NEW EMERGING LAY COMMUNITIES

Pope John Paul II, of holy memory, and our present beloved Pope Benedict XVI, both have shown great interest in the new movements among the laymen. They used to attend the meetings of these lay movements in Rome. Thus, a Congregation has been set up to regulate and monitor their activities. The Cursillo in Christianidad, in which I had been very active in the early years of my priesthood, has just received Vatican recognition. Pope Pius XII was the first to notice this movement in the Catholic Church, and inspired by it, encouraged its development and instructed Bishops to cooperate in what he thought was a clear movement of the Holy Spirit within a troubled Church.

This is not new. In the history of the Catholic Church, whenever the Church needed renewal, God raises laymen to renew her. St. Francis of Assisi would be a classic case. And while there were great figures who dominated the renewal scene, a strong undercurrent of lay movements was present everywhere. It was this fact that made Pope Pius XII notice the emergence of lay movements in these times, like the Opus Dei, Cursillos, Focolare, etc.

Let us look at a brief moment in history and make an important observation. Circa 900 A.D. was described as the Dark Ages for civilization and calamitous for the Papacy with Rome in turmoil. Immediately evident was the reform in the Ecclesiastical level with St. Peter Damian, a Benedictine, beginning his reform around the year 1000 A.D. which begun the Ascent and Descent Chapter of the history of the Church. St. Peter Damian’s reform was carried on by the Gregorian Popes initiated by Pope Gregory VII, a Benedictine. The reform was further enhanced by a movement from Cluny, a Benedictine Abbey that was ruled by four consecutive saintly Abbots. Further on we see St. Dominic de Guzman in the middle of the frey. The Church never lacked holy Popes and Saints to sustain the Church.

But note that from the time of St. Peter Damian to St. Dominic, for instance, there was a very strong lay movement where these groups lived in imitation of the first Christians as described in Acts of the Apostles. These laymen were living lives that put the clergy to shame. These lay movements may be divided into two groups. First, those who lived as the first Christians did using Scriptures as their only guide, especially the Acts where the first Christian communities were described by Luke. And secondly those who did exactly the same thing but placed themselves under a Rule. Though the Rule of Saint Benedict was the favorite, around the time of St. Dominic the Rule of St. Augustine became popular. The observation is this: those whose only guide was Scriptures easily strayed into heresy. While those who were guided by a Holy Rule as well continued in their orthodoxy.

Today, we have many similar lay movements, but most of them are depending completely on Scriptures alone for guidance and the private interpretation of Scriptures of their founders. They are in danger because the sources of Catholic teaching is both Scriptures and Tradition plus the Magisterium of the Church. The Holy Rules specify how the Gospel is to be lived. To depend on Sola Scriptura, even if it is the Bible, is definitely dangerous; “Beware of the man with one book,” warns St. Thomas of Aquinas. Pope Benedict XVI has often hinted on the use of the Rule of St. Benedict as an added guide. He could also suggest the Rule of St. Augustine, being a lover of the saint, or other Rules as well. But St. Benedict’s Rule, having been the main force in the conversion of pagan Europe, is what we probably need in our present time since we have returned to paganism. (Painting by Sodoma “Stories of St. Benedict,” 1503.)