Vatican to investigate lay community
Extracts from story:
The women belong to the order's lay wing, Regnum Christi, a global community of some 70,000 Catholics in more than 30 countries who have families and regular jobs yet participate in the mission of bringing people closer to Christ.
Only about 900 are consecrated - nearly all women, but also a handful of men. They give up possessions and ties to their former lives much in the way nuns or priests do. They adhere to Vatican-approved statutes that require them to "voluntarily renounce the use of their capacity for decision-making" - pledging unswerving obedience to their superiors.
and
Such inquiries have been carried out only rarely, including the probe of U.S. seminaries after the sex abuse scandal exploded in 2002. While there have been no sex abuse allegations within Regnum Christi, the problems uncovered in the Legion - abuse of authority, suppression of dissent and a power structure built on unswerving obedience - are also rampant in consecrated life.
"While there have been no sex abuse allegations within Regnum Christi, the problems uncovered in the Legion - abuse of authority, suppression of dissent and a power structure built on unswerving obedience - are also rampant in consecrated life."
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there are one or more well articulated theories that try to explain why some people would enter a situation where they give unswerving obedience to some authority perceived as more knowledgeable, wiser, and benevolent.
Ah well ... this might explain it just as much as anything else:
"There's a sucker born every minute."
- Unknown Con Artist (circa 1860)
Lawsuits pending over alleged abuse at Baptist megachurch.
ReplyDeletehttp://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PASTOR_ABUSE_ALLEGATIONS?SITE=MOCOD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT