It’s unfortunate that she has to go through a bishop to establish her order… I mean, I’m not saying women should be priests, but there should be more independance than that!
I think there are times - both historically, and sometimes in the present - when the church has not granted enough independence to women in ministry. But this isn’t one of them. All religious communities, both the new and the well-established and male or female, need episcopal permission to establish a house within a diocese. (Canon 609 §1 of the 1983 Code, if anyone is interested).
Do they think women are going to run around establishing crazy orders without the supervision of men? Oy.
I think there is a fear that people generally might do crazy things without proper supervision, yes. (And I think that’s a well-founded fear, for what its worth!). Setting up a religious house is complex, an entire religious institute much more so, and the necessary permissions required are there to ensure that its done in a safe and practical way.
It’s quite possible that a bishop could be entirely sympathetic to a proposed religious house but simply be aware that it does not meet the needs of his own diocese. It is also possible that a community which sounds great on paper actually has a lot of issues to iron out before it could become a reality. Sometimes the issues relate to replication of work already being carried out, sometimes too many resources are being asked for and the community is not adequately self-sufficient, sometimes the charism and apostolate are underdeveloped.
The bishop has to continue to oversee the life of the community if it is of diocesan - as would Sr Rosalind’s community be - rather than of pontifical right; and he would need to be confident that it was robust enough to be able to survive. Stating the very obvious, many foundations struggle to have all of the necessary elements in place.
I say all of that entirely without predudice to the situation regarding Sr Rosalind’s vision of religious life, about which I know nothing other than what I have read on these pages. But I’m pretty sure no bishop would capriciously turn down a community that met the needs of his diocese. What possible reason could he have for doing so?
When Sr Rosalind’s community meets the needs of a particular bishop or bishops, I’m sure they will be delighted to invite her to their territory.
In any case, I’ll be praying for her.
Indeed, and we can also pray for all other foundations and developing charisms that will benefit the church in the world, that they will find all of the resources they need to do God’s work.
That’s what we’re all here for at CAF!