A BRIEF RECENT HISTORY OF THE CONFRATERNITY OF PENITENTS

As stated elsewhere, the Confraternity of Penitents (CFP) was founded as the Brothers of Sisters of Penance (BSP) in 1995. Our Statutes, which are the adaptations for modern circumstances of the Rule of 1221, were submitted in 1998 to the Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, where, after a few changes were made by Diocesan officials, they were reviewed and deemed acceptable to live by Bishop Robert Mulvee. Slight additional adaptations were accepted by the Diocese of Providence in 1999. In 2005-06, with Diocesan input, the governance of the Confraternity was restructured to make it more of a religious model, the Constitutions were reworked to bring them into uniformity with Church protocol, and the Statutes, as scrutinized by the Diocese of Providence in 1998 and 1999, were incorporated into the Constitutions. The CFP Constitutions are of crucial importance since they are the way we live the Rule.

In April 1999, the BSP was legally incorporated in the State of Rhode Island. In November of 1999, federal non-profit tax exempt status was granted to the incorporated BSP.

In 1998, with the permission of Bishop Mulvee, our founder put the Brothers and Sisters of Penance on the internet, using space on a friend’s website. This step greatly expanded the membership. Also, in 1998, the formation lessons for the four years of formation began to be written, since these are required by the Statutes. In 2002, upon completion of their formation lessons, the first two members, both from Rhode Island, made the Association’s first Life Pledges to the then current Visitor of the BSP.

In 1999 the Brothers and Sisters of Penance further expanded when the leadership and membership merged with another group from another Diocese who were also living the Rule of 1221 with the support of their Bishop. Members of that group could now enjoy the same legal and tax exempt status as the BSP. After 1999, the resources, including a new website owned by the BSP, membership, and documents of the BSP, expanded, but still using the same Statutes as were reviewed by the Diocese of Providence in 1998 and 1999.

After about three and one half years, disagreements among the leaders arose over governance, formation, pledging, and communication procedures. Ten months of communications and discussions could not resolve the disagreements. When the Council of the Association learned of and became divided over these issues,  the founder went to the Diocese of Providence in August 2003 to ask for advice. She was advised to refound the Association. The Bishop of the Diocese, Bishop Robert Mulvee, concurred with this advice. Several other leaders of the BSP agreed. This means that they resigned from the BSP and started a new Association which legally had to receive a new name. The name chosen is the Confraternity of Penitents (CFP). After consulting a lawyer, these leaders turned over the BSP treasury, assets, and material resources of the BSP to the remaining leaders. In addition, the BSP website and passwords, which had been managed from Rhode Island since 1998, were transferred to the remaining leaders. Some of the membership of the BSP also voluntarily left the BSP and joined the Confraternity of Penitents while others stayed with the former foundation.

The Brothers and Sisters of Penance, incorporated in the State of Rhode Island in 1999, had to be legally dissolved in October 2003 since no Rhode Island members remained. The Confraternity of Penitents was incorporated in Rhode Island in 2003 and was granted tax exempt status by the federal government in 2004. In the CFP, the formation lessons, pledging procedures, requirements for leadership and voting, and how the Rule is lived (the original Statutes) have continued unchanged since Diocesan acceptance in 1998 and 1999, thus effecting a true "refounding" rather than the creation of a different group.

The remaining leadership of the BSP had to refound in their own state since the BSP was legally dissolved in Rhode Island where it had been incorporated. Since the dual refounding in 2003, one would expect that the two groups would diverge in the way they live the Rule of 1221 (Statutes) and structurally. This has indeed happened. While the members of both groups are living the Rule of 1221, each group lives the Rule differently. There are also other groups which live the Rule of 1221 or take it  as an ideal or inspiration. In addition, some people who do not belong to any Association are inspired by the Rule of 1221 or live it in some way.

We have to remember that the Rule of 1221 has existed for almost 800 years. Is this renewed interest in the Rule of 1221 just a passing fad of human creation? Or does it come from the Holy Spirit to bring closer to Christ those whom the Spirit calls to explore the Rule? If the latter is correct, then we all have to discern how we are to answer the call we have received.

--Jim Nugent (Jim Nugent has first-hand experience with the history of the Confraternity of Penitents since the Holy Spirit's initial inspiration to "live the Rule of 1221" in 1994.)