“And I’ll tell you something about this experience of the last decades of the post-Council period,” the pope added.
“In the congregation for religious, they are studying the religious congregations, the associations, that came into being during this period. It is curious, it is very curious. Many, many of them, with great novelty, ended up in very difficult situations: they ended up under apostolic visitation, they ended up with wicked sins.”
The decree, which came into effect earlier this week, on Sept. 11, limits the terms of office in the central governing body to a maximum of five years, with one person being able to hold positions at the international governing level for no more than 10 years consecutively. Re-election is then possible after a vacancy of one term.
The decree states that founders can be exempted from the term limits at the discretion of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life.
“The exercise of government within associations and movements is a theme that is particularly close to my heart, especially considering … the cases of abuse of various kinds that have also occurred in these realities and which always find their root in abuse of power,” the pope said.
“Not infrequently the Holy See, in recent years, has had to intervene, starting not easy processes of reorganization. And I think not only of these very bad situations, which make noise; but also to the diseases that come from the weakening of the foundational charism, which becomes lukewarm and loses the capacity of attraction.”
The moderators of Catholic associations and movements are meeting in Rome with the Vatican Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life to discuss responsible governance.
Leaders who were unable to travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic connected to the papal audience and other meetings via videolink.
Pope Francis said that lay Catholic movements and associations are “a clear sign of the vitality of the Church.
“We are living members of the Church and for this we need to trust in the Holy Spirit, who acts in the life of every association, of every member, acts in each of us. Hence the trust in the discernment of charisms entrusted to the authority of the Church,” the pope said.
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“Be aware of the apostolic power and the prophetic gifts that are given to you today in a renewed way.”
Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.
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