Vatican cardinal sees crisis in defections from religious orders
February 01, 2017
The secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for Religious was called attention to a crisis in vocations, noting that more than 2,000 male and female religious quit their orders in the past two years.
Archbishop José Rodriguez Carballo said that Pope Francis was worried about the “hemorrhage” of religious vocations. The phenomenon is particularly troubling, he said, because most of the religious who are leave have spent years in their congregations before determining that they “never felt a vocation.”
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Posted by: Gregory108 -
Feb. 03, 2017 2:43 AM ET USA
Isn't it the "mainline" religious orders,like the Pope's Jesuits, hemorrhaging vocations, much like it's the "mainline" Protestant churches doing the same,likely for the same reason! When you stop being a person set apart for God's service in a committed and distinctive community life and become a social worker instead of a person of holiness, why bother? You can be a social worker without taking vows! The orders who dress in habits and take their commitment seriously are not hemorrhaging!
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Posted by: DCpa -
Feb. 02, 2017 7:26 PM ET USA
The Mainstream Media (in both Catholic and Secular branches) continually delight to tell us about the so-called "Francis effect" bringing new interest and new people supposedly to religious practice. The fact is that vocations were increasing under JP II and BXVI. Confusion was fading and people were starting to see the real power and beauty of the fullness of Christianity. Well, now confusion is back, and so is demoralization. If the Church is embarrassed by Christ's message, why commit to it?
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Posted by: rjbennett1294 -
Feb. 02, 2017 6:07 AM ET USA
When you have fifty years of the "spirit" of the Council, together with a pope and certain bishops (e.g., in Germany and on Malta) who cannot support the 2000-year-old traditions and liturgy of the Church, and who cannot even uphold the essentials of the Catholic faith, is this "hemorrhage" really very surprising?
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Posted by: ElizabethD -
Feb. 01, 2017 9:59 PM ET USA
That's immediately after Pope Francis' Year of Consecrated Life. Is this something that has been getting noticeably worse or has the hemorrhage been somewhat steady? I am personally mostly aware of religious order priests leaving to become diocesan priests during that time.
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Posted by: [email protected] -
Feb. 01, 2017 8:46 PM ET USA
Wonder what's creating all this change? Interesting that has increased since Francis came on board to denounce all the devout believers as to rigid. His laissez-faire attitude on many things is creating chaos in the Churcb.
