The Pope to the consecrated: “Reform is a path in dialogue with reality”

Sofia Lobos – Vatican City

The Pope sent a video message to greet the participants of the 50th week of religious life (or 49th because last year couldn’t stand due to the pandemic), which started “when the now Cardinal Aquilino Bocos Merino, of the magazine Vida Religiosa, began to change the atmosphere”.

In the video, the Pontiff publicly thanks Don Aquilino (currently cardinal) “who never ceased to be religious and priest”, for that “constantly sows the desire to understand the richness of consecrated life and to make it bear fruit”. Francisco also greets the president of CLAR, Sister Liliana, “who appeared so many times at the Synod for the Amazon”; and Cardinal Cristóbal Lopez romero, Archbishop of Rabat; the two speakers in the programming of the event.

Consecrated life is understood by walking

In this context, the Pope expresses his closeness to all consecrated persons and underlines that consecrated life is always understood by walking:

Alluding to the new times in which we live and to the need for consecrated life so as not to ignore the respective social changes, Francis gives the example of Saint Thérèse:

Keeping the founding charism alive

Likewise, Francisco emphasizes how sad it is to see how some institutes, “To seek some security, to be able to control themselves, they fell into ideologies of all signs, left, right, center, whatever.”

“When an institute reformulates itself from charisma to ideology, it loses its identity – continues the Pope loses its fertility. To bring the founding charism to life is to keep it moving and growing, in dialogue with what the Spirit tells us in the history of time, in different places, at different times, in different situations. It presupposes discernment and it presupposes prayer. “

And in this regard, Francis recalls that a founding charism cannot be maintained without apostolic courage, that is to say “Without walking, without discernment, and without prayer. And that’s what you’re trying to do this week.”

“Don’t be afraid of limits! Don’t be afraid of borders! Don’t be afraid of the outskirts! Because there the Spirit will speak to them. Put yourself “within reach” of the Holy Spirit “, concluded the Holy Father by asking the consecrated persons with affection, to pray for him, if they have a little chachito (a little) of time left.