There is no doubt that the consecrated persons and consecrated life assizes
to the significant term that would reconcile the councilor Fathers' resolutions with ample adhesion and sincere fervor. It was perceived that the grace of the Holy Spirit, invoked by St. John XXIII to obtain a renewed Pentecost for the Church, was in progress. At the same time he felt a harmony of thought, of aspirations, of ferment in progress for at least a decade.
The Apostolic Constitution. Provida Mater Ecclesia, in 1947, recognized the consecration by living the evangelical counsels in the secular condition. A "revolutionary gesture in the Church", "The official recognition, the first thing that the theological reflection would outline the specific horizon of the secular consecration: Through this recognition it was somehow an express that would have been at the heart of Vatican II: the sympathy for the world that generates a new dialogue.
The Sacred Congregation for Religious in 1950, under the auspices of Pius XII, convenes the first World Congress of States of Perfection. Science and formation is a formation of presbyters, men and women religious, the apostolic constitution Sedes sapientiae and the general statutes attached to it on religious, clerical and apostolic formation to be given to clerics in states of perfection, confirmed the urgency.
The Congregation of Religious institutes instituted by the Pontifical Institute Regina Mundi May 31, 1955 with a three-year course of study that was aggregated to the Gregorian faculty of theology: a burning problem emerged at the congress of the general superiors of 1952.
The pontifical teachings open the way for an accommodated renovatio, an expression that the Council makes its own in the decree Perfectae caritatis. This Congress was followed by others, in various contexts and on various themes, making possible in the fifties and the beginning of the following decade a new theological and spiritual reflection. The Council assembly spread a profusion of the good seed of doctrine and the wealth of concrete orientations that we still live today as a precious inheritance.
1. The cultural horizon of the twentieth century: Historical outline
2. Religious life in the 1950s:
Quaestiones:
a) The horizon of the ecclesiastical and pontifical magisterium:
From which documentary horizon around the Pontifical and Ecclesial Magisterium on Consecrated Life Do we arrive at the Vatican Council there?
- Apostolic Constitution Provida Mater Ecclesia (2 February 1947)
- or instruction Cum sanctissimus (1948)
- Motu Proprio First feliciter (1948)
- Pius XThe Apostolic Constitution
- Sponsa Christi (21 November 195o)
- Pio XlI Encyclical Sacra Virginitas (March 25, 1954)
- Pius XThe Constitution Sedes Sapientiae (May 31, 1956)
d) The Second General Congress of the States of Perfection December 14, 1957: the efficiency of works and fidelity to the age of religious life
e) Towards a single direction: theological-ascetic reflection (D. Alberione refers to the encyclical Sacra Virginitas in Ut perfectus sit homo Dei, 1,254)
3. The Anti-Preparatory Commission of the Vatican II Ecumenical Council
4. The preparation commission of the Vatican II ecumenical council
Vatican II and the debate on consecrated life The Council
finds Consecrated Life in its first moment of modern times: it is the new
theology of the laity, the priestly school of Cardinal Mercier in health, in
social assistance, in spirituality, in cultural centers. ecclesiology (he
proposed a super-value of the lay ministry, lived with virtual reality). The
VCs have their place in the constitution of the Church, an integral part of
life and life. of the hierarchical constitution, but belongs to the charismatic
constitution, also of divine origin. and hierarchical; the distinction between
those who profess the evangelical counsels and other Christians is based on the
divine and charismatic constitution of the Church itself. Consecrated life is
of divine origin, because councils are a divine gift and make the form of life
considered by Jesus Christ. The Church must discern them and approve them. b)
Consecrated life is in the perspective of re-proposing the form of life of
Christ, of the Virgin Mary, of the apostles and of those who have left
everything "to devote themselves to the things of Christ. The mission of
the Church lies in the good present of Christ and the VC sit in this mission c)
The evangelical counsels, closer (beneus), with greater freedom (semperus) and
as they express a consecration to the most intimate Lord (intimius), they are a
manifestation of the transcendence of the Kingdom. symbolic d) For the Council
it is a "privileged" way to better serve, because every
"plus" is a "plus" of service and donation The terminology
of the "undivided heart" of St. Paul is evident. VC is an eloquent
sign of the Kingdom of God and of future realities f) The PC Decree has indicated
a series of measures with regard to the practical renewal of norms and
structures: the principles of renewal foreseen: the return to the sources
(sequence of Christ and foundation project ale) and the update before the
modern world.
a) Consecrated
Life immediately embarked on the path of renewal.
b) The
reception of the council is a period of strong changes in western society. The
society is moving from a religious theocentric universe to an anthropocentric
one, from a society in need of substitutes to an autonomous society; from a
culture of objective gold to the assumption of subjectivity.
c) The
reception of the Council in the VR has gone through great enthusiasms and great
love surprises: leading to polarizing and tensions and calling for the
traditional ones during May 1968 with
the slogan "forbidden exasperates”. Beginning in '67 calling for the
extraordinary chapters for the revision of the constitutions, a process that
ends with a call to cling to the essentials.
2 The new theological tendencies on the
consecrated life that are creatively confronted with a new reality on the
theology of the people of God with the relationship.
b) Theologians turn into two currents:
those that accept and those that accept who oppose the solution (baptism) and
all the evangelical advices for salvation (ordinary path). The profession of
councils makes it possible to take a more agile and safe path, because it
facilitates achievement (perfection in charity)
consecration, which is a special vocation to reach the goal of perfect
charity.
openness to the problems of the Church
and society
a) Politicization predominates in
society: "'a policy is everything and everything is politic". This is
trust in the possibility of rapidly changing social structures and solving the
most serious problems.
b) In the church the importance of the people
is emphasized, come ecclesial subject, come a place where distinctions are a
disappearance. We prefer everything that comes from the base, what is lay and
communal.
c) In the VC comes the crisis of the
works and the lack of appreciation for traditional activities. Specialization
and professional commitment come into focus.
d) The local church attracts much the VC
greater possibility of apostolic work and more gratifying). Many Religious abandon
the vita consecrate in function of a
"promotion of the lay state". On the other hand, ecclesial movements
gain ground as an expression of new charisms: with concrete goals and a clear
pedagogy of initiation they attract many problems and uneasy lay people.
e) VC is seen dragged and conditioned by
the tensions of renewal. Many are looking for lost. In this context of
uncertainty two important theological contributions will arise: the new
theology of charisms and the theology of consecration.
f) Instead, Latin America is experiencing a
totally different period, considered the preferential option for the poor who voted
for in Medellín and then ratified in Puebla. Theologians have followed this
orientation. Consecrated Life makes a "tactical" option: it moves
towards the outskirts of cities, it is an exodus towards the poor (insertion
community), it withdraws from the world of the powerful and goes to the world
of the abandoned. Some opt for working "for" the poor (determined in
education). Tensions were not lacking, nor was the risk of ideologization, as
in the early years. Thus the Latin American consecrated life summarized the
situation: "all for the poor, many with the poor, some like the
poor". This position of the Latin American VC has become a point of
reference for the whole Church and for all of the VC in the following decades.
The judgment on this historical period is not unanimous today, but for this
reason the generosity of the donation cannot be denied to the most needy, to
the point of paying in first person (martyrdom) this option Theology and
spirituality of the preferential option for the poor Starting point : the
realization that the option for the poor is the expectation given in the OT, we
rethink the following of Christ starting from the Latin American context of
poverty and misery. Thus a spirituality is elaborated starting from other
emphases. The program is: "to leave the world of the rich to go to the
world of the poor, and here lovers of God". Testify of God in a
dehumanized and brutal world. The CLAR supported and promoted theology, which
expressed itself in the insertion: situate itself among the poorest, move to
the barriers of the suburbs, making the rights of their rights and their
dignity aware. Despite the fall ...
Theology and spirituality of the charism
The reflection that revolves around the charism is based on the theology proper
to the founder of a institution, enriching and deepening it with new elements.
This theologian exalts the Christological and pneumatic identity of the charism
of an institute, the institute appears as a charismatic project born by the
impulse of the Spirit, for the good of the Church and of society. Hence the
need to intensify research on one's origins, on the figure of the founder, on
his spirituality and his charisma. This theologian is accepted by the document
Mutuae Relationes (1978), which is inserted in the local churches according to
its own charisma (ie the bishops are watching over the ream and respecting
them), religious you have to accept the pastoral plan of the dioceses, in 1980
the documents are published that concern the unpredictable contemplative
dimension e of the religious: religious and its human development, and
religious life. The 80s: the return to personal and internal problems 4 The
80s: the return to personal problems and justice, in the West It is the victory
of neoliberalism and individualism in contrast with socialism, which is
completed with the disappearance of the Berlin Wall, symbol of the fall of the
utopias of spirituality and life: secularism progresses in the north, the south
grows numerically compensating in some way for the loss of influence Culturally
the progression of the human sciences takes great importance. Code of Canon
Law, which speaks of "consecrated life" (not of OSA religious life).
The concept of VC is possible because more than others of reality: it can also
be applied to secular institutes, to hermits and to other forms of life.
Theology and spirituality of consecration Reflection now begins with a focus on
the permanent nucleus of consecrated life: we move from interest in historicity
to interest in the essence of consecrated life. This is the aspect of deepening
the theocentric dimension. The documents speak of a new and special
consecration. The essential reality of giving to God is studied as a response
to a special call. The CDC uses the category of consecration, extending it to
the forefront of the VR: secular institutes, consecrated virgin hermits and
societies of apostolic life. The Roman Dicastery will not be the CRIS
(Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes) but the CIVCSVA
(Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic
Life). VC is the common denominator of all life forms that take the evangelical
counsels of virginity / celibacy, poverty and obedience
d) for
the Kingdom of heaven. Theological reflection on the various aspects of
consecration: in the 1960s the biblical aspects of the following of Christ were
studied; in the years "zo the pneumatological aspects of the" charisma
": over the years '80 gives a theocentric reversal to the reflection with
the theme of "consecration" in which the elements are highlighted:
the consecrating act by God; the human person to the call consecrating himself
totally to God through the profession of the evangelical counsels; the
intervention of the mediating Church of the consecration. In this way, the
religious consecration, part of the devil and human, came a sign and a
sacrament of the consecration to God of all the Christian people; reminds the
Church that her specific vocation is made up of being the bride of Christ,
totally given to him. The consecration states that the bridegroom is true love,
the Christian is the lord, who must be loved and served in everything . The
theology of consecration insists on the assertion that consecrated life exists
primarily to serve and belong to God (not "tariff"). At the origin of
the CL, there is a gentleman to love and serve directly or between brothers.
The consecration indicates that the consecrated life looks to the Lord above
all and wants to do his will. This theology is found in the document VC (see VC
22 31c) The 9th years: the synod on consecrated life a) These are the years of
religious awakening in the West. They are a religion and spirituality that seek
to satisfy personal questions and needs (the charismatic movement) b) For the
VC the concern for numerical reduction begins; we seek collaboration with the
laity; a different relationship between north-south is favored and serious talk
of re-foundation is started. Community life worries amid an increasingly
individualistic climate. In 1994 the CIVCSVA published the document Fraternal
life in community as a response to the difficulties encountered in the renewal
of the communities. A "fraternal" document on "fraternal
life" c) In 1994 the Synod of Bishops on the VC is celebrated. As a result
the apostolic exhortation Vita Consecrata (1996) is published: point of arrival
and synthesis reached after some years of great tension NB. For the exclusive
use of the Synthesisers of fra Lindor Alcides Tofful, from: CABRA, Pier
Giordano, T u, Sigueme! Curso breve de vida consagrada, Madrid 2005, pp. 85-119
-----------------1. CT FRANCIS, heard at the meeting promoted by the Italian Conference of Secular Institutes, Rome (10, May 2014
2. CE PAOLO VI, Allocution at the last public session of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Rome, Rome (7 May 2014) December 1g65)
No comments:
Post a Comment