When we look at the history of religious life, it seems remarkable that just a few decades ago it was so fascinating to young people all over the world. It attracted even people from well-to-do families to embrace a life of poverty and service. Francis Assisi and Clare, who ran away from their families to follow the poor Christ, attracted and inspired many men and women. In India, too, there are a number of religious and priests who left wealth and comfort and chose poverty and service.
Changing Picture
But the picture seems to be changing today.
On the one hand, according to the CRI Directory, there are approximately 125,000 men and women religious in India, the largest such group in the world. They are involved in educational and health services, legal advice, community development projects, communication media, inter-religious movements and other innovative ways of social and pastoral ministries to the needy and the marginalized in every nook and corner of the remote areas and cities of our country. They do excel in their services and are recognized by the people.
On the other hand, when young people today are offered options for the future, very few mention religious or priestly life. There is a growing anti-clericalism and anti-religious feeling among many Christians, especially the youth. The social attitudes have changed and ‘vocations’ are fewer.
There is also this demographic factor to keep in mind: Families today are smaller than earlier. Wherever families became smaller and living standards went up, there have been fewer candidates seminaries and convents. This happened first in the so-called “first world.” It has been happening in the more prosperous and more urban areas of India. .
Recently a sample survey among the few Catholics in our apartment in Delhi revealed certain positive and some not so-positive facts about our life. They have appreciation for our efficiently managed institutions and pastoral and social services which are still necessary in India. But their expectations from Religious are different. They want us to lead a more prayerful life, being witnesses to others, and being close to the poor. They expect us to be holy, compassionate and follow the role-model of Jesus! They dislike high-handedness, authoritarian behavior, even harsh words and materialistic life-style as it over-shadows the basic servant-model of Jesus. Our professionalism and our comfortable and secure middle class life-style leave people untouched. They do not always see in us credible witnesses of Jesus and His radical commitment to God’s reign. Religious life seems to have become a profession and career rather than a call for a radical way of living the Gospel.
A Crisis
Religious life is going through a period of profound change. The globalized secular world provokes a profound crisis in our life. Many young people no longer see it as a relevant option to channel their idealism and generosity. They are also more reluctant to make life-long commitments. The rapid entry of new means of communication, like the Internet, mobile phones and social networks, such as Twitter and Face-book, are distracting. Therefore, we need to change our old mind-set, thought-pattern and ideology. These are old wine-skins which do not contain the solution for new challenges. One of the major insights born of Vatican II is that religious are not a people somehow set apart and above the ordinary Christian. Earlier we were the major players in the field of education and health care. Now a number of institutions are competently run by the laity. We are less in demand in these areas. We need to radically rethink our educational policies and our target groups.
A number of lay persons are extremely committed, knowledgeable and generous. They challenge us to rediscover new ministries and a new way of living religious life. We see them attending Bible-study groups, organizing prayer meetings, interpreting Scriptures and ready to invest their time and money in the parishes. They conduct para-liturgical services meaningfully and visit the sick and the poor to bring them healing and consolation in their loneliness.
The question then is: Should we take the three vows in order to do what we are doing today? Who are the beneficiaries of our so called ministries? Are they the poor, the marginalized, the rejected aged, the street children, HIV-AIDS patients, prisoners, the unwanted? Is the greater part of our personnel, economic resources, social and political influences used for the empowerment of these powerless people? Or are we investing our God-given energies and resources to empower the already powerful and rich, enabling them to oppress and enslave the poor further? Do we really need so many candidates? Are such numbers necessary for service or for the survival of our institutions?
If all are called to holiness, to be peace-makers and to resist the idols of power, position and money, then what is the identity of religious life?What is its focus? One girl asked point blank to some vocation promoters: “Why do you want us to join you? What is it that we can’t do outside?” What is that something extra in the way we live our religious life today? Answering this question meaningfully and living that answer credibly is the challenge that faces the religious today.
Questions for Reflection/Discussion:
- Would a well-educated young woman or man choose religious life today? Why, or why not?
- Do we need many candidates? If yes, for what? If no, why?
- Do most Catholics today think of religious life as a meaningful choice?
- Can most of what members of religious orders have been doing (in education, medical work, social services, etc) be done equally well by lay persons?
- What is the “extra” or “special contribution” that religious bring to the church and to society?
Sr. Inigo SSA was Superior General of her congregation for two terms, and also secretary of the Women’s Section of National CRI. She represented the religious of South Asia at the Synod of Bishops on Religious Life, and is a sought-after resource person for Chapters and seminars. She spent years ministering to prisoner in Tihar Jail, Delhi.
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