Several years ago, Pope Francis approved the Instruction promulgated by the Dicastery for Consecrated Life called Cor orans. This document laid out precise directions for the updating of the life of contemplative nuns. One of the most startling directions was to extend the time for initial formation, that is, the time from the entry of a woman into a contemplative community up to final or solemn profession, which definitively establishes her as a full member of the community. Before Cor orans, the time of initial formation had commonly been approximately five years. Now initial formation extends to a full nine years and includes a whole year of aspirancy before the candidate enters as a postulant.

One of the reasons for this startling directive was the fact that each year there were a shocking number of contemplative nuns asking Rome to dispense them from their vows. These were women who had fulfilled the requirements of initial formation, had asked to make final profession, had been approved by the community and who had publicly vowed to live according to their Constitutions until their death. Then, five, ten, twenty-five years later they decided that they could no longer fulfill that commitment. They wanted to leave the contemplative, religious life.

One of the reasons for initial formation is for the candidate and the community to discern whether or not this woman is called by God to this monastery, and whether or not she has the physical, psychological and spiritual abilities to live the life of that community. If women were asking to leave the religious life, then this discernment had been defective. The system was broken.

I titled this article “A Parable on Immigration,” but it is not quite a parable, for a parable is a fictional story that sheds light on a certain situation. What I am presenting here has nothing fictional about it. It is all too real and actual. However, I do believe that it does shed light on the immigration discussion presently heard around the United States and elsewhere. So, rather than calling it a “parable,” perhaps a more correct term would be “parallel,” for it describes a situation that parallels many aspects of our present immigration situation. This article presents a microcosm that can shed some light on the macrocosm of immigration. But actually, doesn’t every parable present a parallel situation to the reality under consideration?

Entering the Cloister

A contemplative community of nuns is a close gathering of women called by God to live in community and to witness to a certain aspect of the kingdom of heaven. The aspect of “being called” is why we speak of a “vocation,” i.e. a “calling” to the contemplative life. Since God rarely speaks in actual words and very few women say that they have heard Him tell them that He wants them in this monastery, (it does happen, but it is very rare), it is the duty of the candidate and the community to discern if that woman is actually called to this community.

This discernment entails a deep investigation of the desires, the understanding, the intentions and the abilities of the candidate on the part of the community. On the part of the candidate, it demands an investigation of the way of life and the spirituality of the community. Both sides need to be open to each other and willing to ask and to answer difficult and searching questions.

Often, the investigation is simple and quickly accomplished. It becomes clear to the candidate that she is looking for something else that does not seem to exist here in this monastery. It usually becomes equally clear to the community that this enquirer is looking for something that is better found in another community or another way of life. Both sides learn from the experience and both the candidate and the community part in amiable agreement and the assurance that they will pray for each other.

It can also happen that the community is willing to accept the candidate, but that she decides that this is not what she is looking for. Again, both sides part with the assurance of mutual prayers. No community really wants to rope in a woman who doesn’t want to be there! In spite of certain imaginary scenarios, there are no trap doors in the floors of convent parlors ready at the push of a button to drop the visitor into a chute sliding her through the cloister door!

Unfortunately, there is also the case where the community has recognized that, for various reasons, the candidate does not have a vocation to that monastery, while at the same time, the candidate firmly believes that she belongs here and insists on her right to enter against the decision of the community. A religious vocation, being a call from God, is a special charism, and every charism must be tested and confirmed by the Church. The Magisterium has established that it is the duty and right of the community or the religious institute to recognize the reality of a vocation. This means that the individual cannot insist on joining a community against that community’s decision. Usually, depending on the institute’s constitutions, this decision is made by a vote of the Chapter, that is, of the nuns in final vows. (This is an important act of synodality in religious communities.)

We see from all this that there exists a clear parallel between joining a religious community and immigration. We cannot allow just everyone who says they have a vocation to enter the cloister. There is a process of discernment, and this process has certain guidelines but is essentially a personal journey of mutual discovery.

Problems Within the Cloister

Unfortunately, as I wrote above, we are seeing that the system is broken, and it has been broken for a long time. In fact, I would say that it has been broken for a couple of hundred years, and it is only now in the process of being fixed. It was broken because too much emphasis was placed on the number of members in a community or in an institute, rather than on recognizing the reality of the call of those asking to enter. Women who did not have a vocation, who did not have the abilities to live the life, were accepted and approved for final vows, and years later, everyone realized that a serious mistake had been made. With the result that hundreds of nuns have asked to be released from their vows, and others have been dismissed.

What should be done when it becomes clear that a candidate is not suitable for the life of the community? With us, when we first get to know a woman who is inquiring about a vocation and, if she is accepted as a postulant or even later as a novice, if we find that she is really not called to our community, we tell her that God does indeed have a vocation laid out for her, but it lies elsewhere; it is not with us. Usually, she has a family to whom she can return. If she doesn’t, if there is nowhere for her to go, then we do what we can to help her get on her feet once she has left the monastery. She is a child of God, dearly beloved, and made in the image of God. One does not throw an icon into the gutter, and one does not throw a child of God onto the street. That is no way to honor God. To dishonor the image does dishonor to the Original. Moreover, the city does not need more homeless people to care for. In Christian charity and simple prudence, we must do what we can to help her. This is even more necessary if she has been a member of the community for a number of years and has made final vows. As Carmelites, we are bound to act thus, for our Constitutions state, “Insofar as possible, sisterly relations are to be maintained with those who have left the Order. Those who leave or who are dismissed cannot demand anything of the monastery for any activity whatsoever carried out in it. The monastery, however, according to its resources, will meet their needs with equity and charity, and also help them spiritually to follow their Christian calling.”[i]

Differing Parallel

We see here a difference between the consideration of a religious vocation and a certain attitude unfortunately prevalent in certain circles of the immigration discussion. In both situations, it is recognized that the community has the duty to evaluate the application of every person seeking to join the community, and also to take steps to remove them when they prove unsuitable. However, the recognition of the dignity of the person comes primarily – and perhaps, only – with the belief that each person is created in the image of God and should be treated as such. “What you do to the least of my brethren you do to Me.”[ii] To show someone the door and to deport them can be just if they prove detrimental to the community. To dump them on the street or in an unsafe country is a simple expedient that treats people like unwanted furniture. As we have seen, it is unjust toward the person and also to the city or country who must now take responsibility for them. A just and charitable solution calls for cooperation between the community and the city or country. How this should be managed in a way that is consistent with Christian values is a demanding question. How we answer that question shows where we stand in regard to Christian values.

Inadequate Intentions

As we have seen, both a religious community and a country have the right and duty to evaluate candidates for entry. But what about those persons who slip through the cracks? With the recognition that vocational evaluation has been wanting in the past (it was not unheard of that a candidate was accepted without the vote of the community, simply because the superior liked her), it is hopefully less common for women to enter a religious community without a call to the religious life, simply because they want silence and solitude, or even because they want the safety of living in the cloister against the threat of a dangerous world. So, what are we to think about those members who really don’t have a vocation but who have been accepted as members of the community?

This parallels the situation of those people who entered the country without passing through the evaluating process. Candidates who entered with no real supernatural intention and immigrants who entered illegally are present to the respective communities in a similar status. Physically and actively present, yet not present in the full sense of being members of the community.

What we have seen concerning undocumented immigrants who endanger the inhabitants of the country, corresponds to those religious members whose presence disrupts and can even endanger the other members of the community. In both cases, the community has the duty to remove them from the community. If the violence falls under the demands of the law, then they should be dealt with as the law details. However, again, we find that the application of Christian values can seriously alter the manner with which the person is dealt with. Here it is necessary to follow the dictates of Catholic teaching on prison ministry, which is outside of the scope of this article.

Turning to the case of candidates who entered with no supernatural intention and to those immigrants who have committed no crime except that of undocumented entry, we find a teaching from an unexpected source that, to my mind, fits both situations. Surprisingly, St. Teresa of Jesus addressed this question in discussing vocations to her monasteries. In her day, in 16^th century Spain, the situation of women who could not find a husband was serious. There was almost no alternative to the cloister. Single women either had to make a living on their own, or enter a religious community, which at that time were all cloistered.

In advising about possible candidates, Teresa writes, “I truly believe that the Lord highly favors the one who has real determination. Thus, the intention of the new member should be considered, lest she merely be looking for a secure future, as will be the case with many, although the Lord can bring this intention to perfection if she has good intelligence; but if she doesn’t, in no way should she be accepted, for neither will she understand why she is entering, nor afterward will she understand those who desire to lead her along the best spiritual path.” [iii]

As we find, there are a number of situations where someone can be considered an undocumented immigrant. As Teresa advises for candidates, their intention should be closely scrutinized. Are they willing to take the trouble to regularize their situation? Are they willing to become integrated into the community? In such a case, with such a disposition, why not help them to fulfill the requirements for becoming full members of the community?

Objections and Justification

This article was inspired by several exchanges of comments on a social media site called SmartCatholics. The underlying assumption – as the name indicates – is that the members are committed Catholics who want to live their faith in an intelligent manner. Since the article was inspired by the comments of such people, the basic approach that I have taken is that of applying Catholic principles to two similar, practical situations.

Obviously, those who do not share the Catholic principles inherent to the Catholic faith will object to this whole approach. That is understandable and I expect to receive negative comments from such people.

Another group of people who will object to the suggestions presented here will be those who want a quick and simple end to the practical problems obvious in the present immigration situation. I do not say that they want a solution because a solution implies making the effort to resolve a problem. The problems are multiple and resolving them will demand time and effort. Putting an end to the problems without attempting to resolve them avoids such effort. Those who advocate that path will object to the suggestions presented here as being too demanding and too slow.

It is said that, when Karol Wojtyla was Archbishop of Cracow, he had two questions when discussing the various problems in the parishes: What passage in the Gospel sheds light on this situation? What can we do about it?

I hope that I have followed his approach with my considerations here.

Notes:

[i] Constitutions of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns, 1991, # 198; see canon 702

[ii] Matt. 25, 40; cf. also Matt. 25, 45

[iii] “Way of Perf.” 14, 1

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Featured Image: Statue of Liberty at Sunset. Adobe Stock. By muratani.

Other images: Inscription over an enclosure door in a monastery (provided by author)/Plaque on the Statue of Liberty (source: By Threefingered – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=82085243).

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Text of the Poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”