Evil of Domineering Spirit
Since charity is humble, the spirit of domineering will be considered as a plague in the Pious Society, and therefore, shall be excluded from the Society. (OOCC, I, p.106; SD, p. 2)
Since the virtue of humility is the foundation of charity, St. Vincent Pallotti considers the domineering spirit detrimental to the life and growth of the community. He compares the spirit of domineering to a plague. When there is an attack of a plague in a place, it kills people indiscriminately. Similarly, if the domineering spirit guides the members of a community, it will bring about disaster in the community. If each person tries to dominate another, there is hardly any respect for each other in the community. One looks at the other not as a person, but as an object to be controlled and possessed. When the other is not considered as a person, there is hardly any relationship on a personal level. Each person reaches out to the other in the community interactions only in the level functions. Hence, the relationship which exists in the community is only superficial and peripheral. Since there is no depth level relationship between the members, the principle that guides the community living is one of toleration rather than acceptance. Without a genuine understanding among the members, and living the attitude of toleration and indifference, the members of the community often react to each other rather than live in a dialoguing relationship. Such reactions bring lots of tension in community living. In this way, a community directed by the spirit of domination is not a community at all in the real sense. Hence, St. Vincent wants the people of domineering spirit to be excluded from the community, for they destroy it.
Is it the domineering spirit that directs me in my community living? Do I understand the dangers the domineering spirit brings to the community? By living the domineering spirit do I kill the community spirit?
Clothe yourselves, all of you, with the humility towards one another, for “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (I Pet. 5: 5)