Vatican
City, 31 January 2014
(VIS) – This morning in the Press Office of the Holy See, Cardinal
Joao Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of
Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, and Archbishop Jose
Rodriguez Carballo, O.F.M., secretary of the same congregation,
presented the Year for Consecrated Life 2015. It was called for by
Pope Francis at the end of his meeting with 120 superior generals of
male institutes, at the suggestion of the heads of the aforementioned
congregation on having heard from many of the consecrated.
“First
of all,” Cardinal Braz de Aviz said, “this Year dedicated to
consecrated life has been prepared in the context of the 50th
anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and, more specifically, on
the 50th anniversary of the publication of the conciliar decree on
the renewal of consecrated life 'Perfectae caritatis'. … Because we
recognize these 50 years that separate us from the Council as a
moment of grace for consecrated life, as marked by the presence of
the Spirit that leads us to live even our weaknesses and
infidelities as an experience of God's mercy and love, we want this
Year to be an occasion for 'gratefully remembering' this recent past.
This is the first objective of the Year for Consecrated Life.”
“With
a positive look at this time of grace between the Council and today,
we want the second objective to be 'embracing the future with hope'.
We are well aware that the present moment is 'difficult and delicate'
… and that the crisis facing society and the Church herself fully
touches upon the consecrated life. But we want to take this crisis
not as an antechamber of death but as … an opportunity to grow in
depth, and thus in hope, motivated by the certainty that the
consecrated life will never disappear from the Church because 'it was
desired by Jesus himself as an irremovable part of his Church'.”
“This
hope,” he concluded, “doesn't spare us—and the consecrated are
well aware of this—from 'living the present passionately', and this
is the third objective for the Year. … It will be an important
moment for 'evangelizing' our vocation and for bearing witness to the
beauty of the 'sequela Christi' in the many ways in which our lives
are expressed. The consecrated take up the witness that has been left
them by their respective founders and foundresses. … They want to
'awaken the world' with their prophetic witness, particularly with
their presence at the existential margins of poverty and thought, as
Pope Francis asked their superior generals.”
For
his part, Archbishop Rodriguez Carballo explained the initiatives and
events that will take place during the Year for Consecrated Life,
which will begin this October to coincide with the anniversary of the
promulgation of the conciliar constitution “Lumen Gentium”.
The
Year's official inauguration is planned with a solemn celebration in
St. Peter's Basilica, possibly presided by the Holy Father, which
could take place on 21 November, the World Day 'Pro orantibus'. Still
this November, it would be followed by a plenary assembly of the
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of
Apostolic Life, the theme of which would be “The 'Novum' in
Consecrated Life beginning from Vatican II”.
Various
international events are also planned for Rome, among which would
include a meeting of young religious and novices, those who have
professed temporary or final vows for less than ten years, a meeting
for spiritual directors, an international theological conference on
consecrated life dedicated to “Renewal of the Consecrated Life in
Light of the Council and Perspectives for the Future”, and an
international exhibit on “Consecrated Life: The Gospel in Human
History”.
For
the conclusion of the Year for Consecrated Life another
concelebration presided by Pope Francis is planned, probably for 21
November 2015, 50 years after the decree “Perfecta caritatis”.
Every four months throughout the year, the dicastery will publish a
newsletter on themes related to consecrated life, the first of which
will come out on 2 February of next year, entitled “Be Glad” and
dedicated to the Magisterium of the Holy Father on consecrated life.
In response to the Pope's wishes, the Antonianum Pontifical
University in Rome will host a symposium on the management of
economic goods and capital by religious from 8 to 9 March. There will
be a series of initiatives planned particularly for contemplative
religious, including a world Chain of Prayer among monasteries.
Archbishop
Rodriguez Carballo also spoke of several documents that the dicastery
is preparing. To that end, in close collaboration with the
Congregation for Bishops and following a mandate by the Holy Father,
the document “Mutuae relationes” on the relations between bishops
and religious in the Church is being drawn up. Also, always on the
mandate of the Pope, the instruction “Verbi Sponsa”, which deals
with the autonomy and cloistering of entirely contemplative
religious, is being revised. Another document in preparation will
deal with the life and the mission of religious while a fourth one
will touch on the question of how consecrated manage goods in order
to offer some guidelines and direction in the complex situations that
arise in that area.
Finally,
during the Year of Consecrated Life, it is hoped that the Holy Father
will promulgate a new apostolic constitution on contemplative life in
place of “Sponsa Christi”, which was promulgated by Pope Pius XII
in 1950.
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