In this article, titled “Daughters of Charity at Risk !”,  Tim Williams CM reflects on the vocation of the Daughters of Charity and the expressed desire of Pope Francis that the Church should go to the poor and marginalized. It is written against a background of St Louise de Marillac’s view of the Church, and can be found through the link to the pdf  Daughters of Charity at Risk.

Fr. Williams is the Provincial Director of the Daughters of Charity in Australia.

He concludes his reflection…

“Holy Madness” – Risk and Accident

In the article referred to above by Anthony Gittins in which he spoke of “Holy Madness”, he focused on both Charism and Charisma as a way forward for Religious Congregations.

We are all familiar with the Charism of Louise de Marillac, but like many good leaders, Louise also possessed a Charisma that allowed her to inspire many women in the service of the poor. This is evidenced by the way she encouraged and supported those Sisters who went off to distant places, sometimes sponsored by Ladies of Charity or some person of means, sometimes as a small group relying on their own devices to do their work after minimal training. Clearly both Louise and these Sisters took many risks by being women who moved freely around towns and villages without the protection of being seen as “religious”.

These days, risk taking is not always encouraged. From the commercial, industrial and organisational point of view, procedures for “risk management” have become almost a profession in themselves. Administrative compliance and insurance occupy large amounts of time, energy and expense. The underlying message is – be wary of risk.

In the institutional Church, there is often a similar message of wariness – the insistence on doctrinal orthodoxy, rules of behaviour and refusal to discuss certain unwelcome issues has meant a narrowness of approach that can be stifling to the real purpose of the church – to preach the Gospel, especially to the marginalised.

But, In a recent Editorial of National Catholic Reporter (Vatican, LCWR approaching critical crossroads) we read:

“A church that does not go out of itself, sooner or later, sickens from the stale airof closed rooms,” Pope Francis has written in a letter released Thursday (April 19, 2013 ?) to his fellow Argentine bishops. This is a similar message to the one he delivered to his fellow cardinals before the conclave, impressing them enough to elect him bishop of Rome.

In his new note he went on to say in the process of “going out” the church always risks running into “accidents,” adding, I prefer a thousand times over a church of accidents than a sick church.”