Fraternal_Life-en


Fraternal_Life-en

1 Pages 1-10

▲back to top

1.1 Page 1

▲back to top
CONGREGATION FOR INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE
AND SOCIETIES OF APOSTOLIC LIFE
FRATERNAL LIFE IN COMMUNITY
"Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor"
INTRODUCTION
"Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor"
1. The love of Christ has gathered a great number of disciples to become
one, so that, like him and thanks to him, in the Spirit, they might,
throughout the centuries, be able to respond to the love of the Father, loving
him "with all their hearts, with all their soul, with all their might" (cf. Deut.
6:5) and loving their neighbours "as themselves" (cf. Mt. 22:39).
Among these disciples, those gathered together in religious communities,
women and men "from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and
tongues" (Rev. 7:9), have been and still are a particularly eloquent
expression of this sublime and boundless love.
Born not "of the will of the flesh", nor from personal attraction, nor from
human motives, but "from God" (Jn. 1:13), from a divine vocation and a
divine attraction, religious communities are a living sign of the primacy of
the love of God who works wonders, and of the love for God and for one's
brothers and sisters as manifested and practised by Jesus Christ.
In view of the relevance of religious communities for the life and holiness
of the Church, it is important to examine the lived experience of today's
religious communities, whether monastic and contemplative or dedicated to
apostolic activity, each according to its own specific character. All that is
said here about religious communities applies also to communities in
societies of apostolic life, bearing in mind their specific character and
proper legislation.
a) The subject of this document is considered in light of this fact: the
character which "fraternal life in common" manifests in numerous countries
reveals many transformations of what was lived in the past. These
transformations, as well as the hopes and disappointments which have
accompanied them, and continue to do so, require reflection in light of the
Second Vatican Council. The transformations have led to positive results,
but also to results which are questionable. They have put into a clearer light
not a few Gospel values, thus giving new vitality to religious community,
but they have also given rise to questions by obscuring some elements
characteristic of this same fraternal life lived in community. In some places,
it seems that religious community has lost its relevance in the eyes of
women and men religious and is, perhaps, no longer an ideal to be pursued.
With the serenity and urgency characteristic of those who seek the Lord,

1.2 Page 2

▲back to top
many communities have sought to evaluate this transformation, so that they
might better fulfil their proper vocation in the midst of the People of God.
b) There are many factors which have determined the changes of which we
are witnesses:
• - "Constant return to the sources of the whole of the Christian life
and to the primitive inspiration of the institutes".(1) This deeper and
fuller encounter with the Gospel and with the first breakthrough of
the foundational charism, has been a vigorous impulse towards
acquiring the true spirit which animates fraternity, and towards the
structures and usages which must express it adequately. Where the
encounter with these sources and with the originating inspiration has
been partial or weak, fraternal life has run risks and suffered a
certain loss of tone.
• - But this process has occurred within the context of other more
general developments which are, as it were, its existential
framework, and religious life cannot exempt itself from their
repercussions.(2)
Religious life is a vital part of the Church and lives in the world. The values
and counter-values which ferment within an epoch or a cultural setting, and
the social structures which manifest them, impinge on everyone, including
the Church and its religious communities. Religious communities either
constitute an evangelical leaven within society, announce the Good News in
the midst of the world, the here and now proclamation of the heavenly
Jerusalem, or else they succumb by decline quickly or slowly, simply
because they have conformed to the world. For this reason, a reflection and
new proposals on "fraternal life in common" must take this existential
framework into account.
-- Developments within the Church have also marked religious
communities deeply. The Second Vatican Council, as an event of grace and
the greatest expression of the Church's pastoral guidance in this century, has
had a decisive influence on religious life; not only by virtue of the Decree
Perfectae Caritatis, which is dedicated to it, but also by virtue of the
Council's ecclesiology, and each of its documents.
For all these reasons, this document, before addressing its topic directly,
begins with an overview of the changes encountered in the settings which
have more immediately affected the quality of fraternal life and its ways of
being lived in the various religious communities.
Theological development
2. The Second Vatican Council contributed greatly to a re-evaluation of
"fraternal life in common" and to a renewed vision of religious community.
More than any other factor, it is the development of ecclesiology which has
affected the evolution of our understanding of religious community. Vatican
II affirmed that religious life belongs "undeniably" (inconcusse) to the life
and holiness of the Church and placed religious life at the very heart of the

1.3 Page 3

▲back to top
Church's mystery of communion and holiness.(3)
Religious community thus participates in the renewed and deepened vision
of the Church. From this, several consequences follow:
a) From Church-Mystery to the mystery dimension of religious community
Religious community is not simply a collection of Christians in search of
personal perfection. Much more deeply, it is a participation in and qualified
witness of the Church-Mystery, since it is a living expression and privileged
fulfilment of its own particular "communion", of the great Trinitarian
"koinonia", in which the Father has willed that men and women have part
in the Son and in the Holy Spirit.
b) From Church-Communion to the communional-fraternal dimension of
religious community
Religious community, in its structure, motivations, distinguishing values,
makes publicly visible and continually perceptible the gift of fraternity
given by Christ to the whole Church. For this very reason, it has as its
commitment and mission, which cannot be renounced, both to be and to be
seen to be a living organism of intense fraternal communion, a sign and
stimulus for all the baptised.(4)
c) From Church animated by charisms to the charismatic dimension of
religious community
Religious community is a living organism of fraternal communion, called to
live as animated by the foundational charism. It is part of the organic
communion of the whole Church, which is continuously enriched by the
Spirit with a variety of ministries and charisms.
Those who enter into such communities must have the particular grace of a
vocation. In practice, the members of a religious community are seen to be
bound by a common calling from God in continuity with the foundational
charism, by a characteristically common ecclesial consecration, and by a
common response in sharing that "experience of the Spirit" lived and
handed on by the founder and in his or her mission within the Church.(5)
The Church also wishes to receive with gratitude "the more simple and
widely diffused" charisms(6) which God distributes among her members
for the good of the entire Body. Religious community exists for the Church,
to signify her and enrich her,(7) to render her better able to carry out her
mission.
d) From Church as Sacrament of unity to the apostolic dimension of
religious community
The purpose of apostolate is to bring humanity back to union with God and
to unity among itself, through divine charity. Fraternal life in common, as
an expression of the union effected by God's love, in addition to being an
essential witness for evangelization, has great significance for apostolic

1.4 Page 4

▲back to top
activity and for its ultimate purpose. It is from this that the fraternal
communion of religious community derives its vigour as sign and
instrument. In fact, fraternal communion is at both the beginning and the
end of apostolate.
The Magisterium, since the time of the Council, has deepened and enriched
the renewed vision of religious community with fresh insights.(8)
Canonical development
3. The Code of Canon Law (1983) specifies and defines the Council's
determinations concerning community life.
When it speaks of "common life", it is necessary to distinguish clearly two
aspects.
While the 1917 Code(9) could have given the impression of concentrating
on exterior elements and uniformity of life-style, Vatican II(10) and the new
Code(11) insist explicitly on the spiritual dimension and on the bond of
fraternity which must unite all members in charity. The new Code has
synthesised these two elements in speaking of "living a fraternal life in
common".(12)
Thus, in community life, two elements of union and of unity among the
members can be distinguished:
• - one, the more spiritual: "fraternity" or "fraternal communion",
which arises from hearts animated by charity. It underlines
"communion of life" and interpersonal relationships;(13)
• - the other, more visible: "life in common" or "community life",
which consists of "living in one's own lawfully constituted religious
house" and in "leading a common life" through fidelity to the same
norms, taking part in common acts, and collaboration in common
services.(14)
All of this is lived "in their own special manner"(15) in the various
communities, according to the charism and proper law of the institute.(16)
From this arises the importance of proper law which must apply to
community life the patrimony of every institute and the means for doing
this.(17)
It is clear that "fraternal life" will not automatically be achieved by
observance of the norms which regulate common life; but it is evident that
common life is designed to favour fraternal life greatly.
Development within society
4. Society is in constant evolution and men and women religious, who are
not of the world, but who nevertheless live in the world, are subject to its
influence.
Here we will mention only some aspects which have had a direct impact on

1.5 Page 5

▲back to top
religious life in general and on religious community in particular.
a) Movements for political and social emancipation in the Third World and
a stepped up process of industrialisation have led to the rise of major social
changes, with particular emphasis on the "development of peoples" and, in
recent decades, on situations of poverty and misery. Local Churches have
reacted actively in the face of these developments.
Above all in Latin America, through the general assemblies of the Latin
American episcopate at Medellin, Puebla, and Santo Domingo, the
"evangelical and preferential option for the poor"(18) has been strongly
emphasised, and has led to a new emphasis on social commitment.
Religious communities have been profoundly affected by this; many were
led to rethink their presence in society, in view of more direct service to the
poor, sometimes even through insertion among the poor.
The overwhelming increase of suffering on the outskirts of large cities and
the impoverishment of rural areas have hastened the "repositioning" of a
considerable number of religious communities towards these poorer areas.
Everywhere, there is the challenge of inculturation. Cultures, traditions, and
the mentality of a particular country all have an impact on the way fraternal
life is lived in religious communities.
Moreover, movements of large-scale migration in recent years have raised
the problem of the co-existence of different cultures, and the problem of
racist reactions. All of these issues also have repercussions on pluri-cultural
and multi-racial religious communities, which are becoming increasingly
common.
b) Demands for personal freedom and human rights have been at the root
of a broad process of democratisation, which has favoured economic
development and the growth of civil society.
In the immediate wake of the Council, this process, especially in the west,
quickened and was marked by moments of calling meetings about
everything and rejection of authority.
The Church and religious life were not immune from such questioning of
authority, with significant repercussions for community life as well.
A one-sided and exasperated stress on freedom contributed to the spread of
a culture of individualism throughout the west, thus weakening the ideal of
life in common and commitment to community projects.
We also observe other reactions which were equally one-sided, such as
flight into safely authoritarian projects, based on blind faith in a reassuring
leader.
c) The advancement of women, which according to Pope John XXIII is one
of the signs of our times, has also had many repercussions on life in

1.6 Page 6

▲back to top
Christian communities in various countries.(19) Even if in some areas the
influence of extremist currents of feminism is deeply affecting religious
life, almost everywhere women's religious communities are positively
seeking forms of common life judged more suitable for a renewed
awareness of the identity, dignity and role of women in society, Church and
religious life.
d) The communications explosion, which began in the 1960's, has
considerably, and at times dramatically, influenced the general level of
information, the sense of social and apostolic responsibility, apostolic
mobility and the quality of internal relationships, not to mention the
specific life-style and recollected atmosphere which ought to characterise a
religious community.
e) Consumerism and hedonism, together with a weakening of the vision of
faith characteristic of secularism, in many regions have not left religious
communities unaffected. These factors have severely tested the ability of
some religious communities to "resist evil" but they have also given rise to
new styles of personal and community life which are a clear evangelical
testimony for our world.
All of this has been a challenge, a call to live the evangelical counsels with
more vigour, and this has helped support the witness of the wider Christian
community.
Changes in religious life
5. In recent years, there have been changes which have profoundly affected
religious communities.
a) A new profile in religious communities. In many countries, increased
state programmes in areas in which religious have traditionally been active
-- such as social service, education, and health -- together with the decrease
in vocations, have resulted in a diminished presence of religious in works
which used to be typically those of apostolic institutes.
Thus, there is a shrinking of large religious communities at the service of
visible works which characterised various institutes for many years.
This is accompanied, in some regions, by a preference for smaller
communities composed of religious who are active in works not belonging
to the institute, even though they are often in line with the charism of that
institute. This has a significant impact on the style of their common life and
requires a change in traditional rhythms.
Sometimes the sincere desire to serve the Church and attachment to the
institute's works, combined with urgent requests from the particular
Church, can easily bring religious to take on too much work, thus leaving
less time for common life.
b) The increase in the number of requests for assistance in responding to
more urgent needs (those of the poor, drug addicts, refugees, the

1.7 Page 7

▲back to top
marginalized, the handicapped, the sick of every kind) has given rise in
religious life to responses of admirable and admired dedication.
This, however, has also made evident the need for changes in the traditional
profile of religious communities, which are deemed, by some, to be
inadequate for coping with the new situations.
c) The way of understanding and living one's own work in a secularised
context, especially when it is understood as the mere exercise of a given
profession or occupation rather than as the undertaking of a mission of
evangelization, has at times obscured the reality of consecration and the
spiritual dimension of religious life, to the point that fraternal life in
common has become for some an obstacle to the apostolate, or a merely
functional instrument.
d) A new concept of the human person emerged in the immediate wake of
the Council, emphasising the value of the individual person and of personal
initiatives. This was followed immediately by a sharpened sense of
community, understood as fraternal life built more on the quality of
interpersonal relationships than on the formal aspects of regular
observance.
Here or there, these accents were radicalised (giving rise to the opposing
tendencies of individualism and communitarianism), sometimes without
coming to a satisfactory balance.
e) New governing structures emerged from revised constitutions, requiring
far greater participation on the part of men and women religious. This has
led to a different way of approaching problems, through community
dialogue, co-responsibility and subsidiarity. All members became involved
in the problems of the community. This greatly affected interpersonal
relationships and, in turn, affected the way authority is perceived. In not a
few cases, authority then encountered practical difficulties in finding its
true place within the new context.
The combination of changes and tendencies mentioned has affected the
character of religious communities in a profound way but also in ways that
must be differentiated.
The differentiations, sometimes rather notable, depend, as can be easily
understood, on the diversity of cultures and continents, on whether the
communities are of men or of women, on the kind of religious life and the
kind of institute, on the different activities and the degree of commitment to
re-read and reclaim the charism of the founder, on the different ways of
standing before society and the Church, on different ways of receiving the
values proposed by the Council, on different traditions and ways of
common life, and on various ways of exercising authority and promoting
the renewal of permanent formation. These problematic settings are only
partially common to all; rather they tend to differ from community to
community.
Objectives of the document

1.8 Page 8

▲back to top
6. In light of these new situations, the purpose of this document is, above
all, to support the efforts made by many communities of religious, both
men and women, to improve the quality of their fraternal life. This will be
done by offering some criteria of discernment, in view of authentic
evangelical renewal.
This document also intends to offer reasons for reflection to those who have
distanced themselves from the community ideal, so that they may give
serious consideration again to the need for fraternal life in common for
those consecrated to the Lord in a religious institute or incorporated in a
society of apostolic life.
7. For this purpose, the document is structured as follows:
a) Religious community as gift: before being a human project, fraternal life
in common is part of God's plan and he wishes to share his life of
communion.
b) Religious community as place where we become brothers and sisters:
the most suitable channels for building Christian fraternity by the religious
community.
c) Religious community as place and subject of mission: specific choices
which a religious community is called to carry out in various situations, and
criteria for discernment.
To enter into the mystery of communion and of fraternity, and before
undertaking the difficult discernment necessary for renewing the
evangelical radiance of our communities, we must humbly invoke the Holy
Spirit, that he may accomplish what he alone can do: "I shall give you a
new heart, and put a new spirit in you; I shall remove the heart of stone
from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead. You shall be my
people and I will be your God" (Ez. 36:26-28).
I.
THE GIFT OF COMMUNION AND THE GIFT OF COMMUNITY
8. Before being a human construction, religious community is a gift of the
Spirit. It is the love of God, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, from
which religious community takes its origin and is built as a true family
gathered together in the Lord's name.(20)
It is therefore impossible to understand religious community unless we start
from its being a gift from on high, from its being a mystery, from its being
rooted in the very heart of the blessed and sanctifying Trinity, who wills it
as part of the mystery of the Church, for the life of the world.
The Church as communion
9. In creating man and woman in his own image and likeness, God created
them for communion. God the Creator, who revealed himself as Love, as

1.9 Page 9

▲back to top
Trinity, as communion, called them to enter into intimate relationship with
himself and into interpersonal communion, in the universal fraternity of all
men and women.(21)
This is our highest vocation: to enter into communion with God and with
our brothers and sisters.
God's plan was compromised through sin, which sundered every kind of
relationship: between the human race and God, between man and woman,
among brothers and sisters, between peoples, between humanity and the
rest of creation.
In his great love, the Father sent his Son, the new Adam, to reconstitute all
creation and bring it to full unity. When he came among us, he established
the beginning of the new People of God, calling to himself apostles and
disciples, men and women -- a living parable of the human family gathered
together in unity. He announced to them universal fraternity in the Father,
who made us his intimates, his children, and brothers and sisters among
ourselves. In this way he taught equality in fraternity and reconciliation in
forgiveness. He overturned the relationships of power and domination,
himself giving the example of how to serve and choose the last place.
During the Last Supper, he entrusted to them the new commandment of
mutual love: "a new commandment I give to you, that you love one
another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another" (Jn.
13:34; cf. 15:12); he instituted the Eucharist, which, making us share in the
one bread and one cup, nourishes mutual love. Then he turned to the Father
asking, as a synthesis of his desires, for the unity of all, modelled on the
Trinitarian unity: "that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me
and I in you, that they also may be in us" (cf. Jn. 17:21).
Entrusting himself then to the Father's will, he achieved in the paschal
mystery that unity which he had taught his disciples to live and which he
had asked of the Father. By his death on the cross, he destroyed the barrier
that separated peoples, reconciling us all in unity (cf. Eph. 2:14-16). By
this, he taught us that communion and unity are the fruit of sharing in the
mystery of His death.
The coming of the Holy Spirit, first gift to believers, brought about the
unity willed by Christ. Poured out on the disciples gathered in the Upper
Room with Mary, the Spirit gave visibility to the Church, which, from the
very first moment, is characterised as fraternity and communion in the unity
of one heart and one soul (cf. Acts 4:32).
This communion is the bond of charity which joins among themselves all
the members of the same Body of Christ, and the Body with its Head. The
same life-giving presence of the Holy Spirit(22) builds in Christ organic
cohesion: he unifies the Church in communion and ministry, co-ordinates
and directs it with various hierarchic and charismatic gifts which
complement each other, and makes the Church beautiful by his fruits.(23)
In her pilgrimage through this world, the Church, one and holy, has
constantly been characterised by a tension, often painful, towards effective

1.10 Page 10

▲back to top
unity. Along her path through history, she has become increasingly
conscious of being the People and family of God, the Body of Christ,
Temple of the Spirit, Sacrament of the intimate union of the human race,
communion, icon of the Trinity. The Second Vatican Council has brought
out, perhaps as never before, this mysterious and "communional"
dimension of the Church.
Religious community as expression of ecclesial communion
10. From the very beginning, consecrated life has cultivated this intimate
nature of Christianity. In fact, the religious community has felt itself to be
in continuity with the group of those who followed Jesus. He had called
them personally, one by one, to live in communion with himself and with
the other disciples, to share his life and his destiny (cf. Mk. 3:13-15), and in
this way to be a sign of the life and communion begun by him. The first
monastic communities looked to the community of the disciples who
followed Christ and to the community of Jerusalem as their ideal of life.
Like the nascent Church, having one heart and one soul, so the monks,
gathering themselves under a spiritual guide, the abbot, set out to live the
radical communion of material and spiritual goods and the unity established
by Christ. This unity finds its archetype and its unifying dynamism in the
life of unity of the Persons of the Most Blessed Trinity.
In subsequent centuries, many forms of community have arisen under the
charismatic action of the Spirit. He who searches the depths of the human
heart reaches out to it and satisfies its needs. He raises up men and women
who, enlightened by the light of the Gospel and sensitive to the signs of the
times, give life to new religious families -- and hence to new ways of living
out the one single communion in a diversity of ministries and communities.
(24)
It is impossible to speak of religious community univocally. The history of
consecrated life witnesses to a variety of ways of living out the one
communion according to the nature of the various institutes. Thus, today we
can admire the "wondrous variety" of religious families which enrich the
Church and equip her for every good work(25) and, deriving from this, the
variety of forms of religious communities.
Nevertheless, in the various forms it takes, fraternal life in common has
always appeared as a radical expression of the common fraternal spirit
which unites all Christians. Religious community is a visible manifestation
of the communion which is the foundation of the Church and, at the same
time, a prophecy of that unity towards which she tends as her final goal. As
"experts in communion, religious are, therefore, called to be an ecclesial
community in the Church and in the world, witnesses and architects of the
plan for unity which is the crowning point of human history in God's
design. Above all, by profession of the evangelical counsels, which frees
one from what might be an obstacle to the fervour of charity, religious are
communally a prophetic sign of intimate union with God, who is loved
above all things. Furthermore, through the daily experience of communion
of life, prayer and apostolate -- the essential and distinctive elements of
their form of consecrated life -- they are a sign of fraternal fellowship. In

2 Pages 11-20

▲back to top

2.1 Page 11

▲back to top
fact, in a world frequently very deeply divided and before their brethren in
the faith, they give witness to the possibility of a community of goods, of
fraternal love, of a programme of life and activity which is theirs because
they have accepted the call to follow more closely and more freely Christ
the Lord who was sent by the Father so that, firstborn among many brothers
and sisters, he might establish a new fraternal fellowship in the gift of his
Spirit".(26)
This will be all the more visible to the extent that they not only think with
and within the Church, but also feel themselves to be Church, identifying
themselves with her in full communion with her doctrine, her life, her
pastors, her faithful, her mission in the world.(27)
Particularly significant is the witness offered by contemplative men and
women. For them, fraternal life has broader and deeper dimensions which
derive from the fundamental demand of this special vocation, the search for
God alone in silence and prayer.
Their constant attention to God makes their attention to other members of
the community more delicate and respectful, and contemplation becomes a
force liberating them from every form of selfishness.
Fraternal life in common, in a monastery, is called to be a living sign of the
mystery of the Church: the greater the mystery of grace, so much the richer
is the fruit of salvation.
In this way, the Spirit of the Lord, who gathered together the first believers,
and who continually calls the Church into one single family, calls together
and nourishes religious families which, by means of their communities
spread throughout the world, have the mission of being clearly readable
signs of that intimate communion which animates and constitutes the
Church, and of being a support for the fulfilment of God's plan.
II.
RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY AS PLACE FOR BECOMING
BROTHERS AND SISTERS
11. From the gift of communion arises the duty to build fraternity, in other
words, to become brothers and sisters in a given community where all are
called to live together. From accepting with wonder and gratitude the reality
of divine communion shared with mere creatures, there also arises
conviction of the need to make it always more visible by building
communities "filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 13:52).
In our days, and for our days, it is necessary to take up again this "divine-
human" work of building up the community of brothers and sisters, keeping
in mind the specific circumstances of present times in which theological,
canonical, social and structural developments have profoundly affected the
profile and life of religious community.
Starting from a number of specific situations, the present document wishes

2.2 Page 12

▲back to top
to offer indications for strengthening commitment to a continued
evangelical renewal of communities.
Spirituality and common prayer
l2. In its primary mystical component, every authentic Christian community
is seen in "itself a theological reality, an object of contemplation".(28) It
follows that a religious community is, above all else, a mystery which must
be contemplated and welcomed with a heart full of gratitude in the clear
context of faith.
Whenever we lose sight of this mystical and theologal dimension which
binds religious community to the mystery of divine communion, present
and communicated to the community, we inevitably come to forget the
profound reasons for "making community", for patiently building fraternal
life. This life can sometimes seem beyond human strength and a useless
waste of energy, especially to those intensely committed to action and
conditioned by an activist and individualistic culture.
The same Christ who called them, daily calls together his brothers and
sisters to speak with them and to unite them to himself and to each other in
the Eucharist, to assimilate them increasingly into His living and visible
Body, in whom the Spirit lives, on journey towards the Father.
Prayer in common, which has always been considered the foundation of all
community life, starts from contemplation of God's great and sublime
mystery, from wonder for his presence, which is at work in the most
significant moments of the life of our religious families as well as in the
humble and ordinary realities of our communities.
13. As a response to the admonition of the Lord, "watch at all times, and
pray" (cf. Lk. 21:36), a religious community needs to be watchful and take
the time necessary for attending to the quality of its life. Sometimes men
and women religious "don't have time" and their day runs the risk of being
too busy and anxious, and the religious can end up being tired and
exhausted. In fact, religious community is regulated by a rhythmic
horarium to give determined times to prayer, and especially so that one can
learn to give time to God (vacare Deo).
Prayer needs to be seen also as time for being with the Lord so that He
might act in us and, notwithstanding distractions and weariness, might enter
our lives, console them and guide them. So that, in the end, our entire
existence can belong to him.
14. One of the most valuable achievements of recent decades, recognised
and blessed by all, has been the rediscovery of liturgical prayer by religious
families.
Communal celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, or at least of some part
of it, has revitalised prayer in many communities, which have been brought
into more lively contact with the word of God and the prayer of the Church.
(29)

2.3 Page 13

▲back to top
Thus, all must remain strongly convinced that community is built up
starting from the liturgy, especially from celebration of the Eucharist(30)
and the other sacraments. Among these other sacraments, renewed attention
should be given to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, through which the Lord
restores union with Himself and with one's brothers and sisters.
As happened in the first community in Jerusalem (cf. Acts 2:42), the word,
the Eucharist, common prayer, dedication and fidelity to the teaching of the
Apostles and their successors, put one in touch with God's great works; in
this context, these works become resplendent and generate praise,
thanksgiving, joy, union of hearts, comfort in the shared difficulties of daily
life together, and mutual encouragement in faith.
Unfortunately, the decrease in the number of priests may, here or there,
make it impossible to participate daily in the Mass. In these circumstances,
we must be concerned to deepen our appreciation of the great gift of the
Eucharist and place at the very heart of our lives the Sacred Mystery of the
Body and Blood of our Lord, alive and present in the Community to sustain
and inspire it in its journey to the Father. From this derives the necessity
that every religious house have its own oratory as the centre of the
community,(31) where members can nourish their own Eucharistic
spirituality by prayer and adoration.
It is around the Eucharist, celebrated or adored, "source and summit" of all
activity of the Church, that the communion of souls is built up, which is the
starting point of all growth in fraternity. "From this all education for
community spirit must begin".(32)
15. Communal prayer reaches its full effectiveness when it is intimately
linked to personal prayer. Common prayer and personal prayer are closely
related and are complementary to each other. Everywhere, but especially so
in some regions and cultures, greater emphasis must be placed on the inner
aspect, on the filial relationship to the Father, on the intimate and spousal
relationship with Christ, on the personal deepening of what is celebrated
and lived in community prayer, on the interior and exterior silence that
leaves space for the Word and the Spirit to regenerate the more hidden
depths. The consecrated person who lives in community nourishes his or
her consecration both through constant personal dialogue with God and
through community praise and intercession.
16. In recent years, community prayer has been enriched by various forms
of expression and sharing.
For many communities, the sharing of Lectio divina and reflection on the
word of God, as well as the sharing of personal faith experiences and
apostolic concerns have been particularly fruitful. Differences of age,
formation and character make it advisable to be prudent in requiring this of
an entire community. It is well to recall that the right moment cannot be
rushed.
Where it is practised with spontaneity and by common agreement, such
sharing nourishes faith and hope as well as mutual respect and trust; it

2.4 Page 14

▲back to top
facilitates reconciliation and nourishes fraternal solidarity in prayer.
17. The Lord's injunction to "always pray and not lose heart" (Lk. 18:1; cf.
1 Thes. 5:17) is equally valid for personal prayer and for communal prayer.
A religious community lives constantly in the sight of its Lord and ought to
be continuously aware of his presence. Nevertheless, prayer in common has
its own rhythms whose frequency (daily, weekly, monthly or yearly) is set
forth in the proper law of each institute.
Prayer in common which requires fidelity to an horarium also and above all
requires perseverance: "that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of
the scriptures we might have hope..., that together you may with one voice
glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 15:4-6).
Faithfulness and perseverance will also help overcome, creatively and
wisely, certain difficulties which mark some communities, such as diversity
of commitments and consequent differences in schedules, overwork which
absorbs one, and various kinds of fatigue.
18. Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary, animated by a love for her which
leads us to imitate her, has the effect that her exemplary and maternal
presence becomes a great support in daily fidelity to prayer (cf. Acts 1:14),
becoming a bond of communion for the religious community.(33)
The Mother of the Lord will help configure religious communities to the
model of "her" family, the Family of Nazareth, a place which religious
communities ought often to visit spiritually, because there the Gospel of
communion and fraternity was lived in a wonderful way.
19. Common prayer also sustains and nourishes apostolic impulse. On the
one hand, prayer is a mysterious transforming power which embraces all
realities to redeem and order the world. On the other, it finds its stimulus in
the apostolic ministry, in its daily joys and difficulties. These then become
an occasion for seeking and discovering the presence and action of the
Lord.
20. Religious communities which are most apostolically and evangelically
alive -- whether contemplative or active -- are the ones which have a rich
experience of prayer. At a time such as ours, when we note a certain
reawakening of the search for the transcendent, religious communities can
become privileged places where the various paths which lead to God can be
experienced.
"As a family united in the Lord's name, [a religious community] is of its
nature the place where the experience of God should be able in a special
way to come to fullness and be communicated to others",(34) above all to
one's own brothers and sisters within the community.
Men and women consecrated to God will fail to meet this historic challenge
if they do not respond to the "search for God" in our contemporaries, who,
will then perhaps turn to other erroneous paths in an effort to satisfy their
thirst for the Absolute.

2.5 Page 15

▲back to top
Personal freedom and the building of fraternity
21. "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ" (Gal. 6:2).
In the entire dynamic of community life, Christ, in his paschal mystery,
remains the model of how to construct unity. Indeed, he is the source, the
model and the measure of the command of mutual love: we must love one
another as he loved us. And he loved us to the point of giving up his life for
us. Our life is a sharing in the charity of Christ, in his love for the Father
and for his brothers and sisters, a love forgetful of self.
All of this, however, is not in the nature of the "old man", who wants
communion and unity but does not want or intend to pay the price in terms
of personal commitment and dedication. The path that leads from the "old
man", who tends to close in on himself, to the "new man" who gives
himself to others is a long and difficult one. The holy founders realistically
emphasised the difficulties and dangers of this passage, conscious as they
were that community cannot be improvised. It is not a spontaneous thing
nor is it achieved in a short time.
In order to live as brothers and sisters, a true journey of interior liberation is
necessary. Israel, liberated from Egypt, became the People of God after
walking for a long time through the desert under the guidance of Moses. In
much the same way, a community inserted within the Church as People of
God must be built by persons whom Christ has liberated and made capable
of loving as he did, by the gift of his liberating love and the heartfelt
acceptance of those he gives us as guides.
The love of Christ poured out in our hearts urges us to love our brothers and
sisters even to the point of taking on their weaknesses, their problems and
their difficulties. In a word: even to the point of giving our very selves.
22. Christ gives a person two basic certainties: the certainty of being
infinitely loved and the certainty of being capable of loving without limits.
Nothing except the Cross of Christ can give in a full and definitive way
these two certainties and the freedom they bring. Through them,
consecrated persons gradually become free from the need to be at the centre
of everything and to possess the other, and from the fear of giving
themselves to their brothers and sisters. They learn rather to love as Christ
loved them, with that love which now is poured forth in their hearts,
making them capable of forgetting themselves and giving themselves as the
Lord did.
By the power of this love a community is brought to life as a gathering of
people who are free, liberated by the Cross of Christ.
23. This path of liberation which leads to full communion and to the
freedom of the children of God demands, however, the courage of self-
denial in accepting and welcoming the other with his or her limitations,
starting with the acceptance of authority.
Many have noted that this has constituted one of the weak points of the
recent period of renewal. There has been an increase of knowledge and

2.6 Page 16

▲back to top
various aspects of communal life have been studied. Much less attention
has been paid, however, to the ascetic commitment which is necessary and
irreplaceable for any liberation capable of transforming a group of people
into a Christian fraternity.
Communion is a gift offered which also requires a response, a patient
learning experience and struggle, in order to overcome the excesses of
spontaneity and the fickleness of desires. The highest ideal of community
necessarily brings with it conversion from every attitude contrary to
communion.
Community that is not mystical has no soul, but community that is not
ascetic has no body. "Synergy" between the gift of God and personal
commitment is required for building an incarnated communion, for giving,
in other words, flesh and concrete existence to grace and to the gift of
fraternal communion.
24. It must be admitted that this kind of reasoning presents difficulty today
both to young people and to adults. Often, young people come from a
culture which overrates subjectivity and the search for self-fulfilment, while
adults either are anchored to structures of the past or experience a certain
disenchantment with respect to the never-ending assemblies which were
prevalent some years ago, a source of verbosity and uncertainty.
If it is true that communion does not exist without the self-offering of each
member, then it is necessary, right from the beginning, to remove the
illusion that everything must come from others, and to help each one
discover with gratitude all that has already been received, and is in fact
being received from others. Right from the beginning, it is necessary to
prepare to be not only consumers of community, but above all its builders;
to be responsible for each other's growth; to be open and available to
receive the gift of the other; to be able to help and to be helped; to replace
and to be replaced.
A fraternal and shared common life has a natural attraction for young
people but, later, perseverance in the real conditions of life can become a
heavy burden. Initial formation needs, then, to bring one to awareness of
the sacrifices required for living in community, to accepting them in view
of a joyful and truly fraternal relationship and of all the other attitudes
characteristic of one who is interiorly free.(35) When we lose ourselves for
our brothers and sisters, then we find ourselves.
25. It must always be remembered that, for religious men and women,
fulfilment comes through their communities. One who tries to live an
independent life, detached from community, has surely not taken the secure
path to the perfection of his or her own state.
Whereas western society applauds the independent person, the one who can
attain self-actualisation alone, the self-assured individualist, the Gospel
requires persons who, like the grain of wheat, know how to die to
themselves so that fraternal life may be born.(36)

2.7 Page 17

▲back to top
Thus community becomes "Schola Amoris," a School of Love, for young
people and for adults -- a school in which all learn to love God, to love the
brothers and sisters with whom they live, and to love humanity, which is in
great need of God's mercy and of fraternal solidarity.
26. The communitarian ideal must not blind us to the fact that every
Christian reality is built on human frailty. The perfect "ideal community"
does not exist yet: the perfect communion of the saints is our goal in the
heavenly Jerusalem.
Ours is the time for edification and constant building. It is always possible
to improve and to walk together towards a community that is able to live in
forgiveness and love. Communities cannot avoid all conflicts. The unity
which they must build is a unity established at the price of reconciliation.
(37) Imperfection in communities ought not discourage us.
Every day, communities take up again their journey, sustained by the
teaching of the Apostles: "love one another with brotherly affection; outdo
one another in showing honour" (Rom. 12:10); "live in harmony with one
another" (Rom. 12:16); "welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has
welcomed you" (Rom. 15:7); "I myself am satisfied... that you are... able to
instruct one another" (Rom. 15:14); "wait for one another" (1 Cor. 11:33);
"through love, be servants of one another" (Gal. 5:13); "encourage one
another" (1 Thes. 5:11); "forbearing one another in love" (Eph. 4:2); "be
kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another" (Eph. 4:32); "be
subject to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Eph. 5:21); "pray for
one another" (James 5:16); "clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility
towards one another" (1 Pet. 5:5); "we have fellowship with one another" (1
Jn. 1:7); "let us not grow weary in well-doing..., especially to those who are
of the household of faith" (Gal. 6:9-10).
27. It may be useful to recall that in order to foster communion of minds
and hearts among those called to live together in a community, it is
necessary to cultivate those qualities which are required in all human
relationships: respect, kindness, sincerity, self-control, tactfulness, a sense
of humour and a spirit of sharing.
Recent documents from the Magisterium are rich with suggestions and
indications helpful for community living such as joyful simplicity,(38)
clarity and mutual trust,(39) capacity for dialogue,(40) and sincere
acceptance of a beneficial communitarian discipline.(41)
28. We must not forget, in the end, that peace and pleasure in being together
are among the signs of the Kingdom of God. The joy of living even in the
midst of difficulties along the human and spiritual path and in the midst of
daily annoyances is already part of the Kingdom. This joy is a fruit of the
Spirit and embraces the simplicity of existence and the monotonous texture
of daily life. A joyless fraternity is one that is dying out; before long,
members will be tempted to seek elsewhere what they can no longer find
within their own home. A fraternity rich in joy is a genuine gift from above
to brothers and sisters who know how to ask for it and to accept one
another, committing themselves to fraternal life, trusting in the action of the

2.8 Page 18

▲back to top
Spirit. Thus the words of the Psalm are made true: "Behold how good and
pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.... For there the Lord has
commanded the blessing, life for evermore" (Ps. 133:1-3), "because when
they live together as brothers, they are united in the assembly of the
Church; they are of one heart in charity and of one will".(42)
Such a testimony of joy is a powerful attraction to religious life, a source of
new vocations and an encouragement to perseverance. It is very important
to cultivate such joy within a religious community: overwork can destroy it,
excessive zeal for certain causes can lead some to forget it, constant self-
analysis of one's identity and one's own future can cloud it.
Being able to enjoy one another; allowing time for personal and communal
relaxation; taking time off from work now and then; rejoicing in the joys of
one's brothers and sisters, in solicitous concern for the needs of brothers
and sisters; trusting commitment to works of the apostolate; compassion in
dealing with situations; looking forward to the next day with the hope of
meeting the Lord always and everywhere: these are things that nourish
serenity, peace and joy. They become strength in apostolic action.
Joy is a splendid testimony to the evangelical quality of a religious
community; it is the end point of a journey which is not lacking in
difficulties, but which is possible because it is sustained by prayer: "rejoice
in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer" (Rom. 12:12).
Communicating in order to grow together
29. In the renewal of recent years, communication has been recognised as
one of the human factors acquiring increased importance for the life of a
religious community. The deeply felt need to enhance fraternal life in
community is accompanied by a corresponding need for communication
which is both fuller and more intense.
In order to become brothers and sisters, it is necessary to know one another.
To do this, it is rather important to communicate more extensively and more
deeply. Today, more attention is given to various aspects of communication,
although the form and the degree may vary from one institute to another,
and from one region to the next.
30. Communication within institutes has developed considerably. There is a
growing number of regular meetings of members at different levels, central,
regional, and provincial; superiors often send letters and suggestions, and
their visits to communities are more frequent. The publication of
newsletters and internal periodicals is more widespread.
This kind of broad communication asked for at various levels,
corresponding to the character proper to the institute, normally creates
closer relations, nourishes a family spirit and sharing in the concerns of the
entire institute, creates greater sensitivity to general problems, and brings
religious closer together around their common mission.
31. Regular meetings at the community level, often on a weekly basis, have

2.9 Page 19

▲back to top
also proved very useful; they let members share problems concerning the
community, the institute, the Church, and in relation to the Church's major
documents. They provide opportunities to listen to others, share one's own
thoughts, review and evaluate past experiences, and think and plan together.
Such meetings are particularly necessary for the growth and development
of fraternal life, especially in larger communities. Time must be set aside
for this purpose and kept free from all other engagements. In addition to
concern for community life, these meetings are also important for fostering
co-responsibility and for situating one's own work within the broader
framework of religious life, Church life and the life of the world to which
we are sent in mission. This is an avenue which must be pursued in every
community, adapting its rhythms and approaches to the size of the
community and to the members' commitments. In contemplative
communities, it should respect their own style of life.
32. But there is more. In many places, there is a felt need for more intense
communication among religious living together in the same community.
The lack of or weakness in communication usually leads to weakening of
fraternity: if we know little or nothing about the lives of our brothers or
sisters, they will be strangers to us, and the relationship will become
anonymous, as well as create true and very real problems of isolation and
solitude. Some communities complain about the poor quality of the
fundamental sharing of spiritual goods. Communication takes place, they
say, around problems and issues of marginal importance but rarely is there
any sharing of what is vital and central to the journey of consecration.
This can have painful consequences, because then spiritual experience
imperceptibly takes on individualistic overtones. A mentality of self-
sufficiency becomes more important; a lack of sensitivity to others
develops; and, gradually, significant relationships are sought outside the
community.
This problem should be dealt with explicitly. It requires, on the one hand, a
tactful and caring approach which does not exert pressure; but it also
requires courage and creativity, searching for ways and methods which will
make it possible for all to learn to share, simply and fraternally, the gifts of
the Spirit so that these may indeed belong to all and be of benefit to all (cf.
1 Cor. 12:7).
Communion originates precisely in sharing the Spirit's gifts, a sharing of
faith and in faith, where the more we share those things which are central
and vital, the more the fraternal bond grows in strength. This kind of
communication can also be helpful as a way of learning a style of sharing
which will enable members, in their own apostolates, to "confess their
faith" in simple and easy terms which all may understand and appreciate.
There are many ways in which spiritual gifts can be shared and
communicated. Besides the ones already mentioned (sharing the word and
the experience of God, communal discernment, community projects),(43)
we should recall fraternal correction, review of life, and other forms
characteristic of the tradition. These are concrete ways of putting at the

2.10 Page 20

▲back to top
service of others and of pouring into the community the gifts which the
Spirit gives so abundantly for its upbuilding and for its mission in the
world.
All of this takes on greater importance now since communities often
include religious of different ages and different races, members with
different cultural and theological formation, religious who have had widely
differing experiences during these agitated and pluralistic years.
Without dialogue and attentive listening, community members run the risk
of living juxtaposed or parallel lives, a far cry from the ideal of fraternity.
33. Every kind of communication implies itineraries and particular
psychological difficulties which can also be addressed positively with the
help of the human sciences. Some communities have benefited, for
example, from the help of experts in communication and professionals in
the fields of psychology or sociology.
These are exceptional measures which need to be evaluated prudently, and
they can be used with moderation by communities wishing to break down
the walls of separation which at times are raised within a community. These
human techniques are useful, but they are not sufficient. All must have at
heart the welfare of their brothers and sisters, cultivating an evangelical
ability to receive from others all that they might wish to give and to
communicate, and all that they in fact communicate by their very existence.
Be "of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one
mind.... In humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you
look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others". Your
mutual relations should be founded on the fact that you are united to Christ
Jesus (cf. Phil. 2:2-5).
In a climate such as this, various techniques and approaches to
communication compatible with religious life can enhance the growth of
fraternity.
34. The considerable impact of mass media on modern life and mentality
has its effect on religious communities as well, and frequently affects
internal communication.
A community, aware of the influence of the media, should learn to use them
for personal and community growth, with the evangelical clarity and inner
freedom of those who have learned to know Christ (cf. Gal. 4:17-23). The
media propose, and often impose, a mentality and model of life in constant
contrast with the Gospel. In this connection, in many areas one hears of the
desire for deeper formation in receiving and using the media, both critically
and fruitfully. Why not make them an object of evaluation, of discernment
and of planning in the regular community meetings?
In particular when television becomes the only form of recreation, relations
among people are blocked or even impeded, fraternal communication is
limited and indeed consecrated life itself can be damaged.

3 Pages 21-30

▲back to top

3.1 Page 21

▲back to top
A proper balance is needed: the moderate and prudent use of the
communications media,(44) accompanied by community discernment, can
help the community know better the complexity of the world of culture,
receive the media with awareness and a critical eye and, finally, evaluate
their impact in relation to the various ministries at the service of the Gospel.
In keeping with the choice of their specific state of life, characterised by a
more marked separation from the world, contemplative communities should
consider themselves more committed to preserving an atmosphere of
recollection, being guided by the norms determined in their own
constitutions about the use of the communications media.
Religious community and personal growth
35. Because religious community is a Schola Amoris which helps one grow
in love for God and for one's brothers and sisters, it is also a place for
human growth. The path is a demanding one, since it requires the
renunciation of goods that are certainly highly valued,(45) but it is not
impossible. A multitude of men and women saints and the wonderful
figures of religious men and women are there to prove that consecration to
Christ "does not constitute an obstacle to the true development of the
human person but by its nature is supremely beneficial to that
development".(46)
The path towards human maturity, which is a prerequisite of a radiant
evangelical life, is a process which knows no limits, since it involves
continuous enrichment not only of spiritual values but also of values in the
psychological, cultural and social order.(47)
In recent years, major changes in culture and custom have been oriented, in
practice, more towards material realities than towards spiritual values. This
makes it necessary to pay attention to some areas where, today, persons
appear to be particularly vulnerable.
36. Identity
The process of maturing takes place through one's own identifying with the
call of God. A weak sense of identity can lead to a misconceived idea of
self-actualisation, especially in times of difficulty, with an excessive need
for positive results and approval from others, an exaggerated fear of
inadequacy, and depression brought on by failure.
The identity of a consecrated person depends on spiritual maturity; this is
brought about by the Spirit who prompts us to be conformed to Christ,
according to the particular characteristic provided by "the founding gift
which mediates the Gospel to the members of a given religious institute".
(48) For this reason, the help of a spiritual guide, who knows well and
respects the spirituality and mission of the institute, is most important. Such
a one will "discern the action of God, accompany the religious in the ways
of God, nourish life with solid doctrine and the practice of prayer".(49) This
accompaniment is particularly necessary in the initial stage of formation,
but it is useful throughout life, in order to foster "growth towards the

3.2 Page 22

▲back to top
fullness of Christ".
Cultural maturity also helps one face the challenges of mission by acquiring
the tools necessary for discerning future trends and working out appropriate
responses, in which the Gospel is continuously proposed as the alternative
to worldly proposals, integrating its positive forces and purifying them of
the leaven of evil.
In this dynamic, the consecrated person and the religious community are a
proposal of the Gospel, a proposal which manifests the presence of Christ
in the world.(50)
37. Affectivity
Fraternal life in common requires from all members good psychological
balance within which each individual can achieve emotional maturity. As
mentioned above, one essential element of such growth is emotional
freedom, which enables consecrated persons to love their vocation and to
love in accordance with this vocation. It is precisely this freedom and this
maturity which allow us to live out our affectivity correctly, both inside and
outside the community.
To love one's vocation, to hear the call as something that gives true
meaning to life, and to cherish consecration as a true, beautiful and good
reality which gives truth, beauty and goodness to one's own existence -- all
of this makes a person strong and autonomous, secure in one's own identity,
free of the need for various forms of support and compensation, especially
in the area of affectivity. All this reinforces the bond that links the
consecrated person to those who share his or her calling. It is with them,
first and foremost, that he or she feels called to live relationships of
fraternity and friendship.
To love one's vocation is to love the Church, it is to love one's institute, and
to experience the community as one's own family.
To love in accordance with one's vocation is to love in the manner of one
who, in every human relationship, wishes to be a clear sign of the love of
God, not invading and not possessing, but loving and desiring the good of
the other with God's own benevolence.
Therefore, special formation is required in the area of affectivity to promote
an integration of the human aspect with the more specifically spiritual
aspect. In this respect, the guidelines contained in Potissimum
Institutioni(51) concerning discernment of "a balanced affectivity,
especially sexual balance" and "the ability to live in community" are
particularly relevant.
However, difficulties in this area are frequently echoes of problems
originating in other areas: affectivity and sexuality marked by a narcissistic
and adolescent attitude, or by rigid repression, can sometimes be a result of
negative experiences prior to entering the community, but they can also be a
result of difficulties in community or apostolate. A rich and warm fraternal

3.3 Page 23

▲back to top
life, one that "carries the burden" of the wounded brother or sister in need
of help, is thus particularly important.
While a certain maturity is necessary for life in community, a cordial
fraternal life is equally necessary in order to allow each religious to attain
maturity. Where members of a community become aware of diminished
affective autonomy in one of their brothers or sisters, the response on the
part of the community ought to be one of rich and human love, similar to
that of our Lord Jesus and of many holy religious -- a love that shares in
fears and joys, difficulties and hopes, with that warmth that is particular to a
new heart that knows how to accept the whole person. Such love -- caring
and respectful, gratuitous rather than possessive -- should make the love of
Our Lord seem very near: that love which caused the Son of God to
proclaim through the Cross that we cannot doubt that we are loved by Love.
38. Difficulties
A special occasion for human growth and Christian maturity lies in living
with persons who suffer, who are not at ease in community, and who thus
are an occasion of suffering for others and of disturbance in community
life.
We must first of all ask about the source of such suffering. It may be caused
by a character defect, commitments that seem too burdensome, serious gaps
in formation, excessively rapid changes over recent years, excessively
authoritarian forms of government, or by spiritual difficulties.
There may be some situations when the one in authority needs to remind
members that life in common sometimes requires sacrifice and can become
a form of maxima poenitentia, grave penance.
In some cases recourse to the social sciences is necessary, in particular
where individuals are clearly incapable of living community life due to
problems of insufficient maturity and psychological weakness, or due to
factors which are more pathological.
Recourse to such intervention has proved useful not only at the therapeutic
stage -- in cases of more or less evident psycho-pathology -- but also as a
preventive measure, to assist in the proper selection of candidates, and to
assist formation teams in some cases to address specific pedagogical and
formative problems.(52)
In all cases, in choosing specialists, preference is to be given to those who
are believers and are well experienced with religious life and its dynamics.
So much the better if these specialists are themselves consecrated men or
women.
Finally, the use of such methods will be truly effective only if it is applied
exceptionally and not generalised; this is so partly because psycho-
pedagogical measures do not solve all problems and thus "cannot substitute
for an authentic spiritual direction".(53)

3.4 Page 24

▲back to top
From me to us
39. Respect for the human person, recommended by the Council and by
various succeeding documents,(54) has had a positive influence on the
praxis of communities. Simultaneously, however, individualism has spread,
with greater or lesser intensity depending on the regions of the world, and
in various forms: the need to take centre stage; an exaggerated insistence on
personal well-being, whether physical, psychological or professional; a
preference for individual work or for prestigious and "signed" work; the
absolute priority of one's personal aspirations and one's own individual
path, regardless of others and with no reference to the community.
On the other hand, we must continue to seek a just balance, not always easy
to achieve, between the common good and respect for the human person,
between the demands and needs of individuals and those of the community,
between personal charisms and the community's apostolate. And this should
be far from both the disintegrating forces of individualism and the levelling
aspects of communitarianism. Religious community is the place where the
daily and patient passage from "me" to "us" takes place, from my
commitment to a commitment entrusted to the community, from seeking
"my things" to seeking "the things of Christ".
In this way, religious community becomes the place where we learn daily to
take on that new mind which allows us to live in fraternal communion
through the richness of diverse gifts and which, at the same time, fosters a
convergence of these gifts towards fraternity and towards co-responsibility
in the apostolic plan.
40. In order to realise such a community and apostolic "symphony", it is
necessary:
a) to celebrate and give thanks together for the common gift of vocation
and mission, a gift far surpassing every individual and cultural difference;
to promote a contemplative attitude with regard to the wisdom of God, who
has sent specific brothers and sisters to the community that each may be a
gift to the other; to praise him for what each brother or sister communicates
from the presence and word of Christ;
b) to cultivate mutual respect by which we accept the slow journey of
weaker members without stifling the growth of richer personalities; a
respect which fosters creativity but also calls for responsibility to others
and to solidarity;
c) to focus on a common mission: each institute has its own mission, to
which all must contribute according to their particular gifts. The road of
consecrated men and women consists precisely in progressively
consecrating to the Lord all that they have, and all that they are, for the
mission of their religious family;
d) to recall that the apostolic mission is entrusted in the first place to the
community and that this often entails conducting works proper to the
institute. Dedication to this kind of community apostolate helps a

3.5 Page 25

▲back to top
consecrated person mature and grow in his or her particular way of
holiness;
e) to consider that religious, on receiving in obedience personal missions,
ought to consider themselves sent by the community. For its part, the
community shall see to their regular updating and include them in the
reviews of apostolic and community commitments.
During the time of formation, all good will not withstanding, it may prove
impossible to integrate the personal gifts of a consecrated individual within
fraternity and a common mission. It may be necessary in such cases to ask,
"Do God's gifts in this person... make for unity and deepen communion? If
they do, they can be welcomed. If they do not, then no matter how good the
gifts may seem to be in themselves, or how desirable they may appear to
some members, they are not for this particular institute.... It is not wise to
tolerate widely divergent lines of development which do not have a strong
foundation of unity in the institute itself".(55)
41. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of small
communities, especially for reasons of apostolate. These communities can
also foster closer relations among religious, prayer which is more deeply
shared, and a reciprocal and more fraternal taking up of responsibility.(56)
But there are some motives which are questionable, such as sameness of
tastes or of mentality. In this situation, it is easy for a community to close in
on itself and come to the point of choosing its own members, and brothers
or sisters sent by the superiors may or may not be accepted. This is contrary
to the very nature of religious community and to its function as sign.
Optional homogeneity, besides weakening apostolic mobility, weakens the
Pneumatic strength of a community and robs the spiritual reality which
rules the community of its power as witness.
The effort involved in mutual acceptance and commitment to overcoming
difficulties, characteristics of heterogeneous communities, show forth the
transcendence of the reason which brought the community into existence,
that is, the power of God which "is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9-
10).
We stay together in community not because we have chosen one another,
but because we have been chosen by the Lord.
42. Whereas culture of a western stamp can lead to individualism which
makes fraternal life in common difficult, other cultures can lead to
communitarianism which makes giving proper recognition to the human
person difficult. All cultural forms need evangelization.
The presence of religious communities -- which, through a process of
conversion, enter into a fraternal life where individuals make themselves
available to their brothers or sisters, and where the "group" enhances the
individual -- is a sign of the transforming power of the Gospel and of the
coming of the Kingdom of God.

3.6 Page 26

▲back to top
International institutes in which members from different cultures live
together can contribute to an exchange of gifts through which the members
mutually enrich and correct one other in the common desire to live more
and more intensely the Gospel of personal freedom and fraternal
communion.
Being a community in permanent formation
43. Community renewal has greatly benefited from permanent formation.
Recommended and presented in its basic outline by the document
Potissimum Institutioni,(57) permanent formation is considered by all who
are responsible for religious institutes as of vital importance for the future.
In spite of some uncertainties (difficulties in integrating its different
aspects, difficulties in sensitising all the members of a community, the
absorbing demands of apostolic work, and a correct balance between
activity and formation), most institutes, at either the central or local level,
have undertaken initiatives.
One of the goals of such initiatives is to form communities that are mature,
evangelical, fraternal and capable of continuing permanent formation in
daily life. Religious community is the place where broad guidelines are
implemented concretely, through patient and persevering daily efforts.
Religious community is, for everyone, the place and the natural setting of
the process of growth, where all become co-responsible for the growth of
others. Religious community is also the place where, day by day, members
help one another to respond as consecrated persons, bearing a common
charism, to the needs of the least and to the challenges of the new society.
Quite frequently, responses to existing problems can differ and this entails
obvious consequences for community life. From this arises the realisation
that one of the challenges intensely felt today is to integrate members who
were given a different formation and have different apostolic visions into
one single community life, in such a way that these differences become not
so much occasions of conflict as moments of mutual enrichment. In such a
diversified and changeable context, the unifying role of those responsible
for community becomes ever more important; it is appropriate to provide
them with specific support in the area of permanent formation, in light of
their task of motivating the fraternal and apostolic life of their communities.
Based on the experience of recent years, two aspects deserve particular
attention: the community dimension of the evangelical counsels and the
charism.
44. The community dimension of the evangelical counsels
Religious profession expresses the gift of self to God and to the Church -- a
gift, however, which is lived in the community of a religious family.
Religious are not only "called" to an individual personal vocation. Their
call is also a "con-vocation" -- they are called with others, with whom they
share their daily life.

3.7 Page 27

▲back to top
There is here a convergence of "yeses" to God which unites a number of
religious into one single community of life. Consecrated together -- united
in the same "yes", united in the Holy Spirit -- religious discover every day
that their following of Christ "obedient, poor and chaste", is lived in
fraternity, as was the case with the disciples who followed Jesus in his
ministry. They are united with Christ, and therefore called to be united
among themselves. They are united in the mission to oppose prophetically
the idolatry of power, of possession and of pleasure.(58)
Thus, obedience binds together the various wills and unites them in one
single fraternal community, endowed with a specific mission to be
accomplished within the Church.
Obedience is a "yes" to God's design, by which He has entrusted a
particular task to a group of people. It brings with it a bond to the mission,
but also to the community which must carry out its service here and now
and together. It also requires a clear-sighted vision of faith regarding the
superiors who "fulfil their duty of service and leadership"(59) and who are
to see that there is conformity between apostolic work and the mission. It is
in communion with them that the divine will -- the only will which can save
-- must be fulfilled.
Poverty, the sharing of goods, even spiritual goods, has been from the
beginning the basis of fraternal communion. The poverty of individual
members, which brings with it a simple and austere life-style, not only frees
them from the concerns inherent in private ownership but it also enriches
the community, enabling it to serve God and the poor more effectively.
Poverty includes an economic dimension: the possibility of disposing of
money as if it were one's own, either for oneself or for members of one's
family, a life-style too different from that of fellow community members
and from the poverty level of the society within which one is living -- these
things injure and weaken fraternal life.
"Poverty of spirit", humility, simplicity, recognising the gifts of others,
appreciating evangelical realities such as "the hidden life with Christ in
God," respect for the hidden sacrifice, giving value to the least ones,
dedication to efforts that are neither recognised nor paid -- these are all
unitive aspects of fraternal life and spring from the poverty professed.
A community of "poor" people is better able to show solidarity with the
poor and to point to the very heart of evangelization because it concretely
presents the transforming power of the beatitudes.
In the community dimension, consecrated chastity, which also implies great
purity of mind, heart and body, expresses a great freedom for loving God
and all that is his, with an undivided love and thus with a total availability
for loving and serving all others, making present the love of Christ. This
love, neither selfish nor exclusive, neither possessive nor enslaved to
passion, but universal and disinterested, free and freeing, so necessary for
mission, is cultivated and grows through fraternal life. Thus, those who live
consecrated celibacy "recall that wonderful marriage made by God, which

3.8 Page 28

▲back to top
will be fully manifested in the future age, and in which the Church has
Christ for her only spouse".(60)
This communal dimension of the vows must be continuously fostered and
deepened -- a process which is characteristic of permanent formation.
45. The charism
This is the second aspect of permanent formation to which we must give
special attention in order to promote the growth of fraternal life.
"Religious consecration establishes a particular communion between
religious and God and, in him, between the members of the same
institute.... The foundation of unity, however, is the communion in Christ
established by the one founding gift."(61) Reference to the institute's
founder and to the charism lived by him or her and then communicated,
kept and developed throughout the life of the institute,(62) thus appears as
an essential element for the unity of the community.
To live in community is to live the will of God together, in accordance with
the orientation of the charismatic gift received by the founder from God and
transmitted to his or her disciples and followers.
The renewal of recent years, re-emphasising the importance of the
originating charism by rich theological reflection,(63) has promoted the
unity of the community, which is seen as bearer of this same gift from the
Spirit, a gift to be shared with the brothers or sisters, and by which it is
possible to enrich the Church "for the life of the world." For this reason,
formation programmes which include regular courses of study and
prayerful reflection on the founder, the charism and the constitutions of the
institute are particularly beneficial.
A deepened understanding of the charism leads to a clearer vision of one's
own identity, around which it is easier to build unity and communion.
Clarity concerning one's own charismatic identity allows creative
adjustment to new situations and this leads to positive prospects for the
future of the institute.
A lack of clarity in this area can easily cause insecurity concerning goals
and vulnerability with respect to conditions surrounding religious life,
cultural currents and various apostolic needs, in addition to the obstacles it
raises regarding adaptation and renewal.
46. It is therefore necessary to promote an institute's charismatic identity,
especially to avoid a kind of genericism, which is a true threat to the vitality
of a religious community.
Several factors have been identified as having caused suffering for religious
communities in recent years and, in some cases, continue to cause it:
• - a "generic" approach -- in other words, one that lacks the specific
mediation of one's own charism -- in considering certain guidelines

3.9 Page 29

▲back to top
of the particular Church or certain suggestions deriving from
different spiritualities;
• - a certain kind of involvement in ecclesial movements which
exposes individual religious to the ambiguous phenomenon of "dual
membership;"
• - in the essential and often fruitful relationships with laity, especially
with lay collaborators, a certain adjustment to a lay mentality.
Instead of offering their own religious witness as a fraternal gift
which would encourage Christian authenticity, they simply imitate
the laity, taking on their way of seeing and acting, thus weakening
the contribution of their own consecration;
• - an excessive accommodation to the demands of family, to the
ideals of nation, race or tribe, or of some social group, which risks
distorting the charism to suit particular positions or interests.
The genericism which reduces religious life to a colourless lowest common
denominator leads to wiping out the beauty and fruitfulness of the many
and various charisms inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Authority in the service of fraternity
47. It is generally agreed that the evolution of recent years has contributed
to the maturity of fraternal life in communities. In many communities, the
climate of life in common has improved: there is more space for the active
participation of all; there has been a move from a common life based too
much on observance to a life that is more attentive to individual needs, that
is better attended to on the human level. The effort to build communities
that are less formalistic, less authoritarian, more fraternal and participatory,
is generally considered to be one of the more visible fruits of these recent
years.
48. These positive developments in some places have risked being
compromised by a distrust of authority.
The desire for deeper communion among the members and an
understandable reaction against structures felt as being too rigid and
authoritarian have contributed to a lack of understanding of the full scope
of the role of authority; indeed, some consider it to be altogether
unnecessary to community life, and others have reduced it to the simple
role of co-ordinating the initiatives of the members. As a result, a certain
number of communities have been led to live with no one in charge while
other communities make all decisions collegially. All of this brings with it
the danger, not merely hypothetical, of a complete breakdown of
community life; it tends to give priority to individual paths, and
simultaneously to blur the function of authority -- a function which is both
necessary for the growth of fraternal life in community and for the spiritual
journey of the consecrated person.
However, the results of these experiments are gradually leading back to the
rediscovery of the need for and the role of personal authority, in continuity
with the entire tradition of religious life.

3.10 Page 30

▲back to top
If the widespread democratic climate has encouraged the growth of co-
responsibility and of participation by all in the decision-making process,
even within the religious community, nevertheless, we must not forget that
fraternity is not only a fruit of human effort but also and above all a gift of
God. It is a gift that comes from obedience to the Word of God, and also, in
religious life, to the authority who reminds us of that Word and relates it to
specific situations, in accordance with the spirit of the institute.
"But we beseech you, brothers, to respect those who labour among you and
are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly
in love because of their work" (1 Thes. 5:12-13). The Christian community
is not an anonymous collective, but it is endowed, from the beginning, with
leaders, for whom the Apostle asks consideration, respect and charity.
In religious communities, authority, to whom attention and respect are due
also by reason of the obedience professed, is placed at the service of the
fraternity, of its being built up, of the achievement of its spiritual and
apostolic goals.
49. The recent renewal has helped to redesign authority with the intention
of linking it once again more closely to its evangelical roots and thus to the
service of the spiritual progress of each one and the building up of fraternal
life in community.
Every community has a mission of its own to accomplish. Persons in
authority thus serve a community which must accomplish a specific
mission, received and defined by the institute and by its charism. Since
there is a variety of missions, there must also be a variety of kinds of
communities, and thus a variety of ways of exercising authority. It is for
this reason that religious life has within it various ways of conceiving and
exercising authority, defined by proper law.
Authority is, evangelically, always service.
50. The renewal of recent years has led to highlighting some aspects of
authority.
a) Spiritual authority
If consecrated persons have dedicated themselves to the total service of
God, authority promotes and sustains their consecration. In a certain sense,
authority can be seen as "servant of the servants of God". Authority has as
its main task building in unity the brothers and sisters of "a fraternal
community, in which God is sought and loved above all".(64) A superior
must therefore be, above all, a spiritual person, convinced of the primacy of
the spiritual, both with respect to personal life and for the development of
fraternal life; in other words, he or she must know that the more the love of
God increases in each individual heart, the more unity there will be
between hearts.
Thus, the superior's main task will be the spiritual, community and
apostolic animation of his or her community.

4 Pages 31-40

▲back to top

4.1 Page 31

▲back to top
b) Authority conducive to unity
An authority conducive to unity is one concerned to create a climate
favourable to sharing and co-responsibility; to encourage all to contribute to
the affairs of all; to encourage members to assume and to respect
responsibility; to promote, by their respect for the human person, voluntary
obedience;(65) to listen willingly to the members, promoting their
harmonious collaboration for the good of the institute and the Church;(66)
to engage in dialogue and offer timely opportunities for encounter; to give
courage and hope in times of difficulty; to look ahead and point to new
horizons for mission. Still more: an authority which seeks to maintain a
balance among the various aspects of community life -- between prayer and
work, apostolate and formation, work and rest.
The authority of a superior works so that the religious house is not merely a
place of residence, a collection of subjects each of whom lives an
individual history, but a "fraternal community in Christ".(67)
c) Authority capable of making final decisions and assuring their
implementation
Community discernment is a rather useful process, even if not easy or
automatic, for involving human competence, spiritual wisdom and personal
detachment. Where it is practised with faith and seriousness, it can provide
superiors with optimal conditions for making necessary decisions in the
best interests of fraternal life and of mission.
When a decision has been made in accordance with the procedures
established by proper law, superiors need perseverance and strength to
ensure that what has been decided not remain mere words on paper.
51. It is also necessary that the proper law of each institute be as precise as
possible in determining the respective competence of the community, the
various councils, departmental co-ordinators and the superior. A lack of
clarity in this area is a source of confusion and conflict.
"Community projects", which can help increase participation in community
life and in its mission in various contexts, should also take care to define
clearly the role and competence of authority, in line with the constitutions.
52. Fraternal and united communities are increasingly called to be an
important and eloquent element of the Gospel counter-culture, salt of the
earth and light of the world.
Thus, for example, if in western society where individualism is rampant, a
religious community is called to be a prophetic sign of the possibility of
achieving in Christ fraternity and solidarity, in cultures where
authoritarianism or communitarianism is rampant it is called to be a sign of
respect for and promotion of the human person, and also an exercise of
authority in agreement with the will of God.
While religious communities must take on the culture of their place, they

4.2 Page 32

▲back to top
are also called to purify and elevate it, through the salt and light of the
Gospel, offering through their existing communities a concrete synthesis of
what is not only an evangelization of culture but also an evangelising
inculturation and an inculturated evangelization.
53. Finally, we must never forget in this delicate, complex and often painful
issue that faith plays a decisive role which allows us to understand the
saving mystery of obedience.(68) Just as from the disobedience of one man
came the disintegration of the human family and from the obedience of the
New Man began its reconstitution (cf. Rom. 5:19), so an obedient attitude
will always be an essential force for all family life.
Religious life has always lived from this conviction of faith and is called to
live from it also today with courage, so as not to run in vain in search of
fraternal relations and so as to be an evangelically relevant reality in the
Church and in society.
Fraternity as sign
54. The relationship between fraternal life and apostolic activity, in
particular within institutes dedicated to works of the apostolate, has not
always been clear and has all too often led to tension, both for the
individual and for the community. For some, "building community" is felt
as an obstacle to mission, almost a waste of time in matters of secondary
importance. All must be reminded that fraternal communion, as such, is
already an apostolate; in other words, it contributes directly to the work of
evangelization. The sign par excellence left us by Our Lord is that of lived
fraternity: "By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love
for one another" (cf. Jn. 13:35).
Along with sending them to preach the Gospel to every creature (Mt.
28:19-20), the Lord sent his disciples to live together "so that the world
may believe" that Jesus is the one sent by the Father and that we owe him
the full assent of faith (Jn. 17:21). The sign of fraternity is then of the
greatest importance because it is the sign that points to the divine origin of
the Christian message and has the power to open hearts to faith. For this
reason, "the effectiveness of religious life depends on the quality of the
fraternal life in common".(69)
55. A religious community, if and to the extent that it promotes fraternal life
among its members, makes present in a continuous and legible way this
"sign" which is needed by the Church, above all in her task of new
evangelization.
Also for this reason, the Church takes to heart the fraternal life of religious
communities: the more intense their fraternal love, the greater the
credibility of the message she proclaims, and the more visible the heart of
the mystery of the Church, sacrament of the union of humankind with God,
and of its members among themselves.(70) Fraternal life is not the
"entirety" of the mission of a religious community, but it is an essential
element. Fraternal life is just as important as apostolic life.

4.3 Page 33

▲back to top
The needs of apostolic service cannot therefore be invoked to accept or to
justify defective community life. Activities undertaken by religious must be
activities of people who live in community and who inform their actions
with community spirit by word, action and example.
Particular circumstances, considered later, may require adjustments, but
these should not be such as to remove a religious from living the
communion and spirit of his or her community.
56. Religious communities, aware of their responsibilities towards the
greater fraternity of the Church, also become a sign of the possibility of
living Christian fraternity and of the price that must be paid to build any
form of fraternal life.
Moreover, in the context of the diverse societies of our planet -- torn as they
are by the divisive forces of passion and conflicting interests, yearning for
unity but unsure of what path to follow -- the presence of communities
where people of different ages, languages and cultures meet as brothers and
sisters, and which remain united despite the inevitable conflicts and
difficulties inherent in common life, is in itself a sign that bears witness to a
higher reality and points to higher aspirations.
"Religious communities, who by their life proclaim the joy and the human
and supernatural value of Christian fraternity, speak to our society about the
transforming power of the Good News".(71)
"And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in
perfect harmony" (Col. 3:14), love as it was taught and lived by Jesus
Christ and communicated to us through his Spirit. This love that unites is
also the love that leads us to extend to others the experience of communion
with God and with each other. In other words, it creates apostles by urging
communities on their path of mission, whether this be contemplative,
proclamation of the Word or ministries of charity. God wishes to inundate
the world with his love; so, fraternal communities become missionaries of
this love and concrete signs of its unifying power.
57. The quality of fraternal life has a significant impact on the perseverance
of individual religious. Just as the poor quality of fraternal life has been
mentioned frequently by many as the reason for leaving religious life, so
fraternity lived fully has often been, and still is, a valuable support to the
perseverance of many.
Within a truly fraternal community, each member has a sense of co-
responsibility for the faithfulness of the others; each one contributes to a
serene climate of sharing life, of understanding, and of mutual help; each is
attentive to the moments of fatigue, suffering, isolation or lack of
motivation in others; each offers support to those who are saddened by
difficulties and trials.
Thus, religious communities, in the support they give to the perseverance of
their members, also acquire the value of a sign of the abiding fidelity of
God, and thus become a support to the faith and fidelity of Christians who

4.4 Page 34

▲back to top
are immersed in the events of this world, where the paths of fidelity seem to
be less and less known.
III.
RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY AS PLACE AND SUBJECT OF
MISSION
58. Just as the Holy Spirit anointed the Church in the Upper Room to send
her out to evangelise the world, so every religious community, as an
authentic Pneumatic community of the Risen One, is also, and according to
its own nature, apostolic.
In fact, "communion begets communion: essentially it is likened to a
mission on behalf of communion.... Communion and mission are
profoundly connected with each other, they interpenetrate and mutually
imply each other, to the point that communion represents both the source
and the fruit of mission: communion gives rise to mission and mission is
accomplished in communion".(72)
No religious community, including specifically contemplative ones, is
turned in on itself; rather it is announcement, diakonia, and prophetic
witness. The Risen One, who lives in the community, communicating his
own Spirit to it, makes it a witness of the resurrection.
Religious community and mission
Before reflecting on some particular situations that religious communities,
in order to be faithful to their specific mission, must face today in various
contexts around the world, it is helpful to consider here the particular
relationship between different kinds of religious communities and the
mission they are called to carry out.
59. a) The Second Vatican Council made the following statement: "Let
religious see well to it that the Church truly show forth Christ through them
with ever-increasing clarity to believers and unbelievers alike -- Christ in
contemplation on the mountain, or proclaiming the kingdom of God to the
multitudes, or healing the sick and maimed and converting sinners to a
good life, or blessing children and doing good to all, always in obedience to
the will of the Father who sent him".(73)
From participation in the various aspects of Christ's mission, the Spirit
makes different religious families arise, characterised by different missions,
and therefore by different kinds of community.
b) The contemplative type of community (showing forth Christ on the
mountain) is centred on the twofold communion with God and among its
members. It has a most efficacious apostolic impact, even though it remains
to a great extent hidden in mystery. The "apostolic" religious community
(showing forth Christ among the multitudes) is consecrated for active
service to others, a service characterised by a specific charism.

4.5 Page 35

▲back to top
Among "apostolic communities", some are more strongly centred on
common life so that their apostolate depends on the possibility of their
forming community. Others are decidedly oriented towards mission and for
them the type of community depends on the type of mission. Institutes
clearly ordered to specific forms of apostolic service accent the priority of
the entire religious family, considered as one apostolic body and one large
community to which the Holy Spirit has given a mission to be carried out in
the Church. The communion which vivifies and gathers the large family is
lived concretely in the single local communities, which are entrusted with
carrying out the mission, according to the different needs.
There are thus various kinds of religious community that have been handed
down over the centuries, such as monastic, conventual, and active or
"diaconal".
It follows that "common life lived in community" does not have the same
meaning for all religious. Monastics, conventuals and religious of active
life have maintained legitimate differences in their ways of understanding
and living religious community.
This diversity is presented in their constitutions, which outline the character
of the institute, and thus the character of the religious community.
c) It is generally recognised, especially for religious communities dedicated
to works of the apostolate, that it proves to be somewhat difficult in daily
experience to balance community and apostolic commitment. If it is
dangerous to oppose these two aspects, it is also difficult to harmonise
them. This too is a fruitful tension of religious life, which is designed to
cultivate simultaneously both the disciple who must live with Jesus and
with the group of those following him and the apostle who must take part in
the mission of the Lord.
d) In recent years, the great variety of apostolic needs has often resulted in
co-existence, within one institute, of communities considerably different
from each other: large and rather structured communities exist alongside
smaller, much more flexible ones, but without losing the authentic
community character of religious life.
All of this has a considerable impact on the life of the institute and on its
makeup, which is now no longer as compact as it once was, but is more
diversified and has different ways of living religious community.
e) The tendency, in some institutes, to emphasise mission over community,
and to favour diversity over unity, has had a profound impact on fraternal
life in common, to the point that this has become, at times, almost an option
rather than an integral part of religious life.
The consequences of this have certainly not been positive; they lead us to
ask serious questions about the appropriateness of continuing along this
path, and suggest the need to undertake a path of rediscovering the intimate
bond between community and mission, in order creatively to overcome
unilateral tendencies, which invariably impoverish the rich reality of

4.6 Page 36

▲back to top
religious life.
In the particular Church
60. The missionary presence of a religious community is developed within
the context of a particular Church, to which the members bring the richness
of their consecration, of their fraternal life and of their charism.
By its mere presence, not only does a religious community bear in itself the
richness of Christian life but as a unit it constitutes a particularly effective
announcement of the Christian message. It can be said that it is a living and
continuous preaching. This objective condition, which clearly holds
religious themselves responsible, calling them to be faithful to this, their
primary mission, correcting and eliminating anything which could attenuate
or weaken the drawing power of their example, makes their presence in the
particular Church identifiable and precious, prior to any other
consideration.
Since charity is the greatest of the charisms (cf. 1 Cor. 13:13), a religious
community enriches the Church of which it is a living part, first of all by its
love. It loves the universal Church and the particular Church in which it is
inserted because it is within the Church and as Church that it is placed in
contact with the communion of the blessed and beatifying Trinity, source of
all goods. In this way it becomes a privileged manifestation of the very
nature of the Church herself.
A religious community loves the particular Church, enriches it with its
charisms and opens it to a more universal dimension. The delicate
relationships between the pastoral needs of the particular Church and the
charismatic specificity of the religious community have been dealt with in
Mutuae Relationes. In addition to the theological and pastoral orientations
it provides, that document has made an important contribution to more
cordial and intense collaboration. The time has come to take another look at
that document, in order to give a new thrust to the spirit of true communion
between religious community and the particular Church.
The growing difficulties of mission work and the scarcity of personnel can
tempt both a religious community and the particular Church to a certain
isolation; this, of course, does nothing to improve mutual understanding
and collaboration.
The religious community runs the risk, on the one hand, of being present in
the particular Church with no organic link to its life or to its pastoral
programme and, on the other hand, of being reduced to merely pastoral
functions. Moreover, if religious life tends more and more to emphasise its
own charismatic identity, the local Church often makes pressing and
insistent demands on the energies of religious for the pastoral activities of
the diocese or parish. The guidelines provided by Mutuae Relationes take
us far from the isolation and independence of a religious community in
relation to a particular Church and far from the practical assimilation of a
religious community into the particular Church.

4.7 Page 37

▲back to top
Just as a religious community cannot act independently of the particular
Church, or as an alternative to it, or much less against the directives and
pastoral programme of the particular Church, so the particular Church
cannot dispose, according to its own pleasure and according to its needs, of
a religious community or of any of its members.
It is important to recall that a lack of proper consideration for the charism
of a religious community serves neither the good of the particular Church
nor that of the religious community itself. Only if a religious community
has a well-defined charismatic identity can it integrate itself into an "overall
pastoral programme" without losing its own character. Indeed, only in this
way will it enrich the programme with its gift.
We must not forget that every charism is born in the Church and for the
world and the link to its source and purpose must be continuously renewed;
each charism is alive to the extent that one is faithful to it.
The Church and the world make possible its interpretation, request it and
stimulate it to continued growth in relevance and vitality. Charism and
particular Church should not be in conflict but should rather support and
complete one another, especially now that so many problems of living out
the charism and its insertion into changed situations have arisen.
At the root of many misunderstandings is perhaps a mutual partial
knowledge either of the particular Church or of religious life, and of the
responsibilities of the bishop for religious life.
It is earnestly recommended that all diocesan theological seminaries
include a course specifically on the theology of consecrated life, including
study of its dogmatic, juridic and pastoral aspects; religious should in turn
receive adequate theological formation concerning the particular Church.
(74)
Above all, however, a truly fraternal religious community will feel in duty
bound to spread a climate of communion that will enable the entire
Christian community to consider itself "the family of the children of God".
61. The parish
In parishes, it may sometimes be difficult to co-ordinate parish life and
community life.
In some regions, the difficulties of living in community while being active
in parish ministry create considerable tension for religious priests. At times,
the heavy commitment to pastoral work in the parish is carried out to the
detriment of the institute's charism and to community life, to the point that
parishioners, secular clergy and even religious themselves lose sight of the
particular nature of religious life.
Urgent pastoral needs must never lead us to forget that the best service a
religious community can give to the Church is that of being faithful to its
charism. This is also reflected in accepting responsibility for parishes and

4.8 Page 38

▲back to top
running them. Preference should be given to parishes which allow a
community to live as community and where the religious can express their
charism.
Religious communities of women, also frequently asked to become
involved in a more direct way in the pastoral ministry of the parish, go
through similar difficulties.
Here too, it is worth repeating, their presence will be all the more fruitful,
the more the religious community is present in its charismatic character.
(75) All of this can be a great advantage for both the religious community
and the pastoral work, in which religious women are generally well
accepted and appreciated.
62. Ecclesial movements
Ecclesial movements in the broadest sense of the term, endowed with lively
spirituality and apostolic vitality, have attracted the attention of some
religious who have become involved in them, sometimes deriving fruits of
spiritual renewal, apostolic dedication and a reawakening of their vocation.
Sometimes, however, such involvements have also brought divisions into
the religious community.
It is, then, opportune to make the following observations:
a) some movements are simply movements of renewal; others have
apostolic projects which can be incompatible with those of a religious
community.
Also, there can be different degrees of involvement on the part of
consecrated persons: some take part only as onlookers; others participate
occasionally; still others are permanent members while remaining in full
harmony with their own community and spirituality. However, those whose
principal membership goes to the movement and who become
psychologically distanced from their own institute become a problem. They
live in a state of inner division: they dwell within their communities, but
they live in accordance with the pastoral plans and guidelines of the
movement.
There is need, then, for careful discernment between one movement and
another, and between various kinds of involvement on the part of individual
religious;
b) these movements can be a fruitful challenge to a religious community, to
its spiritual dynamic, to the quality of its prayer life, to the relevance of its
apostolic initiatives, to its fidelity to the Church, to the intensity of its
fraternal life. A religious community should be open to encounters with
these movements, showing an attitude of mutual recognition, dialogue and
exchange of gifts.
The great spiritual tradition -- ascetic and mystical -- of religious life and of
the institute can also be helpful to these young movements;

4.9 Page 39

▲back to top
c) the main difficulty in relating to these movements is the identity of the
individual consecrated person: if it is solid, the relationship can be fruitful
for both.
For those religious who seem to live more in and for a particular movement
than in and for their religious community, it is good to recall the following
statement in Potissimum institutioni: "An institute... has an internal
cohesiveness which it receives from its nature, its end, its spirit, its
character, and its traditions. This whole patrimony is the axis around which
both the identity and unity of the institute itself and the unity of life of each
of its members are maintained. This is a gift of the Spirit to the Church and
does not admit any interference or any admixture. A dialogue and sharing
within the Church presumes that each institute is well aware of what it is.
"Candidates for the religious life... place themselves... under the authority
of the superiors [of the institute].... They cannot simultaneously be
dependent upon someone apart from the institute....
"These exigencies remain after the religious profession, so as to avoid
appearance of divided loyalties, either on the level of the personal spiritual
life of the religious or on the level of their mission".(76)
Taking part in a movement will be positive for religious if it reinforces their
specific identity.
Some particular situations
63. Insertion into poor neighbourhoods
Alongside many other brothers and sisters in the faith, religious
communities have been among the first in attending to the material and
spiritual poverty of their time, in continuously renewed ways.
In recent years, poverty has been an issue which has involved religious very
intensely and which has touched their hearts. Religious life has seriously
faced the question of how to be available for the task of evangelising the
poor (evangelizare pauperibus). But religious have also wanted to be
evangelised through their contact with the world of the poor (evangelizari a
pauperibus).
In this huge mobilisation, in which religious have chosen as their
programme "everyone for the poor", "many with the poor", "some like the
poor", some accomplishments in the area of being "like the poor" deserve
special mention.
In face of the impoverishment of great masses of people, especially in
abandoned and marginal areas of large cities and in forgotten rural areas,
"religious communities of insertion" have arisen as one of the expressions
of the preferential and solidarist evangelical option for the poor. These
communities intend to accompany the poor in their process of integral
liberation, but are also fruit of the desire to discover the poor Christ in
marginalized brothers and sisters, in order to serve him and become

4.10 Page 40

▲back to top
conformed to him.
a) "Insertion" as an ideal of religious life has developed in a context of the
movement of faith and solidarity of religious communities with the poorest.
It is a reality which cannot but arouse admiration for the tremendous
personal dedication and great sacrifices which it involves; for the love of
the poor which carries one to share their real and harsh poverty; for the
effort to make the Gospel present in sectors of the population which are
without hope; to bring them closer to the Word of God, and to make them
feel a living part of the Church.(77) These communities often live in areas
deeply marked by a violence which gives rise to insecurity and, sometimes,
to persecution, to the point of real danger to life. Their great courage is
clear testimony to the hope that it is possible to live as brothers and sisters,
despite all situations of suffering and injustice.
Often sent to the front lines of mission, sometimes witnesses of the
apostolic creativity of their founders, such religious communities ought to
be able to count on the good will and fraternal prayer of the other members
of their institute and on particular care from their superiors.(78)
b) These religious communities should not be left to themselves; they must
be helped to live a life of community. This requires space for prayer and
fraternal exchanges, in order to ensure that the charismatic originality of
their institute not appear to them relatively less important than
undifferentiated service to the poor, and in order that their evangelical
witness not be clouded by partisan interpretations or exploitation.(79)
Superiors shall be careful to select suitable members and to prepare such
communities in a way that will ensure connection with other communities
of the institute, thereby guaranteeing continuity.
c) We should also applaud the efforts of the other religious communities
who are effectively committed to the poor, whether in traditional ways, or
in new ways more suited to new forms of poverty, or by raising awareness
at all levels of society of the problems of the poor -- thus generating among
the laity vocations to social and political commitment, charitable projects
and voluntary service.
All of this bears witness that the faith is alive in the Church, that the love of
Christ is active and present among the poor: "as you did it to one of the
least of these, you did it to me" (cf. Mt. 25:40).
Where insertion among the poor has become, for both the poor and the
religious community itself, a true experience of God, there is experienced
the truth of the affirmation that the poor are evangelised and the poor
evangelise.
64. Small communities
a) Other social factors have also influenced communities. In some more
economically developed regions, the State has become more active in areas

5 Pages 41-50

▲back to top

5.1 Page 41

▲back to top
such as education, health and social services, often in ways that leave little
or no space for other agents, such as religious communities. On the other
hand, the decrease in numbers of men and women religious and, here or
there, a limited understanding of the presence of Catholics in social action,
seen more as supplementary rather than as a genuine expression of
Christian charity, have made it difficult to carry on complex projects.
Hence, in some regions, there has been a gradual abandonment of
traditional works -- which for many years had been in the hands of strong
and homogeneous communities -- and an increase in small communities
available for new kinds of services, more often than not in keeping with the
institute's charism.
b) Smaller communities have also become more frequent as a result of
deliberate choices made by certain institutes in order to promote fraternal
union and collaboration through closer relationships among persons and a
mutual and more broadly based sharing of responsibility.
Such communities, as mentioned in Evangelica Testificatio,(80) are
certainly possible, although they have proved to be more demanding for
their members.
c) Small communities, often situated in close contact with the daily life and
problems of people -- but also more exposed to the influence of a
secularised mentality -- have the important responsibility of being visible
places of happy fraternity, enthusiastic industry and transcendent hope.
It is therefore necessary that these communities be given a programme of
life which is solid, flexible and binding, approved by the competent
authority who is to ensure that the apostolate have a community dimension.
This programme should be suited to the persons and demands of the
mission in such a way as to promote balance between prayer and activity,
between moments of community intimacy and apostolic work. It should
also include regular meetings with other communities of the same institute,
precisely to overcome the danger of isolation and margination from the
broader community of the institute.
d) Even if small communities can offer advantages, it is not normally
recommended that an institute be made up of only small communities.
Larger communities are necessary. They can offer significant services both
to the entire institute and to the smaller communities: cultivating the life of
prayer and celebrations with more intensity and richness, being preferred
places for study and reflection, offering possibilities for retreat and rest for
members working on the more difficult frontiers of the evangelising
mission.
This exchange between the two kinds of community is made fruitful by a
climate of kindness and acceptance.
These communities should be recognisable primarily for the fraternal love
which unites the members, for the simplicity of their lives, for the mission
they undertake in the name of the community, for persevering fidelity to

5.2 Page 42

▲back to top
their charism, for the constant diffusion of the "sweet perfume" of Christ (2
Cor. 2:15), so that in the most diverse circumstances they may point to the
"way of peace", even for the confused and fragmented members of modern
society.
65. Men and women religious living alone
One of the realities encountered from time to time is that of men and
women religious living alone. Common life in a house of the institute is
essential for religious life. "Religious should live in their own religious
house, observing a common life. They should not live alone without serious
reason, and should not do so if there is a community of their institute
reasonably near".(81)
There are, however, exceptions which must be evaluated and can be
authorised by superiors(82) by reason of apostolate on behalf of the
institute (as for example, commitments requested by the Church;
extraordinary missions; great distances in mission territories; gradual
decrease in the membership of a community, to the point that a single
religious is in charge of one of the institute's works), or for reasons of
health and study.
While it is the responsibility of superiors to cultivate frequent contacts with
members living outside community, it is the duty of these religious to keep
alive in themselves the sense of belonging to the institute and a sense of
communion with its members, seeking every means suitable for
strengthening fraternal bonds. Periods of intense communal living must be
scheduled, as well as regular meetings with fellow religious for formation,
fraternal sharing, review of life, and prayer, for breathing in a family
atmosphere. Wherever they may be, members of an institute shall be
bearers of the charism of their religious family.
A religious living alone is never an ideal. The norm is that religious live in
fraternal communities: the individual is consecrated in this common life
and it is in this form of life that such men and women normally undertake
their apostolate; it is to this life that they return, in heart and in person, as
often as it is necessary for them to live apart for a time, long or short.
a) The demands of a particular apostolic work, for example of a diocesan
work, have led various institutes to send one of their members to
collaborate in an inter-congregational team. There are positive experiences
in which religious who collaborate in serving a particular work in a place
where there is no community of their own institute, instead of living alone,
live in the same house, pray together, have meetings to reflect on the word
of God, share food and domestic duties, etc. As long as this does not
become a substitute for living communication with their own institute, this
kind of "community life" can be advantageous for the work and for the
religious themselves.
Religious should be prudent in wanting to take on work which normally
requires them to live outside community, and superiors should likewise be
prudent in assigning members to these works.

5.3 Page 43

▲back to top
b) Also, requests for attending to elderly and sick parents, often involving
long absences from community, need careful discernment and possibly such
needs can be satisfied by other arrangements in order to avoid excessively
long absences of the son or daughter.
c) It must be noted that the religious who lives alone, without an
assignment or permission from the superior, is fleeing from the obligation
to common life. Nor is it sufficient to take part in a few meetings or
celebrations to be fully a religious. Efforts must be made to bring about the
progressive disappearance of these unjustified and inadmissible situations
for religious men and women.
d) In each case, it is helpful to recall that religious, even when living
outside community, are subject in areas relating to apostolate to the
authority of the bishop,(83) who is to be informed of their presence in his
diocese.
e) Should there be institutes in which, unfortunately, the majority of
members no longer live in community, such institutes would no longer be
able to be considered true religious institutes. Superiors and religious are
invited to reflect seriously on this sorrowful outcome and, consequently, on
the importance of resuming with vigour the practice of fraternal life in
common.
66. In mission territories
Fraternal life in common has special value in areas of the mission ad gentes
because it shows the world, especially the non-Christian world, the
"newness" of Christianity, that is, the charity which is capable of
overcoming divisions created by race, colour, tribe. In some countries
where the Gospel cannot be proclaimed, religious communities are almost
the only sign and silent and effective witness of Christ and of the Church.
But not rarely it is precisely in mission territories that religious come up
against notable practical difficulties in building stable and viable
communities: distances which require great mobility and widely scattered
communities; belonging to different races, tribes, and cultures; the need for
formation in inter-congregational centres. These and other factors can be
obstacles for a community ideal.
The important thing is that the members of the institute be aware of the
unusualness of the situation, that they promote frequent communication
among themselves, that they promote regular community meetings and, as
soon as possible, set up fraternal religious communities with a strong
missionary character so that they can offer the missionary sign par
excellence: "that they may all be one..., so that the world may believe" (Jn.
17:21).
67. Reorganization of works
Changes in cultural and ecclesial conditions, internal factors in the
development of institutes and changes of their resources can require a

5.4 Page 44

▲back to top
reorganization of the works and of the presence of religious communities.
This task, not an easy one, has real implications touching on community.
Generally, it is a question of works in which many brothers and sisters have
expended their best apostolic energies and to which they are tied by special
psychological and spiritual bonds.
The future of these works, their apostolic significance and their
reorganization require study, comparison and discernment. All of this can
become a school for learning to seek and follow the will of God, but at the
same time it can be an occasion of painful conflicts not easily overcome.
Criteria which cannot be overlooked and which enlighten communities at
the time of decisions, sometimes bold and painful, are: commitment to
safeguard the significance of their own charism in a specific setting,
concern to keep alive an authentic fraternal life and attention to the needs of
the particular Church. A trusting and ongoing dialogue with the particular
Church is therefore essential, as is effective connection with those
responsible for communion among the religious.
In addition to attention to the needs of the particular Church, religious
communities must be concerned also for all that the world neglects -- that is
to say, for the new forms of poverty and suffering in the many forms in
which they are found in different parts of the world.
Reorganization will be creative and a source of prophetic signs if it takes
care to announce new ways of being present -- even if only in small
numbers -- in order to respond to new needs, especially those of the most
abandoned and forgotten areas.
68. Elderly religious
One of the situations which community life faces more often today is the
increasing age of its members. Ageing has taken on particular significance
both because of the reduced number of new vocations and because of the
progress of medicine.
For a community, on the one hand this fact means concern for accepting in
their midst and esteeming deeply the presence and services which elderly
brothers and sisters can offer and, on the other, it means attention to provide
fraternally and in a way consistent with consecrated life those means of
spiritual and material assistance which the elderly need.
The presence of the elderly in communities can be quite positive. An
elderly religious who does not allow himself or herself to be overcome by
the annoyances and limitations of age, but keeps alive joy, love and hope, is
an invaluable support for the young. The elderly provide a witness, wisdom
and prayer which are a constant encouragement to the young in their
spiritual and apostolic journey. Moreover, religious who take care of the
elderly give evangelical credibility to their own institute as a "true family
convoked in the name of the Lord".(84)

5.5 Page 45

▲back to top
Consecrated persons also should prepare themselves long in advance for
becoming old and for extending their "active" years, by learning to discover
their new way of building community and collaborating in the common
mission, responding positively to the challenges of their age, through lively
spiritual and cultural interests, by prayer, and by continued participation in
their work for as long as they can render service, even if limited. Superiors
should arrange courses and meetings to assist personal preparation and to
prolong and enhance as much as possible the presence of religious in their
normal workplaces.
When in time these elderly members lose their autonomy or require special
care, even when their health is cared for by lay persons, the institute should
be very much concerned with supporting them so that they continue to feel
a part of the life of the institute, sharers in its mission, involved in its
apostolic dynamism, comforted in their solitude, encouraged in their
suffering. They never leave the mission but they are placed at its heart,
participating in it in a new and effective manner.
However invisible, their fruitfulness is not less than that of more active
communities. These derive strength and fruitfulness from the prayer, the
suffering, and the apparent lack of influence of the elderly. Mission has
need of both, and the fruits will become visible when the Lord comes in
glory with his angels.
69. Problems posed by the growing number of elderly religious become still
more striking in some monasteries which have suffered a lack of vocations.
Because a monastery is normally an autonomous community, it is difficult
for it to overcome these problems by itself. So it is helpful to recall the
importance of organisms of communion, such as federations, for example,
in order to overcome situations of great need of personnel.
Fidelity to the contemplative life requires the members of a monastery to
unite with another monastery of the same Order when a monastic
community, by reason of the number of its members, age, or lack of
vocations, foresees its own extinction. Also in the painful situation of
communities no longer able to live according to their proper vocation
because the members are worn down by practical labours or by caring for
the elderly or sick members, it will be necessary to seek reinforcements
from the same Order or to choose union or fusion with another monastery.
(85)
70. New relationship to the laity
Conciliar ecclesiology has shed light on the complementarity of the
different vocations in the Church which are called to be, together in every
situation and place, witnesses of the Risen Lord. Encounter and
collaboration among religious men, religious women, and lay faithful are
seen as an example of ecclesial communion and, at the same time, they
strengthen apostolic energies for the evangelization of the world.
Appropriate contact between the values characteristic of the lay vocation,
such as a more concrete perception of the life of the world, of culture,

5.6 Page 46

▲back to top
politics, economy, etc., and the values characteristic of religious life, such
as the radicality of the following of Christ, the contemplative and
eschatological dimension of Christian existence, etc., can become a fruitful
exchange of gifts between the lay faithful and religious communities.
Collaboration and exchange of gifts become more intense when groups of
lay persons share, by vocation and in the way proper to them, in the heart of
the same spiritual family, in the charism and mission of the institute. In this
way, fruitful relationships, based on bonds of mature co-responsibility and
supported by regularly scheduled programmes of formation in the
spirituality of the institute will be established.
In order to achieve such an objective, however, it is necessary to have:
religious communities with a clear charismatic identity, assimilated and
lived, capable of transmitting them to others and disposed to share them;
religious communities with an intense spirituality and missionary
enthusiasm for communicating the same spirit and the same evangelising
thrust; religious communities who know how to animate and encourage lay
people to share the charism of their institute, according to their secular
character and according to their different style of life, inviting them to
discover new ways of making the same charism and mission operative. In
this way, a religious community becomes a centre radiating outwardly, a
spiritual force, a centre of animation, of fraternity creating fraternity, and of
communion and ecclesial collaboration, where the different contributions of
each help build up the Body of Christ, which is the Church.
Naturally, very close collaboration should be worked out with respect for
the reciprocal vocations and different styles of life proper to religious and
to lay persons.
A religious community has its own needs of animation, horarium, discipline
and privacy,(86) such as to render unacceptable those forms of
collaboration which imply cohabitation and the living together of religious
and laity, even when such arrangements specify conditions which are to be
respected.
Otherwise, a religious community would lose its own character, which it is
responsible for maintaining by observing its common life.
CONCLUSION
71. A religious community, as an expression of the Church, is a fruit of the
Spirit and a participation in the Trinitarian communion. For this reason,
each and every religious is committed to feel co-responsible for fraternal
life in common, so that it will manifest clearly their belonging to Christ,
who chooses and calls brothers and sisters to live together in His name.
"The effectiveness of religious life depends on the quality of the fraternal
life in common. Even more so, the current renewal in the Church and in
religious life is characterised by a search for communion and community".
(87)

5.7 Page 47

▲back to top
For some consecrated persons and for some communities, the task of
beginning again to rebuild fraternal life in common may appear daunting,
even utopian. In the face of certain past wounds and of difficulties in the
present, the task may appear beyond feeble human capacities.
It is a question of taking up in faith a reflection on the theologal sense of
fraternal life in common, of being convinced that through it the witness of
consecration flows.
"The response to this invitation to build community together with the Lord,
in patience every day," says our Holy Father, "takes place on the way of the
Cross; it requires frequent self-denial".(88)
United with Mary, Mother of Jesus, our communities invoke the Spirit, who
has the power to create fraternal communities which radiate the joy of the
Gospel and which are capable of attracting new disciples, following the
example of the earliest community: "and they devoted themselves to the
apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers"
(Acts 2:42), "and more than ever believers were added to the Lord,
multitudes both of men and women" (Acts 5:14).
May Mary bring together religious communities and support them daily in
invoking the Spirit, who is the bond, the ferment, and the source of all
fraternal communion.
On 15 January 1994, the Holy Father approved this document of the
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic
Life and authorised its publication.
Rome, 2 February 1994, Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.
Eduardo Card. Martínez Somalo
Prefect
+ Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa
Secretary
(1) PC 2.
(2) Cf. PC 2-4.
(3) Cf. LG 44d.
(4) Cf. PC 15a; LG 44c.
(5) Cf. MR 11.
(6) LG 12.

5.8 Page 48

▲back to top
(7) Cf. MR 14.
(8) Cf. ET 30-39; MR 2, 3, 10, 14; EE 18-22; PI 25-28; see also can. 602.
(9) Cf. can. 594 §1.
(10) Cf. PC 15.
(11) Cf. can. 602, 619.
(12) Can. 607 §2.
(13) Cf. can. 602.
(14) Cf. can. 608; 665.
(15) Can. 731 §1.
(16) Cf. can. 607 §2; also can. 602.
(17) Cf. can. 587.
(18) SD 178, 180.
(19) Cf. Mulieris Dignitatem; GS 9, 60.
(20) Cf. PC 15a; can. 602.
(21) Cf. GS 3.
(22) Cf. LG 7.
(23) Cf. LG 4; MR 2.
(24) Cf. PC 1; EE 18-22.
(25) Cf. PC 1.
(26) RHP 24.
(27) PI 21-22.
(28) CDim 15.
(29) Cf. can. 663 §3 and 608.
(30) Cf. PO 6; PC 6.
(31) Cf. can. 608.
(32) PO 6.

5.9 Page 49

▲back to top
(33) Cf. can. 663 §4.
(34) CDim 15.
(35) Cf. PI 32-34; 87.
(36) Cf. LG 46b.
(37) Cf. can. 602; PC 15a.
(38) Cf. ET 39.
(39) Cf. PC 14.
(40) Cf. can. 619.
(41) Cf. ET 39; EE 19.
(42) St. Hilary, Tract. in Ps. 132, PL Suppl. 1, 244.
(43) See above nn. 14, 16, 28, and 31.
(44) Cf. CDim 14; PI 13; can. 666.
(45) LG 46.
(46) Ibid.
(47) Cf. EE 45.
(48) Ibid.
(49) EE 47.
(50) Cf. LG 44.
(51) PI 43.
(52) PI 43, 51, 63.
(53) PI 52.
(54) PC 14c; can. 618; EE 49.
(55) EE 22; cf. also MR 12.
(56) Cf. ET 40.
(57) Cf. PI 66-69.
(58) Cf. RHP 25.

5.10 Page 50

▲back to top
(59) MR 13.
(60) PC 12; cf. can. 607.
(61) EE 18; cf. MR 11-12.
(62) Cf. MR 11.
(63) Cf. MR 11-12; EE 11; 41.
(64) Can. 619.
(65) Cf. can. 618.
(66) Ibid.
(67) Can. 619.
(68) Cf. PC 14; EE 49.
(69) John Paul II, to the Plenary Meeting of CICLSAL, 20 November 1992,
n. 3, OR (English) 2 December 1992.
(70) Cf. LG 1.
(71) John Paul II, to the Plenary Meeting of CICLSAL, 20 November 1992,
n. 4, OR (English) 2 December 1992.
(72) ChL 32.
(73) LG 46a.
(74) Cf. MR 30b, 47.
(75) MR 49-50.
(76) PI 93.
(77) Cf. SD 85.
(78) Cf. RHP 6; EN 69; SD 92.
(79) Cf. PI 28.
(80) Cf. ET 40.
(81) EE III, §12.
(82) Cf. can. 665 §1.
(83) Cf. can. 678 §1.

6 Pages 51-60

▲back to top

6.1 Page 51

▲back to top
(84) PC 15a.
(85) Cf. PC 21 and 22.
(86) Cf. can. 667, 607 §3.
(87) John Paul II, to the Plenary Meeting of CICLSAL, 20 November 1992,
n. 3, OR (English) 2 December 1992.
(88) Ibid., n. 2.
ABBREVIATIONS
DOCUMENTS OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL
DV Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, 1965.
GS Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 1965.
LG Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 1964.
PC Decree Perfectae Caritatis, 1965.
PO Decree Presbyterorum Ordinis, 1965.
SC Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, 1963.
PONTIFICAL DOCUMENTS
ChL Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici, John Paul II, 1989.
EN Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, Paul VI, 1975.
ET Apostolic Exhortation Evangelica Testificatio, Paul VI, 1971.
MD Apostolic Letter Mulieris Dignitatem, John Paul II, 1988.
MM Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra, John XXIII, 1961.
DOCUMENTS OF THE HOLY SEE
can. canon or canons from the Code of Canon Law, 1983.
CDim The Contemplative Dimension of Religious Life, Sacred
Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes (SCRIS), 1980.
EE Essential Elements in the Church's Teaching on Religious Life, SCRIS,
1983.
MR Directives for the Mutual Relations Between Bishops and Religious in

6.2 Page 52

▲back to top
the Church, Sacred Congregation for Bishops and SCRIS, 1978.
PI Potissimum Institutioni, Directives on Formation in Religious Institutes,
CICLSAL, 1990.
RHP Religious and Human Promotion, SCRIS, 1980.
OTHER ABBREVIATIONS
CICLSAL Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of
Apostolic Life.
OR L'Osservatore Romano.
SD Santo Domingo: Conclusions of the IV General Assembly of the Latin
American Episcopate, 1992.
In this text, "fraternal" and "fraternity" refer inclusively to both women and
men and are, in the judgement of the translators, the words most apt in
English for conveying the warmth of communion which lies at the heart of
community.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Theological development
Canonical development
Development within society
Changes in religious life
Objectives of the document
I. The Gift of Communion and the Gift of Community
The Church as communion
Religious community as expression of ecclesial communion
II. Religious Community as Place for Becoming Brothers and Sisters
Spirituality and common prayer
Personal freedom and the building of fraternity
Communicating in order to grow together

6.3 Page 53

▲back to top
Religious community and personal growth
Identity
Affectivity
Difficulties
From me to us
Being a community in permanent formation
The community dimension of the evangelical counsels
The charism
Authority in the service of fraternity
Fraternity as sign
III. Religious Community as Place and Subject of Mission
Religious community and mission
In the particular Church
The parish
Ecclesial movements
Some particular situations
Insertion into poor neighbourhoods
Small communities
Men and women religious living alone
In mission territories
Reorganization of works
Elderly religious
New relationship to the laity
CONCLUSION