I know this is a very general question Brother, but…
In your experience, when members of religious orders have revealed that they have adopted positions or take actions that are contrary to Church teaching, do you think it’s more likely that the member held those beliefs all along, or that they changed their minds after their initiation?
I guess the reason I ask is because one would hope that the process for joining a religious order would educate or screen out people who do not follow Church teaching.
This is an excellent question and a valid one too, because the answer will help many. I can certainly answer this from my experience as a religious and as the formation director for my community.
While a young man or woman goes through the formation process, from asprirant all the way through final vows (six to 10 year process), the formation director and team will filter out those people who are not truly Catholic. Obviously, they do not have a religious vocation, if they are not in communion with the teachings of the Church. This does not mean that they have to agree with every rule of the Church. But they must be in communion with the doctrine, dogma and moral beliefs of the Church. They can disagree with policies. All of us have questions about policies. That’s human. You can have questions, as long as you abide by them. If you are antagonistic, then you’re history.
There are cases, such as Sister Donna, where people acquire, for lack of a better word, people acquire other values and belief systems as they grow older. How this happens is the topic for long books. There are many out there, if you want to get into the academic analysis of it all.
When this happens, the entire community suffers. The individual religious suffers, because he or she does not have a bond with the Church. Let’s face it, if you belong to a religious family that is faithful to the Church and you are at odds with the Church, it’s like being in a bad marriage. The other religious also suffer, because it’s the good name of their religious family that is being misrepresented in public, as is the case for these Dominican Sisters.
Superiors suffer too. You have to deal with the problem. You want to be faithful to the Church, protect your community and help the religious who is out on a limb. We usually try very hard to bring that person back into the fold through counseling, sometimes a transfer, retreat, spiritual direction, and even threats when necessary. But in the end, no one can force the free will of another person. Then you, as the superior, are put into the uncomfortable situation where you have to do something. As I said above, justice says that you initiate dismissal proceedings. But charity says that you must also take great care not to throw someone into the street where they will be homeless. It’s a very difficult situation for any superior.
I have been very fortunate. I have been a superior, but have never had to deal with such a situation. The worse that I had to deal with was a brother who was negligent in his duties. This does not involve scandal You can deal with it in the internal forum without involving the local bishop, the laity and others.
I’m not sure if I have answered your question well enough. I hope so.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
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