Consecrated Life

SUMMARY. INTRODUCTION. A. 1917 Code. B. Specifically Eastern Fontes of Religious Law, and of Canon 570 in Particular. C. Magisterial Development from the Second Vatican Council. D. 1990 CCEO c. 570. 1. Drafting of CCEO canon 570. 2. Consecrated widows in the panorama of Eastern consecrated life as established in the CCEO. 3. Structural analysis. 4. Exegetical analysis. E. Practical Considerations: The Scope of Particular and More-Particular Law. 1. Qualifications of eligible candidates for consecration. 2. Impediments to the consecration. 3. Requirements for a candidate’s consecration (e.g., formation, time of probation, etc.). 4. The liturgical rite of consecration. 5. Notation. 6. Relationship between the consecrated widow and the hierarch. 7. Apostolic duties of the consecrated widow within her eparchy. 8. Obligations and rights of the consecrated widow. 9. Transfer of the consecrated widow from one eparchy to another. 10. Separation from the state of consecrated widowhood. 11. Economic considerations. F. Comparison to 1983 CIC c. 604. 1. Structural comparison. 2. Exegetical comparison. 3. Omission or exclusion from the CIC? G. Conclusions. BIBLIOGRAPHY. TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THE COMPLETE DOCTORAL DISSERTATION.

Penulis merasa perlu mensharingkan sebagai salah satu apresiasi terhadap setiap orang yang merindukan Allah, baik sebagai kebutuhan maupun tujuan hidupnya. Penulis menyadur, mengolah dan menuliskan sharing dari seorang formandi dari sebuah tarekat religius Katolik. Bagi penulis, hidup religius meliputi sejarah semenjak purbakala hingga sekarang. Oleh karena itu, hidup religius menjadi salah satu sumber valid dalam mengenal Allah dan bagaimana menghadapi zaman yang semakin membuat orang kesulitan bertemu dengan Allah
Penulis mengucapkan terima kasih kepada kongregasi Oblat Maria Imakulata Provinsi Indonesia yang sudah menyediakan waktu bagi formandi narasumber, juga kepada kongregasi pusat yang sudah berusia 200 tahun berkarya di seluruh dunia
Tulisan ini diharapkan menjadi salah satu pertimbangan dalam pengebalan akan Allah, pengolahan para subyek formandi dan permenungan bagi masyarakat pada umumnya. Penulis mohon maaf sebesar-besarnya karena tulisan ini belum sempurna. Kritik dan saran sangat diharapkan penulis bagi perkembangan pengenalan akan Allah.

The quality of striving for excellence is a very desirable attribute that is often recommended by all for all. While this may well be so, when the chief preoccupation of one's desires, acts and thoughts becomes perfection, one easily slips into the not-so-comfortable category of being considered a perfectionist. It is very different from the quality of striving for excellence present in a consecrated person in wanting to do good for the people of God in the best manner using all of one's talents. The article attempts to highlight some of the salient features of perfectionism (an undesirable attribute) as it presents itself in consecrated life and what could be done to help perfectionist religious from a psychological point of view.

The Apostolic Constitution on women’s contemplative life "Vultum Dei quaerere," promulgated by Francis on 29 June 2016, not only reinvigorates the academic, as well as the practical, treatment of the cloister of religious institutes, but furnishes new insight into the “mind of the legislator” (CIC/83, c. 17) concerning the obligation of enclosure. "Vultum Dei quaerere" identifies four distinct categories of cloister varying by degree: enclosure proper to all religious houses, papal enclosure, constitutional enclosure, and monastic enclosure. Propelled by the promulgation of "Vultum Dei quaerere," this research paper analyzes the three forms of enclosure identified as suitable for contemplative women religious, namely papal, constitutional, and monastic enclosure, giving particular attention to their juridical development from the promulgation of the 1917 Code to the present. A scientific examination of cloister in religious institutes over the preceding century demonstrates a shift away from a preferential treatment of papal enclosure to an increasing recognition of the proper place and excellence of either constitutional or monastic enclosure to realize the “eschatological and missionary significance of the cloistered life of contemplative nuns” ("Vultum Dei quaerere," art. 17).

The author looks at the history, spirituality, and canonical issues of the Beguines who began to surface in the 13th century.  In significant ways they are the forerunners of congregations of simple vows which were not formalized until the 1900's.  Since they seem to be resurfacing at the current time, the author also explores what is possible for them regarding vows and communal forms.

Il primo canone sulgli Istituti di vita consacrata dichiara che la vita consacrata è una "stabilis vivendi forma". Ciò implica che la dimensione di stabilità è un elemento fondamentale per la vita consacrata. Nonostante ciò poco si è scritto su questa dimensione negli ultimi decenni, anche se alcuni aspetti della stabilità, come la perseveranza e la fedeltà, sono temi molto pertinenti.

Questo articolo fa un breve excursus storico sull'utilizzo della parola «stabilità» nell’ambito della fede cattolica.

In this article, I examine the specifics of a workspace in one of the Christian Orthodox organizations in Russia. The sisterhood which I analyze represents the interlacement of religious and economic discourses in the workplace. I discuss the "commodification" of piety which is seen as a professional competency in the labour relations among Orthodox Christians. It is true about the sisterhood, where being “inchurched” is one of the main filters for potential employees. I examine the “politics of labour” in the sisterhood through the analysis of its heterogeneous spatial composition and point at the differences between its spaces in their work tempo, prestige, and working conditions. Alongside economic goals, the sisterhood is aimed at missionary and educational work; however, commercial relations are often described using religious terminology. I discuss the conflict between religious and economic aims of work. Particular attention is given to the analysis of techniques that help to maintain discipline in the sisterhood. It is achieved through rational organization of labour, observability of the workplace, hierarchy in employer-employee relationships, and the disciplining of body and emotions. The analysis is based on the materials of participant observation and field materials collected during my four months as a staff member of the sisterhood.

В этой статье я рассматриваю особенности рабочего пространства в одной из православных организаций в России. Сестричество, которое я анализирую, представляет собой переплетение религиозных и экономических дискурсов в рабочем пространстве. Я поднимаю вопрос «коммодификации благочестия», которое используется как профессиональная компетенция в трудовых отношениях среди православных христиан. Это верно в применении к сестричеству, где «воцерковленность» является одним из основных фильтров для потенциальных сотрудников. Я разбираю «политику труда» в сестричестве через анализ гетерогенной пространственной композиции и отмечаю различия между рабочими пространствами, в частности, темп работы, престиж, условия труда. Помимо экономических целей, сестричество преследует миссионерские и образовательные задачи; тем не менее, рыночные отношения часто описываются с помощью религиозной терминологии. Я анализирую конфликт между религиозными и экономическими целями труда. Особое внимание уделяется анализу техник, которые помогают поддержать дисциплину в сестричестве. Это достигается через рациональную организацию труда, наблюдаемость трудового пространства, иерархию в отношениях руководитель-подчиненный и дисциплинирование тела и эмоций. Исследование основано на материалах включенного наблюдения и полевых данных, собранных за четыре месяца, проведенные мною в качестве сотрудницы сестричества.

This experience of accompanying different Congregations of Religious Life in times like this is beautiful for me; a time, in which many people wonder if this way of life has a future, and if religious consecration makes sense. I would like to develop this topic in three parts: I address all these issues mainly as a theologian but also guided by my experience with religious institutes and by my hope in this magnificent way of Christian living which is the consecrated life. • First part: Ars moriendi charismatica: Don't be afraid of things to come, if we learn the art of charismatic dying; • Second part: Autopoiesis: Don't be afraid of things to come, if we believe in the power of rebirth • Third part: Intelligent leadership: Don't be afraid of things to come, when we are guided by wise and intelligent leaders.

Comment les communautés religieuses se sont frayé une voie dans le protestantisme. Nous partirons de l’attitude de Luther sur le monachisme et les vœux, en passant par les efforts de renaissance des communautés avec le mouvement des diaconesses au 19e siècle, pour aboutir à une floraison avec les communautés nouvelles du 20e siècle. Nous nous cantonnerons au milieu francophone et germanique.

Use of web-conferencing and teleconferencing has greatly increased over the past decades as organizations, including religious institutes, seek to reduce cost, travel time and environmental impact associated with face-to-face meetings. Those who have used these tools successfully have found ways to balance the potential obstacles of decreased ...

The focus of this paper is an over-arching comparison of CCEO’s and CIC’s canonical provisions regarding the consecrated life which echoes the work of Jobe Abbas, OFM Conv.  It may be deemed as a springboard for a more comprehensive assessment of particular provisions of the two codes in relation to consecrated life. In aspiring to have a better appreciation of how canonical provisions for consecrated life in the two codes came to be, this opus aims to broadly trace significant events which illustrate the genesis, growth and spread of consecrated life both in the East and in the West.

A Canonical Review of the Apostolic Visitation of Institutes of Apostolic Women Religious in the US which began in 2008 with a stated purpose of looking into the quality of the life of religious women in the US. In December 2014, the Final Report was released, and individual reports were promised for some of the institutes concerned.....

" Iron sharpeneth iron " (Prov 27:17): so ends Aquinas in his treatise De perfectione spiritualis vitae. By this, he effectively throws down the gauntlet to the secular priests of the University of Paris who, in an unseemly turf-war, have been disparaging the religious life in the hope of expelling the rising stars of the new mendicant orders from the faculty of the University, thus maintaining their own monopoly. Aquinas dares them to respond to his understanding of the religious life (as expressed in De perfectione) and his refutation of their own criticism. He says: " If anyone desire to send me a reply, his words will be very welcome to me. For the surest way to elucidate truth and to confound error is by confuting the arguments brought against the truth " (chapter XXVI). The background to this dispute is quite complex but it is important to understand it in order to appreciate the context in which Aquinas developed his distinctive articulation of the religious life, and particularly the life of the counsels. In 1236, the Englishman Alexander of Hales, already a custodian of a Chair at the University of Paris, joined the Friars Minor. Thus began a slow process in which friars from the new mendicant orders vied for teaching positions with the secular priests. In 1256, the leader of the secular party, William of Saint Amour, published his De periculis novissimorum temporum in which he explains the characteristics of the false prophets that will appear in the last age. They will 'live by begging rather than their own labour', 'preach without a summons' and 'rely on logic and reason rather than divine revelation,' and so on: all characteristics with a striking resemblance to the new mendicant friars! It is just at this time, perhaps within months of the publication of De periculis, that St. Thomas arrived in Paris to take up a teaching position. As part of the induction process, the new master was to dispute four questions. In Aquinas's case, he chose as one of his topics De opere manuali religiosorum in which he defended the right of the friars to live by alms. Also around this time, Aquinas wrote Contra impugnantes Dei cultum et religionem which defended, among other things, the right of religious to teach. In 1257, William's work De periculis was condemned by Pope Alexander IV and a tense peace was secured for some years. The conflict was reignited in 1269 by Gerard of Abbeville, a disciple of William, with the publication of a polemical work called Contra adversarium perfectionis christianae which called into question, among other things, evangelical poverty as an excess that contradicted the mean of virtue as understood by Aristotle. 1 In the same year, Aquinas returned to Paris for a second tour of duty and responded to this renewed salvo with De perfectione spiritualis vitae. It is less polemical than Contra impugnantes, for sure, but still it is a formidable defence of religious life in general and the mendicants in particular. Moreover, it is a much more holistic and systematic treatment of the life of the counsels. In this year of the consecrated life, it seems fruitful to turn again to the Universal Doctor of the Church, to seek from him a deeper understanding of the life of the counsels. In what follows, therefore, I wish to expound the key elements of Aquinas's understanding of the religious life as he expresses it in De perfectione. When necessary, I shall also consider other texts of Aquinas where he develops points only latent in this treatise. 1 Aquinas refutes this in Summa Contra Gentiles III, 134: the mean of virtue is not the mean of quantity, but the mean of reason.

El último Sínodo de los obispos ha devuelto a la juventud el protagonismo que no siempre ha tenido en el seno de la Iglesia. Del mismo modo, tampoco se ha prestado demasiada atención a los miembros más jóvenes de los Institutos de Vida Consagrada. Las circunstancias espirituales y existenciales de quienes viven sus primeros años en esta vocación cristiana no siempre se han tenido en demasiada consideración. Este artículo pretende iluminar esta etapa vocacional a través de personajes bíblicos del Nuevo Testamento que son calificados como jóvenes.

The most recent Synod of Bishops has given young people the importance they not always had in the Church. Likewise, the Institutes of Consecrated Life have not always paid due attention to their younger members either. The particular spiritual and existential conditions of those living their first years in this specific Christian way of life have not always been taken into account. This paper seeks to shed light on this vocational phase by means of Biblical characters in the New Testament who are portrayed as young.

The general theme of the present volume of our journal is
“Governance in Institutes of Consecrated Life in the Catholic
Church in Africa”. The theme was chosen before the Covid19 crisis began in most African countries, including Nigeria.
The idea was to explore, in particular, the significance,
challenges, opportunities, and prospects of leadership. The
emergence of the covid-19 crisis, though a coincidence, turned
out to present new challenges and opportunities, and
perhaps highlighted other latent challenges, in the
governance. The crisis has led consecrated persons to seek
or to explore new approaches to living a life in common,
open new possibilities of mission, to consider new ways of
living out their apostolate. At least, it called everyone to
reflect anew on the ways to lead and live consecrated life in
times of worldwide emergency crisis and attendant
restrictions such as those caused by this pandemic.  Through articles from various perspectives, this edition proposes studies and perspectives on some vital issues and the challenges, opportunities, and prospects of governance in Institutes of Consecrated Life in the Catholic Church in Africa.

The goal of the article is to present the Christocentric sources of the consecrated life. Jesus Christ is for all the consecrated people their founder and pattern for the chosen by them form of life. The son of God is indeed the model of consecration based on the profession of the evangelical counsels which in the strict sense means to follow the form of life He has chosen and practised himself. The article picked out on the paschal dimension of the consecration, which is deeply rooted in the baptismal consecration, which is the beginning of the God’s life in human as well as in the Eucharist. Following Christ who is chaste, poor and obedient the consecrated people become the witnesses of His presence in the world.

“Ida and Mother Joan of the Angels: A God-like Camera and Women in Habits” 

Paweł Pawlikowski’s "Ida" and Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s "Mother Joan of the Angels" portray young nuns in a beautiful, sparsely populated, and oppressive Polish landscape. Both films use sophisticated cinematography that maintains a contemplative distance on the portrayed world. "Ida" shows a story of a young nun about to take her vows and having to face the world for the last time in all of its bewildering complexity. "Mother Joan of the Angels" is a tale of a 17th-century Polish convent, which had become a local attraction for its nuns possessed by the devil. Both directors shot the films in hard focus black and white and used suggestive lighting, often keeping the faces of the characters in partial shadow. In my paper I consider whether the God-like gaze of the camera in both films suggests the directors’ stance against any kind of inhuman dogma, the burden of history weighing on people, or an omnipotent, yet indifferent, divinity.

Planteamiento Testimoniar el Reino de Dios y su trascendencia es tarea que incumbe no sólo a los religiosos individual o colectivamente considerados, sino a la comunidad entera. El concepto de Reino no puede ser interpretado sino en términos comunitarios. Los mensajes de los Papas del siglo XX, y especialmente de Juan XXIII al señalar que "la Iglesia se muestra a sí misma lo que es y lo que quiere ser, la Iglesia de todos, especialmente la de los pobres" 1 , y las enseñanzas de Pablo VI y Juan Pablo II relativas a la pobreza ponen de manifiesto el interés de los Romanos Pontífices por mantener vivo el recuerdo de la pobreza evangélica 2. El concilio Vaticano II, que tomó sobre sí la tarea de encarar la realidad en el mundo moderno, y el lugar de la Iglesia en el mismo, declaró su deseo de ser testimonio del amor de la Iglesia por los pobres, el deseo de la misma por situarse junto a los pobres, los enfermos y los oprimidos. En este marco general, y especialmente desde las enseñanzas del Concilio Vaticano II acerca de la pobreza evangélica, se sitúa la pobreza religiosa buscada en la Vida Consagrada. A los religiosos, colectivamente considerados, es decir, en tanto que miembros de un Instituto legítimamente constitutido 3 , la Iglesia les ha pedido siempre que presten a la comunidad cristiana un generoso testimonio de pobreza. El concilio Vaticano II, en el decreto Perfectae caritatis, sobre la adecuada renovación de la Vida Religiosa, llamó a los Institutos a "esforzarse en dar testimonio comunitario de pobreza" (PC 13e). El magisterio de Pablo VI 4 en materia de pobreza religiosa incide especialmente en la dimensión colectiva de la pobreza religiosa y a sus implicaciones sociales 5. Pero, dicho testimonio se debe construir, necesariamente, sobre la base de una vida en pobreza de todos y cada uno de los miembros del Instituto. Para Pablo VI el testimonio 1 JUAN XXIII, Radio-mensaje de 11de septiembre de 1962, AAS 54 (1962) 682. 2 PABLO VI, encíclica Ecclesiam suam, 6 de agosto de 1964, AAS 56(1964) 609-659; Idem, Exhortación apostólica Evangelica testificatio, de 29 de junio de 1971, AAS 63 (1971) 497-526; JUAN PABLO II, exhortación apostólica Redemptionis donum, de 25 de marzo de 1984, AAS 76 (1984) 513-546; Idem, exhortación apostólica Vita consecrata, de 25 de marzo de

Signore Gesù, invia il tuo Spirito, perché ci aiuti a leggere la Scrittura con lo stesso sguardo, con il quale l'hai letta Tu per i discepoli sulla strada di Emmaus. Con la luce della Parola, scritta nella Bibbia, Tu li aiutasti a scoprire la presenza di Dio negli avvenimenti sconvolgenti della tua condanna e della tua morte. Così, la croce che sembrava essere la fine di ogni speranza, è apparsa loro come sorgente di vita e di risurrezione. Crea in noi il silenzio per ascoltare la tua voce nella creazione e nella Scrittura, negli avvenimenti e nelle persone, soprattutto nei poveri e sofferenti. La tua Parola ci orienti, affinché anche noi, come i due discepoli di Emmaus, possiamo sperimentare la forza della tua risurrezione e testimoniare agli altri che Tu sei vivo in mezzo a noi come fonte di fraternità, di giustizia e di pace. Questo noi chiediamo a Te, Gesù, figlio di Maria, che ci hai rivelato il Padre e inviato lo Spirito. Amen.

Mnogo se raspravlja, kako među samim redovnicama i u njihovim zajednicama tako i u širem crkvenom krugu, o poslanju i ulozi redovnica u današnjem svijetu. Veće mogućnosti djelovanja s jedne strane, ali i  polagano opadanje zvanja s druge strane, potiče redovnice na traganje za novim i prikladn(ij)im oblicima svjedočenja.  U tom je nastojanju, u kojem postoji opasnost od prenaglašavanja  aktivizma, potrebno ponovno istaknuti eshatološku usmjerenost redovničkoga života kao polazišta njegova poslanja u svijetu. Jer čitav je čovjekov život označen eshatološkim smislom, koji mu otkriva da se nalazi „na putu“ prema konačnom dovršenju. Taj pak smisao  i samog čovjeka obvezuje da  u suradnji s Božjom milošću bude sustvaratelj konačnoga svijeta. Redovnice su  u današnjem postmodernom društvu pozvane, možda više nego ikad prije, eshatološku dimenziju uprisutnjivati u život svojih suvremenika. Ovaj članak na temelju glavnih naglasaka eshatologije kao i osnovnih oznaka suvremene postmoderne kulture, ukazuje na mogućnosti djelotvornog eshatološkog svjedočenja redovnica, a koje vidim  osobito djelotvornim na tri područja: na planu tumačenja sadašnjosti eshatološkom hermeneutikom, autentičnim životom u zajedništvu kao modelu eshatološke komunikacije, te svjedočenjem  siromaštva  kao stila  eshatološkoga života odnosno mjesta u kojem se eshatološki smisao već ostvaruje. Tako će redovnice današnjem čovjeku posredovati pravi smisao njegova života i jedino će na taj način ostvariti svoje autentično poslanje u svijetu.

Ključne riječi: poslanje redovnica, redovništvo, eshatologija, eshatološki smisao, Eshaton, Isus Krist, postmoderna, čovjekovo sudioništvo, zajedništvo, siromaštvo, solidarnost

Many religious communities are facing the question of diminishment and demise. I would like to offer these reflections to help people assess the hopes for the future. You might consider these reflections as diagnostic tools. This is the eighth in a series of articles.

Este trabalho buscou compreender como a vida religiosa consagrada influencia nos modos pelos quais um grupo de Irmãs católicas percebe e vive a doença de Alzheimer. O objetivo foi acompanhar a ontologia múltipla da doença sendo feita, no cotidiano, através das práticas, afetos e silêncios na Residência em que moram. A valorização do pós-morte e da trajetória religiosa traz interpretações próprias para a enfermidade, dissolvendo alguns temores e acolhendo sintomas. Ao articular duas vertentes analíticas - corporeidade e selfhood-, busco apreender como esses corpos em processo demencial percebem o mundo e atravessam a experiência com a doença quando inseridos em um contexto religioso, e como o meu próprio corpo se deslocou em campo. Mostro também como as imagens – fotografias e desenhos – foram importantes para entrar no mundo tanto da demência quanto da vida consagrada, a fim de ver e ouvir o que os silêncios não me deixaram encontrar, no início.

The article discusses the history of reforms of American religious sisters initiated by Pius XII and concluded by a joint agreement between the LCWR and the Commissions of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The article shows the character of the reforms undertaken before and after the Council and how two organizations representing American sisters were established. The continuous departure of the LCWR from the teaching of the Church is presented in opposition to the fidelity of the second organization with canonical status-CMSWR. The lack of vocations among the sisters gathered in the LCWR is a sign of mistakes in the reforms that were undertaken and politicization of the organization.