Our Catholic heritage slips away

Port Elizabeth diocese recently bade farewell to two wonderful Franciscan Clarist Sisters who until recently ran a retreat centre in the heart of our city. Gone too is the centre itself, which previously housed the diocesan chancery and the chapel of the Little Company of Mary when they ran the neighbouring St Joseph’s Hospital (now Life St George’s Hospital). Gone, another piece of our Catholic heritage!

Closure of religious houses, schools, hospitals and other Catholic institutions has been going on for so long that we have become almost complacent about it. It no longer saddens or hurts, let alone surprises, to see these public manifestations of the Church’s presence in society disappear.

Older generations grew up with dozens of Catholic schools. Numerous religious sisters and brothers were part of Catholic life. People raised in post-Vatican II times know only decay, decline and loss. Will there be nuns and Catholic schools and convents and hospitals still in existence a generation hence? It seems unlikely, if the trend of the last 40 years continues.

I know that the Church is not only bricks and mortar, and that now the laity have a greater role, but is the Church’s closing shop and losing visible presence in society true renewal? Is parents being compelled to use secular schools and hospitals progress? Is religious life outdated and unnecessary?

Is it too late to rescue what we still have, to move forward and actually grow new religious communities and schools? There are success stories out there of those who have bucked modern trends and given us a sense of hope. Decline and extinction are not inevitable.

Nicholas Mitchell, Port Elizabeth