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Got a Vocation? Call a Lawyer.
There is an interesting and kind of disturbing article out by the New York Times called “Where Faith Abides, Employees Have Few Rights” (October 9, 2006). The article gives several examples of people, including a Roman Catholic novice, who appealed to the legal system when they felt that their rights had been violated by religious organizations.
The Roman Catholic novice was dismissed from a religious community after being diagnosed with breast cancer. In the complaint which the woman made to a lawyer, she said that the leaders of the community had concluded that she was “not called to our way of life.” The woman lost her home, job, and health insurance (after being diagnosed with cancer!). Now the article does not say if the community made any provisions for the woman nor does it say if there were any other mitigating circumstances for the community’s decision; still, the situation does appear rather grim. The woman’s complaint was dismissed in court because the judge decided it was “an ecclesiastical decision” that was “beyond the reach of the court” because “the First Amendment requires churches to be free from government interference in matters of church governance and administration.”
This is not good news. Of all organizations, one would think that religious organizations would step up to the plate and protect and even surpass their employees or members’ rights. I find that the judge’s decision to dismiss the case to be a cop out. After all, basic human rights are involved here. A violation of rights is a violation of rights, whether you are a novice in a religious community or an “ordinary” citizen of the United States.
What disturbs me even more is that a person’s vocation to religious life (or other religious ministry) seems to have a dollar amount affixed to it (the argument being that it’s too costly to care for someone going through cancer or some other health disaster). I know that’s a somewhat harsh assessment of the situation. I know that women who are in positions of leadership and in formation work must struggle with a situation like the one described above. The community leader in particular has the difficult task of taking care of not only the potential member but also the community that already exists. I’ve not been in leadership or formation work so I only see it from my (limited) perspective. But still, I just don’t get it. From a business/financial point of view, I do get the need to limit liability and cut any potential losses (that sounds so wrong when applied to a person’s life). But from a spiritual and moral point of view, how does this happen? How does a person’s life measure up on a spreadsheet? How, after a woman or man discerns with the community, that is, they seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, is it possible that a change in one’s health (which is NOT equivalent with a change in one’s essential person or call) can so sway the discernment process? Was the Holy Spirit off?
This is a serious issue for any person considering joining a religious community or entering into the ministry of any religious organization. How do we give ourselves over to the discernment process and the direction of the Holy Spirit while at the same time “protect” our own personal interests (like not losing our livelihood, health insurance, or home) from possible transgression by the community of which we are (or aspire to be) a member? These two things should not be at odds; however, the New York Times article suggests that they just might be.
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Although health care costs for a woman with breast cancer might be burdensome to a community, I don’t think it absolves them of their duty to help her find some alternative. We don’t know if there were other reasons for her dismissal, but if there weren’t then this is truly a problem.
The big problem I see is that health care is treated as a commodity in the United States. This is the reality in the United States, if a person has enough money to pay or enough education, experience, and connections to land a job with a health care benefit, then they get good health insurance. Otherwise, they may not, either because they make too much money in a job that does not offer health care or are in an area that has poor or nearly non-existant public health care.
A while back I read a Wall Street Journal article about how big health insurance companies get bigger discounts on medical services than people with no insurance and who are barely making ends meet. We definitely need to look at health care with a view towards making good care accessible to those who don’t have the advantages of money, education, experience, or connections.
All that is required is compassion when it comes to healthcare, or at least that is all that is required in a world without irresponsible capitalist economies and irresponsible governments. Not all economies have to be shark tanks and not all governments have to be inept and into passing laws to keep themselves in power and in the money.
But, that is the way that this country and countries around the world work. I would love to have government supported socialized medicine if I could trust our government any more than I could trust insurance companies. But I can’t.
A great model to check into is the Geshundhit (excuse my spelling) Institute run by Patch Adams. Yes, the same Robin Williams goof ball character is a real person who is doing something that really floors me with its audacity. He is not just a clown, although he does work with this communal clown group called Stone Kitchen. He runs a real full time hospital in Virginia staffed by doctors and nurses who have in effect taken a vow of poverty. The hospital takes no payment and lives off of the donations of others. People pay for operations with vegetables and mittens. And it is a real hospital, not just a small clinic.
This is a good model, but difficult to follow. First of all doctors have bills like no other when it comes to their education. We all know it takes them until they are well into their 40s to pay off these bills. So in part, the high price of medical care is somewhat related to the high price of the education that the doctors must pay off. Of course, it need not be stated that insurance companies, hospital conglomerates, and the almighty drug companies are the main culprits to driving up cost.
Another problem is the way we treat our doctors. Malpractice is a reality. However, just because someone dies it is not always the fault of the doctor. The price of this insurance for doctors is another factor of the high price of medicine.
This post has really swerved away from the issue at hand. Sorry. Back to the point.
I would have thought that of all organizations organized in this world, religious communities would take care of their own. I’ve always taken communities such as these as a real model of communal living where individuals benefit from the works of each other and outside communities benefit from the work of individuals within the community or the community as a whole. The fact that this has happened saddens me. It has bursted a naive bubble.
One needs to have hope and belief that religious communities and communities such as the one run by Patch Adams can show the rest of the world how to create fair and compassionate economies and governments until, daresay I’m getting utopian, economies and governments are not necessary. Maybe that is the kingdom.
I’m not quite awake yet…did the author mention which order it was?
I think this is only one issue behind a bigger one of religious vocations in this country and how they’re affected by social policy. For instance, a lot of orders require college or life experience, but to go to college these days requires student loans. Student loans–as I found out–do disqualify you from the vocation process in many cases, but by the time the loans are paid off, the person’s too old by many communities’ standards.
In my case, things worked out for the best, anyway. I met a wonderful man, and I got into a doctorate program in my field. But I often wonder “what if?” If I hadn’t gone to college in the first place, I doubt I would’ve encountered the rule of St. Benedict. If I hadn’t done that, I probably wouldn’t be a practicing Catholic today. There are so many webs and coincidences that make up one’s life, I don’t know if the vocation process as it is today adequately allows for it. It seems like the process is still desgined for people who grow up with religious profession in mind.
Like the issue of healthcare…I know some novitiate programs require the novice to have his/her own health insurance for that period. What if they can’t afford it? Lord knows I can’t afford my own health insurance, along with a lot of other people.
No easy answers to anything, it seems.
1. My understanding of discerning a genuine vocation is that the ‘call’ is two pronged. Called by God, and called by Community/Church. If the two are there and all else is in order a candidate proceeds to vows.
2. A novice is not a full fledged member of a community. Not until she makes her vows.
Although this case is sad, it seems to be receiving some erroneous press due to misunderstanding the rules of the institution.
Thanks for all the comments …
Chris … the health care issue is a big one. I do like the Patch Adams (the real one) approach. We’ve got to be willing to meet people’s needs even if it means going an unconventional route like having an organization that is willing to take every person that comes through the door and trust that the donations will come in.
Jen … the article only mentioned that the community is in Toledo. I agree with your comments. I’m glad that things did work out for you. There are always so many “what if’s” in life. God always has a way of working in spite of the bizarre things that happen to us (or that we bring on ourselves). Still, I wonder if we’ve set up unbreachable fences (e.g., go to college, but we can’t accept you if you have debts or are over a certain age). Yet there are communities that find a way to nuance or creatively interpret what might seem like set-in-stone rules. Regardless, we definitely need to need to scrutinize ourselves and our entrance policies to ensure that we are not excluding anyone unfairly.
Barbara … thanks for your comment. Yes, to my knowledge that is how it goes — a vocation is two-pronged. I also agree that the media definitely has a field day with “news items” such as this. There is so much more going on, and how a community goes through a discernment process is something that is not likely to be reported on. It’s difficult enough to understand it from within religious life let alone from outside.
This comment is actually for the post about about the outcast novice… that kind of scares me since I am discerning a religious vocation! However, I have complete faith in God that He will take care of me, so I’m not going to fret about it too much. =) God bless you.
Hi Anon … the story about the “outcast” novice is a bit unnerving. However, I think the bottom line is what you pointed out: faith in God that he will take care of us. There are all sorts of contrarieties in religious life just as there are in ordinary life. Plus, as Barbara pointed out, we are only getting a snippet of the full story which only God, the former novice, and the religious community really knew. I certainly can get caught up in the “what ifs” and the “that’s not fair” especially when I read an article like this one. But, you reminded me of the heart of the matter when discerning anything: trust in God. (Now that’s a good bit of sound bite theology!)
When I was discerning religious life, I went into it praying to God that I didn’t have a vocation. So I didn’t really think about my financial situation (student loans) until I was well along into the process. I spent all my time telling God NO all the while I was falling in love with this lifestyle with this community. Things did work out in the end in terms of financial stuff, but not without some serious discussions between myself and my community. It was only one piece (albeit an important piece) of a whole process of discernment. We are whole persons after all — our finances, health, political stances, careers, family obligations, etc. are not somehow separate from our discernment.
I think a story like this can serve to us better our awareness about the issues (financial, health, etc.) that we need to be in conversation about with a religious community when we are close to entering candidacy/postulancy. Formation personnel and leadership people are women of prayer and discernment. The same Spirit working in you is also working in them.
Oh wow, the Lord works in mysterious ways! Earlier, I was actually commenting back and forth with a man who left me a comment about how one of the reasons I am hesitant to attend a Catholic university is because I don’t want to have to worry about years of loans to work off! And then I came to your page and read this response to my comment! =)
It is something I am going to have to pray for guidance about. Hopefully you can access my blog at some point. I’m not sure why you are getting an error message. I will email you the direct links and perhaps that will work.
God bless you!