JOHN PAUL II
SECULAR
INSTITUTES, FAITHFUL EXPRESSION
OF THE COUNCIL'S
ECCLESIOLOGY
Allocution to the
Plenary Assembly of the Sacred Congregation for Religious
and the Secular
Institutes, on 6 May 1983.
Reverend
brothers and beloved sons and daughters !
l. I thank you for
your presence and I express to you my joy for this meeting, and my gratitude for the work
that you do to inspire and foster consecrated life. The evangelical counsels, in fact, are
a "divine gift which the Church has received from her Lord and which she ever
preserves with the help of his grace" (LG, 43), and therefore what is done in the
Congregation on behalf of their profession is extremely sound and valuable.
It is the first
time that one of your plenary assemblies has dealt with them directly: therefore it was a
timely choice, which the promulgation of the new Code has inspired. The Secular Institutes
- which in 1947 received ecclesial recognition with the Apostolic Constitution Provida
Mater issued by my predecessor, Pius XII - now find in the Code their rightful place
on the basis of the doctrine of the Second Vatican Council. In fact, these Institutes are
intended to be faithful expressions of that ecclesiology which the Council reconfirms when
it emphasises the universal vocation to holiness (cf. LG, Chap. 5), the inherent
tasks of the baptised (cf. LG, Chap. 4; AA), the Church's presence in the world in
which she must act as leaven and he the "universal sacrament of salvation" (LG,
48; cf. GS), the variety and the dignity of the various vocations, and the
"particular honour" which the Church pays towards "total continence
embraced on behalf of the kingdom of heaven" (LG, 42) and towards the
witness of evangelical poverty and obedience (ibid.).
2. Quite rightly
your reflection dwelled on the constitutive, theological and juridical elements of the
Secular Institutes, keeping in mind the formulation of the canons dedicated to them in the
recently promulgated Code, and examining them in the light of the teaching which Pope Paul
VI, and I myself with the discourse of 28 August l980, have confirmed in audiences granted
them.
The newness of
the gift which the Spirit has made to the Church's everlasting fruitfulness in response to
the needs of our times is grasped only if its constituent elements in their inseparability
are well understood: the consecration and the secularity; the consequent apostolate of
witness, of Christian commitment in social life and of evangelization; the fraternity
which, without being determined by a community of life, is truly communion; the external
life-style itself, which is not separate from the environment in which it may appear.
3. Now it is
necessary to know and make known this vocation that is so relevant and, I should say, so
urgent, the vocation of persons who consecrate themselves to God by practising the
evangelical counsels and strive to immerse their whole lives and all their activities in
that special consecration, creating in themselves a total availability to the Father's
will and working to change the world from within (cf. Discourse of 28 August 1980).
The promulgation
of the new Code will surely allow this better knowledge, but it must also urge pastors to
foster among the faithful an understanding which is not approximate or yielding, but exact
and respectful of the qualifying characteristics.
In this way,
generous responses to this difficult but beautiful vocation of "full consecration to
God and to souls" (cf. PC, no. 5) are aroused: a demanding vocation, because
one responds to it by carrying the baptismal commitments to the most perfect consequences
of evangelical radicalism, and also because this evangelical life must be embodied in the
most diverse situations.
In fact, the
variety of the gifts entrusted to the Secular Institutes expresses the various apostolic
aims which embrace all areas of human and Christian life. This pluralistic wealth is also
shown in the numerous spiritualities which animate the Secular Institutes, with the
diversity of the holy bonds which characterise various modes of practising the evangelical
counsels and the great possibilities of their incorporation in all areas of social life.
My Predecessor, Pope Paul VI, who showed so much affection for the Secular Institutes,
rightly said that if they "remain faithful to their vocation, they will be like an
experimental laboratory in which the Church tests the concrete modes of its relations with
the world" (Paul VI, Discourse to the International Congress of Secular Institutes,
25 August 1976). Therefore, lend your support to these Institutes that they may be
faithful to the original charisms of their foundation recognised by the hierarchy, and be
alert to discover in their fruits the teaching which God wants to give us for the life and
action of the entire Church.
4. If there is a
development and strengthening of the Secular Institutes, the local Churches also will
derive benefit from this.
This aspect has
been kept in mind during your plenary assembly, also because various episcopates, with the
suggestions given with regard to your meeting, have pointed out that the relationship
between Secular Institutes and local Churches is worthy of being deepened.
Even while
respecting their characteristics, the Secular Institutes must understand and adopt the
pastoral urgencies of the particular Churches, and encourage their members to live the
hopes and toils, the projects and concerns, the spiritual riches and limitations with
diligent participation; in a word, the communion of their concrete Church. This must be a
point for greater reflection for the Secular Institutes, just as it must be a concern of
the pastors to recognise and request their contribution according to their proper nature.
In particular,
another responsibility rests on the pastors: that of offering the Secular Institutes all
the doctrinal wealth they need. They want to be part of the world and ennoble temporal
realities, setting them in order and elevating them, that all things may be brought into
one under Christ's headship (cf. Eph l : l). Therefore, may all the wealth of Catholic
doctrine on creation, incarnation and redemption be given to these Institutes that they
may make their own God's wise and mysterious plans for man, for history and for the world.
5. Beloved brothers
and sons and daughters!
It is with a
sentiment of true esteem and also of deep encouragement for the Secular Institutes that
today I have taken the opportunity offered me by this meeting to emphasise some aspects
treated by you during the past few days.
I hope that your
plenary assembly may fully achieve the goal of offering to the Church better information
on the Secular Institutes and helping them live their vocation in awareness and fidelity.
May this Jubilee
Year of the Redemption, which calls everyone to "a renewed discovery of the love of
God who gives himself' (Apostolic Bull, Aperite Portas Redemptori, 8) and a renewed
encounter with the merciful goodness of God, be particularly for consecrated persons also
a renewed and pressing invitation to follow "with greater freedom" and
"more closely" (PC, I ) the Master who calls them for the pathways of the
Gospel.
May the Virgin
Mary be a constant and sublime model to them, and may she always guide them with her
motherly protection.
With these
sentiments, I gladly impart my intercessory Apostolic Blessing to you present and to the
members of the Secular Institutes throughout the world.