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Chaminade Another Portrait
Vincent R. Vasey, SM

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(to demonstrate the delightful point of view often taken by Father Vasey)

[This excerpt refers to the time after Chaminade had been removed as Superior General] 

As he had consulted others, Chaminade consulted André Jean Marie Hamon, an illustrious spiritual writer, on the right of a founder to inculcate into the members of his foundation its spirit.  Chaminade’s letter is not extant, but from similar consultations of the period [of Chaminade’s life] it is logical to infer that such was the tenor of his questions.  For his pain, Father Chaminade got back a stinging reply.  Among other things, Hamon had this to remark: “Since the existence of religious orders, rights of founders distinct from the authority of the Superior General have never been recognized.  Such a distinction is unknown in the Church and therefore is false.” 

This pronouncement of Father Hamon betrays an extraordinary ignorance of Church history.  The ineptitude of his answer is accentuated by a comparisons of his words with those of Fr. Paul Philippe, once professor at the Angelicum and later Cardinal who once wrote, ‘the role and the responsibility of founder cannot be juridically defined. But they shall be exercised no less profoundly than they were with the charge of Prior…you shall continue to guide the fraternity in its special vocation.”

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