Religious Life in America: A New Day Dawning

Book by Sean D. Sammon

(Except from Chapter I)

The context of change

Despite our good will and our strong desire to renew our mission, develop a spirituality that is charismatic and realistic, and form more life-giving gospel-based communities, were we also somewhat naïve as we set out on the journey of renewal? Probably so. But then again, so were a number of others involved in the process. Boston College historian William Leonard, SJ, reminds us that the change brought about by Vatican II was extraordinary and unprecedented in our Church. "At no time in our history, perhaps," he wrote, "has so vast a cultural change come about in so short a time."

Like most people, a number of us held fast to this erroneous belief: if change is necessary and explained carefully, we will be able to handle it! Many of us also failed to understand the difference between change and the process of transformation. The first occurs at a point in time, while the second takes place over time, giving people an opportunity to reorient themselves psychologically and spiritually to their changed situation.

What about mistakes? As we undertook the work of renewing our congregations, were we destined to make some? Without a doubt. In 1999, Doris Gottemoeller, RSM, a past President of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and at the time President of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, suggested that what is truly amazing is that more mistakes were not made. The task of renewal was enormous, requiring as it did an examination and evaluation of every aspect of religious life and an appropriate revision of rules and constitutions, all in the space of about a dozen years. The success of the work depended also, in large measure, on the involvement and cooperation of approximately 180,000 women religious and 75,000 of their male counterparts.

John Paul II expressed similar sentiments in a June 1998 ad limina address. The Pope remarked that: "religious life in the U.S. has been characterized by change and adaptation as called for by the Second Vatican Council and codified in canon law and other magisterial documents. This has not been an easy time," he went on to say, "since renewal of such complexity and far-reaching consequences involving so many people could not take place without much effort and strain."

It is well to remember also that early attempts to renew U.S. religious life did not occur within a cultural or historical vacuum. Instead, they began to unfold during one of the most turbulent periods of social and political unrest in the country s recent history. An emerging counterculture was starting to divide the nation. Movements demanding greater civil, political, and sexual rights marked the 1960s in the States. So also did political assassinations, growing opposition to the war in Southeast Asia, and an increasing awareness of the exploitation and plight of women in society. Many people, feeling betrayed by the country s leaders, came to mistrust all forms of authority.

As we renovated the cloister in which we had lived for so many years competing ideologies did battle with other values that had guided religious life. These ideologies included individualism, materialism, consumerism, and new understandings about sexuality and relationships, to name but a few. It was within all these rapidly changing circumstances that we began the work of adapting and renewing our congregations to the realities and needs of the Church and world. Despite whatever false starts may have occurred, this much became quickly apparent: the changes taking place were not going to be cosmetic. A full-scale revolution was underway.