Challenges to Religious life

CHALLENGES TO RELIGIOUS LIFE: PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTIONS FROM AN ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE

Introduction

            The Consecrated Life, deeply rooted in the example and teaching of Christ the Lord, is a gift of God the Father to his Church through the Holy Spirit. The profession of the evangelical counsels of the Religious is the characteristic features of Jesus — the chaste, poor and obedient one.”[1]  This life of total dedication and service of the Religious however is not a bed of roses. “The recent scandal of sexual abuse of minors by clergy in some parts of the world has raised serious concerns regarding the credibility of leaders in the Church. This is further aggravated by problems like, emotional immaturity, sexual boundary violations, financial irregularities, conflicts in relationships, alcoholism, lack of collaboration and team work etc., these are symptomatic of a deeper malice affecting the quality of life and ministry of the Church personnel today.”[2] A Religious who has pledged oneself to live for God is constantly coping with challenges in living out one’s commitment.[3] Why has the Religious life- which has contributed enormously to the healthy spiritual growth of the individual, the Church and humanity, come under such a dark cloud? Why aren’t many young men and women entering Religious life today? This calls for a deep reflection on the Religious life.  Today I would like to share with you some reflections on the challenges to Religious life from an ethical perspective.

1. The blurring of Value Systems

            The society in which we live is bombarded by Relativistic, Consumeristic, Pragmatic, Utilitarian and Individualistic philosophies. This chaotic moral situation leaves a Religious confused and questioning. While the Religious strives to be faithful to his/her vows he/she is constantly tempted to give in to enjoyable and luxurious life-style that today’s society offers. The progress in science and technology has also contributed to this blurring of value systems not only in the secular world but even among the Religious. On a whole we see that the social situation in which we live poses a challenge to an austere way of life that a Religious congregation demands.

            The materialism of our world fosters a consumerist culture, heedless of the needs and sufferings of the weakest.  Such a culture is widely prevalent in the urban areas. In this entangling web of a consumeristic culture, the Religious face the challenge of standing strongly against the tide that could well sweep them off their feet.[4]

            Today another grave danger to faith comes from secularism, a most striking phenomenon of our epoch. The secularist mentality views God as an outsider in the world. The whole of the cultural thrust today is toward man. Theology tends to become Anthropology. Faith in God is reduced to faith in man; service of God to service of men; revelation of God to revelation of man; dialogue with God in prayer becomes dialogue with man in activity, trust in God’s providence, trust in man’s power to change the world. The consequence of this trend is the diminution of the sense of God and the sense of sin and redemption, and consequently a depreciation of the apostolate. There is such an enthusiasm for temporal values that the work of evangelization is esteemed but little- it seems a stranger to what is human, to be useless and too spiritual. At times promoters of social human development tell the poor, “By going to church or saying prayers, you will not relive your hunger.” This is certainly true. But it is not the whole truth.[5]

2. The Media

            The avalanche of powerful media of communication with the advent of the so-called ‘information society’ has caused a profound cultural revolution, the constant availability of images and ideas and their rapid transmission have had serious consequences both positive and negative for the psychological, moral and social development of persons as well as for the perception and transmission of values, world view, ideologies and religious beliefs. The power of media extends to defining not only what people will think but even what they will think about. Communication today seems increasingly to claim not simply to represent reality, but to determine it. This has in some way contributed to the shallowness of life among some Religious, and an obsession for creating a good image in the public rather than focusing on living an authentic life. The pastoral instruction on social communication rightly points out: “reality for many, is what the media recognize as real; what it does not acknowledge seems of little importance” (Cfr. AETATIS Novae, 4). The Church has taken basically positive, sympathetic and encouraging approach to the means of social communication, she considers them as ‘gifts of God’ and true signs of the times (Cfr. IM, 1;EN, 45;RM,37). Certainly several changes have been for the better but many others have been for the worse. Hence, the ethical question remains ever crucial. “Are the media being used for good or evil?” how do the Religious use the media that are at their disposal?

3.  The Relevance of Celibacy Questioned

            A desperate father of a girl child said, “Let all the priests of the Catholic Church go and get married so that our children can freely go to the Church for worship and Church activities without fear of the priests.”[6]  The above statement appears harsh and uncouth but I think it is the genuine expression of despair of some catholic parents. In the post synodal apostolic exhortation Vita Consecrata late Pope John Paul II expounds the concept of chastity as, “the pure love which consecrated persons draw from the contemplation of the Trinitarian love revealed to us in Christ… Consecrated chastity is a joyful and liberating experience.”[7] But today we see that A hedonistic culture which separates sexuality from all objective moral norms, often treat it as a mere diversion and a consumer good and, with the complicity of the means of social communication, justifying a kind of idolatry of the sexual instinct. The consequences of this are before everyone's eyes: transgressions of every kind, with resulting psychic and moral suffering on the part of individuals and families.[8]

            Numerous cases of infidelity to one’s celibate life among some Religious have rocked the Church in recent times. The view on Religious life today has reached such a bad state that in some European nations entering a Religious congregation is associated with gay/ lesbian tendencies. The challenge here for a Religious is how He/She faces such social pressure. How one copes with such circumstances. Today some Religious are also caught up with many popular arguments which claim that celibacy is not as important as it is portrayed to be, allow me to mention to you some of these anti-celibate arguments:

Ø  Seeing the statistics of the scandals it is very clear that celibacy promotes more scandals especially pedophilia than witnessing life because of the denial of the physical aspects of sexuality.

Ø  Celibacy is not an absolute value. It is only a means for the gospel way of life. But this is no more a relevant means today to live the gospel values.

Ø  It is the reason for the decline of vocations in the Catholic Church. Celibacy is no more an inspiring value for today’s youth. How many among the youngsters today willingly, joyfully, voluntarily opt for priestly and consecrated life?

Ø  It promotes monastic, juridical, dogmatic, rigid, alienated, institutionalized, clericalised life style among the priests and religious.

Ø  One may justify that celibacy is a choice but actually it is not true. In reality it is force and goes against the natural and fundamental rights of a person. The option given is, if you are not celibate you have no right to be a Priest/Religious.

Ø  Celibacy is not clear on its scriptural and traditional foundation. The texts taken from the scripture to support celibacy are not convincing.

4. Unearthed Immoral Acts of Clergy and Religious

            In the time past the immoral acts of the Religious used to be buried under the carpet and usually the media had no possibility of exposing the scandals in the Church. However, times have changed and media has upper hand today. The sexual abuse crisis has devastated many, beginning with individual victims and their families. The morale of laity and clergy alike has been severely undermined, as has the moral authority of many Bishops. Impression of cover ups has tainted the highest levels of Church governance triggering frequent and justified calls for resignation of Bishops. Lagging behind the story has made matters worse fuelling the impression that the Church is hiding something, shielding abusers to protect “the institutions” instead of the victims. To date, the crisis has hit hardest in North America and Western Europe. Recently there have been several accusations against Priests and Religious, let me mention a few:

Ø  Pedophilia

            Pedophilia leaves a severe trauma and its scar could arrest the growth of the victim as a whole. For the victims who have been abused by the priests: Liturgy, Prayer, Church activities, anything related to Priest and the Church and even God becomes a nightmare. It is really sad to see some Religious who are supposed to be a symbol of life, joy, peace and happiness becoming a symbol and cause of sorrow, division, depression and death.[9]  In the U.S clerics, priests, Deacons, Bishops etc., accused of abuse from 1950-2002 were 4,392 i.e., 4% of the 109,694 serving during those 52 years.[10]

Ø  Priests Accused of Misconduct

            In an article entitled, “Catholic Church Faces Fresh Scandal as 'Wives' of Priests Speak Out” Published June 02, 2010 in the News Core, About a dozen women have written an open letter to the Pope challenging the Church's position that priestly celibacy is a sacred commitment."[11]  There are several other accusations launched against the Religious: for instance we have the case of Sr. Jasmie who wrote AMEN, we also have the Abhia case, I suppose you are also aware of the case of Fr. Marcel Maciel Degollado, the founder of the Legionnaires of Christ who had numerous accusations against him. These are but a few incidents that have come up in public and these are some the issues that challenges the Religious of today to face such humiliations and go ahead in following one’s call.

Conclusion

            We cannot deny the fact that a number of Priests and Religious have failed to live up to their commitments and have been found involved in immoral acts. This has brought about a lot of doubt regarding the credibility of religious life in the minds of the common people. It has also become a big challenge for the Religious of today to face the crowd amidst such accusations. While media has done its job of exposing the not so good part of the church, it should be noted, that they have made too much a fuss about the Church and the clergy.  In all these, I believe that this chaotic moral situation we are experiencing has something to teach us. Well, it could strengthen us or weaken us. It is up to us to be prudent, neither to be too judgmental on those who have fallen into the ways of the world nor be too passive, because these problems are at our door-step.

What could be some of the probable responses to all these problems? Well the solution lies:

v  Not in changing the mode of life but in changing the motivations.

v  Not in choosing another way of life but in living as Alter Christus.

v  Not in having change in the form of life; but having change in the formation of candidates especially in the field of affective maturity.

v  Not having change in concept or value of celibacy itself; but in the person and his behavior who is psychologically sick.[12]

---

[1] Vita Consecrata, 1.

[2] Fr. Joe Mathias, SJ. Clergy and Religious, “Catholic India.” Vol. 22 No. 1, 2011.

[3] Sr. Sophie Frank, Challenges Of Religious Life, The examiner, vol. 161 No. 4, 2010. P, 10.

[4] Sr. Sophie Frank, Challenges Of Religious Life,10.

[5] Ramon Nubiola, Challenges to Religious Life Today (Bombay: St Paul Press Training School, 1986)17-18.

[6] Asian Journal of Formation, January-June 2011.

[7] Sr. Sophie Frank, Challenges Of Religious Life, 10.

[8] Vita Consecrata, 57.

[9] Asian Journal of Formation, January-June 2011.

[10] Asian Journal of Formation, January-June 2011.

[11]http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/06/02/catholic-church-faces-fresh-scandal-wives-priests-speak/ Written in March 2010, the letter was initially kept confidential, but late in the month of May 2010 it was leaked to news website GlobalPost, and the women decided to tell their stories."Only three women agreed to sign the letter by name, because of the fear that if a woman goes public with her story, her companion priest would break up with her," Salomone said. As a result, the women who decided to go public were speaking about past relationships, she said. As far as I'm concerned, celibacy is completely useless," said one of the signatories, Stefania Salomone, 42, who had a five-year relationship with a priest.

[12] Asian Journal of Formation, January-June 2011.