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The Global Benedict Option

A Hungarian reader urges Ben Op Christians the world over to 'pool our resources'
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Reader Anna Salyi, a Catholic in Hungary, sends two great e-mails. I publish them with her permission:

This is going to be a rather lengthy comment from an – can I say so? – avid reader of AmConMag, which I stumbled upon not a very long time ago. I am a Hungarian millennial (thirty-one, to be precise) and have been looking for the kinds of articles (and conversations) that are featured there. (Pardon me if my English is not always correct – obviously not a native speaker). I currently am writing my PhD on Catholicism in the US, looking at it from the postwar period on.

The concept of the Benedict Option is something I have been grappling with for a long time, although, I believe what I have in mind is something quite different from what you mean by the term (I took it from you – my father would call it “Christian Ghetto”, rather disapprovingly). My quest is informed by my experiences with two Catholic communities present here in Hungary – both are “live-in” communities; monks (priests), nuns and lay people – often families with children – living together. They are usually located in the countryside or on the verge of cities. One was founded in France in the 1970s, the other in Italy in the 1980s, by lay couples. In that, they can be both viewed as “offsprings” of Vatican II (thinking especially about Lumen Gentium here). The French one is much bigger, involving around 500 “live-in” members on all continents in several houses, while the Italian community is only present in Italy, Bosnia, Hungary and Brazil. Also, both are rooted, in one way or another, in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

As for my personal involvement, I met the French community in my early 20s here in Hungary (all Hungarians though), and it had a really profound impact on me (I was born and raised Catholic, but had never found the community and prayer aspect anywhere near this satisfying before). Then about 5 years later, I encountered the other (Italian) comunitá and went on to live in Italy, Bosnia and Brazil with them for about half a year. These are fairly closed communities, trying to imitate monastic life, with lots of prayer and restrictions on movement of members (obedience is key). I suspect this is not exactly what you mean by the Benedict Option. However, they are, in a way, reactionary, have been borne out of an urge to counter the tidal wave of secularism in the postwar period in Europe and in this, resemble your efforts (if I am not entirely mistaken regarding your whole modus of thinking). They of course also reach back to age-old Catholic wisdom and practice. Strengthened by their rich prayer life and the sacraments, evangelization is a foremost activity of theirs.

I became fully independent and got married (no kids yet) shortly after I came home from Brazil, am practising my faith the best I can (maybe not terribly well), but am finding it hard to live a meaningful, committed Christian life in an increasingly secular society. Evangelization seems like an impossible dream – I feel good enough if I do not lose sight of my convictions (not so much politically than spiritually speaking).

Why I am writing this is because I wanted to draw your attention to the fact that as far as I know, after the Second Vatican Council in Western Europe a host of these types of communities came to existence, mostly in Italy and France. Many of them are alive and kicking even today, giving vocations to the Church and also solace to believers who are looking for spiritual guidance in vain at their local parishes. I also think the etymology is really important here – it is not by accident that they call themselves “communities” (communauté in French or comunitá in Italian).

It is also not by accident that someone from the former Soviet bloc would be so much drawn to the idea. When I think about the Benedict Option, I certainly not only think in terms of retreating as the secular world becomes ever more aggressive but also in terms of forming circles of people in an increasingly atomised country. [Emphasis mine — RD]

Hungary, for one, is struggling with the rapid and complete loss of  the agricultural/rural communities during the Communist era and the transition from an almost feudal pre-war society to a postmodern one. The divorce rate (66%) is one of the highest in Europe, families are in disarray. Weekly church attandence in the Catholic Church, which was around 10-15% at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, is in decline. Alienation is so strong a trend that living in a community, even if a fairly secluded one, gives a sense of belonging and peace to someone like me. (My husband comes from a family of 12, so his take is fairly different than mine). The political situation is another story (socially conservative government), but I do not want to go there now (although, fascinating stuff).

I am not sure about these trends in the US (never been there), however, this (the community) aspect to my mind is something crucial here. Think about current social trends among millennials- postponing marriage, kids, even finding a stable job (although I must add it is very often or even mostly not intentional) – this certainly is going to make our societies even more atomised and alienated (at least here in Hungary it already is). Simply put, you cannot live in a “global tribe” or a “global village” – there is a limited number of people you can form real and meaningful bonds with. As far as I see it, Christianity, and specifically Catholicism, has always managed to be both local and global. The Benedict Option might be an answer to the rapid loss of the local aspect.

I have been looking into lots of American traditionalist Catholic websites lately, and am trying to figure out the sometimes quite substantial differences that seem to exist between my experiences here and those of traditional Catholics in the US (although we do seem to see eye to eye on issues relating to this papacy). I am not sure how much all this is influenced by cultural contexts. I have certainly found that Italians in particular (I mean those who take their religion very, very seriously) have a gift for living a deeply religious life which, at the same time, is very much imbued with a sense of the beauty, wonder and joy. They are also incredibly civilised and cultured (even in the absence of a formal education). I also have the impression that there is much too little communication – intellectual or otherwise- between European and American conservative Christians. But this is not exactly to the point.

It just occurred to me that you might find it useful to research those communities a bit for some context (you might already have, or you may not be interested in these at all, in which case sorry for my arrogance). Of course, as with every Catholic individual and organisation, they will have to decide what to do with this whole forced-ecumenism-with-hip-watered-down-teaching. Plus, I think it is worth pondering a little that again, this whole community idea (“living like the first Christians”) came right after Vatican II, in the midst of the sexual, beat, social and whatnot revolution (Paris, Prague 1968, etc.). I find it a bit too simplistic to swipe aside the whole charismatic renewal as a passing phase – these communities were certainly a fruit, even if we have to see if they stand the test of time and recognise properly the signs of the times in the long run.

So, here are the links:

https://beatitudes.org/en/

https://www.reginapacis.vr.it/it (only in Italian)

There are a number of others – Chemin Neuf, Communauté Emmanuel, Movimenti dei Focolari, Community of Sant Egidio etc. Some of those, it should be noted, seem more like movements than real communities (at least, to me).

Anna followed up with this e-mail:

I have been reflecting on what I had written. Just a few points by ways of clarification:
I think what I wanted to stress is that there really are quite substantial differences between the experiences of various conservative Christian groups around the world (especially outside North America and Europe, but also within those). To give you an example, I cannot, under any circumstances, imagine that gay marriage will be made official either in Poland, Serbia or Slovakia any time soon. Hungary is, unfortunately, less religious, therefore less sure of its traditional mores, however, still much more conservative than most Western-European nations. (e.g. in Hungary, RE or Ethics was made part of the curriculum a couple of years ago. Under fierce attack ever since by liberals, but still.) For that reason, there is hope for political resistance (even on a national level) too. It is not going to be a case of lily white politicians everywhere, corruption is a huge problem, etc., but certainly the picture is not as bleak as over there (at least this is my belief).
However, the crisis of Christianity is a tragedy on a global scale. One has to live under a rock not to know this. Not only because Christians are called to be “salt and light” of the Earth, but also (or consequently) because Christianity, by definition, is supposed to be global (“therefore go and make desciples of all nations”, cf. Catholic=universal). So, what is happening in the US, or in Western-Europe, or, for that matter, in the Middle-East should concern all of us.
Also, I believe (and that is my main point), we have to be both local and global in our endeavours . Globalization is also an opportunity for us, not only them. We should find ways to work together, without blurring the lines that shape our individual and communal identities. I am not saying one can come up with practical measures for far away places and I absolutely agree with the importance of locality. However, in terms of ideas, I do believe in pooling our resources (to give a negative example, Marxism comes to mind – it practically engulfed the globe at one point. Still not extinct. Or, the way the Roman Empire made the spread of Christianity possible.)
This ongoing transformation is going to be absolutely profound, and quick. Your work, to my mind, reflects an understanding of this (and thus is almost prophetic). It matters, not only to your fellow Americans, but others too.

I cannot express how grateful I am to Anna Salyi for these letters, and for helping me to stay focused on the international value of the Benedict Option. Last year when I had dinner with Jean-François Mayer, the Swiss French religion scholar, I recounted it on this blog like this:

We spoke for a while about the Benedict Option. He said it is an idea whose time has come. There are people all over Europe, he said, who are thinking the same thoughts, but nobody has put a name to it until now. There is a deep sense among a strand of Europeans — mostly Christians, but some not — who intuit a profound civilizational crisis, and who feel the need to prepare for difficult times. He strongly encouraged me to get busy writing the book.

Which I am now doing. I’m well into the politics chapter, and am drawing ideas from the way Vaclav Havel and other dissenters conducted politics under communism. I did visit the Tipiloschi community in Italy, but I didn’t have time to visit any more European communities, such as Anna mentions. Nevertheless, when the book comes out, it will be important for all of us like-minded Christians, all over the world, to find each other, to network, to pray for each other and to help each other in different ways, as circumstances dictate. We are one people, after all. I think of St. Benedict’s mystical vision, recalled here in his life, written by Pope St. Gregory the Great:

The man of God, Benedict, being diligent in watching, rose early before the time of matins (his monks being yet at rest) and came to the window of his chamber where he offered up his prayers to almighty God. Standing there, all of a sudden in the dead of the night, as he looked forth, he saw a light that banished away the darkness of the night and glittered with such brightness that the light which shone in the midst of darkness was far more clear than the light of the day.

During this vision a marvelously strange thing followed, for, as he himself afterward reported, the whole world, gathered together, as it were, under one beam of the sun, was presented before his eyes.

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