Why People Enter the IVE - Part II

This is the second part of a two post series.  For part one go here.

In our previous post we explained how the IVE fills up about two-thirds of its seminary and novitiate with men who, because of personal issues, circumstance, and impediments, could not have been accepted into any other US seminaries. We discussed how these seminarians are with the IVE in large part because they have nowhere else to go and that many shouldn't be in a seminary at all.  We also outlined how putting these men in formation puts both the candidates and the community at risk.  

In this section we'll discuss the remainder of those joining the IVE - men who could probably get accepted into other seminaries - and we'll go over the reasons they consider and ultimately join the Institute.  If you are considering the IVE for any of the reasons we outline below, please be careful.  We are sympathetic to your concerns, but this is a case where the "cure" is likely worse than the disease.   Please exercise a patient, prayerful discernment with a good qualified spiritual director and discuss these issues below with him. 

Men looking to avoid modernist issues and gay subcultures

Many good men who are trying to properly discern a vocation in today's American Catholic Church are looking for a seminary and/or order that will give them some traditional formation and teaching, avoiding any modernist & heretical ideas and especially devoid of any gay subculture.  

By all accounts, avoiding gay subcultures in seminaries is probably much easier now than it used to be, but finding good, sound, traditional instruction in the classroom might still take some effort.  In the process of this search, some men will run across the IVE and think they may have found a viable option.  

Of course, there are other good legitimate orders out there that don't have any problems with a gay subculture or modernism, but these orders will have admission requirements and application processes.  The IVE, meanwhile, will let nearly everyone in with no paperwork required (see here.)  So when legitimate orders are asking for more info and trying to schedule interviews, the IVE are saying "yes, you can come right now, you shouldn't wait". (See more on how the IVE handle 'discernment' here.)  In this situation it's very easy to take the path of least resistance, call it "the will of God", and choose the Institute without finishing out the application process and discerning with these other orders.  

Some of these men that are entering the IVE are entering a seminary/order for the first time.  A few others are men who were previously at diocesan seminaries and may have had issues with modernism, gay subculture, or a lack of spirituality.  What these men have in common is that they are choosing the IVE not for what it is, but for what it isn't.  They are choosing it because it isn't heterical, isn't modernist, isn't gay.  There's usually nothing unique about the IVE that draws them, rather, they are just looking to avoid issues elsewhere.

Men with "St Paul Moments", drawn to spirituality

The second group (which overlaps with the first) are guys whose first contact with 'traditional' spirituality is with the IVE.  

There is a dearth of spirituality in today's church, especially at the diocesan level.  Many men discerning with a diocese or attending a diocesan seminary will have 'spirituality' presented to them as kumbaya therapy sessions:  Guru-types peddling 60's pscyho-babble, charismatic lay people wanting to pray over the audience, acoustical guitar sessions and folk singing.  These are referred to as "pizza-ministry", more centered around group-sharing and pizza than around Christ, silent prayer, and traditional Catholic worship.  

If this is what you are used to then your first experience with the IVE might seem like a spiritual epiphany.  IVE retreats might not always be well-run, but they generally involve a chapel, silence, and talks centered around the writings of St Ignatius.  However distorted these retreats are by the IVE, they will seem a welcome respite from the group-therapy offered by the pizza-ministry crowd. 

Men placed in this more traditional retreat environment often become immediately drawn and spiritually inspired and the IVE use that inspiration as an opportunity to recruit the retreat attendees.  These are what many call "St Paul moments" where one is inspired, on a "spiritual high", and quickly (ie. imprudently) makes a decision to join.  (Though we'll note that St Paul was not in reality so hasty: after his vision he went first to the desert and then waited three years before finally presenting himself to St Peter.)  

Men recruited during retreats or visits

It's important to recognize what these retreats really are.  The IVE seem very generous to have invited you and put on the retreat - often for free - but the reality is these retreats are like the free vacations offered by time-share companies.  You do get a free vacation, but you also get a sales pitch.  Just like the time-shares have you sit through high-pressure sales presentation each day, the IVE will absolutely use this opportunity to recruit.  We've posted on this before (see here), where - rather than respect explicit rules from St Ignatius not to push the discerner one way or the other - they will pressure attendees in this manner, both by the make-up of the retreat and during 1:1 confession and "spiritual direction."  

For some these retreats are traumatic.  Since they heavily focus on sin and they induce a heavy feeling of guilt.  For others, the silence in the chapel - possibly the most silent prayer they've ever had - puts them on a spiritual high.  We are aware of situations where the IVE have taken advantage of men and women in both situations to push the attendee towards vocation to the institute on the attendee - and this can't be said enough - in explicit violation of the rules laid down by St Ignatius. 

 Once people have made the decision to join, the IVE will make it very easy to enter, but some do reconsider.  In the latter cases, the IVE make it difficult for them to back out.  Their priests, especially superiors, are very practiced at dealing with persons who have come down from their spiritual high and wish to reconsider their decisions.  

They will distort the rules of St Ignatius ("you are in desolation and can't make a decision", "you already discerned this, you can re-discern it", etc.)  They will blame any doubts on the devil.  They will accuse you of not having the courage to serve God.  They'll even tell you it is a special Grace and your salvation could depend on entering.  

As we cover on our discernment page here, the IVE will never help you to actually discern whether you have a vocation or whether the IVE is right for you because almost none of them discerned these things themselves.  Instead they will encourage and sometimes pressure you to join because that's how they were treated and all they've known while at the Institute.

Offering these "retreats" is a regular tactic they use on guys coming from a diocesan seminary and/or guys with a close family or friend connection to the IVE or SSVM.  They continually invite them for a "retreat" and when the candidate finally relents, he'll often find out he is the only one attending.  

Just like the Legion of Christ before them, the IVE are only successful with this because your average diocese offers little in the way of organized spiritual formation.  Yet these sects are not the answer.   These groups are doing this only because it works as a hook to lure people in.  They aren't doing it because it's representative of who they are and what they live.  As we cover here, proper spiritual formation is not what you will get if you enter.

Guys with connections to the IVE or SSVM

The last characteristic of this group, as we allude to above, is that they often have connections to the IVE or SSVM.   Maybe it's a friend from school who joined the SSVM.  Maybe it's a sister or cousin that joined.  Sometimes it's even a brother.  

If you've ever been part of the Institute, you know the hospitality shown to an 'eligible' candidate.  Want to write a letter to your old protestant buddy with a girlfriend?  Sorry, there's no time for that.  Want to have coffee with your married brother who's in town?  Hmm, maybe better to have him visit at a group meal.   But bring up an eligible candidate like a little brother or a friend who is a seminarian somewhere else? Yes of course! Call him!  Email him! Tell him about the retreat, invite him to come stay, go have lunch with him!

It's doesn't take much convincing for those inside to reach out to these "eligible candidates" either.  Besides the fact that they are the only ones they can get quality time with, seminarians & sisters are constantly told how theirs is the "most meritorious" vocation and how their salvation could depend on them being there.  If they believe their superiors and if they really love their friends and siblings, wouldn't they want to give them the opportunity to be saved as well? 

These connections are encouraged and are used to bring eligible candidates in for retreats or to any of the many trips and events scheduled throughout the year.  Not everyone who gets invited to the European pilgrimage or WYD gets the hard sell, but there are always some that do. 

Guys that enjoy the elitism

Finally, you'll run across a small set of guys that just like the elitism the IVE offer.  If you are having a vocation conversation, it doesn't take long before you'll hear the IVE priest or even seminarian bad-mouthing diocesan seminaries or other orders.  The IVE truly believe their institute is the highest calling and they are going to tell you that.  

Some guys will know better, but the IVE have been doing this a long time.  They know that a lot of guys question the liberalism at other places and could be persuaded by this line of argument.  They also know that others like the idea of feeling "elite" and "special."  And let's face it:  if there is a guy mature and educated enough to be turned off by this behavior then the IVE don't really want him anyway.  They know he'd never stay and he might even end up reporting them to a Bishop.  

These men that go for the "elitism" - often against the advice of their spiritual directors - often end up being the "true believers."  They'll lecture kids on "perpetual discernment" at youth retreats.  They'll write papers as seminarians that pass judgement on the narcissm of other priests (while practicing the worst kind of clericalism themselves.)  The elitism was what drew them in and they'll continue to focus on the things they think makes them special. 

Nobody joins for the right reasons

In the end the guys that might actually have a shot at getting into a normal seminary and join the IVE instead will usually join for some combination of the above reasons.  If there's something they want or are interested in that's not covered above - no problem.  The IVE will tell them whatever they want to hear:  Contemplative branch?  We got that.  Graduate studies?  We got that.  Just enter, we have all that stuff you might want.

You see, these people don't join the IVE on account of any positive characteristics it might have.  They don't join the IVE for it's charism, because the IVE doesn't have one.  They don't join the IVE for its unique approach to spirituality, because the IVE doesn't have one.  Any positives the IVE have aren't particular to them: they are just the general positives of Catholicism that the IVE has adopted.  The good things the IVE offer to you via their carefully crafted image on websites and at events (Mass, adoration, cassocks, orthodoxy, retreats) are really just good things from catholicism that should be in any order or diocese, etc. 

Unfortunately, people are joining the IVE for negative reasons: because they aren't liberal, don't have obvious homosexual stuff going on, don't have obvious liturgical abuses, don't have any funny clerical dress.  

Don't fall into the trap

There are many people who want to believe in the Institute.  Yet they have confused the IVE with the image that the IVE falsely portrays.  

The Church has real problems right now.  The abuse scandal has frightened many.  Diocesan seminaries are not teaching what they should.  Many priests refuse to wear clericals.  There is little reverence for the Eucharist or teachings of the Church.  The list goes on.

As a result, people who want to pursue a religious or priestly vocation don't know where to go. The IVE (like the Legion of Christ before them) have taken advantage of this crisis. Many listen to what the IVE says, see the pictures of cassocked, smiling members and want to believe in this, want to be part of helping to rebuild the Church.  

The IVE promote themselves as the answer to all of these problems, but we assure you, they are not.  Take a look around this site, visit the IVE yourselves and you'll see we are telling you the truth. 

You can properly discern your vocation and get good formation for the priesthood.  There are good orders out there and good bishops, but like all good things, they will take some time and investment to discern and enter - but they (and God's will for your vocation) are worth it. 

Why People Enter the IVE - Part I

This is the first part of a two post series.  For part two go here.

The IVE love numbers

Although strangely reticent about the many who leave during formation and after ordination, the IVE still love to talk about numbers.  When you hear someone from the IVE talk about "bearing fruits", the fruits are invariably measured quantitatively by headcount: "This number of priests.  That number of people in formation.  This many novices."  Ask a priest how his parish is doing he'll tell you how many kids are in catechism and how many attended such and such retreat.   

These numbers not only matter to the IVE, but to prospective members as well.  After all, there is often "safety in numbers."  Numbers provide reassurance:  "Hey… They all joined... so it can't be that bad."  

People are thus reassured by the many pictures of large groups on IVE websites, their Facebook page, their Twitter, Google+, Flickr, Tumblr, etc.  The IVE know image matters. The constant presence of a photographer at IVE events is not an accident.  

Yet there is more than meets the eye

As we've mentioned before, once you scratch the surface and get beyond first impressions, the IVE are not all they seem to be.  Be it their history, formation, or poverty, there is always more to the story than what their leadership presents to the public.  That holds true in this case as well.  Once you lift the veil and understand what's behind these numbers, who has joined and why, the truth is much less reassuring.  

Five types enter because they have no place else to go

The first red flag is that most men are entering the IVE because they can't (or think they can't) get in anywhere else.  This group can be broken down into 5 categories: 

• Illegal aliens
• Older men who don't want to be a diocesan priest, but are too old for other orders
• Older men who are too old even for dioceses
• Men who have been kicked out of other seminaries
• Men with extenuating circumstances (lack sacraments, mental illnesses, etc.)

Let's take a look at each of these groups. 

Illegal Aliens - The American Church does not accept illegal aliens into its seminaries and neither do any orders who form candidates in America.  They all ask that men return to their country of legal residence to pursue a vocation, whether that means studying there or returning to the US to study with the proper visa.  There are some obvious reasons for this.  The first is that it's a violation of federal law to knowingly harbor individuals who are in violation of immigration law.  The second is that individuals who are entirely dependent on an order/diocese with no legal status are not entirely free to choose their vocation.

Yet this is exactly what the IVE does.  They regularly recruit young spanish-speaking illegal immigrants from their parishes.  Few have immediate family in the country.  These young men often have to rely on donations to even reach the seminary.  If they have any money left upon entering the novitiate, they are encouraged to give that money to the IVE.  There is no freedom of conscience or discernment for these men.  Their choice is to stay or to leave, destitute.  The only reason they can be ordained is because Cardinal McCarrick is complicit in the ordinations (note that they usually travel outside of Cardinal Wuerl's authority to perform these ordinations.)

Too old for religious orders - There are some men who choose the IVE because they feel called to be part of a order religious order as opposed to the diocesan priesthood, but are in their late 30's or 40's, which is usually over the age cut-off for these types of groups.  If this describes you, we'd really encourage you to cast a wide-net and reach out to as many orders as you can.  See here.  You have many more options than you think you do.  Even orders with stated age-limits make exceptions.  If age is really the limiting issue with orders, then consider reaching out to some conservative bishops.  If, after all this, the IVE is still the only group that will take you, it's probably not a good sign. 

Too old even for dioceses - This group is primarily comprised of widowers, however there are some with annulled marriages as well.  These are men in their 50's and 60's who are over the age cutoff even for dioceses.  Most of the men in this group leave very quickly and very disappointed as they learn first hand the issues we outline on this blog.  There are a few that stay, however - men who generally have had very 'interesting' pasts and would likely not have been accepted into any diocese or order regardless of their age.  For all the IVE's talk about the need for "well-formed priests", they have taken great liberties with these men, pushing them through to ordination very quickly and with very little actual formation.  

Men kicked out of other seminaries - These are men who have been kicked out of other seminaries.  They've been 'asked to leave' in such a way that their formation should have effectively been over and no other seminary/diocese/order in the USA would accept them - except, of course, the IVE.  

Men with extenuating circumstances - Every year men enter the IVE with issues and circumstances that would normally prevent them from entering any other seminary.  Some enter with poorly addressed mental illnesses or histories of abuse.  Others even enter without all the sacraments of initiation, receiving baptisms or confirmations during the novitiate.  If you have to baptize someone, conditionally or otherwise, during the novitiate it's a pretty big sign that they shouldn't be there.  It's also against Canon Law (see Canon 645.) 

What these practices reveal about the IVE

At this point there are four patterns our readers should be picking up on:

No positive qualities: Most men aren't going to the IVE because of any unique charisms or qualities the IVE possesses.  They are going there because it is the only place that will take them.  To put it another way, the IVE grows only because it has lower standards than anyone else.  

Pride, hubris, and arrogance:  It is through arrogance and hubris that the IVE ignore the Church, Canon Law, Immigration law and the opinion of every other Catholic seminary in the United States by accepting candidates no one else will take. It is pride and overconfidence which makes them think they are better judges of prudence and character and can properly form these men where other seminaries can't.  

The IVE are not concerned about their parishioners:  There is a reason that these men can't get into any other seminary.  Many have mental illnesses, major personality disorders, histories of strange and imprudent actions, immaturity issues, etc.  Ordaining them and sending them to a Catholic parish could endanger good parishioners that are under their spiritual care.  Priests are viewed as authority figures, especially in the moral and spiritual realm.  Nothing has done more damage to the Church and the faithful in recent years than poorly screened priests.  Yet poorly screening priests is exactly what the IVE does. 

The IVE are not concerned about their candidates:  If someone needs to be baptized or confirmed during the novitiate, they likely have not properly discerned their vocation to religious life and are not in any way spiritually ready for religious life.  It's even against canon law (see C. 645) to accept them into a novitiate; Letting the spiritually immature enter into a very extreme environment will not be healthy for them either.  Many if not all who enter prematurely like this leave wounded.  Neither is encouraging illegal aliens to remain here illegally is not in their best interest. 

None of these "exceptions" show compassion or charity toward the candidates.  If someone does not have all their sacraments of initiation, the right thing to do is to give them the sacraments at their parish and then give them time and help to develop a mature spiritual life so they can discern their vocation properly.  

If someone is here illegally, neither is it charitable to violate Church practice and Federal law by accepting them to the novitiate.  It places these men in a very vulnerable and difficult position.  If they genuinely feel they have a vocation, they should go to their home country and the Institute should help them get the appropriate visa.  It's not that difficult and they've done it for other candidates in the past.  

If someone has mental, emotional, or personality issues that would preclude them from entering a seminary or lead to their expulsion from one, the right thing to do is to help them address these issues before they even tackle the question of a vocation.  

The truth behind the IVE numbers

The Church has reasons that men like this cannot be accepted into US seminaries, yet the IVE does so anyway and (thanks to Cardinal McCarrick's complicity) ordains men from all of the above categories.  So the next time you are encouraged by a large group photo of the IVE, keep in mind why many are there: manipulative recruiting methods and dangerously low standards.  Once you pull back the curtains a bit, these photos - like so many other aspects of the IVE - are much less encouraging. 

Cautions on the IVE Spiritual Exercises

The preaching of the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius have long been a staple of the IVE under Fr. Buela.  While  the exercises in and of themselves are certainly a great spiritual gift, we have been concerned for some time that their traditional purpose as an opportunity for discernment was being deformed by the IVE practitioners.  

Specifically, we have increasingly heard stories where the conscience of those attending the exercises has been influenced both directly and indirectly by the IVE priest with regards to discernment of a vocation.  This is contrary to the explicit instructions of St Ignatius:

He who is giving the Exercises ought not to influence him who is receiving them more to poverty or to a promise, than to their opposites, nor more to one state or way of life than to another.

Unfortunately, many IVE priests do influence those attending, especially during one on one direction or confession.  This was the experience of our friend Laura Monica.  It was also the experience of another reader who remarked that during the exercises "it was funny how the only answer seemed to be 'join the order'."  These stories have us concerned that the IVE have warped the spiritual exercises into a tool for recruiting vocations.  

Thankfully, Ines Pascaul, a previous attendee of the IVE exercises in their weekend form, had the same concerns and asked to share them with the readers of this site.  This paragraph from the latter portion of her letter captures perfectly our the concerns regarding discernment:

"With timing, with the emphasis, and with many other subtle methods, the IVE way of conducting the Spiritual Exercises does not conform with Ignatius’ view of the role of the person giving the exercises... the retreat becomes about the teachings of the particular priest rather than allowing the individual to hear whatever it is that God wants to communicate at that time… When individuals viscerally experience their intense brokenness and sinfulness without also simultaneously experiencing God’s love for them… they enter an extremely vulnerable and frightening place…  In this tumult, entering the IVE/SSVM can seem like the obvious solution. They are able to run from their selves and their pain and towards the certainty that a life with the IVE/SSVM would seem to provide. This is simply not the freedom to serve God with generosity that Ignatius sought to let others experience.  It is positively dangerous especially because individuals who chose to take the risk to go on retreats are often already in a vulnerable place…"

Before going forward, we want to repeat here as we have done many times before that there are many very, very good men among the IVE priests. (The writer strongly agrees with this and is grateful for the hospitality and kindness received.)  They were raised in this method of the exercises and of discernment.  The individual priests are not to be faulted for any issues outlined below.  They are made to preach the exercises regardless of their level of training, time for preparation, or conflict with additional responsibilities.  Many are equally uncomfortable with it - albeit for different reasons.

What follows is Ines' heartfelt letter reproduced in its entirety.  While each retreat is unique and even individual experiences within the same retreat may vary, anyone who considers attending these exercises should be be attentive.  Be sure to read all the way to the end where discernment is dealt with in even more detail.  

~:~

Today, with a Jesuit Pope, there is an increasing interest in Ignatian Spirituality, and, particularly, The Spiritual Exercises. Ignatius of Loyola intended for them to be accessible to all—not just the province of the Jesuits. This spirituality, almost 500 years on, continues to profoundly impact men and women throughout the world, bringing them into a deeper relationship with God. I am very familiar with Ignatian Spirituality through participation in several forms of retreats in both English and Spanish—including weekend retreats, 8-day retreats, and the 19^th Annotation Spiritual Exercises in Daily Life. I have also done significant study of the Exercises from a more academic perspective, and helped to lead retreats myself.

Recently, I was looking for a weekend Spiritual Exercises retreat and happened upon one lead by the IVE/SSVM. The IVE/SSVM claim to model much of their spirituality on the Spiritual Exercises. They frequently offer weekend Spiritual Exercises retreats for laypeople and for people who may be in the first steps of discerning a vocation.

However, this retreat had very little to do with the spirituality of St. Ignatius, but it badly distorted it. This version of the Exercises should be avoided. Far from just being a variant on the Exercises, it presents a spirituality that is self-centered, closed off from the world, and consistently misrepresents St. Ignatius.

As I have previously experienced the Exercises, the point is really to get to know God as made known in love and serve him more. It is not a servile fear, but a questioning of how I can have an ever-deepening relationship with God. In Ignatius' words: “Conocimiento interno de Cristo, para más amarle y seguirle”: “An internal knowledge of God in order to love him more deeply and follow him more closely.”

Ignatius is singularly effective at bringing us to an honest evaluation of ourselves. He makes us focus on ourselves in all of our imperfection and brokenness, preventing us from sugarcoating anything.  He wants us to understand ourselves as sinners, with all the depth that this means. Pope Francis’ first response in his recent interview with Antonio Spadaro, SJ, published simultaneously in America and Jesuit magazines around the world, speaks to this:

I ask Pope Francis point-blank: “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” He stares at me in silence. I ask him if I may ask him this question. He nods and replies: “I do not know what might be the most fitting description.... I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.”

Ignatius’ spirituality certainly has purgative elements. But it is within the context of the all-encompassing love of a God who, when looking at how his creation was messing up, decided to act with mercy, to not withdraw but to become incarnate with us, to pitch his tent among us. I've often heard this described as “the beloved sinner grace.” That is, only in this experience of the ocean of God's love can we start to understand the depths of our brokenness. And the solution is to accept this but then accept all of the gifts we've also been given and the joy of being able to serve others. To move out of ourselves, and not to dwell upon our brokenness, but to accept God’s mercy and to use our gifts to their fullest in service to him. Ignatius sums this up in the Principle and Foundation [23]:

Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul. And the other things on the face of the earth are created for man and that they may help him in prosecuting the end for which he is created. From this it follows that man is to use them as much as they help him on to his end, and ought to rid himself of them so far as they hinder him as to it. For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things in all that is allowed to the choice of our free will and is not prohibited to it; so that, on our part, we want not health rather than sickness, riches rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, long rather than short life, and so in all the rest; desiring and choosing only what is most conducive for us to the end for which we are created.

From the initial purgative aspects—of the consideration of how sin works in us—the Spiritual Exercises go on to allow us to develop our relationship with God, approaching an understanding of the complex mysteries of the incarnation, resurrection, and redemption, and experiencing with our senses and imagination the earthly ministry of Jesus from his birth to his crucifixion, and further, witnessing his resurrection, all the while engaging in prayerful conversation (colloquies) with Jesus, Mary, and God the Father. We don’t get stuck in our degradation and shame and guilt. We recognize that the last word really is the resurrection.

But in the IVE/SSVM weekend version of the “Exercises”—the focus remained nearly entirely on MY degradation, MY shame, and MY guilt. This is problematic for a number of reasons, but a few reasons in particular stand out. First, Christian spirituality should be about decentering us. It should not be about my goodness or my badness, but about God’s goodness. By having us focus so intensely on our own individual sin, we remained self-centered. The first sin, pride (superbia in Latin or soberbia in Latin) is about being self-centered, autonomous, keeping our eyes fixed on ourselves and not God and others.

Second, the IVE priests try to motivate people by fear to avoid eternal damnation. However, Ignatius thinks that people who are motivated by this are not ready for the Exercises. The Exercises are for those who are seeking to continually live their lives ad majorem Dei glorium [to the greater glory of God]. Ignatius talks about some people “who are going from mortal sin to mortal sin.” [314]. These aren’t the people who are ready to undertake the Exercises. At one point, the priest even said, “If you do not follow the Principle and Foundation, your soul is at risk of eternal damnation!” This is the extreme antithesis of the Principle and Foundation, which has nothing to do with fear and coercion and is entirely about generous response to grace.

Rather than just being a poorly done retreat, or a retreat where the text of Ignatius is just read, and then individuals are left to experience the weekend with very little guidance, a specific ideology of a judgmental and punitive God removed from everyday human life was consistently developed. The reduction of the Exercises into a weekend retreat is always difficult, in even the best circumstances. However, the focus was disproportionately on sin/damnation. 

The following were the chosen exercises according to my notes:

1.     Principle and Foundation I (focus on man’s primacy and superior role over everything else in creation)

2.     Principle and Foundation II (focus on how to use other things in this role of domination)

3.     Discernment of Spirits (misrepresentation of feelings—explaining how they are not to be trusted and the intellect is what should be trusted)

4.     Three Sins

5.     Rules for Election

6.     2 Standards (focus on imagining the sights and sounds and smells of hell)

7.     3 Classes of Men

8.     Hell

9.     Passion

There were no meditations or contemplations on the positive things of creation or a single contemplation of Jesus’ life and ministry and Passion. In Ignatian Spirituality, contemplation generally refers to putting oneself into the scene. Through the application of the senses—sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch—the person making the Exercises finds oneself experiencing the events of the Gospels with the heart. However, outside of a cursory 5-minute lecture on what this might look like in the situation of the Nativity [121-126], this method of prayer was essentially ignored. In the actual Spiritual Exercises, a great deal of time is spent on this style of contemplation. The idea is that in the so-called Second Week you get to really know Jesus by accompanying him through his 33 years of life so that you are able to be present to him, to the best of your abilities, during the Passion, the Third Week. This isn’t the suffering of a stranger you are hearing about, but you are actually witnessing the suffering of a beloved leader and friend. After the desperation of the Third Week, in the Fourth Week, you are given the opportunity now to become a witness to the Resurrection through Jesus’ post-paschal appearances.

While, in the closing Mass, there was a passing reference made to the Contemplation to Attain Divine Love and to the Resurrection, this was rushed and did not bring focus on how God was still active in the world. The way in which this type of prayer was nearly absent deprived retreatants of much of the heart of the Spiritual Exercises.

The time for each of the exercises was significantly less than one hour for silent prayer. Ignatius is very, very clear that each exercise should take at least an hour [12]:

As he who is receiving the Exercises is to give an hour to each of the five Exercises or Contemplations which will be made every day, he who is giving the Exercises has to warn him carefully to always see that his soul remains content in the consciousness of having been a full hour in the Exercise, and rather more than less. For the enemy is not a little used to try and make one cut short the hour of such contemplation, meditation or prayer.

I thought that this might be just to do with the concentrated weekend experience, but, in the online program that the IVE runs, www.ejerciciosive.org, only 27 minutes are suggested for each exercise.

Generally the priest spoke for 35 minutes or so and then we were instructed to leave to go to another area to pray on the subject for half an hour our so. This is directly contrary to the role that Ignatius envisions for the person giving the Exercises:

The person who gives to another the way and order in which to meditate or contemplate, ought to relate faithfully the events of such Contemplation or Meditation, going over the Points with only a short or summary development. For, if the person who is making the Contemplation, takes the true groundwork of the narrative, and, discussing and considering for himself, finds something which makes the events a little clearer or brings them a little more home to him -- whether this comes through his own reasoning, or because his intellect is enlightened by the Divine power -- he will get more spiritual relish and fruit, than if he who is giving the Exercises had much explained and amplified the meaning of the events. For it is not knowing much, but realising and relishing things interiorly, that contents and satisfies the soul. [2]

This deviation impedes the direct prayer experience between the individual and God. Far from being insignificant, anything that impedes this direct experience between the individual and God can harm the discernment process. Ignatius warns:

He who is giving the Exercises ought not to influence him who is receiving them more to poverty or to a promise, than to their opposites, nor more to one state or way of life than to another. For though, outside the Exercises, we can lawfully and with merit influence every one who is probably fit to choose continence, virginity, the religious life and all manner of evangelical perfection, still in the Spiritual Exercises, when seeking the Divine Will, it is more fitting and much better, that the Creator and Lord Himself should communicate Himself to His devout soul, inflaming it with His love and praise, and disposing it for the way in which it will be better able to serve Him in future. So, he who is giving the Exercises should not turn or incline to one side or the other, but standing in the centre like a balance, leave the Creator to act immediately with the creature, and the creature with its Creator and Lord. [15]

With timing, with the emphasis, and with many other subtle methods, the IVE way of conducting the Spiritual Exercises does not conform with Ignatius’ view of the role of the person giving the exercises. The point of the Spiritual Exercises are to get a person into a position in which all sorts of desolations and consolations are working actively, stirring him or her up, and giving him/her the chance to work directly with God to become more directed to God’s will. It is the time, more than almost any time, when outside influence or pressure should be avoided.

However, the way that the IVE priests are trained to lead the retreat ends up doing the opposite. By reducing the time that individuals have to actually become acquainted with God, and focusing on intellectual meditations on judgment, the retreat becomes about the teachings of the particular priest rather than allowing the individual to hear whatever it is that God wants to communicate at that time. They take a very powerful experience, but do not give men and women the freedom and space they need to figure out how God is calling them in the silence of their hearts.

Rather, when individuals viscerally experience their intense brokenness and sinfulness without also simultaneously experiencing God’s love for them—particularly developed in the contemplations of the 2nd and 4th weeks—they enter an extremely vulnerable and frightening place. They are anxious to find a way out of this guilt and shame. In this tumult, entering the IVE/SSVM can seem like the obvious solution. They are able to run from their selves and their pain and towards the certainty that a life with the IVE/SSVM would seem to provide. This is simply not the freedom to serve God with generosity that Ignatius sought to let others experience.

It is positively dangerous especially because individuals who chose to take the risk to go on retreats are often already in a vulnerable place: I found myself at the retreat because I was seeking solace in the context of being a caretaker for an ill family member; others may be seeking to heal from trauma or addiction; and others may be struggling with what it might mean to enter religious life.

I think of the anonymous poem, occasionally attributed to St. Ignatius, that explains how our spirituality can’t be based on fear of our own damnation:

Soneto al Cristo Crucificado

No me mueve, mi Dios, para quererte 

el cielo que me tienes prometido, 

ni me mueve el infierno tan temido

para dejar por eso de ofenderte.

Tú me mueves, Señor, muéveme el verte 

clavado en una cruz y escarnecido, 

muéveme ver tu cuerpo tan herido, 

muévenme tus afrentas y tu muerte.

Muéveme, en fin, tu amor, y en tal manera, 

que aunque no hubiera cielo, yo te amara, 

y aunque no hubiera infierno, te temiera.

No me tienes que dar porque te quiera, 

pues aunque lo que espero no esperara,

lo mismo que te quiero te quisiera.

To Christ Crucified

Heaven that you have promised me, my God,

Does not move me to love you.

Nor does hell so dreadful move me

To leave all that offends you.

You move me, Lord. It moves me to see you

Mocked, nailed to that cross.

It moves me to see your body so wounded.

Your dishonour moves me, and your death.

You move me to your love in such a way

That —even if there were no heaven— I would love you;

And —even if there were no hell— I would fear you.

You do not have to give to gain my love;

For —even if what I hope for becomes hopeless—

In the same way I love you, I would love you still.

               

—Translated by Stacy Shoop, 1996

I am saddened by the experience I had, particularly because the members of the community were exceptionally kind and hospitable, and so I want to be clear that this is not a judgment of them. Their good will was abundantly evident, and I hope that they can find a healthy and life-giving way to live out what I believe is a sincere commitment to serving God and the world.

Anyone who is curious about the Spiritual Exercises should very much be encouraged to learn more and undertake them because they are not just something that belongs to the Jesuits, but to the entire Church. However, the IVE simply presents them in a spiritually dangerous manner.

Some resources for learning more include:

·       http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ (wide range of resources, including foundational texts, explanatory articles, and information on where to find a retreat)

·       http://www.jesuit.org/ (U.S. Society of Jesus website)

·       http://www.sacredspace.ie/ (daily Ignatian prayer)

Give me Your Heart - The Institute Lying Again?

A big topic on this site is the IVE's approach to discernment, recruitment, and admissions to their houses of formation.  We don't think the Institute is completely honest or open with you on this subject and will even take advantage of your ignorance.  Our aim in this post is to give you the information the Institute won't so you can protect yourself.  

Revisiting "Give Me Your Heart"

It's sad that you can't take a religious order on their word, but as we have documented, that's unfortunately too often the case with the IVE.  That's why, after re-reading an earlier post, we again feel compelled to comment on the IVE's book "Give Me Your Heart", a book on religious vocations that's part of their "Youth Series".

It's worth noting that, while some of the IVE catechisms and pamphlets have Imprimaturs, "Give Me Your Heart" does not.  No Bishop has approved this book as being consistent with Church teaching.  It's purely the work of Fr. Buela, with no support from the Church.  Of course, that doesn't stop the IVE from handing it out to children. 

What struck us on re-reading the book this time was that the 2nd chapter actually made sense.  Ironically, it made sense because it is the one section of the book the IVE doesn't actually ascribe to.  

You can read the chapter yourself, but the relevant passages from Chapter 2 follow. 

Desire for the Vocation is Necessary

We don't want to focus on discernment or vocational calling too much in this post as it has been dealt with best elsewhere, but we will say that this is one of the few quotations from the IVE on the subject that seems in the proper context (emphasis in all following quotes is ours):

"6 St. John Bosco says, "Those who in their heart feel the desire to embrace this state of perfection and holiness may believe, without any doubt, that such desire comes from heaven because it is too generous and is well above natural sentiments."

That's right.  If you feel a desire to that state.  Not if you've just thought about it.  Not, if in your pursuit of God's will in your life, you recognize this state as a potential option.  Not if you feel a calling to loftier things, but aren't sure what that means.  Not if someone suggested it to you.  No.  If you feel a desire to embrace that state, then it comes from God. 

In a footnote on the same page they quote Pope Paul VI who echoes St John Bosco:

The Most characteristic sign - indispensable to a priestly vocation - is undoubtedly a righteous intention, that is, a clear and decisive desire to be totally consecrated to the Lord's Service (Editor: ie. to that priestly vocation.)

Again.  A clear and decisive desire to the priestly vocation is indispensable.  Yet if you read our previous post you'll know that in the eyes of the Institute even thinking about a vocation, even if that thought is planted by an IVE priest, is pretext to enter formation.  Then, after entering, any doubts about your new 'vocation' are "temptations" from the devil - in IVE-logic these doubts, rather than a sign you are not called to that vocation, are instead a confirmation of the calling!  

(See the trick?  "No doubts?  Great!  You have a vocation here!" and "You have doubts?  Great!  That's the devil, he doesn't want you to be here and that means you have a vocation here!")

An Obligation to Gauge Candidates Suitability? 

Later the chapter outlines the Church's responsibility in judging and gauging a candidate's suitability.  It's all very prudent and sensible.  The only problem is the IVE doesn't practice any of it.  

"8 The threefold suitability of the candidate must be: Physical (and psychological), intellectual and moral (which implies having the right intention.)  If the suitability is lacking, it is a sign that God is not calling and thus, that the Church should not call. "

It's shocking that the IVE would even admit that psychological suitability should be a pre-requisite, since that certainly isn't what they practice.  We know they don't have any psychological exams in Italy and we doubt they have any in Argentina either.  In the US, unlike every other religious order who give psych exams (and background checks for that matter) prior to entering, the Institute doesn't give psych exams until the 2nd half of the Novitiate in the Spring.  Even then these tests have no bearing on the candidate moving on to the seminary and temporary vows, even when problems unearthed by these exams would preclude someone from entering any other seminary in the US.

As for intellectual suitability, they make no attempt to gauge this prior to entering in any way.  In fact, they regularly admit students without high school diplomas that barely speak the language of instruction.   Even then, the intellectual formation at the seminary would be lacking for even the most proficient candidate. 

The same applies to moral suitability.  There is no effort made to gauge this prior to entering.  If questioned the IVE will usually say that they live so closely with you they will be able to make those judgements over time - though other seminaries and orders could say the same thing, yet they still try to gauge suitability beforehand.  

While it's swell for the IVE that they have a way to gauge suitability of the seminarian years after he enters, where is the concern for the candidate?  If a candidate isn't fit, shouldn't they make at least some attempt to gauge that before he enters?  Wouldn't that be the charitable thing to do?  Their own book says they have an obligation to do so, yet they make zero effort: 

"9 the ecclesiastical authority not only has the right but also the obligation to use all necessary means to know the candidates suitability and thus to be able to make a strict selection."

Of course, the book also says: 

"11 We customarily make selections prior to entering the novitiate… Before admission to holy orders (or temporary profession), a rigorous selection must be made."

Actually, this is not what they do at all.  It's their custom, rather, to never make any selections prior to the novitiate.  If you want to fill out an application they won't stop you, but it's certainly not required.  Most enter the novitiate with nothing more than a phone call and maybe a conversation with their local IVE parish priest.  All the IVE really want to know is A) do you have a lot of debt and B) are you an active homosexual.  If the answers are "no" and "no" then they'll tell you to show up.  

As a result of this lack of screening, candidates enter with all sorts of psychological issues and various histories of issues.  Further, since none of the canonical questions are ever asked prior to entrance, people will even be allowed to enter without having received any or all the sacraments of initiation.  As strange as it sounds, it's quite common to see someone during the first month or two of the IVE novitiate receive baptism and/or confirmation.  So these candidates weren't even part of the Church, yet the IVE already has them lined up for holy orders.  

The reality is that the psychologically fit candidate who has attempted discernment and had spiritual direction prior to entering (which would make up the majority entering most other US seminaries today) is the rare, rare exception with the IVE.

Is It All For Show?

We can't help but think that, like their constitution, this chapter of the book is simply for show.  As with many of their practices, we feel this is deceptive and untruthful.  They are playing with people's vocations (and souls) with no regard for what is best for the candidates.

Please, for your own sake, be very skeptical when taking any advice from the Institute.  You are better off steering clear of any group that has such large problems with telling you the truth.  

Aquinas Warns Against Deceivers

In fact, St Thomas Aquinas warns against one who: 

...entices another (to enter religious life) by lies: for it is to be feared that the person thus enticed may turn back on finding himself deceived, and thus "the last state of that man" may become "worse than the first" (Luke 11:26).

Does the Institute lie?  It certainly doesn't tell the truth.  True to St Thomas' warning, many who enter leave so wounded they not only leave the Institute, but the Church altogether - their last state worse than their first. 

Unqualified Supervision and Gross Negligence

Considering the recent abuse scandals and subsequent reforms put in place at seminaries,  one would have to consider the IVE's lack of admissions & screening to be grossly negligent.  This might seem gravely irresponsible to anyone from the outside, so how does the IVE get such God-fearing people to go along with such negligent practices?  Well, the IVE does it, in part, by assigning very young, unqualified people to 'oversee' the process.  

For example, the SSVM Sisters have had national vocation directors who were still under temporary vows and who later left the group themselves.  The two priests who have been novice masters in the US (Novice Masters also act as vocation directors for the men) have arrived from outside the US, freshly ordained, and in their 20's - even when more experienced priests are available.   Regardless of whether these individuals are responsible for the flawed process, their lack of age and experience virtually assures it doesn't get fixed.

If you or a family member is considering joining the IVE, keep this in mind.  Those advising you on the process were only put there because they are young, true believers, unlikely to find fault with what their superiors handed them.  They are not and likely will never be people who are actually going to help you discern or help you arrive at the decision that is best for you.  The answer from them will always be "enter."

Sister under temporary vows in charge of your vocation - then leaves the order

The sisters have actually assigned someone to the role of national vocations director who was only under temporary vows and who later left the order.  This wasn't a temporary assignment.  She was in that position for at least a few years.  

Think about how gravely irresponsible that is.  Imagine if you were thinking about joining a novitiate and the order had a 22 year old seminarian advising you on discernment, determining your fitness to join, and counseling you on the process.  Would you think that was prudent, charitable, or responsible? 

We aren't trying to find fault with this individual.  We certainly can't blame her for leaving and she was only doing the job she was given.  However, we can find great fault with the superiors that care so little about the girls and women 'discerning' with their order that they couldn't be bothered to appoint a permanent sister to the role - and there should have been plenty available.  

The Institute claims 1000 professed sisters, so why weren't there enough that one under perpetual vows could be assigned to the very important post of National Vocations Director for North America?   Is this a case where the sisters have an attrition problem like the men and don't have nearly the number that they claim?

Maybe they want a young, inexperienced girl in charge so she doesn't question the crazy, negligent process they have in place?  Or maybe the leadership itself is too incompetent to appoint the proper personnel?  These explanations aren't mutually exclusive - all could be true.

This isn't limited to the position of vocations director either.  The female branch regularly has women under temporary vows acting as house superiors at their 'missions' even though they themselves are still in formation.

Giving your absolute obedience to someone in their 20's might not be a good idea

The men are hardly any better.  They take newly ordained priests in their 20's, fresh from Argentina and appoint them as novice master in charge of both vocations and "formation" of the novices - despite the fact that older, more experienced priests are available.   

The novice master is then given numerous other responsibilities, including spiritual direction of the majority of the female novices - despite the fact that they will have had no real experience at spiritual direction.  The novice master will be so busy they will almost never be at the novitiate.

Maybe the reason the IVE feels they can appoint such junior people to oversee their vocations process is because they really don't have one?  Or maybe the IVE approach to formation is so offensive to reason that a young "true-believer" is needed in order to carry it out without questioning it?  

Quantity, Not Quality

These practices are grossly negligent.  It is hard to believe given the abuse scandals of the previous decades, but unfortunately it's the case.  Ultimately the IVE are very concerned about growing in numbers and this is the result: growth is prioritized over the well-being of those in their care.