Farcical fraternal fantasy

By chhotebhai

Kanpur, May 24, 2022: There is celebration in some circles that Pope Francis’ latest directive that non-ordained “Brothers” in men’s religious orders that also include priests, may now become Major Superiors, albeit with Vatican permission.

What is the hullabaloo about? Will it have any impact on the ground? Though not a fan of Shakespeare, the Pope’s directive reminded me of some Shakespearean titles like – “Much Ado About Nothing,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Tempest,” “As you Like It,” and finally “The Merchant of Venice,” corrupted to read “The Merchants of the Vatican.”

Why am I making such audacious statements? Because I have serious doubts about the impact and viability of the papal directive.

We know that in religious orders for women any one of them may become a Major Superior or even a Superior General. The same goes for religious orders for men that don’t have priests. The restriction arose for Mixed Men’s Orders (MMOs) that have both priests and Brothers, like the Capuchins, Salesians, Jesuits, and Paulists. Of these I have been most closely associated with the Capuchins, and though I had many Jesuit friends, I never came across a Jesuit Brother.

Though my experience of MMOs is limited I have noticed that those who cannot be ordained as priests remain on as Brothers. They are basically treated as cheap labor to perform menial tasks like the kitchen, groceries, farms, gardens or animals. They are not assigned leadership or responsible roles, even in non-ordained ministries like youth activities or counselling. Though some could be involved in social work activities. I throw an open challenge to the MMOs to tell us how many “vocations” they have had to the priesthood and how many for the brotherhood since the Vatican II reforms (1965).

Also, how many of these Brothers voluntarily opted for that state, or were they assigned that because they were “unfit” to become priests? The answers would be revealing. How many MMOs today would be willing to elect a Brother as a Major Superior (Regional or Provincial), let alone a Superior General?

I therefore have serious doubts about the viability or efficacy of this papal directive. That is why I have termed it as much ado about nothing or a midsummer night’s dream, a hallucination. It is not even a tempest, just a storm in a tea cup. Take it as you like it because the merchants of the Vatican shall continue to reign supreme.

By that I mean the deeply entrenched clericalised church that Pope Francis is desperately trying to shake out of its stupor. My experience is that the Establishment rules sway over the Enlightenment. This is what happened with the French Revolution, the European Renaissance and the Vatican II Reforms. God forbid that the Synod on Synodality meets a similar fate.

Pope Francis is a Jesuit. He should have chosen a name like Pope Ignatius I or Francis Xavier I. Instead he chose Francis of Assisi, the poor and romantic fool, the Il Poverello, as his role model. His famous encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” meaning “Brothers All,” uses word borrowed from St Francis of Assisi. The encyclical was released in Assisi itself on the saint’s feast in 2020, and not in Rome. What message was Pope Francis trying to portray?

In the 13th century, part of the Dark Ages of the Church, moral and financial corruption was rampant. God’s call to Francis was “Go and repair my church.” How did he accomplish his mission? By a radical return to Gospel values and evangelical poverty. Even in death he asked to be placed on the ground, not on a cot. He is also credited with being the first environmentalist and advocate of communal harmony at the height of the Crusades.

What many people today may not know is that Francis made a deliberate choice to not become a priest. His companions were known as Friars Minor (Little Brothers). Italian society was then divided into the aristocratic Majori and the peasant or working class Minori. Francis chose to identify with the latter, the equivalent of Italian Dalits, just as Mother Teresa chose to wear the sari of Calcutta’s sanitation workers.

Sometime around 1980 I met the Superior General of the Capuchins, Pascal Rywalski Ofm Cap. He had issued a directive that no Capuchin priest be addressed as Father, as they were all friars (brothers). In letter, though not in spirit, the Capuchin priests obeyed, by prefixing their names with fr for friar. In no time they reverted to the big F! This is why I assert that the Establishment rules over the Enlightenment.

When I visited Assisi in 2017 I stayed at the Capuchin Provincialate. I discovered that they only wear sandals, not shoes. This may not be a big deal in steaming hot India, but it is a severe penance in bitterly cold northern Italy.

Vatican II also advocates fraternity in the church and not rampant patriarchy or clericalism. I quote from the “Dogmatic Constitution of the Church”: “By divine condescension the laity have Christ for their brother … They also have for their brothers those in the sacred ministry” (LG 32). And again, “Every layman should openly reveal to them (clergy) his needs and desires with that freedom and confidence that befits a son of God and a brother in Christ” (LG 37). How many have even heard of these constitutional/ fraternal provisions?

Take the example of the first pope – Peter. When Cornelius the Roman Centurion fell at his feet Peter lifted him up saying “Stand up, after all I am only a man” (Acts 10:26). Peter had already learnt servantship from Jesus. At the Last Supper he did not allow Jesus to wash his feet (cf Jn 13:8) but relented when Jesus explained to him that it was a way of life not an empty symbolic gesture as usually now happens on Holy Thursdays.

Peter may also have been reminded of Jesus’ admonition “Call no man Father, for you have only one Father who is in heaven” (Mat 23:9). Jesus goes on to say “Anyone who raises himself up will be humbled and anyone who humbles himself will be raised up” (Mat 23:12). These admonishments were given at the time when Jesus used his harshest words against the religious hypocrisy of the Pharisees, likening them to whitewashed tombs filled with stinking bones (cf Mat 23: 27-28).

But then, who really cares for what the Bible says? Who cares for what the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church says? Who cares for what Pope Francis says or does? A depressing scenario.

Even the Preamble to the Constitution of India states that its purpose is to “secure for all its citizens Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity”. The last three values are indeed the battle cry of the French Revolution.

At that time French society was divided into Three Estates or strata of society. The First Estate was the church, the Second Estate was the Monarchy and the Third Estate was the peasantry. The French Revolution was as much against the hierarchy as against the monarchy, and is yet to recover from its effects.

When the sick, old and despised Pope Pius VI died as a prisoner of Emperor Napoleon in Valens the banner headline in a French newspaper on 29/8/1797 said that “The hated papacy is at an end”. But as I have said above, the Empire strikes back and the Establishment wins over the Enlightenment.

History repeats itself because we don’t learn its lessons. That is why I fear that this latest papal directive will not be a tempest but a storm in a tea cup. Take it as you like it, but this is my take. I fear that in the deeply entrenched and clericalised Catholic Church any attempt to raise the Brotherhood will just be a farcical fantasy, Pope Francis notwithstanding. The Brothers and the laity are so weak and ignorant that they cannot assert their own rights, canonical or constitutional. The only hope is if a large part of the clergy is “converted” and voluntarily surrenders its fatherly status and privileges. Is that asking for too much?

In both politics and society today we talk of the perception battle. That is bolstered by advertising campaigns by those with power and money. The common perception is that the Father is the Church. Those who are disillusioned with this perception choose to leave the church rather than fight a losing battle. My generation may still remain faithful to the Church, with all its warts. The same cannot be expected of the next generation. May this piece be another small step in the reformation of the Church and its perception battle.

(The writer is a strong believer in Franciscan fraternal spirituality.)