Vatican City, Jul 8, 2011 / 10:48 am
The new Vatican prefect for consecrated life says his key job is “rebuilding a relationship of trust” with religious orders -- a situation he seems to blame on his predecessor.
“We have had to confront many difficulties. There was quite a lot of distrust on the part of the religious, due to some positions taken previously. Now, the focal point of the work is precisely that of rebuilding a relationship of trust,” said Archbishop Joao Braz de Aviz in the latest edition of the Italian Catholic magazine 30 Giorni.
The 64-year-old Brazilian took over the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in January after the retirement of Cardinal Franc Rode. During his time in office, the Slovenian cleric frequently referred to a “crisis” in religious life that he traced back to the close of the Second Vatican Council in 1965.
Notably, in 2008, Cardinal Rode undertook an apostolic visitation of women religious in the United States. Archbishop Braz also seemed skeptical of the initial approach taken by that investigation.