Rodriguez Carballo might have let an inconvenient truth slip out in that same interview, when he said: “There is a lot more holiness than what there often appears to be.” The archbishop realizes, then there “often appears to be” a problem with contemporary religious life.
Nor is this merely a matter of superficial appearances. Each year about 3,000 consecrated religious drop out of their communities. Women’s religious orders are shriveling, as their members age and few young women enter to replace their ranks. The available evidence shows a clear pattern of decline.
Yes, one can find holiness in convents and monasteries. In some parts of the world—India, for example, and much of Africa—religious communities are growing rapidly. In other areas—the US is one—some congregations are booming, even while others sink toward extinction. There are signs of health, but it is misleading to suggest that the overall condition of religious life is healthy. More to the point, if Church leaders are not prepared to recognize the clear signs of a crisis, they are unlikely to take the steps that are necessary to address the disease.
Why not be honest? The faithful have a right to know the real situation. And by the way, we know it anyway.
The ones that are booming are orthodox; the ones that are becoming extinct (thank God!) are heterodox.
Except for those parishes served by the Franciscans of the Immaculate.
Thanks, Pope Francis!
Is it necessarily a bad thing for religious to shrink and decline? I mean, it’s not like holiness and contact with God isn’t available outside of a monastery or convent, or that the Church herself was shrinking (though in some sectors and communions, it is).
It depends on the religious order:
FSSP- No; bad thing
FOTI -No; bad thing
Jesuits - Yes; good thing
A young boy saw a Franciscan and a Jesuit talking together so he approached them saying, “Fathers, is it OK for me to say a novena so my team will win the Superbowl”?
The Franciscan said, “what is a Superbowl”?
The Jesuit said, “what is a novena”?
bwahaha
Religious communities have been extremely important in the life of the Church since the 4th century. They replicate the mission of our Lord: disciples gather around a charismatic leader and dedicating their lives to the mission he defines. Just think of Francis and the way that his example has been followed, however imperfectly, since his time. In many cases, the original chrism is lost, the order decays and dissolves. But new ones keep popping up. In the Protestant world the result is a new denomination, but the unity found in the Catholic Church is lacking, although there is more there than what appears at first glance.
For instance, I can see the Sinsinawa Dominicans pass out of existence without shedding a tear, as long as the Nashville Dominicans are there to replace them.
I guess they figure the aging flakes in the liberal religious communities won’t be around much longer anyway, so why bother with them?
At the local abbey, the numbers of seminarians keep growing.
And the seminary of the Franciscans of the Immaculate has been shut down; and the seminarians sent home.
Thanks, Pope Francis!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.