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REINVENTING

RELIGIOUS LIFE

IN THE YEAR OF COSECRATED LIFE

TEN PARADIGM SHIFTS

Jacob Peenikaparambil CMI

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Aims of the Year of Consecrated Life

Expectations of the Year of Consecrated Life

Challenges to Religious Life in the Indian Context

Reinventing Religious Life through Ten Paradigm Shifts

1. Shift from the Old Testament World View to the New Testament World View about

God, Human Person and the World

2. Shift from a Devotee of Christ to a Disciple of Christ

3. Shift from a Negative Understanding of Religious Vows to a Positive One

4. Shift from Service Providers to Animators or Leaders

5. Shift from Exclusiveness to Inclusiveness

6. Shift from Competition to Collaboration and Networking

7. Shift from Frequent Transfer to Long Term Commitment

8. Shift from Charity to Empowerment

9. Shift from Living together to Communion as the Heart of Community

10. Shift from the Colonial idea of Expansion to Focus on Effectiveness

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Introduction

According to Vatican statistics, there are nearly one million Religious, men and women,

living consecrated life within the church (in India their number is about 125,000). Indeed it is

a great force; if these women and men are galvanized, not only the 1.2 billion Catholics all

over the world, but also a large part of the world can be transformed. Seeing the immense

power latent in this vital segment of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis was inspired to

address them for a metamorphic transformation. The Second Vatican Council was a

watershed in the history of the Catholic Church as it brought about radical changes in the

religious life too. Any change in its trail brings some unexpected and undesirable

consequences. Hence there could be a tendency to reverse the changes and go back to the old

ways of life which may not be relevant at all. Sensing this danger of reversal, Pope Francis

has called upon the Religious not to become exclusive, narrow minded, reclusive and self

absorbing but to become disseminators of joy through selfless service, “to wake up the

world” through prophetic living, to become “experts in communion”, “to go forth to the

existential peripheries” and to critique oneself constantly asking the question, “what is that

God and people are asking of us”. That is what the Pope has intended by declaring the „Year

of Consecrated Life‟.

For the last twenty years I have been in contact with various religious congregations in

different parts of the India as a resource person for training, workshops, seminars and guiding

chapters. This gave me opportunity to interact with many women and men religious

individually and collectively. The views and ideas of many religious shared with me about

the need for changes in religious life helped me to reflect on how to make religious life more

relevant to the present and the coming generations. While going through the document related

to the Year of Consecrated Life I was inspired to put in writing the views and ideas I have

gathered from many religious as well as the fruits of my own reflection on religious life. The

result is this write up on reinventing religious life.

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Aims of the Year of Consecrated Life

According to the message of Pope Francis broadcasted through the Vatican Radio on 30

November 2014, the aims of the „Year of Consecrated Life‟ are: 1) to look to the past with

gratitude; 2) to live the present with passion, and 3) to embrace the future with hope. The

purpose of looking to the past is not going back to the past, but to “grasp the high ideals, and

the vision and values which inspired the founders” and understand how “the charism has been

lived over the years, the creativity it has sparked, the difficulties it encountered and the

concrete ways those difficulties were surmounted”. In other words, the purpose of looking to

the past is not to be bound by the past but to learn from the past and apply the lessons to the

present and use them for shaping the future.

„Living the present with passion‟, according to Pope Francis, is “to follow Jesus as the

Gospel teaches”. “The Gospel is demanding: it demands to be lived radically and sincerely. It

is not enough to read it, nor is it enough to meditate on it. Jesus asks us to practice it, to put

his words into effect in our lives.” In other words, a religious has to ask himself/herself, “If

Jesus were present today what he would have done?” Living the present also means asking

ourselves, “Do we have the same passion for our people; are we close to them to the point of

sharing their joys and sorrows, thus truly understanding their needs and helping to respond to

them?” When the religious congregations are busy with expanding and multiplying

institutions in India, they have to ask themselves certain questions: How far these institutions

will be useful to the people? Will they bring the religious closer to the people or will they

alienate them from the people?

The religious life is facing various challenges and even threats, especially the sharp decrease

in vocations to religious life. „To embrace the future with hope‟ means to surmount the

challenges with unwavering faith in the person of Jesus, “the one for whom nothing is

impossible”. The Pope tells the young members of the religious congregations that they are

not only the future but also the present. Hence they have to seriously engage in dialogue with

the previous generation for learning from their rich experience and wisdom.

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Expectations of the Year of Consecrated Life

The Pope expects five concrete results as a consequence of observing the „Year of

Consecrated Life‟.

1. Religious become harbingers of joy through their “total self-giving in service to the

Church, to families and young people, to the elderly and the poor, in order to bring

life-long personal fulfilment”. According to the Pope, the apostolic effectiveness of

consecrated life depends on “the lives which radiate the joy and beauty of living the

Gospel and following Christ to the full.”

2. The religious have to wake up the world through their prophetic living. According to

the Pope, “Radical evangelical living is not only for religious: it is demanded of

everyone. But religious follow the Lord in a special way, in a prophetic way.” The

religious should be able to discern and denounce the evil of sin and injustice. As the

prophets of the Old Testament and Jesus did, the religious should be on the side of the

poor and the powerless, for they know that God is on their side.

3. The religious should become “experts in communion” first in their own respective

communities, between the communities of different religious institutes, within the

Church and even beyond its boundaries. The Pope expects different religious

communities to come together and take up joint ventures in various fields of

apostolate.

4. The Pope wants the religious to come out of themselves and go forth to the existential

peripheries. “Don‟t be closed in on yourselves, don‟t be stifled by petty squabbles,

don‟t remain a hostage to your own problems. These will be resolved if you go forth

and help others to resolve their own problems, and proclaim the Good

News”. According to the Pope, this requires streamlining the structures and revisiting

the objectives in view of the challenges.

5. The Pope expects all religious institutes and communities to question themselves,

“what it is that God and people today are asking of them”. “Yet during this Year no

one can feel excused from seriously examining his or her presence in the Church‟s life

and from responding to the new demands constantly being made on us, to the cry of

the poor.”

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Challenges to Religious Life in the Indian Context

Pope Francis in his message speaks about the challenges faced by the religious congregations

like “decreasing vocations and aging members, particularly in the Western world; economic

problems stemming from the global financial crisis; issues of internationalization and

globalization; the threats posed by relativism and a sense of isolation and social

irrelevance…” The developing countries, especially India, have challenges peculiar to them.

Some of the serious challenges faced by the religious in India are as follows:

1) A considerable number of religious women and men are not finding meaning and

fulfillment in the life they have chosen, and at the same time not having the courage to leave.

2) Deficiency of communion and team work due to the growing individualism, especially in

the men congregations. In some women congregations, in order to tackle the issue of

individualism, uniformity is imposed to such an extent that the individuals do not find space

for growth and the flowering of their personality. The result is deep discontentment.

3) Going back to religiosity and pre-Vatican II practices: As a reaction to some deviations

pre-Vatican II life style is imposed in some religious congregations, creating a situation of

un-freedom. Because of the over-influence of the charismatic movement critical thinking and

scientific temper are not promoted in some religious congregations. This is a very serious

danger that can lead to a mental paralysis in the realm of thinking. A lot of time is set apart

for saying prayers, without bringing much change in the individual and communitarian life of

the religious.

4) Alienation from the people due to over institutionalization: Many religious are busy with

administration and management of the institutions. As a result they have no time for the

people. Availability of the religious to the people, both in the institutions and outside the

institutions, is very much reduced. Natural consequence is slow alienation of people from the

religious.

5) Erosion in the quality of the members: Because of the drastic reduction in vocations

quality is often compromised. Serious deficiency is observed in integrity/honesty, sensitivity,

respect for human dignity and competence. Competence is the result of knowledge and skills.

The level of knowledge and skills, especially communication skill, of many religious are far

below of what is expected from them. Even though children are taught computer from class 1

onwards, many religious remain computer illiterate. Some principals of schools, even of

CBSC schools, are computer illiterate. They don‟t feel the need of accessing internet and

updating themselves. Computer and internet facilities are not considered as the need of the

time. Due to the laxity to learn continuously many religious are in the danger of being

outdated because knowledge multiplies in every three years. Despite the varied and serious,

the formation process remains outdated and does not equip the candidates to cope up with the

challenges.

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6) Alarming reduction in vocation and craze for expansion: Many religious congregations in

India, especially women‟s congregations, are facing serious crunch in the recruitment of new

members. Of late, some provinces do not have even a single novice in certain years. Reduced

family size with one or two children, especially in the Southern states of India, is often

pointed out as one of the important reasons for the dearth of vocations. It is also a fact that the

outmoded life style of the religious, especially of women religious, fails to attract girls to

religious life. The young people do not find any challenge in the life and mission of the

religious. Despite the drastically shrinking numbers the tendency for the colonial mode of

institutional expansion continues. Effectiveness or success is measured in terms of the

number of institutions added during the term of a particular Provincial or General.

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Reinventing Religious Life through Ten Paradigm Shifts

The message of Pope Francis is universal in the sense that it is meant for the religious all over

the world. The concrete situation or the context in which the religious live and work and the

challenges they face vary from country to country; and even in a country like India the

context is different from one region to another. If we apply the message of Pope Francis to

the Indian context, the religious and the ministries undertaken by them need a makeover or

„reinventing‟, to use the terminology of Peter Druker, the management guru. The dictionary

meaning of „reinventing‟ is “change (something) so much that it appears to be entirely new”

or take up a radically new way of life. According to Peter Druker, reinvention requires three

steps:

1) Abandonment of things that do not work; the things that have outlived their usefulness

2) Concentration on things that work, things that produce results

3) Analysis of half success and half failures

In order to reinvent religious life in the context of India ten paradigm shifts are proposed in

this booklet.

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1. Shift from the Old Testament World View to the New Testament World

View about God, Human Person and the World

The most fascinating teaching of Jesus is his presentation of God as a loving, caring and

forgiving Father and all human beings as his sons and daughters. The God, Jesus has

presented to us, is entirely different from the God of Israel, a demanding God. The word

“Father” is used to describe or address God 50 times in the Gospel of Mathew and 122 times

in the Gospel of John. Jesus belonged to a highly patriarchal society and that could be the

reason for using the term „Father‟ and not mother. If Jesus were born in a matriarchal society

he would have perhaps used the term, „mother‟ for God. Hence it can be said that God is a

loving father and mother.

A disturbing trend noticed in many religious congregations as well as among the lay people is

a reversal to the Old Testament God, a demanding and frightening God who is ready to

punish human beings for their sins. Hence the whole spirituality focuses on prayers for

remission of sins like Mercy Rosary, penance, adoration, night vigil etc. The charismatic

retreats contribute to a great extent to instil exaggerated fear of God in the religious. This is

diametrically opposed to the teachings of Jesus.

As the image of God is distorted, the understanding of the human person is also being

distorted. An exaggerated sin consciousness is created in the minds of people by some retreat

preachers. Some preachers advise the faithful to do penance for the sins committed by their

ancestors. They exaggerate the sinful dimension of the human person in such way that those

who listen to their preaching become psychologically sick and sometimes mentally

imbalanced. Hence there is an urgent need for going back to the teachings of Jesus to

understand what a human person is.

The parable of the talents (Mt. 25:14-30) refers to the various capacities God has given to the

human beings. God has bestowed different human persons with different kinds of talents and

gifts in different measures. Instead of harping on the sinful nature one has to focus on

developing the creative power God has instilled in him/her and praise God for the wonderful

gifts. Exaggerated sin consciousness is a stumbling block to human creativity and positive

thinking.

Jesus‟ teaching about a human being is in tune with the image of a human person as depicted

in the Genesis 1:27. God created human beings in God‟s image and likeness. It means human

beings share in the freedom and creativity of God. By nurturing and making use of the God-

given creativity a human person participates in the creative work of God. The amazing

scientific progress we witness today is nothing but the flowering of the creativity that God

has instilled in the human persons. Like a father and mother rejoice and feel proud of the

achievements of their son or daughter, God rejoices in the scientific progress that is taking

place in the world. This sentiment is echoed in the statement of Pope Francis about internet.

He said, “Internet is a gift from God”.

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The Biblical story of Adam and Eve also highlights that in spite of being created in the image

and likeness of God, there is a tendency or inclination in the human beings to go wrong,

which we call sin. But primarily a human being is a replica of God with immense

possibilities. This understanding about a human person is the very basis of human dignity and

human empowerment. Thus the Bible presents a very balanced picture of a human person

with immense capacity for creativity, and at the same time having inclination for misusing

God‟s gifts and committing sin.

The mission of the religious is to transform the world where one finds good and evil and not

to condemn it. The religious should have the attitude of God. “For God so loved the world,

that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal

life” (Jn. 3:16). Pope Francis reminds the consecrated persons to become light and salt of the

world by being present in the society as the leaven of the Kingdom of God instead of

escaping from the world.

The Old Testament world view promotes religiosity whereas the world view of Jesus

promotes spirituality. Religiosity consists of oral prayers, devotions, rituals, pilgrimages,

penance etc. On the other hand, spirituality consists of values, principles, attitudes, behaviour

and relationships. Jesus did not promote religiosity and he did not follow the Jewish rituals,

laws and customs. He called upon people to be converted to a new value system as delineated

in the Sermon on the Mount. The Second Vatican Council was a bold attempt to make a

course correction in the Catholic Church and bring back the faithful to the way of Jesus from

the medieval religious practices. Perturbed by the radical changes in the Church brought

about by the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, the conservative and fundamentalist

elements have been making vigorous efforts to take the Church back to the Middle Ages. The

gigantic churches, huge statues, a plethora of devotions, pilgrimages which have taken the

shape of religious tourism, mushrooming of retreat centres which inject exaggerated guilt

feeling in the faithful and cause a kind of mental paralysis in them are the signs of drifting

back to the medieval religiosity. The religious, especially many women religious, have

become victims of blind religiosity. If the religious women and men do not get out of this

blind religiosity, they will become irrelevant in the fast changing world.

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2. Shift from a Devotee of Christ to a Disciple of Christ

What we witness in the Catholic Church today is a boom of devotions. The canonization of

new saints adds more novenas to the existing number of novenas and devotions. Many

religious are caught up in the chain of devotions and chain adoration. We also see the

emergence of many god-men and god-women who have devotees in thousands and lakhs.

Some of these god-men thoroughly exploit their devotees. Jesus has not called the disciples to

become his devotees who spend day and night for singing his glories. If the religious life is to

be relevant today there is need for a shift from this culture of devotions. That is why Pope

Francis calls the religious “to wake up the world” since the distinctive sign of religious life is

prophecy.

Jesus chose his disciples to be with him and to be sent out to continue his mission. The

purpose of being with Jesus is to grasp his vision, mission, values and principles and

internalize them. A religious who is called as a special disciple, or 24X7 disciple, does this

task of internalizing the values and principles of Jesus through contemplation and not through

innumerable rituals, prayers and devotions. Since a disciple of Jesus has to face different

challenges in a fast changing world, there is need for constant reflection and contemplation in

order to respond creatively to the challenges being faithful to the vision and mission of Jesus.

The main task of a disciple of Jesus is to continue his mission in the context in which he/she

lives and works. It does not mean going to distant regions or countries to convert people to

Christianity and thereby increase the number.

The vision and mission of Jesus is encapsulated in his clarion call at the outset of his public

ministry: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand” (Mt. 3:17). The vision of Jesus is

Kingdom of God or Reign of God. Kingdom of God as understood from the Gospels is not a

place, but a situation in which God is accepted as a loving parent and all human beings as

brothers and sisters. It is a situation in which human dignity of all is respected; all can enjoy

equal rights and opportunities. Such a situation can be found in the early Christian

communities as described in the Acts of the Apostles, 4:32-36. “Those who believed in Jesus

were one in mind and heart. They shared with one another everything. There was no one in

the group who was in need. They sold their properties and brought the proceeds to the

apostles and it was distributed to each according to his/her need”. It is possible to create such

a situation in the context in which the disciples of Jesus live and work if they firmly believe

in the vision of Jesus and commit themselves to realize that vision.

The vision of building the Kingdom of God will be realized only when a radical

transformation takes place at the individual and societal levels. Jesus‟ call for repentance and

conversion refer to a radical transformation. What Jesus expects is a kind of metamorphism, a

radical and total change as a larva becomes a butterfly. The various aspects of this

transformation are unconditional forgiveness, readiness to share one‟s resources with others,

readiness for selfless service as exemplified by the Good Samaritan and empowering the poor

and the people of the periphery. First and foremost, the disciple himself or herself should

become a role model of this kind of transformation and then bring about such a change in the

context in which he or she lives. The various ministries in which the religious are involved

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are only means to bring about transformation and create the kingdom of God situation. It is a

gross misunderstanding as well as a dangerous distortion that Jesus wants his disciples to sit

before him and adore him. He wants his disciples out in the field among the people to bring

about transformation by being salt.

An addition to the litany of devotions, invented by some overzealous preachers, is night vigil

- spending the whole night before the Blessed Sacrament and adoring Jesus. A good number

of women religious are brainwashed to do the night vigils. Those who go for night vigils can

perform a genuine act of discipleship if they spent the whole night with patients in the

hospitals as bystanders, relieving the tired and overburdened family members at least for a

night. What better adoration can there be than being with the Jesus who is suffering in human

beings?

Rabindranath Tagore has put succinctly in Geetanjali the difference between a devotee and a

disciple. Jesus‟ teachings on the functions of a disciple are reflected in the following verses of

Tagore.

“Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely

dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before

thee!

He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the path maker is breaking

stones. He is with them in the sun and shower, and his garment is covered with dust. Put off

thy holy mantle and even like him come down to the dusty soil.

Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense! What harm is there if

thy clothes become tattered and stained? Meet him and stand by him in toil and in sweat of

thy brow.”

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3. Shift from a Negative Understanding of Religious Vows to a Positive One

Religious vows are to be seen as the means for expanding the horizon of freedom to be at the

service of the Kingdom of God. According to the traditional understanding, the three

religious vows of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience are the means to be detached from the

world and to be attached to Jesus. The modern youth who are exposed to liberal and

consumerist culture will not be attracted by this way of presenting religious life. The people

in the world do not see large majority of religious men and women living in poverty. Most of

the residences of religious congregations do not have any semblance of poverty. On the other

hand, the people get just the opposite impression seeing the buildings and vehicles used by

some religious. Obedience in some cases leads to a life of slavery. In some women religious

congregations, permission of the major superior is required even to open a personal e-mail

account. This type of childish rules show how ineffective is the formation process. The

formation in the religious life does not make a person mature, self-disciplined and responsible

and that is why members of some congregations are not allowed to open an e-mail account.

Some religious congregations are going back to the pre-Vatican II culture under the

presumption that being more orthodox and fundamentalist will attract more vocations.

Chastity: The whole approach to religious vows has to change. Chastity is to be seen as an

opportunity to widen the horizon of love. Instead of becoming the mother or father of one or

two children a religious becomes „mother‟ or „father‟ to many. The real test of chastity is

whether the people with whom the religious women and men interact and work are able to

experience fatherly or motherly love. If the children whom a religious teaches in the school

are not able to experience motherly love that chastity is barren. Very often the lay people

share their bitter experience they had from the celibate religious and priests. The arrogance

and rudeness of some religious convey the message that chastity has made them barren and

inhuman. The name of the vow of chastity is to be changed as „Inclusive Love’.

Poverty: The vow of poverty is no more relevant and it does not make any sense. It is mere

hypocrisy that the religious practice poverty. Poverty in itself is an evil that is to be wiped out

from face of the world and one of the goals of all nations of the world is removal of poverty.

What is expected from a radical disciple of Jesus is sharing without counting the cost in order

to reduce poverty which is an evil. Hence the name of the vow of poverty is to be changed as

„Generous Sharing’. Individual religious as well as religious communities have to become

role models of sharing. Because of their readiness for sharing sometimes they may have to

suffer deprivation. If a religious community has prepared dinner and they come to know that

a family in the neighbourhood has nothing to eat they should be ready to share their dinner

with the starving family. That is real poverty. A life of sharing requires limiting the wants. If

the religious women and men go on satisfying all their wants there will be nothing to share

with others. Hence they have to give witness to a counter culture, a culture that goes against

consumerism, a culture that limits wants so that the needs of many could be fulfilled. In this

context Mahatma Gandhi‟s statement is very pertinent. “Earth provides enough to satisfy

every man's needs, but not every man's greed.” If the religious are able to translate this

statement of Mahatma Gandhi into reality, they will be very relevant in a world where almost

50% of the people have an earning less than 2 dollars a day.

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Today many religious congregations are busy with expanding their institutional empire.

Building empires has become a competitive activity among the religious congregations,

between the religious congregations and the dioceses and even among the provinces of the

same congregation. At the same time they refuse to give decent wages to the workers. Many

religious houses do not pay Provident Fund, Gratuity and other benefits to their workers like

drivers, cooks, gardeners etc. This is nothing but injustice. Religious should be conscious of

the fact that they are not owners but only custodians and whatever possessions they have are

meant for the people of God. They must be ready to share with the needy their individual

talents, their wealth and infrastructure irrespective of caste and creed. As longs as the

religious congregations have the tendency to amass wealth they will experience alienation

from the people and they will not be able to be faithful to their call.

Obedience: What is written in the constitutions of most religious congregations under

obedience is nothing but discipline. Any organization will have its and rules and regulations

for maintaining discipline and all members have to fall in line with the rules and regulations.

Most of the religious congregations have democratic system of electing their leaders for a

specific period and many important decisions are taken collectively. To that extent it is a

democratic system within the highly authoritarian structure of the Catholic Church. In some

religious congregations the decision making process is highly authoritarian. The individuals

are shunted from one place to another place without having any consultation with the

individual concerned. Under the pretext of obedience individuals are being used for

maintaining the institutional structure. If the religious life is to be attractive to the modern

youth, congregations have to adopt participatory process for selecting the leaders and taking

decisions.

Pope Francis in his address to the religious said, “Religious follow the Lord in a special way,

in a prophetic way.” They are called to play a prophetic role both within the Church and in

the wider society. They are not expected to be subservient to the Church hierarchy. The

autonomy the religious enjoy within the Church is to enable them to exercise their prophetic

responsibility. Religious communities and the individual religious have to become prophets

of justice and equity within the Church and the society. If the religious men and women who

have left their family to be special disciples of Jesus are not able to be on the side of truth and

fight for justice, their life becomes hollow. Hence the vow of obedience is to be called

„Prophetic Living’. The religious should be in the forefront of the people‟s movement for

getting justice to the poor, protecting the environment and ensuring equality to women.

Thus the three vows are to be reinvented as Inclusive Love, Generous Sharing and

Prophetic Living.

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4. Shift from Service Providers to Animators or Leaders

The religious congregations have been involved in providing various kinds of services to the

society. Most of these services could be grouped into three categories: Education, Health

Care and Social Service. In the case of education, the religious congregations and dioceses in

India have been following a dual policy: high quality English medium schools for the rich

and the middle class who have the capacity to pay, and average quality vernacular medium

schools for the poor. Thus indirectly they have contributed to the perpetuation of the

inequalities already existing in the Indian society because good quality education is the most

important means for socio-economic mobility.

During the last three decades many organizations, including the ones floated by the corporate

sector, have entered the fields of education, health care and social work. Even though there is

still demand for admission in the schools run by the church organizations, other organizations

have overtaken the religious congregations and diocesan institutions in all the three fields.

The religious congregations are no more in a position to compete with other organizations in

all the three fields. There are various reasons for the changed scenario. Erosion in the quality

of the persons who manage these institutions is one of the important reasons. Resource

crunch is another reason. The BJP government is making the application of the provisions of

the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act more stringent and selective with regard to the

Christian organizations in order to make them starve of funds. The BJP governments at the

centre and in the states, controlled by the Sangh Parivar, try to harass the Christian

institutions by finding out any deficiency in them.

Even though large number of Church personnel has been involved in the above mentioned

three service sectors, they were neither in a position to influence the policies of the

government nor influence the wider society. Except Mother Theresa none of the religious

women or men could create a pan Indian image in the field of social work. Even though the

religious congregations run thousands of educational institutions what contribution could they

make in framing the educational policies? Could they make any significant contribution in

the field of research? In the health sector, the religious sisters were rendering a yeomen

service to the poor people in the interior villages through dispensaries managed by the nurse-

sisters. Now the law forbids anyone from dispensing medicines without the prescription of a

doctor. The nurse-sisters who were doing wonderful healing work are handicapped by the

strict application of law. As a result many rural dispensaries have been closed.

The unfolding scenario is an opportunity for the religious to reinvent their role in the society

as the 24x7 disciples of Jesus. Starting educational or health institutions require huge funds

for investment and even if somehow institutions are started there arises the problem of

dwindling personnel due to the drastic reduction in the vocation to religious life. The

alternative is to enter into the main stream of the society as professionals and give leadership.

They could take up any job that goes with their vocation. They could be administrators of

hospitals, principals or teachers of schools, journalists, employees in the public and private

sector, civil servants, musicians, artists, sports stars etc. Irrespective of the field in which they

are they have to play the role of enlightened leaders with character and competence. This

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requires a thorough overhauling of the formation and training of the religious personnel.

Character formation shall focus on adherence to the core values and principles of Jesus, self

discipline and self learning so that the religious women and men will be able to survive intact

in any trying situation. Competence building is a continuous process. What is required during

the process of formation is creating an intense desire in the candidates for learning

continuously and doing one‟s best without making any compromise with quality. Another

important skill needed to play the role of a leader is excellent communication, both written

and oral. The religious men and women should have mastery in the local language, besides

being proficient in Hindi and English. They must be able to communicate with ease and

effectiveness in the three languages. Building and maintaining relationship with local leaders

and officials, and networking with the civil society organizations is another skill required by

the religious in order to be effective as an animator or leader.

In order to prevent the tragedy of religious life becoming extinct in future in India the

religious congregations have to abandon the idea of multiplying the institutions and focus on

training its members as leaders who can influence the society and thereby transform the

society by being salt and light.

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5. Shift from Exclusiveness to Inclusiveness

Religious women and men are called to be special disciples of Jesus, transcending all human-

made boundaries, to be available for building the „Kingdom of God‟. But what is actually

happening is just the opposite. It has been noticed that many religious fail to live the

Eucharist. The essence of Eucharist is sharing and treating everyone equally without any

discrimination. As Jesus shared his time and resource for the people a person who

participates in the Eucharist must be available to others through 24 hour of living the

Eucharist. Eucharistic celebration is also a symbol of inclusiveness because all those who

participate in the Eucharist share from the same bread without any discrimination. Often the

religious insist that the Catholic children of the boarding houses or hostel participate in the

morning Eucharistic celebration. But just after the Mass the breakfast is served separately for

the members of the religious community and for the children of the hostels and very often the

items served are also different. Even the persons who cook the food, the drivers who drive the

vehicles and the women who clean the house are not allowed to have common meals with the

members of the religious community. The workers eat separately. Exclusiveness is often

practised under the guise of detachment from the world and as a virtue.

From 2005 to 2014, I had successfully experimented with an inclusive style of living and

working at the Centre for Development and Harmony (CDH), Bhopal, one of the units of

CMI St. Paul Province, Bhopal. The priests and all staff members, the guests, including the

villagers who used to stay at CDH for a day or two, had the meals together. All the activities

of CDH were planned by a team consisting of the priests and the lay staff. Except the

personal files of the staff all the files were open to all members of the team. Every member of

the team knew about the finances of CDH. The statement of account was open to all team

members.

The same life style is followed at Universal Solidarity Movement (USM) of which I have

been a part from June 2014. USM is a pluralistic community in which people belonging to

different religions, castes, languages and regions are members. All community members,

students and participants of the various trainings, have the same meals together and all of

them participate in the prayer for peace twice a day. The birthdays of all community members

(priests, sisters, office staff, cooks, drivers, cleaning staff and watchmen), the guests and the

participants of trainings are celebrated by cutting cake and singing birthday greetings. The

staff members get a birthday gift. The drivers who drive the vehicles of the friends and well

wishers of USM are also invited to the dining room and have meals with all other members.

USM is very particular that each member of the community is called by his/her name and not

by the position or work they do like driver, cook etc. Irrespective of the work they do all

community members are given equal respect and honour. The students, teachers and others

who come to USM observe the respect and honour given to the community members,

especially to those involved in the supporting services like cooking, cleaning, driving etc. and

they imbibe this value and practice it when they go back to their homes. Many students who

have participated in the leadership training in USM have changed their attitude and behaviour

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towards the workers in their homes. They have started honouring them and treating them with

respect.

The time has come for the religious communities and congregations to change their exclusive

life style and adopt the inclusive style of Jesus who freely mingled with all sections of the

society, including the tax collectors and the social outcastes.

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6. Shift from Competition to Collaboration and Networking

One of the specialities of the globalized economy is acquisition and amalgamation. Big

companies take over small ones. Two companies join together to enhance their reach and the

profit. In order to create better impact small units come together.

On the contrary, a tendency noticed in the religious congregations in India is creation of new

provinces, even though almost all religious congregations are facing serious deficiency in

vocation. Collaborative efforts or joint ventures among the different provinces of the same

congregation are found very rarely. Collaboration among the different congregations is

extremely rare to find. After the Second Vatican Council, as part of renewal in the religious

congregations, collaborative efforts were made in the field of formation. For example, the

Bhopal Archdiocese had encouraged the St. Joseph Sisters of Chambery to start Regional

Training Centre (RTC) in Bhopal for the one year training of junior sisters of various

religious congregations. The Archdiocese of Bhopal provided land and the needed

infrastructure for this training. It was a successful experiment because of various reasons. It

provided a golden opportunity for the sisters from various congregations to interact with each

other and learn from each other. A kind of cultural exchange took place among the young

sisters. Very good resource persons were invited from all over India to take sessions for the

sisters. As a result better personal growth of the sisters took place. Collaborative efforts like

this had started in other regions also.

Unfortunately, gradually this experiment became ineffective. Too much obsession with the

specific charism of each congregation motivated different congregations to start their own

small shops of juniorate training and thus closed the door for their young sisters to interact

with the members of other congregations. Since the land where RTC functioned was located

at one of the posh areas of the city of Bhopal, the Archdiocese wanted to take back the land

for starting its own institutions. The St. Joseph Sisters of Chambery, who initially fought for

the continuation of the institution in the heart of the city, finally gave up due to the increasing

pressure from the priests and the bishop. The institute was shifted to a village outside the

Bhopal city. Thereafter it is facing a slow death.

Although the religious claim that they have given up everything for the sake of Jesus and his

mission, in actuality they are too much concerned about ownership and their brand. Even the

members are considered as the property of the congregation that can be used for the sake of

the institutions. That is why we find a lot of duplication of work and competition among the

different religious congregations. If the mission of Jesus becomes a priority for the religious

congregations they will search for joint ventures, collaborative efforts and exchange of

personnel, especially when they are facing a serious crunch of human and financial resources.

The opposition and attack from the Hindutva forces can be faced only through collaborative

efforts. Moreover, working together creates synergy. There are many areas where the

religious congregations can pool their resources together for better results. For example, each

congregation/province sets apart a particular amount for social apostolate every year. Instead

of spending this amount on charity here and there let the congregations in a region come

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together and choose an important need or a set of needs of the poor and prepare a plan to

meet the need and implement it professionally. For example, 50% of the households in India

do not have toilets and millions of women in this country are humiliated every day because

they have to relieve themselves in the public places. Why not the religious congregations of a

region under the leadership of the Regional CRI undertake construction of toilets as a priority

for two or three years and choose a particular location for total cleanliness? In this process

they can prepare a project and present to the state and the central government for

collaboration, as it is an important priority of both the central and state governments.

Similarly, management of educational institutions is becoming a challenging task. Why not

all religious congregations in a region come together and organize management training of

one or two weeks for the principals and managers? Formation is another area where the

congregations can and should collaborate.

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7. Shift from Frequent Transfer to Long Term Commitment

The women and men religious are called to produce lasting fruits. The lasting fruits are the

sustainable changes that the disciples of Jesus bring about in the individual human persons

and in the society or community. For example, the changes the children of our schools bring

about in the society when they assume different responsibilities as professionals, bureaucrats,

business people, industrialists etc. are the lasting fruits. If discrimination against women and

low caste people could be removed due to the sustained interventions of a religious

community or individual in a particular area it is a lasting fruit. If hostilities and enmity

between two communities could be converted into harmony and cooperation due to the

efforts of a religious person or community it is definitely a lasting fruit. Production of lasting

fruits requires accompaniment and mentoring for a long time. If a religious man or woman

continues to be a principal of a school and maintain cordial relationship with the ex-students

and the people of the area, he or she can become very influential and play a decisive role in

the life of the people of the locality. In large number of cases such impacts are not taking

place because of the frequent transfer of religious from one place to another place.

The bane of the Catholic Church in India and of the religious congregations is the routine

shunting of the members from one place to another place. It is nothing but disastrous. It is

like planting and uprooting a tree every three or five years and replanting it at another place.

Innumerable are the stories of destruction caused by the mindless and disastrous transfers

routinely carried out in the religious congregations. Individuals are transferred from one place

to another place periodically, and finally to the grave. Sometimes the members of a religious

congregation are transferred from one language area to another language area, and after some

time, to yet another language area. Effectiveness of the mission depends to a great extent the

capacity of a person to communicate with the people in their language. By the time a

religious sister or priest/brother picks up the language of a place she/he is transferred to

another language area and whatever efforts she/he made to learn a new language becomes a

huge wastage. Secondly, the relationship built by one person cannot be transferred to another

person. The second person again has to spend a lot of time and energy to build relationships.

Thirdly, the new person who replaces the previous one need not continue the activities or

projects initiated by the previous one. As a result the resources invested by the previous

person may go to the drains and in many cases of transfer such disasters are taking place.

The stories of many missionaries of the past show that they could build strong communities

because of life-time efforts. In order to ensure such desired results, a well thought out transfer

policy is needed for each congregation. The transfer policy in the religious congregations

may be based on the following criteria:

The appointment shall be based on the interest, capacity and the personal vision and

mission of the members taking into account the charism of the congregation. During

the formation the members are to be encouraged to evolve their personal vision and

mission. They are also to be motivated to opt for a life-long mission.

If a person is doing well, following the norms and guidelines, and the people are

happy with him/her, there is no need of transfer as long as the person wants to be in a

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place. This is especially applicable to the heads of institutions like schools, colleges,

training centres, social work centres and persons involved in community

development. Even after retirement the persons can continue in the same place in

view of maintaining the relationships and helping the next person. But the superiors of

communities can be changed periodically.

Systems shall be put in place to make the members accountable, transparent and

participatory in their functioning like approval of annual plan and budget by

concerned authorities, monthly review of the implementation of the plan by the

member concerned and his/her team, annual internal evaluation with the participation

of the higher authorities, preparation and submission of half yearly/annual reports,

auditing of accounts both by the internal auditors appointed by the higher authorities

and the chartered accountants.

If a person wants a change transfer shall be made.

If a person is not performing well as per the objective criteria already put in place or

he/she is causing scandal that person is to be transferred.

The members are to be trained in building and maintaining public relation.

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8. Shift from Living together to Communion as the Heart of Community

The concept of community needs redefining. Many people living together under the same

roof does not make a community. The heart of the community is communion among the

members of the community. Having a common vision and mission, planning together,

periodical review (daily/weekly/monthly) and periodic evaluation together can contribute to a

great extent for building communion. Mutual respect, appreciation and recognition are the

key elements of fostering communion. The common prayer and Mass, if consciously done,

may contribute to build communion. Celebrations, especially birthday celebrations, can

sweeten the community life. “Every human achievement is a manifestation of God‟s glory”

and hence every achievement of the members of the community like publishing an article in

newspaper or periodical, writing a book, recognition by the government or other civil society

organizations etc. shall be celebrated.

In the changed scenario the focus shall be on communion rather than on community

activities. Every day each community shall spent at least half an hour for sharing and

evaluating what happened on the day and what the members learned from their experience.

Every individual shall spend at least an hour for contemplation. The community can decide

the time of it. The common oral prayers shall be reduced to the minimum. All workers

closely related to the community like cooks, drivers, cleaners, gardeners etc. and the guests

shall join the members of the religious community for meals.

The focus of the monthly recollection shall be evaluating the life and activities of the

community. As a part of evaluation each member shares the result of various activities

undertaken during the month, the lessons learned, the failures and challenges encountered and

how the challenges were faced. It also can be used as an occasion for enhancing the

knowledge of the members of the community. The community members shall be encouraged

to read a book at least once in two months and write a review. The review of the books read

by the members can be presented as a part of the monthly recollection.

Individual members working in government departments and institutions run by other

organizations shall join the monthly recollection and share their experience and learning with

the other members of the community. It is not necessary for all the members to live together

in one building to create a community.

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9. Shift from Charity to Empowerment

Jesus‟ approach to the poor was one of empowerment. As a first step he restored their human

dignity by instilling in them the belief that they are sons and daughters of God like any other

human being. His mingling with the social outcastes and eating with them was a means to

empower them. The approach of the disciples of Jesus shall be the same. The indicators of

empowerment are better self image, better self confidence, better self reliance and better self

assertion. All those who came to Jesus with a sincere heart went back empowered: Mathew

the tax collector, Mary Magdalene, a prostitute, the Samaritan woman and all those who

received healing from him.

The charity approach adopted by the religious congregations is to be replaced with the

empowerment approach by which the poor are enabled to access their rights to come out of

the situation of poverty. Feeding the poor in the literal sense is below human dignity except

in the case of people who are incapacitated to work and there is no one to take care of them.

Otherwise the approach should be supporting the poor to earn their livelihood and eat with

dignity without resorting to begging bowls. The religious who distribute free food may have

the satisfaction of doing a great charity; but in that process they are degrading the poor to the

status of beggars. Jesus, who restored the human dignity of the poor, does not want the

religious to continue this paternalistic approach.

The women and men religious have to adopt Rights-based approach in their efforts to

empower the poor. All people have certain fundamental human rights. Government, being the

duty bearer, has the responsibility to create a situation in which all citizens, especially the

marginalized, are able to access their rights. Members of the religious congregations, in

collaboration with the Civil Society Organizations, have to organize the marginalized

sections of the society to demand their rights from the government. They also can support the

government with human, material and financial resources in the process of creating a

situation in which all can access their rights.

Many women and men religious are rendering wonderful services to the most neglected and

vulnerable people in the society; they include different groups: migrants, refugees, orphans,

destitute, old people rejected by families, mentally and physically disabled persons, persons

affected by HIV/AIDS, street children etc. Jesus‟ approach of empowerment demands from

the religious a change in their attitude and approach to the poor and the marginalized.

As a part of all their ministries the individuals and families are to be educated, that it

is, their responsibility to take care of the weak and the invalid members, instead of

dumping them into orphanages, old age homes and homes for the destitute. Authentic

spirituality will enable a person or family to accept and care for a disabled, the aged

or a seriously sick person.

The priority and focus of religious should be on community based rehabilitation of the

disabled and the destitute, making the community responsible for taking care of their

weak members and build the capacity of the community to perform this task.

There are various schemes under the state and central government for the welfare of

the needy and the poor under National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP). The

religious should make all efforts to enable the needy to access these schemes.

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A family atmosphere is to be maintained in the institutions or projects for the disabled

and the destitute. The priests, sisters and the staff should eat, pray and work with the

inmates. In order to maintain a family atmosphere the number of inmates should be

limited. The inmates should be able to experience the fatherly and motherly love of

the religious.

The institutions meant for the orphans, old people, destitute, mentally and physically

disabled should have good infrastructure, very good facilities, excellent cleanliness,

nutritious food in sufficient quantity and adequate number of staff to take care of the

inmates. The institutions run by the religious for the marginalized of the society

should be role models of excellence.

Collaboration and networking with other likeminded organizations and government

agencies is to be promoted. One of the reasons for the accusation of “forced

conversion” on Christians in India is lack of networking with other organizations.

Exposure visit to the institutions run by other NGOs will generate good will, besides

giving opportunity to learn from others.

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10. Shift from the Colonial idea of Expansion to Focus on Effectiveness

The success of a major superior is often judged from the number of the institutions he/she

starts during his/her term. The tendency among the religious congregations is to expand their

reach. Even a small congregation is proud of starting a unit in a foreign country. In recent

years there is rush among the congregations to start religious houses in the North Eastern

states with the hope of attracting candidates, as they are facing a drought in the traditional

fertile areas of vocation. In spite of dwindling in the number of vocations and serious erosion

in the quality of the vocations many congregations in India are creating new provinces or

regions as part of their geographical expansion.

In the race for expansion some congregations compromise with their autonomy. Many

dioceses want religious, especially women religious, to work under the diocesan institutions.

When a provincial asks a bishop for permission to start an institution in a particular diocese

he puts a condition that if a community of sisters are given to work in a diocesan institution,

the province will be allowed to start an institution of its own. Very often the women religious

who work in the diocesan institutions are given a nominal allowance and they have to work

under a priest as the director or boss without any freedom or autonomy to take decisions. In

some dioceses in North India women religious are appointed as the wardens of hostels for

girls, but these wardens have no power to take any decision concerning the discipline and

training of the girls. For example, if a girl wants to go home in an emergency permission is to

be granted by the priest who is the Director. There is no practice of preparing annual plan and

budget and holding monthly review meetings and conducting annual internal evaluation with

the participation of the warden and the staff. The warden sister does not know anything about

the finance, what the income and expenditure of the hostel is. The sisters are often treated as

the workforce. The time has come for the women congregations to stop sending their sisters

to do the household chores in the bishop‟s houses and pastoral centres. Because of the quest

for expansion the major superiors are ready to offer their sisters to work under the diocesan

institutions, knowing that their sisters will not have any scope for their personal growth and

fulfilment.

The religious women and men are called to be the salt and the light of the people among

whom they live and work. Institutional expansion will not be of any use if the individual

members do not have the qualities of salt and light and in the absence of the conditions in

which they can function as salt. A religious community becomes effective when its members

are able to function as salt and light. The quantity of salt used in any food item is

insignificant; even then it is able to transform the whole food item and make it tasty. What is

important from the point of view of the mission of the religious is not the quantity but the

quality. Hence the religious congregations have to focus more on the quality of its

interventions and the excellent results produced by the interventions rather than on the

number of institutions or houses started. This depends on two factors: 1) quality of its

members, 2) the context or the conditions under which the members work.

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The present scenario in which the religious women and men work is very challenging and

highly competitive. Hence the members of the congregations are to be prepared to face the

challenges as well as competition. Strength of character that enables a person never to

compromise with the core values and principles of Jesus is the most important requirement to

face the challenges. The present formation system which is largely based on fostering

religiosity (prayers, sacraments, devotions, night vigils etc.) is not sufficient enough to equip

a person with the strength of character. If religious women and men in responsible positions

compromise with the core values for the sake of expediency, it will be anti-witnessing.

In order to face the fierce competition from other organizations the religious women and men

have no other option than to be continuous learners through reading, reflection, exposure

visits and participation in workshops and seminars on a regular basis. The desire to enhance

knowledge and reading habit are to be fostered in the candidates from the early stages of

formation. The practice of reading one solid book in two months and writing its review

during all stages of formation will be very helpful to create the reading habit. Along with

reading the taste for writing is also to be fostered in the religious from the early stages of

formation. Reading and writing are complementary.

To be effective a religious needs certain skills of which communication is the most important.

I have often noticed that the religious in responsible positions like principals of schools land

up in problems because of their inability to communicate effectively with the students,

parents and the public. It is a pity that some principals of English medium schools are not

able to communicate freely with parents in the local language. On the occasion of the school

annual day the report is presented in English to an audience of which large majority is unable

to understand English. Public relation skills and leadership skills are also very important from

the point of view of effectiveness. The religious women and men are to be prepared for

assuming leadership roles like heads of institutions and projects. The authorities have to see

that they undergo training course in leadership and management before assuming such

responsibilities. For example, the role of principal is more than the role of a teacher. Hence a

teacher needs additional training to perform the role of a principal.

Lack of professionalism prevents the religious from becoming effective; hence there is a

great need for introducing professionalism in the functioning of the projects and institutions

run by the religious. The components of professionalism are long term and short term

planning with the participation of all stakeholders, monitoring through periodic reviews,

periodic evaluation at least once a year, proper documentation, especially documenting the

results using appropriate indicators, periodic reporting, maintenance of account in accordance

with the laws of the land and transparency in the whole process of management.

In the context of India Christians very often are branded as foreigners by the Hindu right

wing organizations. The image of being projected as foreigners is an impediment to

effectiveness. The life style of religious and the Church personnel has contributed to some

extent for being branded as foreigners. The „habit‟ used by women religious is being viewed

by many Hindus as a sign of allegiance not only to a foreign culture but also to a foreign

power. Most of the men religious use secular dress; but many women religious are being

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brainwashed to believe that „habit‟ is an inevitable dimension of their charism and identity

and they hang on to it. Women religious have to liberate themselves from this myth.

The context in which the religious women and men work also plays a crucial role in

enhancing effectiveness. The context should allow them to be creative and innovative and

make the best use of their God given talents. Collaboration and cooperation with the dioceses

is an important aspect of the mission of the religious and it is to be encouraged; but

collaboration should not degenerate into submission and passivity. If a religious congregation

and a diocese are to collaborate in an institution or a project, there should be shared common

vision, mission and goals. The roles and responsibilities are to be made clear and the religious

should have the freedom to take decisions within the roles allotted to them. The process of

management should be participatory and transparent. There shall be participatory annual

planning and preparation of budget, monthly review and annual internal evaluation. The

statement of account of the institution or project should be made available to the members of

the religious congregation working with the institution/project at least on a quarterly basis.

The religious should not be treated as mere workers, but partners in a common endeavour.

Instead of working as employees in the diocesan institutions the women religious

congregations should prefer to take up the whole management of an institution or project for

a period of time under an agreement that is mutually satisfying. Similarly, a congregation can

ask the diocese to appoint a sister as the Diocesan Director of Social Work provided it can

present a competent person. I have often observed that the sisters who work as General

Coordinators in the diocesan social work organizations are more qualified and competent

than the priests who are the directors. Working under a director who is neither qualified nor

has experience is a humiliation and nightmare for a sister who is qualified and competent.

One of the conditions of most of the church sponsored donor agencies for applying for fund is

a recommendation or at least a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the bishop of the

concerned area. When the religious, especially women religious, approach the bishops for

recommendation they often do not get a positive response. The national CRI shall approach

the donor agencies for deleting this condition for accessing fund because it is being used in

India for discriminating against women religious.

Very often the religious congregations are ready to accept new ideas, but not ready to

abandon the old ones which are not relevant. Obsession with the irrelevant and routine

practices often prevents them from being innovative. Religious life is becoming extinct in the

western countries because of its inability to respond to the challenges of modern world. The

religious congregations in India also will have the same fate if they fail to reinvent

themselves.