In the Roman Catholic Latin Mass, a section in the liturgy prays that those who have died may enjoy “locum refrigerii lucis et pacis,” i.e. “a place of coolness [note refrigerii’s similarity to refrigerator], light and peace.
That dream of a place of coolness, light, and peace refers in the prayer to life after death, but it is a powerful image because it captures a fundamental human longing: a desire for sanctuary – a place of refuge or safety from the travails of this world.
Photo by Mark Neal from Pexels
This desire for sanctuary, a feeling that somewhere beyond the next hill must be safer, better, more peaceful, drove human expansion across the globe as much as the desire for loot and pillage.
More recently, the same desire seems to be animating discussions among people of all political persuasions to seek alternative communal arrangements that they believe will provide a more humane way of life than the frenetic rat race of the hedonic treadmill or the atomized loneliness of suburban living.
On the secular side, these have a virtual world component in the popularity of “cottage core” – an online phenomenon that fetishizes rural living, and a real-world component in the rise of communal living both commercialized (WeWork) and niche (TreeHouse).
It’s perhaps no surprise, however, that it is religious communities that are leading the charge in establishing sanctuaries from the modern world. The Latin word for church – ecclesia – is derived from the Greek ekklesia: meaning “those who are called together,” i.e. a community.
The desire to be among like-minded people has significant potential downsides: a potential for close-mindedness, a penchant for heresy-hunting and shunning, etc.
If done right, however, these communities can become havens for human flourishing. In 2016, US conservative writer Rod Dreher profiled some of these in his New York Times bestseller The Benedict Option, in which he explicitly called for religious people to band together for mutual support.
One such community profiled is the explicitly commune-like Bruderhof, a Protestant community that operates in rural areas. From their About page:
We are an intentional Christian community of more than 3,000 people living in twenty-nine settlements on five continents. We are a fellowship of families and singles, practicing radical discipleship in the spirit of the first church in Jerusalem. We gladly renounce private property and share everything in common. Our vocation is a life of service to God, each other, and you.
A good Twitter follow is @zimmerman1n, the account of an American who moved to Austria to found a Bruderhof community in rural Retz, in Austria’s world-famous Weinviertel (their equivalent of Napa Valley or Sonoma). Here’s a YouTube video from his brother-in-law:
Another outfit profiled - a small group of Catholic families near Milan calling themselves the Cascina San Benedetto, has recently moved to Norcia to establish a community and school near St. Benedict’s original monastery. Their new website is called the Raven and the Dove in Italian, referencing two legends from St. Benedict’s life.
Beyond the explicitly commune-like organizations, Dreher also profiled less formal clusters of families like those around the Catholic parish of St. Jerome’s in the suburbs of Washington, DC.
To that list we would add the town of Ave Maria, Florida. Built by Domino’s pizza founder Tom Monaghan and centered around a large Catholic church and Ave Maria University, the town is not explicitly Catholic - it attracts many commuters from both Miami and the Naples-Ft. Myers coasts of Florida - but it has a healthy community vibe and is filled with young families who gather regularly for fellowship.
Finally, Rod Dreher mentioned in passing on his Substack blog that several French Catholics have started an organization that matches families with cheap properties around French Catholic monasteries.
Founders Charles Wattebled and Damien Thomas paired with investor Pierre-Edouard Sterin to establish an organization called Monasphere (a portmanteau of Monastery + Sphere). (To read the website in English, enter it into translate.google.com. Same with foreign language coverage of the initiative such as this from an Italian Catholic newspaper).
There are 82 active Catholic monasteries or abbeys in France, and Monasphere’s goal is to establish ten “spheres” - i.e. thriving communities - in the next ten years. They are already in discussions with 16 Catholic monasteries or dioceses as potential locations for these spheres.
The project has already received support from some Catholic bishops. One wrote in support that “Families should form part of the local reality at the human and spiritual level, without avoiding the parishes in particular. It is fundamental that the message of Christ penetrates others through the style of Christian living and human contact with neighbors and schools, but also through the participation of these families in initiatives in the cultural field, proposals for prayer groups or commitments in the field of solidarity [with the poor].” However, the bishop warned that they should not become “kolkhozes” - a reference to the cult-like Soviet communes established after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.
The bishop’s warning about cult-like behavior is drawn from the Catholic Church’s wisdom in observing similar communities over the centuries. Given the human tendency toward tribalism, such initiatives should be viewed with a certain amount of inherent skepticism and those participating should enter into them with eyes wide open. Cult-like behavior – where a leader is revered and his decisions unquestioned, or any dissent is considered treasonous and dissenters marginalized, are a clear sign of an unhealthy community. Likewise if members are pressured to join and ostracized for leaving. Caveat emptor!
On the other hand, unity of belief and common purpose can be incredible catalysts for action. Think of the US Marines esprit de corps or the mystique of elite secular organizations.
If the organization is outward-looking, open to new blood and fresh ideas, and committed to a course of action that benefits the wider community without prejudice or favoritism, then it is more likely it is a “salt of the earth” or “light of the world” community of the sort that has transformed societies for the better in numerous social contexts.
If you are seeking to participate in one of these endeavors out of fear, please reconsider. Pope John Paul II’s injunction to “Be Not Afraid” should be the watchword of any religious community. If there is a palpable “us vs them” mentality or a fear of “the Other” — stay away. Such communities are extremely susceptible to abusive situations, since a fear takes hold that any admission of weakness or “scandal” would “benefit the enemy” which allows bad actors to justify hiding their abuse. Churches and new religious movements have suffered from this tendency to grievous effect, and it has severely damaged their credibility and ability to serve as a witness to the world.
If on the other hand you seek a place where your energies and zeal are not dissipated by a relentlessly critical surrounding culture, and you wish to use your talents wisely for the betterment of society, then a cohesive intentional community could be a good option.
Be wise as serpents and gentle as doves!