Sample Summary Letter for a Celibacy Dispensation Case
VOTUM SACERDOTIS DELEGATI
Concerning the request of John Doe: to obtain a dispensation from all the obligations that flow from religious profession and Holy Orders, I am of the opinion that the request has been made for most serious cause, and that the granting of the request will be useful in the highest degree, not only for the personal happiness of the petitioner, but also for his salvation and the good of the community of the faithful in the Church.
What leads me to this conclusion are the conversations I have had with the petitioner during the course of (over) a year (beginning in August 2005 up to December 2006). I read his Curriculum vitae, the reports from people who functioned as his directors (Master of novices, spiritual directors) and from people who were his superiors during the years of formation, the interrogations at the time of the examination of the petitioner and the testimonies given by some confreres who shared his life for several years, as well as the psychologist's opinion with whom the petitioner had a certain number of sessions before resolving to request the dispensation.
1. The personality of the petitioner must be taken into account. His personality was strongly influenced by the lack of personal rapport with his father during childhood, on the one hand, and by excessive attention from his mother following an illness, on the other hand. During this illness which isolated him from his peers – he was only a child 8 or 9 years old – he felt alone, racked in spirit, and fearful, and had bad sexual dreams.
During puberty, while he was a boarding student in the minor seminary, he suffered greatly from homesickness and loneliness, and was anxious and scrupulous. During those first years at the minor seminary, he went to confession often, up to three times a week sometimes. Although he was a good student, he repeated the third year because of psychological difficulties, notably fear of failure. During one year he withdrew from everybody during the three vacations he spent with his family. His father really tried
to initiate a conversation with him, but he did not succeed in getting him to talk. With psychological difficulties and loneliness, he was unhappy during the whole time he spent at the minor seminary.
All this is confirmed by the testimony which the superior of the minor seminary gave on this subject on the occasion of his admission to the novitiate: "He is a good enough student, but during the first years he was not able to straighten himself out, he was in a state of despair, and very scrupulous. It's because of this that he failed in his studies; and so had to repeat the third year. Once freed from his difficulties, his studies went well later. And at present, he is one of the first in class B. He is a boy without pretensions who makes a good impression. Although he is a little nervous, and because of that has difficulty expressing himself, he is a well behaved boy, and consequently, shows promise for the future."
It's also important to know what the master of novices wrote about him: November, 1957: "Several years ago he was tormented with scruples. This has considerably improved, but not yet completely. More particularly, sexuality has never been integrated in his life and sometimes he is bothered with this even in prayer."
March, 1958: "He is a scholastic who continues to be tormented with scruples. His life is still rather blocked up due to a lack of sufficient development of the emotional life. It's a pity, for because of that he cannot open up, and he plays a role: he exaggerates playing the joyful pal, the jokester, seeking in this way to get away from his internal tensions. But it doesn't come from the heart and that is sensed. Nevertheless, he can hold up well enough,certain improvements are needed, if not I fear for the future."
July, 1958: "See the preceding reports. He did suitably during the novitiate, consequently what is left for us to do except to present him for profession of vows? He is a little bit neurotic and from time to time, in a certain periodic way, he experiences tensions which keep him from praying and studying. I hope that he will ultimately get well after the novitiate, for it is obvious that we can't expect so much improvement to be made here. Perhaps later we should have recourse to a psychiatrist, but for the present I don't have adquate reasons to do that. As for the rest, nothing but praise for this man, and we hope that everything will be for the better." For example, he did well on the retreat (30 days).
However, the superior in the scholasticate said of him, in 1973: "He always needs someone to push him a little."
2. What influenced these difficulties in a decisive way, is, without doubt, the fact that he was not able to identify with the priesthood aspect. From childhood, he had "a horror" of becoming a parish priest. That seemed to him to be a bizarre thing to do. He wanted to become a physician. But, because there was no Catholic school for the humanities in the area in which he lived, he transferred to the closest minor seminary, always on the expressed condition that he was not at all obliged to become a priest. He consciously held to the idea during the first few years. But given the fact that at that time this minor seminary only had students who were preparing for the .priesthood, it was almost inevitable that he had to be influenced by the atmosphere of this school and by the ideal of his peers. He himself asserts that he felt drawn by the example of the missionaries, becuase they worked to promote development rather than because of the pastoral or priest aspect of their work.
The negative image that he had of a priest's work persisted up to his years in the scholasticate. He had the impression that a priest basically does no great thing, would make himself more useful by teaching, and keep to a schedule and a work plan.
During his four years in parish work, he lacked a pastoral mentality and attitudes; he was more interested in education and teaching.
3. The petitioner is by nature incapable of truly finding happiness in a celibate life.
What keeps him from this is, on the one hand, the fact that he experienced, from the time of childhood and adolescence, too many sexual difficulties, and on the other hand, the loneliness that always overwhelmed him. He had to go through a very painful time of puberty, that is, because the fears he had previous, were intensified when centered on his sexual life. During the scholasticate, he likewise experienced many sexual difficulties. In regard to the celibate life, the Petitioner, both in his Curriculum vitae, and the examination of the Petitioner, uses terms which show how deeply rooted in his heart are the desire and the need to not be forced into a solitary life. The Petitioner was "seized with fright" during the novitiate when he realized that he must never marry. A fright that had to grow during the scholasticate, and which made him postpone perpetual profession for a year. He "discussed it interminable," he said, with his "spiritual director." This man reassured him each time, and even during the retreat in preparation for ordination to the priesthood, told him that in the future he would find great happiness in the priesthood. Putting confidence in this judgment, the Petitioner resolved to be ordained a priest.
4. After the first few years of priesthood, the dissatisfaction of this loneliness "destined to last forever" hit home. It is noteworthy that at the moment he learned about the sudden death of his mother, almost the first thought that passed through his mind was that of being free from then on to be able to marry. That happened in 1970. During the years of his work in a parish, he didn't take well to being classed by the faithful among the ranks and limits of celibates. One could say that he aimed to get the love of a woman, and in fact he went in search of a woman. Once having found this contact, he felt, as he says, "more liberated."
5. It is also obvious that the Petitioner was influenced by three factors in the orientation of and major decisions of his life: (a) His esprit de corps with the boys, and later the scholastics, with whom he lived. This esprit de corps led him in the direction of the priesthood which was not originally part of his intentions, and which, moreover, he had even excluded as an ideal for the future. (b) His habit of clinging to the judgments of his spiritual directors, not only during the period of the minor seminary but during all the time of formation, including the week of retreat in preparation for priesthood. Up till then, he was upset with enormous doubts, but it was the spiritual director who dispelled them with authority, leading him to his decision. The Petitioner says of himself that he was very docile at that time and that he relied on the judgment of his spiritual director. (c) Finally, it is reverential fear (timor reverentialis) which exercised influence on his decisions.
6. The secret, but sometimes expressed desire of his mother was to have a son a priest, and that had its effect. The Petitioner says more, that later he came to understand that his mother hoped, deep down, that he would become a priest nevertheless while sending him to the minor seminary non-aspirant for the priesthood. During the novitiate, the negative reaction of his family to the departure of a cousin who was a priest, influenced, among other things, his decision to make profession all the same. The petitioner says in his Curriculum vitae that despite all the sexual doubts and difficulties he experienced in the scholasticate, he stayed on the path because "fearing his milieu he dared not do otherwise." And when postponing perpetual profession in spite of this year, he thought: "What will my family say?" In the examination of the petitioner, he summarized once again all these assertions, saying that the expections of his family, above all his mother, greatly influenced his decision to enter religious life and his decision to present himself for holy orders.
Conclusion: after all that has been written above, may I be permitted to recall the testimony given by the psychologist, Joe Roe, who worked with the petitioner for a year and a half with a view toward making a decision. This testimony gives evidence that the petitioner did not take lightly his decision to request a dispensation, but we see a decision worthy of the name, with a personal will, by himself, after mature reflection and consultation, a decision which will be to his advantage, as a man and a believer.
For these reasons and all the other reasons I have cited, I deem it, Holy Father, to be within law and within conscience to earnestly pray you to grant the dispensation from priestly and religious obligations to Joe Doe.
Date
Signature of Delegate