A
COMMENTARY ON THE CHURCH'S DOCUMENT ON VOCATIONAL MINISTRY.
(Among
the many recent Church documents which have been poorly propagated and much
ignored is "Developments In the Vocational Pastoral Ministry In The
Particular Churches".
Issued
in January, 1992 by two key Roman Congregations, it records and addresses the
crisis related to what the Holy Father terms "The Fundamental Problem of
the Church" - vocations to priesthood and consecrated life. Here is an
account of the processes involved and of the ideas contained in the document
which should not be considered optional reading for bishops, priests or
consecrated persons - or indeed for any member of the Church who has a care
about its future.)
Vocations
Congress Held
In
Rome, 1981 a key ecclesial event took place - the Second International Congress
for Ecclesiastical Vocations. It was preceded by four years of consultations
throughout the universal Church and its membership comprised experts as well as
delegates of the various Episcopal Conferences and numerous Superiors General
of men and women religious. It culminated in a 'Conclusive Document' which the
Holy Father promulgated in 1982, directing that its directives and proposals
"be made the object of attentive reflection and of wise application, so
that there derive from them, for the entire Church, an effective increase and a
greater efficacy in the pastoral ministry of vocations."
Time
for Re-appraisal
Ten
years later - in 1991- a new world-wide consultation was carried out by two
Roman dicasteries - (The Congregation for Catholic Education and the
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic
Life) to determine the effectiveness of the fruits of the Congress Document and
to reassert its validity and authority. Episcopal Conferences and Conferences
of Major Superiors were canvassed and reports flowed in to the Holy See on a
scale which represented the breadth and diversity of the Church universal.
On
the basis of these reports a dossier has been compiled which makes a compelling
case for new and reinvigorated
efforts on the "vocations front". It is a response to the Holy
Father's constant invitations to all the faithful to respond by prayer and
action to the vocational "fact"
which he frequently refers to as "the fundamental problem of the
Church".
Key
Aspects of New Study
This
newer document, entitled "Developments in the Vocational Pastoral Ministry
In the Particular Churches", comprises six chapters. The first assesses
the level of acceptance of the Conclusive Document of 1982 as well as the
quantity and quality of consecrated vocations which have emerged since that
time. The second faces some of the burning doctrinal concerns surrounding the
issue of 'vocation'. The third and fourth chapters look at who should be
involved in the vocations pastoral ministry - who should be in the business of
fostering vocations to the life of consecration. The fifth examines the close
relationship between youth ministry and vocations ministry and the sixth puts
forward practical plans for making
the vocations ministry come alive.
The
Document Makes Little Impact
With
the exception of a few countries in which it has been used as a guide to
vocational ministry, the Congress document has been either distributed without
assimilation and execution or barely recognised. Some Episcopal Conferences
declared that they had never seen it!
General
Vocations Scenario
Priestly
Vocations: The
reports coming in from Conferences of Bishops and Major Superiors show,
overall, a general drop, over the last ten years, in the number of students
entering the diocesan and religious seminaries, while the number of major
seminarians and ordinations to the priesthood have in fact increased
constantly, major seminaries having been reopened in some Dioceses. However,
the increase of priestly ordinations has not reached replacement level given
the number of priests who have died or abandoned the priesthood.
Religious
Vocations: There
are similar positive signs in the increase of novices, both male and female,
but here the new vocations are also insufficient to compensate for the
decreases. Religious women show the greatest decrease, followed by religious
brothers then religious priests.
The
New Vocations Geography: The most consistent vocational recovery is to be
found in various countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Australia, North
America and some countries of Europe are on the vocational decline. The
Episcopal Conferences of U.S.A and the Netherlands report an increase on the
dramatic Post-Vatican II "slump" and a slight tendency towards
recovery. Others, such as Australia and Switzerland declared no convincing
signs of vocational "pick-up". Some Conferences noted an increase in
male vocations and not of feminine; others note an increase of religious
priestly vocations and a decline in diocesan.
Overall,
the shift of vocational concentrations is from the northern hemisphere to the
southern and towards newly evangelised countries.
A
Matter of Quality
Where
vocation is concerned, quantity is not everything. The Church reminds us in
this document of the vast post-conciliar Magisterium on the doctrine and
pastoral ministry of vocations. In addition to this, there has been an
increased tendency by Dioceses and Religious Institutes to train and make
available specialised personnel for the promotion of vocations. In some
instances this is effective. Certain consecrated persons - individuals and
communities, pray and work with zeal, inspiring vocations to their way of life.
Some countries noted the preference of youth, for an austere religious life -
especially that of the contemplative monastery or convent.
However,
numerous Episcopal Conferences note among certain priests and religious,
attitudes of tiredness, indifference, discouragement and pessimism They note
the prevalence among them of counterwitness, desertions and crises of identity.
All of this creates uncertainties amongst youth about what special consecration
is all about.
Doctrinal
Urgencies
All
parties consulted agree that planning for the future should be founded on a
solid theology of vocation which, in harmony with the ecclesiology of Vatican
II, sees the consecrated life "in the light of the mystery of the
Church". They affirm that difficulties regarding vocations are connected
with an insufficient knowledge of the Church and with a purely functional
vision of vocation as distinct from a biblical/theological one.
The
doctrinal themes described in the 1982 "Conclusive Document" are
reaffirmed. They are:
*that
God is the source of the vocation by which all men are called, by virtue of the
Father's design for the mission of His Son, to be His disciples and witnesses,
some being called to the vocation of special consecration,
*that
the grace of the call is part of the human condition, each person, as well as
the entire Church, being in a state of constant vocation, and
*that
the Church, in its turn, mediates God's call and receives the vocations for the
sake of its own life and holiness.
Dangers
of Emphasis on Laity
The
reports from some particular Churches show that conscious efforts have been
made to widen the concept of vocational promotion and to rank the vocation of
the laity alongside those of the priesthood and the religious life. Others held
that too much emphasis has been placed on the vocation of the lay person and
that this has adversely affected priestly and religious vocations. The
Australian Episcopal Conference observed that it is important to sustain the
special nature and the necessity of the ordained ministry and the consecrated
life The document formally reaffirms this.
Dearth
of Specialists
Reports
came in of a lack of specialists in the theology of vocation and of a dangerous
tendency to prepare vocation personnel and carry out the vocations ministry,
within a sphere more 'pastoral' than theological.
The
Episcopal Conferences of Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy
and Spain all indicated that the general theological competence of the men and
women chosen by Bishops for the
pastoral vocations ministry is insufficient and that the methods used are arbitrary. Almost all Conferences
report that the space given to the theology of vocation is totally insufficient
- even at the level of the general Christian vocation. One of the most frequent complaints in
the reports of Major Superiors' Conferences is that religious life is insufficiently known
and poorly understood.
Boosting
the Pastoral Ministry
On
the strength of these findings, the Church calls in this document, for an
urgent attention to the preparation of spiritual directors for the specific
vocations as well as of people capable of 'accompanying' young people who are
called.
It
demands that catechists at all levels - especially the parochial - be prepared
with the necessary knowledge for vocational teaching and promotion. The
document says that all catechisms, from those for little children to those for
adults, "should be explicitly permeated with the vocational dimension, and
depict a true and proper vocational journey". Incessant prayer for vocations, - a
constant theme of Pope John Paul and his predecessors - is presented as central to the vocations
apostolate. The value of such prayer is not only impetratory, but acts to
stimulate each person to discover and live out their own specific vocation and
to 'take upon themselves the needs of the Church'.
The
World Day of Prayer with its pontifical message is seen as contributing to a
new vocational consciousness, although in some regions the response at
parochial level is regarded as minimal. Prayer groups and vocational cenacles
are seen as important means of promoting and sustaining vocations to priesthood
and the religious life.
The
Conclusive Document indicates the Mother of God as the "Mediatrix of
Vocations" as the "model of every call" and the "Mother of
all vocations" and the 1992 Document declares that "the youth will
meet in Mary an interior source of generosity and strength to respond to the
call of God."