Pope Leo XIII condemned in 1899 the idea that “passive” virtues and religious vows are outdated

In his letter against “Americanism,” Pope Leo XIII condemned the idea that “passive” virtues (such as humility, mortification, and patience), as well as religious vows, belonged to the past.

Pope Leo XIII, Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae, 1899:

“To this opinion regarding the natural virtues, one may add another which is connected to it, and which divides all Christian virtues into two classes, calling some passive and others active; adding that the former were better suited to past centuries, while the latter are better adapted to the present time. What must be thought of this division of the virtues is obvious, for there is not and there cannot be any truly passive virtue…

As for claiming that some Christian virtues are more appropriate than others to certain periods of history, one would have to forget the words of the Apostle: Those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son (Heb. xiii, 8).

This contempt for the evangelical virtues, wrongly called passive, was bound to have a natural consequence: namely, that disdain for the religious life would gradually spread into souls. That this is common among the promoters of the new opinions, We can infer from certain doctrines they have expressed regarding the vows taken by religious orders. They say, indeed, that these vows are completely contrary to the character of our time, because they restrict the limits of human freedom, that they are better suited to weak souls than to strong ones, and that they are not at all favorable to Christian perfection and the good of human society, but rather that they are an obstacle and a hindrance to both…

… those who, called by God, freely embrace this kind of life and who, not content with the common duties imposed on them by the precepts, commit themselves to the practice of the counsels—these show themselves to be the elite soldiers of the army of Christ.”