Cult Come of Age?

When do we know if a cult has come of age and is no longer operating with some of the classic characteristics of a cult? This is a difficult question because it is hard for a group to overcome its history.

One of the defining characteristics of a cult is that it limits the intellectual or spiritual freedom of its members. This can be very subtle and hard to asses because in most cases it is not as blatant as in groups like the Branch Davidians. Another related characteristic is so-called "shepherding". This is where the leaders of the group control the lives of the members to such a degree that there is a lack of freedom. Most students of cults believe that this kind of activity actually stifles spiritual growth rather than promoting it.

Yesterday I paid a visit to the Community of Jesus in Orleans, Massachusetts. This group which came out of the Jesus Movement started off as a charismatic community under the leadership of two women, Kay and Judy. Very early it seemed to be showing the signs of being a cult. I had some people in my parish who were very strongly affected by them, and I once attended a meeting at which one of the leaders of the Community of Jesus spoke. She spoke of the necessity sometimes of putting people on a program of spiritual growth. A man attending the meeting raised his hand to ask a question. As it turned out, he only offered a supportive observation rather than asking a specific question. He was sharply rebuked for not asking a question and was told that he was attempting to teach. It was not his place to teach, it was the place of the person giving the teaching, and he was not being obedient. I came away from the meeting thinking that these Community of Jesus people are very bossy.

But yesterday I saw a community that more than thirty years later seems to have mellowed. Some of the original leaders are no longer in charge. The community has embarked on a Benedictine way of life, and although it is unusual in that it is a mixed community of men and women, some celibate and some not, and an ecumenical community, it seems to be thriving. They have built themselves a basilica style church which must have cost millions. It looks a bit incongruous next to the Cape Cod style buildings of the community. They have a humungus pipe organ, and it is clear that music is one of their primary foci. They have an orchestra, a band, a choir, a schola, and they have produced many very fine recordings. Gregorian chant is very much alive and well in this community, and I would say that their execution of chant is as good or better than anything you can hear in this country, certainly. The Divine Office is sung in Latin some days and in English on other days. I attended Vespers and Lessons and Carols. The former transported me in thought to the Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, and the latter to King's College Cambridge.

While it certainly requires discipline to achieve such greatness in music, it does not seem to be stultifying or oppressive in the lives of the members of the community. In fact I came away feeling that in some respects they have the best of both worlds, the sacred and the secular. They get to sing with a world class choir in a liturgical space that is unrivaled in this country at least, and they get to live in a quaint village community on Cape Cod. They appeared to be very happy.

Another community I am acquainted with that started out with suspicions of being a cult is St. Benedict Abbey in Still River, Mass. This is now a Benedictine monastic community in the Catholic Church, but at one time their founder, Fr. Leonard Feeney, S.J., was under interdict and excommunicated for his activities. It seemed that he had been all too successful in converting some of the sons of prominent Boston Brahmins to the Catholic Church, and he was doing it by saying that there is no salvation outside of the Catholic Church. The fathers of these fine young college students at Harvard complained to Cardinal Cushing because some of their sons were dropping out of college to follow Father Feeney. In a move that is still controversial, Cardinal Cushing excommunicated Feeney.

After this the community moved out of Cambridge and set up a community in Still River, Massachusetts. They grew, they published, they preached, and they continued to be staunch defenders of the doctrine that salvation is not to be found anywhere except in the Catholic Church. The people in that community, then isolated from the Catholic Church in many ways, became very much a large family. They set up their own school and even had for a while accreditation as a college. Of course the community was accused of being a cult. Certainly Fr. Feeney himself, although brilliant, was intensely bigoted, particularly against the Jews, and his soapbox preaching on Boston Common was memorable for anyone lucky enough to hear him.

Toward the end of his life, however, he was reconciled with the Church and the community he founded began to move toward regularization. Since they had quite a number of men who had prepared for the priesthood, they needed to be a part of a legitimate Roman Catholic institution for it to be possible for these men to move forward in their vocation. The decision was to become Benedictine. Not all of the community members were in favor of it, and indeed there were a number of splits. Stemming from those splits are groups who favor the traditional Latin Mass. After Fr. Feeney died, Fr. Gabriel Gibbs became the Superior, and he led the community through the nearly twenty years to become a Benedictine Abbey. He is now the Abbot. Some of the sisters moved out to Petersham and founded St. Scholastica Priory, and some of the monks from Still River followed the sisters to form a supportive men's monastery, St. Mary's. All in all, the community settled down and overcame its turbulent past. Others from the original group are still bitter about what happened to them and never accepted reconciliation with the Church. I don't know much about them, but they are still holding out for the no salvation outside of the Catholic Church teaching. They believe that the Catholic Church since Vatican II has sold out on this central doctrine.

Saint Benedict Abbey and the Community of Jesus are two examples of groups which started off as cults, but which are now are on fairly firm ground. If you go to St. Benedict's you will still find books by Fr. Feeney for sale, and some of them are very good. The members will speak of the importance of being in the Catholic Church and they still have a strong ministry to people converting to Catholicism. They were a great help and encouragement to me when I converted, but their doctrine is more nuanced now. You may hear them insist that were it not for the Church and its prayers, there would be no salvation for anyone, but unless you are invincibly ignorant not being a Roman Catholic is a risky thing to do. At the Community of Jesus you will also hear about the importance of conversion, but it is not conversion to an institution that they are promoting, it is conversion to Jesus, and the converted soul needs nurturing and a supportive community to keep it on track.

C. David Burt