April 30, 2006
lead story, front page
Regnum Christi: Helping
Families Help the Parish
by PATRICK NOVECOSKY
Register Correspondent
REGINA, Saskatchewan—Not long ago, Holly Routley was giving God her “crumbs.”
Then her husband, Jason, returned from a St. Joseph’s Covenant Keepers weekend with a pamphlet.
“This is what we’ve been looking for,” he told her.
The pamphlet described Familia, a Regnum Christi apostolic for Catholic families.
The Routleys had been active in couple-to-couple ministry for years, leading Bible studies in their home and taking an active role in parish ministries.
“We realized how ill-equipped we were to be a Christian family and to live out our faith,” explained Holly.
The couple, who at the time were members of Resurrection Parish in Regina, Saskatchewan’s capital, are members of Regnum Christi, one of many new movements in the Church. They decided in 2003 to start Familia in Canada. They now serve as co-directors.
Holly Routley admits that without the responsibilities of leading Familia, she “would have given God my crumbs, my leftover time, a little bit here, a little bit there. Because of Familia and the [Church] documents I’ve read it spurs my heart even more.”
Familia was launched by a group of couples from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in the early 1990s in conjunction with Regnum Christi, a movement of apostolate affiliated with the Legion of Christ. According to Regnum Christi’s website, Familia’s programs are “directed to fostering the development of religious, moral, psychological and social values in the family.”
Not only was Familia a good fit for the Routleys, who moved in December to Kelowna, British Columbia, but it has also given new energy to their parish, Holly said.
“I really think it nurtures parish life because as those couples are formed, I have heard parish priests say that those are the ones they can count on,” she explained. Familia couples are “giving excellent quality talks in marriage prep because now they understand Christian marriage. They have actually read the documents,” such as Pope John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio, on the role of the Christian family in the modern world.
In this series, the Register is looking at parishes in which lay movements in the Church are thriving—and even helping their parish improve at spreading the Gospel.
Pope Benedict XVI will continue to guide “with paternal affection” the ecclesial movements, associations and communities, which were nurtured by Pope John Paul II, said Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican’s secretary of state. Pope Benedict has called members of new movements to meet together in Rome on Pentecost, as his predecessor did in 1998.
Pope John Paul “guided with great care the path of the ecclesial movements, associations and communities,” said Cardinal Sodano in an April 2005 letter sent to the national congress of Renewal in the Spirit, a charismatic movement that gathered 25,000 people in Rimini, Italy.
Pope Benedict “wishes to continue this service, so that the gifts that the Lord dispenses to his Church will be fully appreciated and oriented in the best way for the building of the Body of Christ which is the Church,” the cardinal said.
In 1998, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger spoke on the role of the ecclesial movements in the Church. He said the movements “represent a true gift of God for the New Evangelization.
“I therefore recommend that they be spread, and that they be used to give fresh energy, especially among young people, to the Christian life, within a pluralistic view of the ways in which Christians can associate and express themselves,” he said.
Hearing the Call
Familia’s focus on going to the source of the Church’s teaching was a real draw for Holly.
“I was getting tired of hearing everyone’s popular opinion,” she said. “I wanted to read the Catechism and other Church documents and see what they said.”
Familia members meet twice a month for 90 minutes, usually with men and women in separate groups. A new Familia program, “The Splendor of Love,” has couples meeting together. Familia teams of 8 to 15 people study and discuss Church teaching related to faith and family. One of the fruits of this study is a greater appreciation of vocations, Routley said.
“If the families grow in their love and understanding and respect for Christ, children will be able to hear their call,” she said. “If a family isn’t nurtured in their faith and they don’t recognize Christ in their family, sometimes the children are called, but they won’t hear it.”
Father Brian Meredith, pastor of Resurrection Parish, agreed.
“Familia families see children as a gift,” said Father Meredith, a priest of the Archdiocese of Regina. “They have a strong sense of family. They’re very much community oriented and concerned about the well-being of the Church and active participation in the Church.
“I also find that many of the Familia families are the most involved in the parish and, when we need help in various areas, they’re often the first ones involved.”
In his 1999 apostolic exhortation, Ecclesia in America, Pope John Paul encouraged apostolic movements to aid in renewing parish life.
“The parish is facing certain difficulties in fulfilling its mission,” he wrote. “The parish needs to be constantly renewed on the basis of the principle that the parish must continue to be above all a Eucharistic community. This principle implies that parishes are called to be welcoming and fraternal, places of Christian initiation, of education in and celebration of the faith, open to the full range of charisms, services and ministries.”
Father Meredith said he fully appreciates the late Pope’s sentiments. Ecclesial movements, he said, are greatly needed.
“They’re important in developing people’s gifts,” he explained. “They’re important for drawing people actively into the Church’s faith in a living manner. They’re very much supportive and concerned about the sacramental life of the Church, centered in the Eucharist, rooted in charity and concerned about active outreach to others.”
Overcoming Resistance
While Father Meredith eagerly accepted Familia’s presence, which began at Resurrection a year prior to his arrival, some parishioners were not so enthusiastic.
“There was a bit of resistance because Familia goes into teachings of the Church that a lot of people try to avoid, especially the area of contraception,” Father Meredith said. “A lot of parishioners have a great deal of difficulty with that. A number of Catholics these days seem to think that the Church is going to change her position on that and don’t understand the teaching.”
Jodie Bzdel, who attends Resurrection Parish with her husband Clayton and two children, said she doesn’t have a problem with Church teaching, but initially saw Familia as being out of touch with modern life.
“I had thought Familia was about women being more submissive to their husbands, like looking back at the early 1900s when women were seen and not heard” she said. “I thought it was following old traditions.”
After meeting the Routleys, Bzdel said her impression changed quickly.
“They’re very outgoing and down to earth, very open-minded and welcoming to all people,” she said, adding that she and her husband may eventually join the group.
That image—that Familia is in step with the modern Church—is something Holly Routley says Familia is trying to instill in young families.
“Couples are searching for truth.” she said. “With the world sending so many confusing and conflicting messages, it’s so hard to find which ‘truth’ can bring that happiness. Familia showed me that if I really want happiness, it’s Christ.”
Patrick Novecosky is based in Naples, Florida.
Zenit contributed to this report.