ROME (AP) – Pope Francis has taken another step to reign in the new religious groups in the Catholic Church, as their unregulated proliferation in recent decades has led to abuses of government that have allowed spiritual and sexual disorders to go unchecked.
Francis issued a new decree issued Wednesday requiring Vatican approval in advance for bishops to set up new associations of believers, often the first step in creating a new apostolic society or institute for consecrated life.
The decree follows a similar one, issued in 2020, which requires prior approval by the Vatican for religious orders at the diocesan level, suggesting that the Vatican is now taking further action to better regulate the origins of these new forms of religious life and to make decisions about them. at the hands of local bishops.
Francis has taken a series of disciplinary and regulatory actions in recent years after some founders and leaders of religious orders and new secular institutions turned out to be religious fraudsters who sexually and spiritually abused their members.
Some groups were suppressed, others were taken over by the Vatican for periods of reform, while all came under greater scrutiny from the Vatican.
In 2021, the Vatican also imposed restrictions on the mandates of secular movement leaders, which multiplied after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s as a new way for regular Catholics to join the church outside of typical parish life. The Vatican has said that restrictions on terms are needed to prevent the emergence of personality cults around charismatic leaders.
One lay group focused on the new reform was Communion and Liberation, an influential group in Italy that has an illuminated branch with several members who help run the household of the honorary Pope Benedict XVI.
Last year’s restrictions pushed the Spanish head of Communion and Liberation, the Rev. Julian Karen, who he had headed since 2005.
This week alone, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, head of the Vatican’s Lay Office, wrote to Karen’s successor, complaining that Karen and his followers were still influencing Vatican reforms. According to a copy of the letter, Farrell blames what he said was the “false doctrine” popularized by Karen, claiming that the group’s unique spirit had passed from the founder to leaders like him.
Farrell said the new leadership of Communion and Liberation must take the Vatican’s line and “recognize the problems and review the teachings, practices, methods of governance and internal organizational forms that have been shown to be inadequate or even harmful.”
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