Provisions for Old-Age and Incapacity for Diocesan Hermits?

[[Sr. Laurel, I have often wondered what provisions hermits, diocesan or otherwise, make for care in their old age. I understand a hermit is expected to be self-supporting and that normally the diocese does not provide any sort of financial asisstance. If a hermit becomes incapacitated and can no longer live alone, or needs some sort of assisted living or nursing care, does the hermit have to make arrangements for such care without any help? Could the hermit be admitted to a nursing home managed by a religious order?]]

This is a really important question and I have written about it briefly once before where I noted that there was no universal or adequate solution to the problem yet. Here I will focus on diocesan hermits. Your question also points to a reason for organizations such as the Network of Diocesan Hermits which enables diocesan hermits to share their own lived experience, problems, possible solutions, etc, with one another and the hierarchical church, and generally support one another in our living out of this vocation even in our later years. After all, we don't cease being vowed and diocesan hermits simply because we are old, ill, or incapacitated. (I should note that the NDH is not meant to be a lobbying organization, but there is no doubt that we will try to keep our fingers on the pulse of diocesan hermit life in some casual ways and seek to suggest solutions to problems diocesan hermits face increasingly. Part of this may simply be to find ways of making the Church at large aware of the needs of diocesan hermits, whether that means Bishops' Conferences, or the Sacred Congregation, etc.) Again, this is an evolving vocation, and a very young one. Both problems and solutions may occur in time that the Canon never foresaw or provided for with clarity and those you mention are certainly among these.

As for your questions themselves, yes, hermits are responsible for their own support and care. This includes arranging matters for old age, assisted living, in-home care, etc. Last year my delegate with the diocese (who works in leadership in her own congregation and is very much in touch with the problems of aging religious and their needs) asked me what I planned to do in the future should I become incapacitated or something similar. I did not have an answer for her, but I think her question was meant to assist me to begin thinking about the matter, not to elicit a detailed answer. I tell the story merely to point out that the responsibility for arrangements fall squarely on my own shoulders --- and also to point out the place a diocesan hermit's delegate may assume here. Whether she will ever ALSO speak to my Bishop about the matter is unclear (she may never need to of course), but she will encourage me in speaking to him, or to whomever else might assist me in such a situation.

As for what is possible more concretely, yes a hermit could well arrange to eventually live in a nursing home managed by a religious community. Alternately I suppose there MIGHT be congregational infirmaries or Motherhouses which would have room and allow a diocesan hermit to board there so long as the hermit was capable of paying room and board and had medical insurance. The same possibility may exist with some monastic houses but each hermit will need to ferret out the possibilities (or get help doing so) herself. Precisely because we do not cease to be vowed or hermits, a religious house of some sort would be far more ideal than an ordinary nursing home, etc. My own Bishop is solicitous of the adequacy of my financial and other resources and I suspect any Bishop who has assumed responsibility for a diocesan hermit in his see would be similarly solicitous. I believe that the diocese would assist me finding solutions and in making necessary arrangements regarding skilled nursing facilities should that situation arise, even though they are, of course, not responsible for providing actual financial assistance.

At the same time I am fairly certain that many parishes would assist in finding ways to meet ongoing needs for diocesan hermits who have lived and freely ministered within that faith community for some years. Again this does not mean they would support the hermit financially but in fact, for many of us our parishes are our primary communities and in some cases they accept that they are this as well. So, while the hermit really is completely responsible for these arrangements, she well may find assistance in making them. Regarding money, insurance, etc, hermits will mainly be surviving on medicare/medicaid and social security --- like any other older person in our society. In-home care may be available even for those on Medicaid so in general what hermits will do is precisely the same as what any poor person in our society will do. Ordinarily hermits are not included on diocesan medical or other insurance --- though occasionally we hear of cases where that has been done. Neither are they automatically included in diocesan clergy burial policies, though again, individual dioceses may rule that they may be.

So, there are a few answers to your questions, and much greater uncertainty in many ways. I hope this response is helpful nonetheless. As always, should it be unclear or raise more questions, please get back to me.

Questions on Becoming a Diocesan Hermit

Hi Sister Laurel! I am . . .from the Philippines. I am a reader of your blog, and I am just amazed with your life. . . . So, my questions are, 1. how does one start the process of becoming a diocesan hermit, let say after living a eremitic life after some years. How does he approach the bishop? And what if the bishop is not supportive, should he give up his vocation. 2. I understand that there are hermits who live in the urban area. What could be the best explanation if someone asks why he's not in the desert or in the forest? 3.How does one support himself? Is he allowed to work? What kinds of work? . . .]]

Hi there!
Assuming one has lived an eremitical life for some time (a few years as you say and under the direction of a competent spiritual director), one would contact the chancery and ask to speak to the Vicar for Religious or the Vicar for Consecrated Life. Sometimes the Vocation Director will be the person one will first speak to. In my experience one does not speak to the Bishop immediately. This can differ from diocese to diocese, but in my own diocese it is only once the Vicar(s) are prepared to recommend a person for profession that the Bishop actually enters the picture. At that point discernment continues and the Bishop will meet with the person several times usually, read their Rule and anything else that is pertinent, and make a decision.

At this point a person may be admitted to temporary profession or not. Further, the decision can take some time (including time working with Vicars, etc). Several years is not unusual. Even once the Bishop has received the recommendation the process may take a couple to several years more. If the Bishop is not supportive one should not give up "on his vocation." If one is clear that one is called to live an eremitical life then one can continue to do so as a lay hermit, for instance. The Church badly needs the witness of lay men and women who live authentic solitude in a world that militates against it in every possible way. In time the Bishop's position may change, sometimes because the Church's experience of diocesan hermits is increasing and because other Bishops have found the vocation significant in their own dioceses, sometimes because the lay hermit's persistence is edifying and helps clarify doubts or concerns. In time too, the aspirant's experience may lead him away from solitude. What is important is that one follow one's heart (and that means the call of God to be yourself) as well as one is able.

Bearing in mind that there have been urban hermits ("urbani" (etc) as well as anchorites who lived in the midst of towns) at a number of points in Church history, my own explanation for living in an urban area is that this is what Thomas Merton might have called an unnatural solitude which needs hermits to witness to the redemption that is possible there when isolation is transformed into genuine solitude by the grace of God. However, my own answer is not your answer and only you can explain why you have CHOSEN to live where you do. Only you can explain why it is possible to live an authentic eremitical life in an urban setting --- if indeed you believe it is. Like all other things this is a conclusion you come to with experience, study, reflection and prayer. Thus, how you answer the question is something which is truth, but it is your truth and, if you become a hermit, it will be one of the ways you become responsible for the living tradition of eremitical life.

Regarding support of oneself, one must usually work to do that, and ordinarily Bishops look for hermits who can support themselves in ways completely consonant with a contemplative life. It is generally solitary work whether done in or out of the hermitage and there are many possibilities here: writing, art, spiritual direction, cleaning (some clean buildings at night or after hours, for instance), beekeeping, writing icons, editing copy, woodworking, pottery, medical billing, etc, etc. The ways of doing this are only limited by one's imagination (and location --- though with the internet even that has changed somewhat). You would need to work this out over time and eventually (if admitted to a process of discernment for profession as a diocesan hermit) with your Bishop, delegate, etc to determine what works best and most contributes to your eremitical life.

I hope this helps. As always, if it raises more questions or requires clarification, please get back to me.

Do Dioceses Support Diocesan Hermits?

[[Sister Laurel, does the diocese of the Canon 603 hermit support them in any way? What do you think about this? How about other diocesan hermits?]]

Really great questions, and ones which lots of people wonder about. I may have answered something similar before so please look for that as well; also some of what I say here will echo what I wrote about in regard to mediocrity as a danger to authentic eremitical life. The simple answer is no, diocesan hermits generally receive nothing from their dioceses in terms of stipends, transportation, living expenses or accommodations (place to set up a hermitage, etc), medical or other insurance, educational expenses, money for yearly or bi-yearly retreat, religious goods, books, etc. Remember that while diocesan clergy receive stipends for their service to the diocese, religious women and men usually do not unless they are contracted and work for the diocese itself. They support themselves and their congregations --- particularly their retired members and those in formation. (The idea that religious support their communities, and not vice versa is not well enough understood today.) Diocesan hermits differ from, but fall into this latter category. In fact, diocesan hermits ordinarily sign a waiver of liability (or claim) at their perpetual profession which says the diocese is not responsible for them in material or financial ways.

So, how do I feel about this? I think it is a wise policy for a number of reasons. Diocesan eremitical life does not have the kind of built in safeguards (for discernment or supervision of the motives behind and the quality of living) that life in community has. Discernment of an eremitical vocation takes time and the solitary (diocesan) eremitical vocation may require even more time. Because individuals embrace solitude for all kinds of reasons it often takes a number of years to clarify why they seek to make profession as a diocesan hermit. Unfortunately, it must be crystal clear that among these motivations the need to be cared for is not present. The tendency to run from responsibility and from the ordinary demands of life in society also must not be present. Eremitical life is a responsible life and one embraces it to give oneself in devotion and service to God, his Church, and world. Further, because the eremitical vocation is so independent, the individual and the diocese need to see signs that the hermit candidate is acting and living independently: providing for and securing education, caring for the normal needs of a deep spiritual life, independent work, taking initiative for education, etc -- all are a significant part of the eremitical life. It is simply right that a diocese expects hermits to care for these him/herself.

However, I have heard some hermits suggest that the church does not esteem the vocation highly enough and contributing in basic ways to the upkeep of the hermit would help do this. Additionally, because of the failure to provide in this way it happens that some persons who might have genuine calls to diocesan eremitical life, but who cannot find a way to support themselves which is consistent with a contemplative life, and who certainly cannot quit working their usual jobs, simply cannot be accepted for consecration under Canon 603. Also, because of this policy, hermits who have been consecrated for some time but who can no longer work, who have increasing health problems, and must provide for future burial expenses, etc, find themselves in difficulty and a dilemma. They have faithfully lived eremitical life and vowed poverty independently for years and maintained themselves in this way, but now the situation is changing. They must find a way to continue living eremitical silence, solitude, etc, because they are vowed to this (one does not simply retire from such a commitment or life), but they also may need more health care, assisted living, etc. These situations are more complex than I can discuss at this point, but they are important and give some import to the comment about the church's need to esteem this vocation in concrete and material ways.

Is there a satisfactory solution? Not at present. One possibility is that dioceses of aging hermits might provide some assistance after these hermits have lived perpetual profession for a number of years (say ten to fifteen or so (depending upon when the hermit is perpetually professed, or if extraordinary circumstances intervene otherwise). Such hermits might be included on diocesan insurance (we hear of this occasionally), be allowed to live on diocesan property without (or with nominal) rent, or be included on diocesan burial policies. However, whatever the solution for hermits in later life or which minimizes the risk that some few vocations are missed because of an inability to meet diocesan requirements, the policy dioceses have generally adopted is mainly a good one and I agree with it. Hermits themselves need to know that they are seeking profession without any ulterior motives, and they must be confident that they are able to live independently and responsibly without being cared for by the diocese before they are professed. Similarly dioceses need to know that those approaching them with petitions for admittance to profession are mature, responsible, self-sufficient, generous, and independent. They need to know these persons are not looking for a sinecure. It is simply part of discerning (and living!) an authentic eremitical vocation.

Hope this helps. As always, if it does not answer your questions, is unclear, or raises more questions, please get back to me.