Associates of Iowa Cistercians and Presentation Associate
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ASSOCIATES OF IOWA CISTERCIANS AND PRESENTATION ASSOCIATE PARTNERS 1987--2012: AN ECCLESIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION Dissertation Submitted to The College of Arts and Sciences of the UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Doctor of Philosophy in Theology By Susanna Lynette Cantu Gregory UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON Dayton, Ohio May 2014 ASSOCIATES OF IOWA CISTERCIANS AND PRESENTATION ASSOCIATE PARTNERS 1987--2012: AN ECCLESIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION Name: Cantu Gregory, Susanna L. APPROVED BY: ________________________________________________________________ Dennis M. Doyle, Ph.D. Faculty Advisor _______________________________________________________________ Kelly S. Johnson, Ph.D. Faculty Reader ______________________________________________________________ William L. Portier, Ph.D. Faculty Reader _____________________________________________________________ Sandra A. Yocum, Ph.D. Faculty Reader _____________________________________________________________ William V. Trollinger, Ph.D. Outside Faculty Reader _____________________________________________________________ Daniel S. Thompson, Ph.D. Chairperson ii ABSTRACT ASSOCIATES OF IOWA CISTERCIANS AND PRESENTATION ASSOCIATE PARTNERS 1987-2012: AN ECCLESIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION Name: Cantu Gregory, Susanna Lynette University of Dayton Advisor: Dennis M. Doyle, Ph.D. This dissertation describes and analyzes lay association with vowed religious as an underappreciated model of Christian community and discipleship with layered correlations to the local and universal church. It seeks to identify who lay associates are and what their new way of life means within the life of the church. Reflection on the meaning of associate life was largely authored by vowed religious in the early 1990’s and fails to take into account associates’ viewpoint. In response, I draw from associates' practices and self-perceptions to investigate two representative samples of this way of life. As a historical-theological portrait develops, I critically analyze each group’s common practices and perceptions of the church and argue that these associates engage the church by means of their unique reception of, contribution to, expression and propagation of their respective spiritual traditions. This study concludes that it is the inner life of each iii group—understood as including but transcending the inner life of each individual and expressed in their living out of a vision arising from the teaching of the council and with a sense of their larger interconnections-- that best encapsulates who they are and why. My project critically examines the lives of two Catholic lay associations in the archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa, the monastic Associates of Iowa Cistercians and the apostolic Presentation Partners. Employing original research including oral history interviews and archival studies, I offer detailed accounts of associates’ practices and narratives and show how they bring to light questions of ecclesiological “fit.” I explore their relationship to parish, ministries, other Christian traditions, religious congregations, religious experiences, and perceptions of church and culture. The study interprets the groups’ fit with the church by understanding it within the framework of the interpretation of Vatican II. It finds the two associate groups share the work of responding Vatican II’s universal call to holiness and mission in the context of an affiliated but not vowed community. Both the shared interpretive work and the bond with religious distinguish associates from comparable groups and develop in them a nascent ecclesiological self- understanding. By spotlighting associates’ experiences in their own words, this study significantly advances reflection on associate life by compiling a detailed description and analysis of two typical associations. This data contributes to current conversations on: the distinctive vocation of the laity, ecumenism, new ecclesial movements, Cistercian monastic tradition and new monasticism, women religious, and Christian communal practices in an American context. Overall the project advances a practical ecclesiology on the ground as it: 1) highlights the experiences of a neglected ecclesial movement, iv 2) proposes an interdisciplinary approach to studying them, and 3) reveals associate life as a site of innovative theological reflection on sanctification, the passing on of spiritual traditions from vowed religious to laity, and sustaining bonds among Christians immersed in institutional transformation. Associates’ pivot between Christian tradition and U.S. culture and back again outside of the security of traditional institutional structures and yet firmly linked to the local church prompts new reflection on the meaning of Christian brotherhood and sisterhood. v For Abuelito, MC, and the associate with the theological flat tire vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are a number of people whose contributions made this dissertation possible and to whom I am indebted. First, I wish to thank the Presentation Partners of Dubuque, Iowa and the Associates of Iowa Cistercians of Peosta, Iowa for their generous willingness to participate in my study and honest responses during interviews. In particular I would like to acknowledge the directors Trisha and Dennis Day of the AIC and Karla Berns† of the PP for participating in multiple interviews. Archivists Sr. M. Hermann Platt, PBVM and Denise Hillman of the AIC and research librarian Becky Alford of Clarke University offered skillful assistance in locating pertinent materials. The Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Dubuque, IA and the monks of New Melleray Abbey of Peosta, IA offered the hospitality of their homes for interviews. Sr. Mary Christine Morkovsky and Sr. Maria Eva Flores of the Sisters of Divine Providence in San Antonio, Texas offered invaluable guidance on conducting oral history interviews of religious women. Fr. Terrence Kardong, O.S.B. and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove aided in locating resources pertinent to classical and new monastics in the U.S. The Institutional Review Board of the University of Dayton approved this project’s use of human subjects in 2010 and 2011. My UD professors offered continual attentiveness and models of life-giving teaching and scholarship. In particular my vii advisor, Dennis M. Doyle, listened supportively to an exciting but incoherent idea I shared in the hallway one day and agreed to help me follow it through. He modeled both abiding trust and playfulness in the work of understanding and helped me begin an intellectual conversion that will be a wellspring for the climbs ahead. The members of UD’s 2006 PhD Theology class and the members of my UD online dissertation support group generously offered their company, humor, prayers, good questions, insight, and friendship. This project has been influenced by the work of Shawn Copeland, Robert Orsi, Dana L. Robert, and Roberto Goizueta who introduced me to the allure of on-the-ground theologizing. Margaret Benefiel’s work on group discernment opened my eyes to a beautiful, true, and good dimension of the church in need of further study. Special thanks to William J. Zanardi and Edward L. Shirley† who first invited me into inquiry and prayer. Thank you to the Dubuque Catholic Workers at Hope House and New Hope Farm for their friendship and conversations about the church. Sustaining love and works of mercy were provided to me and my family during the writing of this dissertation by Sean and Betsy Bradley, Rev. Michelle Sumption, the therapists at Unity Point Health Finley, Sr. Julia Wingert, PBVM, several treasured friends, and especially Carolyn, Frank, and Kenneth Cantu, Marilyn and Bill Gregory, and extended family. Finally, thank you to my husband Bill for walking alongside me and drinking my tea in the dark early mornings. And thank you to our children Mary and Luke for their viii nearness, love, and play as Mama wrote “stories about people who love Jesus.” May we look to the witnesses who gaze upon Him. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………….…..iii DEDICATION…………………………………………………………………….…..…vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……………………………………………………………….vii LIST OF TABLES………...…………………………………………………………….xxi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS……………………………………………………….....xxii INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………...1 I. Introducing Lay Associates………………...……………………………………….….1 A. Locating Associates in U.S. Catholic History……………………………........2 B. Cousin Groups and False Assumptions…………..……………………………7 C. The AIC and PP as Lived History Interpreters of Vatican II………………...11 II. Method……………………………………………………………………………….13 A. The Question of Ecclesial Fit…………………………………………...........13 B. Gathering Sources on Associate Life……………………………………...…14 C. Observations on Associate Life: Portraits of the AIC and PP……………….15 D. “A New Kind of Collective Charism”: Ecclesiological Contributions Emerging from the AIC and PP …………………………………………16 III. Significance…………………………………………………………………………17 A. Further Questions: Toward a Theology of Lay Association………..……….17 x B. The AIC and PP as Models: Implications for Ecclesiology and Church Groups…………………………………...………………………18 CHAPTER 1 HISTORIC PARAMETERS OF ASSOCIATE LIFE…………………….20 I. Investigating Histories of Associates in the U.S. Church……………………………...24 A. Lay Associate Programs: The New Wave………………………………….24 B. A Middle-Class Social Club?: A Demographic Portrait Then and Now…………………………………………………...37 C. Changes in Institutes for Consecrated Life …………………………………44 1. Religious Life as a Movement………………………………………..44 2. Community………………………………………………………...…46