Chai Brady
Modern existential anxiety is vocation opportunity, reports Chai Brady
Apathy among young people, unawareness of the option of religious life and the invisibility of religious orders in the public sphere are some of the challenges highlighted by Irish vocational directors.
Negative public perception of Church organisations and the lack of peers in religious life have also been cited as major influences in the lack of vocations, a report has revealed.
The research project, Religious Vocations in Ireland: Challenges and Opportunities, was conducted on behalf of Vocations Ireland and included anonymous interviews with nine religious and vocational directors and one lay vocational promoter.
The effect of a postmodern Ireland and the current perception of the Catholic Church on vocations were hot topics, with one interviewee saying: “The crisis of vocation is about the public perception of the institutional Church.”
While another said it was not so much a crisis of vocation, but a crisis of Faith in relation to God.
Public narrative
Mainstream media was blamed in part for young peoples’ idea of the Church, with some directors saying there is a need to take back the public narrative relating to Catholic orders.
“The new generation is apathetic; they feel we are irrelevant, paedophiles; they have no idea. They get their ideas from the media. They have no sense of history and no commitment to any institutions…new ways have to be found: meditation groups, as they are open for that,” said one director.
Documenting the rise and fall of vocations in Ireland the report – conducted by Dr Noelia Molina – focused on how the processes of secularisation, postmodernity and the move away from traditional practices impacted the Irish Catholic identity.
Acknowledging that the single biggest challenge for Irish Catholicism is the evidence compiled by Justice Yvonne Murphy regarding the Church’s handling of sex abuse cases, she notes the important role the media played in encouraging transparency among the hierarchy. “Ultimately, it was the media that forced the Church and State authorities to start dealing with child sexual abuse,” she writes.
However, Dr Molina also says that the media “has also written a lot of rubbish about religion with great ignorance”.
“Many religious members in Ireland are stepping in and out of hope and hopelessness and feel deeply hurt by media reports,” Dr Molina writes, adding that there is a “misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the Catholic Church by the media”.
“In view of all these challenges, the post-secular and post-Catholic climate in Ireland, along with the abuse cases and the loss of moral authority, have forced the Irish Catholic Church into a spiritual crisis.”
The vocational directors were also critical of some of the Church hierarchy in relation to their decisions on vocations, which they say have added to their job challenges.
“Some bishops think bringing other congregations into the country may bear fruits, but now we share in the vocation journey and loads of orders are in competition. There is even a fear to work collectively in religious groups around the vocation question. Unity is a witness to the world but it is very disunited at the moment,” one person said.
Another anonymous director said that vocation is not taken seriously by “higher leaders”, and with the Pope coming to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families “we could do a big event in vocation but the higher hierarchy do not want to get involved”.
Despite the challenges, several ways of nurturing vocations in the modern era were identified, with online resources such as social media featuring prominently as a way to encourage potential candidates to meet peers.
Dr Molina notes that rather than people becoming less spiritual in the modern era, there is more than ever a search for meaning and purpose. There is existential anxiety and “how the Catholic message and teachings can help in filling that void is very crucial”.
While the research honed in on the various issues or experiences vocational directors, guidance counsellors and chaplains have had when discussing religious life, overall their outlook was positive for the future.
In interviews with six young religious people – five were novices or in temporary vows and one had made perpetual vows – they described how they received each of their spiritual callings.
The ability to research religious life using online resources such as blogs and Youtube allow young people considering it to see what others are experiencing. With the majority of vocation directors in the study saying the two main challenges for those considering the religious life are the lack of peers and isolation, online resources seem invaluable in educating people about the experience of others who are already living that life.
One of the young religious people said: “I think a Twitter page is important and Facebook. I read the American ones. The American novices have collaborative novices and they write a blog the first year. I read it and I felt, that is me, that is my life.”
Offering discernment programmes, using new media and having an online presence to attract young people and creating a network for potential candidates to meet peers were seen almost unanimously as being some of the best tools to nurture religious vocation.
A commitment to youth ministry was seen to be another important factor in promoting vocations, with vocation directors saying that by engaging in spiritual direction a culture of vocation can be instilled in young people.
Theme
A recurrent theme during the interviews was a frustration at the lack of time available in the ministry of vocations as many of the interviewees were working full jobs at the same time.
Dr Molina states: “The study highlights the significance of producing a spiritual literacy that connects and reassures young people, and which creates groups, weekends, and daily spaces for them to find solace.”
Although the modern generation does not seem to be interested in institutional religion, it appears they are receptive to “spiritual authenticity and genuine narratives of experience”.
It appears adapting to modern times and being open to new ways of engaging in vocations is the only way to encourage them.