On November 12, the Provincial Prior and his Council published the “Criteria for the care of elderly and sick religious”, one of the hot topics in consecrated life today.
Like the rest of Western society, consecrated life has placed special emphasis in recent decades on the care of the elderly and on the values that promote active aging and on comprehensive care for those who need assistance to a greater or lesser degree.
Given the increasingly frequent reality of religious with special needs, there has been a tireless search to meet all their needs from an integral conception of the person: physical, mental, emotional, social-relational and spiritual.
In the Provincial Chapters, the issue came up strongly from the beginning of this century and the adaptation of houses to accommodate these religious began. In the 2023 and 2024 Assemblies, the orientation has been to stipulate criteria for a warmer, more creative and quality treatment of these religious; and to help those responsible for government to decide and communicate the transfer of a religious to one of these houses.
The fruit of this reflection is the Criteria for the Care of Older and Sick Religious (CARMEN), recently presented, written with the contributions of many religious who have had concrete experience in this task.
Currently, the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine has well-equipped houses and equipment for the comprehensive health care of older and/or sick religious. They are of two types: houses for assisted persons and intermediate houses.
Homes for the assisted
Specially prepared for the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine of religious people in a Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine, they have Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine on duty 24/7 and a team of friars with the task of caring for the assisted: accompanying them, following up on medical appointments, contacting doctors and the family of the assisted person…
The Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine has three Homes for the assisted, two of which are managed by itself and one is managed by an external Congregation:
- Saint Ezekiel Moreno Residence in Valladolid (Spain)
- Saint Pius X Residence in Querétaro (Mexico)
- Mary Health of the Sick Residence of the Servants of Mary in Newbury Park (California, United States).
These homes are for religious people who are dependent due to their cognitive and/or physical deterioration, without the ability to care for themselves in terms of hygiene, medication, food, movement or communication.
These houses attend also those religious who are convalescing or recovering from illnesses or treatments that require professional care, as well as religious who require temporary health care without being admitted to a health center.
Intermediate Houses
These houses are designed for people who are not yet dependent, and who are generally self-sufficient, but require specific help. In this case, the professionals who care for the elderly are present for a few hours a day.
The prior of the community, assisted by other religious, is responsible for meeting their needs and ensuring their integration into community activities. He also maintains contact with the family and with health professionals.
These houses are used by religious people who require partial help and adapted spaces, with specific needs for food, medication and hygiene, but who are generally self-sufficient in daily life. The Province has designated the following Intermediate Houses:
- Monteagudo (Navarra, Spain)
- Marcilla (Navarra, Spain)
- Valladolid (Spain)
- Oxnard (California, United States)
- Manaos (Amazonas, Brazil)
- Pozos de Santa Ana (San José, Costa Rica)
- Honiton (Devon, England).
Governance
One of the great innovations of CARMEN is that it proposes a specific protocol for action to indicate to a religious that the time has come to be assigned to an Intermediate House or a House for assisted persons. Until now, priors, delegates, vicars and provincials have relied on their intuition, experience and creativity when dealing with this difficult matter.
CARMEN indicates that, after hearing the request and the opinion of the local prior where the religious in question lives, the major superior (prior or provincial vicar) sends the religious to the House for the Assisted or to the Intermediate House, according to the assessment of the criteria indicated above.
The religious, if he still has this capacity, can choose where to reside, according to his interest: to be closer to his relatives, to have the presence of religious with whom he has already lived or with his classmates in the past… The idea is to create a climate of welcome and trust from the beginning of this new stage.
CARMEN asks local priors to be attentive to the most vulnerable members of their community and to accompany them in medical appointments, in their civil or administrative procedures, in their travels and stays outside the religious house, in the use of vehicles and in the custody and validation of their documents.
