Consecrated
men and women
94.
"In the Church understood as the Family of God, consecrated life
has the particular function not only of indicating to all the call to holiness
but also of witnessing to fraternal life in community. Therefore, all who live
the consecrated life are called to respond to their vocation in a spirit of
communion and cooperation with the respective Bishops, clergy and
laity".183
In the
present-day circumstances of the mission in Africa, it is necessary to foster
religious vocations to the contemplative and active life, above all choosing
them with great discernment, and then seeing that they receive an integral
human formation, as well as one which is solid in its spiritual and doctrinal,
apostolic and missionary, biblical and theological dimensions. This formation
is to be faithfully and regularly updated down through the years. With regard
to the foundation of new Religious Institutes, great prudence and enlightened
discernment are needed, and the criteria laid down by the Second Vatican
Council and the canonical norms now in force are to be followed.184 Once
established, these Institutes are to be helped in acquiring juridical status
and becoming autonomous in the management both of their own works and of their
respective sources of income.
The
Synodal Assembly, having stated that "Religious Institutes that do not
have houses in Africa" are not authorized "to come seeking new
vocations without prior dialogue with the local Ordinary",185 then urged
the leaders of the local Churches and of the Institutes of Consecrated Life and
the Societies of Apostolic Life to foster dialogue among themselves, in order
to create, in the spirit of the Church as Family, mixed groups for consultation
which would serve as a witness to fraternity and as a sign of unity in the
service of a common mission.186 In this light, I have also accepted the request
of the Synod Fathers to revise, if necessary, some points in the document Mutuae
Relationes,187 in order to define better the role of religious life in the
local Church.188
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