Saturday, March 31, 2007

St. Thomas on the three kinds of obedience

II II 104, 6

Ad tertium dicendum quod religiosi obedientiam profitentur quantum ad reuglarem conversationem, secundum quam suis praelatis subduntur. Et ideo quantum ad illa sola obedire tenentur quae possunt ad regularem conversationem pertinere; et haec est obedientia sufficiens ad salutem. Si autem etiam in aliis obedire voluerint, hoc pertinebit ad cumulum perfectionis, dum tamen illa non sint contra Deum aut contra professionem regulae, quia talis obedientia esset illicita.

Sic ergo potest triplex obedientia distingui: una sufficiens ad salutem, quae scilicet obedit in his ad quae obligatur; alia perfecta, quae obedit in omnibus licitis; alia indiscreta, quae etiam in illicitis obedit.

So where does Jesuit obedience fall? Same blame the Jesuits for bringing upon Catholics a culture of "slavish and unquestioning obedience"; others blame voluntarism, while some make a connection between the two. Because of "slavish and unquestioning obedience" the disastrous liturgical reform of the 60s and 70s were implemented without much protest from the laity. (See, for example, Geoffrey Hull, The Banished Heart.) Still, I wonder if this is a fair charge to lay at St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuit Constitutions.

Christian Order article that mentions The Banished Heart
Dr. Hull's Essay, The Proto-History of the Roman Liturgical Reform
Some links

Miscellaneous
Nicholas Wilton Sacred Choral Music
Dominicanus

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