The religious vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience are anything but popular right now. I was struck recently by Barry Gault’s essay, “Society Men: What I Learned from the Jesuits,” in the April 22 issue of Commonweal. Gault is a psychiatrist, and his essay, using as examples his Jesuit high school and college professors, suggests that the vows may tend to prevent people from growing up.
The essay continued to gnaw at me, especially because, although it was obvious that the author was trying to deal thoughtfully with the topic, there seemed to be little understanding of what it means to live the vows. I soon realized that I needed to write a response. So I sent a letter to the editor, which can be found on the Commonweal website under the heading “Living the Vows,” as well as in the print version of the magazine.
Here is what I wrote:
I realize that Barry Gault, wrestling with what he calls “a painful paradox,” is asking anguished questions in the latter part of his essay, rather than stating firm conclusions. However, the implications of those questions may be misleading on at least two fronts: first, the familiar suggestion that celibacy makes sexual abuse more likely; and second, the notion that living the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience tends to preclude the encounter with reality required for human maturity.
Although I am no advocate of mandatory celibacy for diocesan clergy, I am convinced of its value for those who are called to it. Statistics on abuse are hard to come by, both because of the predisposition Gault notes to cover up scandal, as well as the lack of centralization among many Protestant churches; but what data I have seen seems to indicate that sexual abuse of minors is as frequent among noncelibate Protestant clergy as it is among Catholic priests. (The Baptist Web site EthicsDaily.com is one of several valuable resources on the topic.) Needless to say, this should be no source of congratulation for Catholics, because even one case of abuse is too many.
As for the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, Gault asks, “However admirable in the purity of their moral rigor, might not these principles forfend some of the most difficult challenges of full adulthood?” On the contrary, far from removing one from a confrontation with those “three great forces” of the adult world—wealth, sex, and power—living the vows obliges one to come to terms with them, if the vows are to be lived in a holy manner. To consider only the first of these forces: the complacent greed of an unscrupulous CEO is not so far removed from the petty possessiveness of a sister guarding her space or her few belongings. Neither has confronted adequately the mighty pull of material treasure.
So if Gault’s professors were immature, it was not because of the vows they made—though I readily admit that a superficial understanding of religious vows can indeed foster immaturity, just as a superficial understanding of marriage vows can do the same thing.
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“Dream Feet on the Journey” photo by Rose Hoover, rc
Tags: celibacy, sexual abuse, vows
and the last two lines. The other sources of the prayer are multiple.
It has happened to me more than once. I’ll be in a big city temporarily – usually it’s Chicago, gritting my teeth as I try to maneuver the car safely in the traffic along Fullerton Parkway or on the Eisenhower Expressway, or feeling isolated and harried among the sidewalk crowds on Clark Street.