Who Are My Brothers: Cleric Lay Relationships in Men's Religious Communities

by Philip Armstrong

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0818905336
• ISBN13: 9780818905339
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: Alba House
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A book that retains its relevance a decade later

I am neither the publisher nor the author of the book, but am the editor whose name appears on the book.Often works of this nature tend to become dated almost at once and are cast off by potential readers who have only now come into contact with the book and who, with a quick glance at the publication date, presume there is nothing relevant for them any longer in the contents.Not so. The topic of this book--the state of relationships between clerical and lay religious men (i.e., between priests and brothers)--is as current today as it was when the work was commissioned by the Conference of Major Superiors of Men in the late eighties. The chapters are comprised of topical articles written by experienced individuals expert in their field--theology, sociology, education, psychology, monasticism, canon law, history--and offer a broad perspective of issues at work in creating both helps and hindrances toward the smooth collaboration between clerical and lay vowed ! religious in congregations of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States and their expression of due respect and regard for one another.The book is divided into three sections: studies of the development of relational situations existing today from several viewpoints; experiential and anecdotal narratives revealing elements contributing to relational situations; and a summary of a statistical study made at the time that delves into attitudes that help form relational situations between priests and brothers in either the same or different religious communities of men.Because of the very deliberate pace at which Rome--the Vatican--marches in investigating and seeking resolution to matters proposed for consideration by the Church, the topic of EQUALITY of opportunity in elective congregational offices, at the heart of a good bit of the tension still existing between clerical and lay religious, has yet to be the subject of a definitive statement by the Pope, the Congrega! tion for Religious Institutes, or the Canon Law Institute. ! Opinion in some circles still holds that the sacrament of orders bestows certain juridically non-transferable capabilities upon its recipients, and therefore non-ordained religious, i.e., lay religious, cannot be juridically equal to their clerical confreres, and hence cannot exercise equal authority as congregational leaders, even in areas not related to jurisdiction. Rome continues its study of this issue. In the meantime the arguments for and against total equality remain as urgently relevant as they were a decade ago. Today's reader may take up the book knowing that its contents likely could not have been to any significant degree updated except by peripheral and anecdotal material.