America on the
Tiber Round tables in Romes religious life
What the Vatican and the rest of the Catholic world know of
America is often forged by contact with Americans in Rome. Americans in the
curia, in religious life, in pontifical universities, in the diplomatic corps,
and in institutions such as the North American College serve as a bridge
between two worlds. They bring the fruits of American culture to the universal
church, while their Roman experience gives them a new perspective back
home.
In this series, a kind of introduction to America on the
Tiber, NCR offers a look at Americans who matter in Rome, what they do
and what difference they make.
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
There was a time when the mention of American and
nun in the same sentence was, all by itself, enough to raise blood
pressures in many a Vatican office.
American religious, especially women, were on the cutting edge of
reforms called for by the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). The council fathers
asked religious to go back to their roots, and for many that meant sweeping
aside centuries of tradition to get to the core of what it means to surrender
ones life to Christ.
For traditionalists, who worried the baby was being tossed out
with the bathwater, the freewheeling, collaborative American style that took
shape over the 1970s and 1980s set their teeth on edge. Religious women and men
who lived through bruising battles to have their post-conciliar statutes
approved by the Vatican, for example, still carry the scars of that
experience.
Today, with the benefit of some distance, observers in Rome said
much of the distinctively American approach has prevailed.
Sacred Heart Sr. Clare Pratt, who hails from Chevy Chase, Md., and
is the first American superior in the 200-year history of her community, said
she can identify at least one clear sign in Rome of that American influence:
round tables.
Once upon a time, when religious would gather for meetings in
Rome, they would do so in typical European style, with a raised dais for
speakers and seats in rows for everyone else to listen passively. Now, the
International Union of Superiors General, the main umbrella group for women
religious, gathers around circular tables, where discussion is more open,
informal and participative.
Its a symbol, but one that Pratt said speaks volumes.
Anyone whos been in a leadership position in the
United States and who finds herself over here has been influenced by the
Leadership Conference of Women Religious, Pratt said, referring to the
main association of women religious in the United States.
Our way of operating is inclusive and it has caught
on.
Pratt is one of an estimated total of 450 American religious in
Rome (roughly 300 men and 150 women), spread over a wide variety of functions.
Some teach in a Roman university, some work in the Vatican, a few carry out
pastoral functions and some hold leadership positions in their
congregations.
Two key American women religious in Rome are Immaculate Heart of
Mary Sr. Sharon Holland, in the Vatican congregation for religious, and Holy
Family Sr. Miriam Mikol, secretary general of the International Union of
Superiors General. In addition to Pratt, other women superiors include Holy
Union Sr. Carol Regan, Precious Blood Sr. Nancy Iampietro and Daughters of
Wisdom Sr. Barbara ODea.
On the mens side, superiors include Marianist Fr. David
Fleming, Redemptorist Fr. Joseph Tobin, Viatorian Fr. Mark Francis, Lazarist
Fr. Robert Maloney, [Brothers of the] Sacred Heart
[Br.] Bernard Couvillion, Holy Cross Fr. Hugh Cleary, Scheut Fr.
Jozef Lapauw and Assumptionist Fr. Richard Lamourenx.
In larger mens communities, key American Jesuits include Fr.
Frank Case, the official responsible for American Jesuit affairs, and Fr.
Robert Geisinger, the chief canon lawyer for the society (which gives him the
informal moniker of the Jesuit attorney general). Dominican Fr.
Robert Christian is prior of the Dominican house at the Angelicum, while
Franciscan Fr. Antonio Franjic is the secretary general of the Order of Friars
Minor.
Its hard to pinpoint the precise influence carried by these
Americans, in part because they spend precious little time in Rome itself. As
superiors, most of them spend at least half their lives on the road visiting
operations in their communities, which can be found in every angle of the
world. Rome is thus little more than a place to get mail.
Despite this, several echoed Pratts point about the
influence of the American style in the way religious work today.
Our sisters say the American presence is more open,
said Iampietro, who comes from Bethlehem, Pa. Her community of 945 sisters,
once predominantly German, is today largely African.
They tell me that Americans bring a freshness in looking at
prayer, at structures, at our vision of religious life, Iampietro
said.
Francis said the same pattern holds true in mens
communities.
Our style of governance is more dialogical. We try to listen
and form opinions later. We dont come in and dictate, he said.
This collaborative approach has even been proposed as a model for
the hierarchy. Fleming, the Marianist superior, floated the idea at last
falls Synod of Bishops, where he was a participant. Since Vatican
II, most religious institutes have tried to implement a participative style of
leadership that
accentuates listening, dialogue, subsidiarity and
accountability, Fleming told more than 200 bishops from all over the
world. This is a way of exercising genuine authority, but in a collegial
mode.
Perhaps, Fleming suggested, our experience with
such meetings could be helpful in rethinking the style of episcopal conferences
and synods in the life of the church.
Fleming is in a position where he can push such ideas along. He
and fellow American Joseph Tobin, the Redemptorist superior, sit on the Council
of 16, a group of men and women religious who meet with the Vaticans
Congregation for Religious to discuss issues of mutual concern. (It is, among
other things, the body that has been discussing the problem of sexual abuse of
religious women by priests.)
The old wounds may have healed, but memories remain. One man who
saw it all happen, on both sides, is Conventual Franciscan Fr. Basil Heiser, by
most accounts the elder statesman among American religious in Rome. Heiser, a
remarkably robust 93 years old, did his first stint in Rome as a student from
1928 to 1932, during the pontificate of Pius XI. He has been living in Rome
full-time since 1960.
His experience, Heiser said, has given him an appreciation for the
strengths of American religious, but has also made him wary of their flaws.
Were too open sometimes, he said in an interview
at the Conventual residence in Romes Piazza of the Holy Apostles.
Heiser worked in the Vaticans Congregation for Religious
from 1972 to 1984, and he said that over the years American independence
sometimes became disobedience, a defiance of authority he doesnt
understand.
Im happy to bow my judgment to the pope because he has
a special grace, Heiser said. If whatever he says is subject to
change, in due time the Holy Spirit will bring that out. Meantime we ought to
go along with it.
Still, Heiser and other observers agree that the days of pitched
battles between American congregations and Rome are largely over.
Regan of the Holy Union sisters said the American can-do spirit is
seen as a positive thing, but care must be taken so that confidence
doesnt shade off into arrogance.
We always have to watch ourselves, as men and women of the
dominant culture in the world, she said. We have to keep our eyes
and ears open to other ways of doing things.
Its a point that religious from other cultures
underscore.
Theres a stereotype that the Americans believe
whatever is good for them is automatically good for the society or good for the
church, said Jesuit Fr. Jose de Vera, a Spaniard who serves as the press
spokesperson for the Jesuit master general.
I dont think thats 100 percent correct, but
theres some truth to it, de Vera said.
So much for what American religious bring to Rome. What do they
take away?
First, a personal sensitivity for the staggering diversity in the
Catholic world.
Francis, originally from Chicago, said this lesson was driven home
for him just days after he took office as superior of the 800-strong Viatorian
congregation. By tradition, an official photograph of the new superior had to
go out to all Viatorian residences.
Hence the choice: Roman collar or tie?
For some of our members, especially in France and Spain,
wearing the collar put me immediately in the integralist camp, Francis
said, referring to the far-right Catholics in Europe. Whereas for others,
clerical dress is what youre expected to wear in a formal
setting.
The Viatorians have members in such diverse locales as French
Canada, Ivory Coast, Japan and Belize, in addition to Europe.
Francis Solomonic solution was to have two portraits taken,
one in a tie and one in a Roman collar, and let individual houses choose which
to put in the place of honor. It was a crash course in how even the smallest
decision gets complicated when you have to worry about how it plays all over
the world.
Regan said Americans in Rome tend to learn a bit of patience.
Being here puts things in perspective, she said.
What is of the moment in a country with a short history can take on
overwhelming proportions.
In Rome, Regan said, you learn to take a long
view.
John L. Allen Jr. is NCRs Rome correspondent. His
e-mail address is jallen@natcath.org
National Catholic Reporter, March 1, 2002
[corrected 03/08/2002]
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