Emergence and Decline
of Congregations
Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil sdb
Guwahati
Every new religious congregation or movement comes into the Church as a Charismatic Reality. But at one stage of its development it moves on to become just another Social Reality.
Charismatic Period
The early period of the history of a congregation is a period of ardent idealism. The members take the radical message of the Gospel seriously. This commitment to radicality, instead of frightening away new recruits, powerfully draws generous young people to the congregation. Historically, an institute comes into existence to respond to a pressing need in the Church or in society, takes up the mission with unlimited enthusiasm and amazes the world with its performance. It witnesses phenomenal growth as long as it is faithful to its original mission.
The image of the founder/foundress is held high. His/her words are remembered with special reverence. There is warm relationship among the members. The cohesion in the community is most edifying. The role of the leader is warmly welcomed. Members are available for any task, anywhere in the world. They are ready for any apostolic venture. Their daring in the midst of difficulties wins everyone’s admiration. Their personal needs are few. Evangelical detachment comes spontaneously to them. Their preparedness for sacrifice knows no limits. The Congregation’s apostolic vision dominates the life and thought of the members (service to the poorest of the poor, to poor and abandoned youth, people who have not heard about Christ).
During the second stage of the institute's growth there is a definite change in priorities:
Attention to the Goals is replaced by attention to the Means.
Attention to the Spirit is replaced by attention to lifeless Rules.
Attention to the Religious Atmosphere is replaced by attention to the Structures.
And speedily Sacrifice gives place to Convenience.
Enthusiasm yields to Cynicism.
Idealism gives way to Mechanical Imitation.
Radicality surrenders to Compromise.
Growth gives place first to Consolidation, then to Retreat.
Attention to Others is replaced by exaggerated attention to the Collective Self
All efforts for renewal end up in Mimesis (mere mechanical imitation of the past). Observance of Rules takes the form of routine rituals detached from intended contexts, and turn lifeless.
At the next stage, the institute moves on to mere Survival Techniques. Vocations fall, even as getting vocations becomes the main drive of the institute. (Remember that no institute was founded to perpetuate itself!). If attention could be turned once again to the original goal of the institute, it would serve a useful purpose. But at this stage, mere survival becomes more important!
This period is characterized by concern for:
Over-organization of structures and administrative bodies: councils and committees multiply, one interfering with the other; headquarters and sub-centres are lavishly built up; self sufficiency schemes take away the best energies of the best personnel.
Over-qualification: degrees and studies unrelated to the main concern of the congregation (in frantic search for the missing sense of self-worth) distract the members, endless and unrelated renewal and updating courses sap the energies of the talented members and juniors; courses and studies that do not lead to action but to further courses and further studies take the members into a labyrinth.
Sophistication: sophisticated attention to the congregation’s collective self: surveys, studies, evaluations, vision and mission statements as though they hold some magic formula for success. While such exercises may be useful, they do not necessarily solve the problem the absence of commitment or mutual accommodation.
Two other traits will be noticeable:
A desire to be likes the others (like the Israelites seeking a king to be like the rest of the nations), forgetting their own original charism and their own main mission.
A form of collective self-worship begins. The glorification of the Founder is not necessarily calculated to revive his/her spirit, but to take pride in a glory that no longer exists. The members retell and exult in the deeds and events of the past that do not happen anymore.
We said earlier that the radicality of the Gospel has a magnetic power. It draws people. Any institute that lives the radical message of the Gospel begins to draw crowds into it. But unfortunately it happens that an institute becomes vulnerable in the very area where it is taking a radical position. The pendulum swings with time in the opposite direction. The reasons are evident:
1. If, for example, a congregation takes poverty as very central to its spirituality, the very detachment of its members will make people offer generous donations to them and to their work. Soon they will be on the way to affluence.
2. Others will continuously be making comments on what appears to be an exaggerated stand of the institute in that particular area of its strength. The members become sensitive and defensive, in consequence, year after year, generation after generation, yielding ground inch by inch.
3. The members themselves develop a complex in this respect and will want to get over it (for example, sisters specialized in village apostolate developing a sense of inadequacy about their accent, their personal presentation, their limited qualification). Similarly institutes given to Higher Education, growing apologetic about their alleged snobbishness, superiority complex, charging high fees, artificial accent.
So you will witness the curious phenomenon of village sisters restlessly seeking upward mobility and trying to upgrade and institutionalize themselves, while sisters in big institutions breaking ropes to dive downwards in search of new experiences, new freedoms and eager to adapt themselves to the villages. Some moving up to higher classes, and others moving down to lower levels and more open spaces...both proud of their achievements…till they all settle around the same area with hardly any difference among them all, and all of them ineffective or half-performing. They will be gradually bypassed by other youthful founders/foundresses and new congregations and apostolic movements, who are determined to take up what others have given up. In the meantime, each of the earlier ones we spoke of has ends up as just another social reality!
Would you like to know in what direction your institute is moving? Ask yourself whether these three categories of people in your congregation have long enough experience in the main ministry for which it has come into existence: (i) The Formators, (ii) Those Specially Gifted or Qualified, (iii) Those Who Make Decisions (superiors). Are these willing to return to the traditional work as soon as their term is ended? Is a period in that ministry important to them before they take up another place of responsibility in the congregation or go for another round of studies?
We can return to the example of village-visiting ministry. If this is the main service for which a particular congregation has come into existence, it is important that also the above-mentioned categories of members keep close to that form of apostolate and retain their effectiveness in it as history moves forward. If not, from 20% of the members being engaged in that form of service today, you will come down to 5% in a couple of decades...and what is more important, even these few will not be doing an efficient work, because all those who have to inspire and guide the congregation in that particular ministry will have no competence in it at all.
When members realize that the pendulum has swung too far in the undesired direction, they can have recourse to several self-deceiving devices. One stratagem is to do something symbolic to assuage one's conscience, for example, adopt one poor village, keep a few children free, give a free meal, or sponsor a night school. What is actually important is to turn the main thrust of the congregation to the poor. Is that possible? If there is enough spiritual dynamism left in the institute, it is always possible. But many prefer to continue on the course of compromise, little realizing that they are moving ahead on the borrowed strength of a previous generation of generous members. The spirit of sacrifice and religious sturdiness that the earlier members have inherited to the present generation, the material resources and organizational traditions left behind, the spiritual strength handed down and a minimum of discipline and motivation still surviving within the general body, will succeed to hold together the central machinery of a congregation for a little while more. The fuel will run out in a short time! And the congregation will move on to a definitive stage of decline.
While we can always hope that a rebirth is possible, we must admit that it is extremely difficult. In the secular society we notice that any association that answers effectively to actual human needs remains relevant and vibrant. It maintains its dynamism and growth. In the same way, if a religious institute returns to address some of the actual social and religious needs of people, it has some chance of witnessing a second birth. This means moving away from excessive mental sophistication and organizational red tape in planning its works, recruiting, selecting, and forming its members. It means strengthening its faith dimension.
Every member must collaborate in this endeavour and do what is possible to ensure its success, and not leave those in authority alone to work out a miracle in some unexplainable manner. A measure of risk-taking is necessary, for example, opening houses, not necessarily where self-sufficiency and prestige are most sure, but where the congregation’s main apostolate can be more effectively realized; transferring gifted members from activities that raise resources to ministries that are apostolically fruitful and central to the congregation’s charism; making sure that a big proportion of the members are in that ministry serving actual human needs; ensuring that all members get an lived-experience in that particular service, and that the juniors not only get an experience in that specific form of apostolate but learn to find joy in it.
This cannot be done merely by invoking rules or imposing Chapter decisions, but by inspiring followers by the noble ideals that were dear to the founding members and earlier generations. Superiors may inspire others by their own example, and by holding up for the attention of the members the heroism still to be found among some of the generous persons in the congregation. But, even while placing such heroic ideals before others, it is important that they themselves be very human and understanding. Once the members re-discover the joy of serving the Church and the larger society effectively through committed action, not merely through high rhetoric, bold proposals and impressive resolutions, there is hope of recovery yet.
In this effort the superiors play a decisive role. The challenge before them is to keep their community serene and confident and hold the flag of idealism before their team, resolve inner-community differences, absorb the hurts within that community, and to launch into the apostolate, building up a mutually supportive team.
Faith Dimension
In this task, the faith dimension plays the most crucial part. If the superior’s relationship with the members is ruled by love, and he/she is attentive to the needs of those who differ with him; if he gives importance to the strengthening role of prayer, maintaining sturdy faith in the midst of difficulties, preserving serenity in all circumstances...he/she may yet inspire people and lead them step by step to renewal. Would that it happens!
(Talk given to a Congregation of Women Religious on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of their Foundation)
