VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
Joshua J. McElwee | Apr. 13, 2015
VATICAN CITY Pope Francis has warned against letting the lower numbers of people entering Catholic religious life from influencing decisions about who is healthy and able to take lifelong vows as a priest, brother or sister.
On Saturday, the pope told a meeting of an estimated 1,200 formation directors for religious orders they must be “lovingly attentive” to those they are guiding so that “the eventual crisis of quantity does not result in a much graver crisis of quality.”
“Vocational discernment is important,” Francis said.
He continued: “All the people who know the human personality — may they be psychologists, spiritual fathers, spiritual mothers — tell us that young people who unconsciously feel they have something unbalanced or some problem of mental imbalance or deviation unconsciously seek strong structures that protect them, to protect themselves.”
“There is the discernment: to know to say no,” said the pope, referring to formation directors who tell young people that religious life may not be for them.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.