Relationship with our Bishops - part II

Q – Can the bishop tell you what apostolate you should have?


A – Not per se, since we are under the Friars.

Fr. Deeney said, during his conference at the Congress in New Orleans in 2002: “Remember, the Church tells the Order what the Order is – the Order doesn’t tell the Church what the Order is! The Order is part of the Church and when the Church comes along with different legislation, different documents, different understandings, then we have to respond to what the Church says about us and sometimes that means big change. When Pope Paul VI was Cardinal Montini, Archbishop of Milan, he asked the General of the Order, Fr. Anastasius, later Cardinal Ballestrero of Turin, if Carmelites would take parishes in his diocese and Fr. Anastasius, speaking on behalf of the Order said: ‘No! Carmelites do not take parishes.’ But when Cardinal Montini became Pope Paul VI he said to Cardinal Ballestrero: ‘You’re going to take parishes’,.Cardinal Ballestrero replied: ‘Yes, your Holiness!’ And today, the Order has 223 parishes in the world! The Order responds to the Church, hears what the Church has to say and then accepts – that’s who we are, that’s what we do, that’s how we live.”