The new Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), Archbishop Gerhard Muller, inherits a number of prickly issues as he assumes his difficult office in the Roman Curia. He must deal with the Society of St. Pius X, to prevent its possible departure from the unity of the faith, and with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), some of whose public expressions have seemed to some contrary to Church teaching. Archbishop Muller is quoted as saying, “One cannot profess the three religious vows (poverty, chastity and obedience) and not take them seriously.”
For the nonce, the Society of St. Pius X can take care of itself as regards to Institutes of Consecrated Life. This way of life is defined by church law; the Code of Canon Law, canon 573 section 1 states: “Life consecrated by the profession of the evangelical counsels is a stable form of living by which faithful, following Christ more closely under the action of the Holy Spirit, are totally dedicated to God who is loved most of all, so that, having dedicated themselves to His honor, the upbuilding of the Church and the salvation of the world by a new and special title, they strive for the perfection of charity in service to the Kingdom of God and, having become an outstanding sign in the Church, they may foretell the heavenly glory.”
The second paragraph (Canon 573 section 2) reads as follows: “Christian faithful who profess the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience by vows or other sacred bonds according to the proper laws of institutes freely assume this form of living in institutes of consecrated life canonically erected by competent church authority and through the charity to which these counsels lead they are joined to the Church and its mystery in a special way.”
It is very important to note also the provisions of Canon 576 which states, “It belongs to the competent authority of the Church to interpret the evangelical counsels, to regulate their practice by laws, to constitute therefrom stable forms of living by canonical approbation, and, for its part, to take care that the institutes grow and flourish according to the spirit of the founders and wholesome traditions.”
There is no one who has even sporadic contact with the Roman Catholic Church who does not know that what we call Religious Life, particularly of women religious, might be thought to be in a state of collapse. In the larger devolving pagan society in which we seem immersed any institution that lost two out of three of its members over the course of 50 years would be regarded as moribund, if not defunct. In 1962 there were about 180,000 religious sisters in the United States, and in 2012 there are fewer than 60,000. Whenever something like this happens in the Church the first question that is asked about the object of discussion is, “Does the institution in question profess the true faith and practice it?” That is what the CDF (it seems to me) is trying to establish about LCWR, nothing more.
No one should see this as directed at women religious in general, at least some of whom (and perhaps the greater number) have remained faithful to their vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in community. Virtually all presently existing religious communities have glorious histories of contributing to the building up of the mystical body of Christ in the United States, and this in times even more anti-Catholic than the present.
Indeed Religious Orders that took up health care in hospitals and clinics, as nurses for the poor, or who engaged in social welfare work among the poor, have by their manifest charity and good will secured the abatement of much anti-Catholicism in the United States. Those religious congregations of women who gave themselves over to education produced generations of Catholic people not only able to defend their faith, but also capable contributors to a society at large. This, too, aided the reputation of the Church. To none of this good work does anyone in the Church now take exception. But to be a Roman Catholic means to adhere to the expressions of faith, the laws of the Church, and her theology. One cannot be a Catholic in a true sense without adherence to these fundamentals.
The Holy See through the Congregation of the Doctrine for the Faith wishes to ascertain whether or not the LCWR is Catholic in the true sense. We should all pray that perhaps the concerns raised will show themselves to be misunderstandings and can be blamed on the polyvalent “lack of communication.”
Bishop Leonard P. Blair of Toledo, who conducted the assessment of LCWR, said recently in answer to a plea for dialogue, “If by dialogue they mean that the doctrines of the church are negotiable and the bishops represent one position and the LCWR presents another position, and somehow we find a middle ground about basic church teaching on faith and morals, then no,” he said.
“I don’t think that is the kind of dialogue that the Holy See would envision. But if it’s a dialogue about how to have the LCWR really educate and help the sisters to appreciate and accept church teaching and to implement it in their discussions and try to hear some of the questions or concerns they have about these issues, then that would be the dialogue.”
For purists, we have to remember that Religious Congregations were not established by Christ and the
Church in the same way that the sacraments were given to us. Since the beginning of religious life with the monastic orders in the early Church, religious congregations have been a great advantage to the Church. The Benedictines, the Dominicans, Franciscans, and Jesuits, to name only four great religious families, have in their time contributed mightily to the Church; the Church which must be ever in a state of reforming itself to be more congruent with the aims of Christ and, conforming to his life, passion, death, and resurrection.
Meanwhile we should thank God for the presence of the religious men and women who remain among us, and be duly appreciative of the work they have done. If you look back over the history of the
Church there are many times that religious congregations and institutes have renewed themselves, and with new vigor have contributed to the building up of the body of Christ. May almighty God in His mercy grant us the same results.