Margaret Williams, rscj, summarizes this period as one of challenge. She writes:
The years from the end of World War II to the death of Pius XII were charged with dynamism as the global age moved towards the space age, through the confused forties and the "fabulous fifties." [The United Nations]issued a "Universal Declaration of Human Rights," implemented non-politically by UNESCO. New nations came into being: the Philippines, Israel, South Korea. A Third World emerged behind the opposing worlds of Communism and Capitalism. . . .
For the Society of the Sacred Heart there were years of transition when tradition was challenged by renewal. The Aggiornamento had not begun; it was prepared for without realization of all that it would mean. . . .
In the preceding period of expansion the Society had attempted to meet current challenges. . . with resulting tensions. While answering a manifest call to progress it had been on the defensive; while reaching out it had remained stable and worked by its own pattern.
. . .after 1946 concession and caution gave way to a more determined stance. The number of communities grew slightly; in 1946 there were 6560 religious in 175 houses in 24 vicariates; in 1958 there were 6852 religious in 183 houses in 35 vicariates. These steady figures are once again deceptive. Vocations were waning while the age level was rising; the pyramid was becoming inverted [except in US]. New teaching programs and the number of those taught increased far out of proportion to personnel; overwork menaced both efficiency and prayer. Yet, as problems became more complex, a clearer "yes" or "no" was returned to louder demands. Tensions did not vanish; they were confronted. While no radical changes were made in structures or way of life, both were revivified. Old values were re-expressed. . . .
Yet signs that such [basic]change was needed--and was--coming surfaced unmistakably. Renewal was foreseen. . . . 1
1. Williams, M. (1978). The Society of the Sacred Heart: History of a Spirit--1800-1975. London, Darton, Longman & Todd, pp 229-230
