What a wonderful Pope. There was a Saintlike quality to him that successive Popes did not/do not possess. Pius XI had it too.
Look at the joy on the Pope;s face, and that of the people! Look at the joy on the face of that young Italian nun! Sad to think that before Vatican II, there were nearly 300,000 nuns in Italy alone (out of 1.1 million world wide from about 1954-1962. Today, there are only about 125,000 nuns in Italy, and most are in their 70's or over. Dozens of little communities of Italian nuns (which even in the magnificent days before Vatican II never had more than 200 nuns),have gone extinct since Vatican II. Some of the great Italian Orders, like Mother Cabrini's Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, (2,200 members before Vatican II but less than 300 members today.) will soon be just memories.
I wonder if there could be launched a movement among male and female religious, and among concerned laity, to promote and fund the establishment of traditional/traditionalist branches of many of these once great Orders, so that when the Vatican II branch dies out within a short span of years from now, the traditional branch, even if tiny, will carry on the work and legacy of the great Orders.
It's OPeration Rescue time!! Because as much as we'd like not to think it, even Orders that are still large (like the Jesuits or Franciscans) might have 17,000 and 13,400 members each, but their median age is so high (70's),and so few new members (only 2 new Jesuit priests in Italy this year, and 9 for all of Europe) that it only a matter of time before they are gone.
What a wonderful Pope. There was a Saintlike quality to him that successive Popes did not/do not possess. Pius XI had it too.
ReplyDeleteLook at the joy on the Pope;s face, and that of the people! Look at the joy on the face of that young Italian nun! Sad to think that before Vatican II, there were nearly 300,000 nuns in Italy alone (out of 1.1 million world wide from about 1954-1962. Today, there are only about 125,000 nuns in Italy, and most are in their 70's or over. Dozens of little communities of Italian nuns (which even in the magnificent days before Vatican II never had more than 200 nuns),have gone extinct since Vatican II. Some of the great Italian Orders, like Mother Cabrini's Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, (2,200 members before Vatican II but less than 300 members today.) will soon be just memories.
I wonder if there could be launched a movement among male and female religious, and among concerned laity, to promote and fund the establishment of traditional/traditionalist branches of many of these once great Orders, so that when the Vatican II branch dies out within a short span of years from now, the traditional branch, even if tiny, will carry on the work and legacy of the great Orders.
It's OPeration Rescue time!! Because as much as we'd like not to think it, even Orders that are still large (like the Jesuits or Franciscans) might have 17,000 and 13,400 members each, but their median age is so high (70's),and so few new members (only 2 new Jesuit priests in Italy this year, and 9 for all of Europe) that it only a matter of time before they are gone.