Creating Something New, continued from page 13
Provincial leadership, and would be referred to as
“members” of the community also.
Now we are considering creating something new,
which would seem to necessitate a new description
of ourselves. Using the “signs of the times” as a guide,
it would be possible to create (and live) a description
which not only speaks to the people to whom we
already minister, but which also resonates with the
greater population, especially younger folks.
But what resonates with younger folks? Celibate
religious life still doesn’t seem to be attracting people.
Many people see little need for organized religion
and going to church. A number of younger people are
attracted to the more conservative Catholic rituals,
but do not necessarily embrace church dogma and
church law—which means this population generally
won’t be interested in invitations to parish ministry
or to renewing the Church.
What I surmise from the sociological literature
on the subject, younger people generally seem to be
attracted to a spirituality which is expressed through
hands-on, practical, person-to-person caring for
others. The young people who have been part of our
volunteer program are examples of this. Maybe it is a
way people are getting back to basics in response to
this confusing, polarized, “fake news” social climate.
If this is indeed a significant dynamic at work in the
younger population, how could we define ourselves
anew in a way that would better invite these people to
join us in our work? Here is one possible redefinition:
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A community who stands with the forgotten,
the excluded, and the voiceless
Charisms of reconciliation and care for the
marginalized
Bond of Charity
c.pp.s. Spirituality
Any who are interested, including priests,
brothers, Companions, and volunteers
In one way, this new definition would not radically
change the day to day work we do in our ministries.
It would, however, move us from primarily a clerical/
church identity to more of a social justice identity.
It would be the larger umbrella under which the
14 • The New Wine Press • October 2018
canonical religious order of the c.pp.s. would be
a part. It would also change the way we promote/
advertise ourselves. Just as we used to highlight
priesthood/brotherhood as a reason to join our
community, we would now highlight social justice
work as a reason to join our community, which seems
to interest more people today. Some who accept
the invitation may very well decide later to join the
community more closely as a Companion, priest,
or brother. This new identity would also necessitate
a more diverse leadership structure. To make the
shift to a new identity, we would also probably need
a more vocal, comprehensive, and organized way of
promoting who we are.
It seems to me that our discussions so far about
creating something new have been focused mainly on
changing the structure of our community, i.e., how
the Kansas City Province and the Cincinnati Province
could come together. The assumption seems to be
that if this union could be accomplished, we would
have something new. That certainly would create a
new structure, but would not necessarily create a new
kind of community. Maybe changing the structure is
a necessary first step to creating something new as a
community. But to be successful in creating something
new, we cannot confuse changing structure with
changing substance as a community.
Another challenge in creating something new will
be the amount of work involved. With all the time
and energy, it will take to change structure, we may
not have enough energy/will left to address more
substantial changes, especially since we will be a
larger community with more diverse views which will
need to be combined.
The above example of a new definition of our
community is only one of the many possible ways
we could recreate ourselves. The jury is probably still
out regarding whether we are really up for creating
something new or simply want to rearrange the same
furniture in a different structure.