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Theological development
2. The Second Vatican Council contributed greatly to a re-evaluation of
"fraternal life in common" and to a renewed vision of religious
community.
More than any other factor, it is the development of ecclesiology which
has affected the evolution of our understanding of religious community. Vatican
II affirmed that religious life belongs "undeniably" (inconcusse) to
the life and holiness of the Church and placed religious life at the very heart
of the Church's mystery of communion and holiness.(3)
Religious community thus participates in the renewed and deepened vision
of the Church. From this, several consequences follow:
a) From Church-Mystery to the mystery dimension of religious
community
Religious community is not simply a collection of Christians in search
of personal perfection. Much more deeply, it is a participation in and
qualified witness of the Church-Mystery, since it is a living expression and
privileged fulfilment of its own particular "communion", of the great
Trinitarian "koinonia", in which the Father has willed that
men and women have part in the Son and in the Holy Spirit.
b) From Church-Communion to the communional-fraternal dimension of
religious community
Religious community, in its structure, motivations, distinguishing
values, makes publicly visible and continually perceptible the gift of
fraternity given by Christ to the whole Church. For this very reason, it has as
its commitment and mission, which cannot be renounced, both to be and to be
seen to be a living organism of intense fraternal communion, a sign and
stimulus for all the baptised.(4)
c) From Church animated by charisms to the charismatic dimension of
religious community
Religious community is a living organism of fraternal communion, called
to live as animated by the foundational charism. It is part of the organic
communion of the whole Church, which is continuously enriched by the Spirit
with a variety of ministries and charisms.
Those who enter into such communities must have the particular grace of
a vocation. In practice, the members of a religious community are seen to be
bound by a common calling from God in continuity with the foundational
charism, by a characteristically common ecclesial consecration, and by a
common response in sharing that "experience of the Spirit" lived and
handed on by the founder and in his or her mission within the
Church.(5)
The Church also wishes to receive with gratitude "the more simple
and widely diffused" charisms(6) which God distributes among her
members for the good of the entire Body. Religious community exists for the
Church, to signify her and enrich her,(7) to render her better able to
carry out her mission.
d) From Church as Sacrament of unity to the apostolic dimension of
religious community
The purpose of apostolate is to bring humanity back to union with God
and to unity among itself, through divine charity. Fraternal life in common, as
an expression of the union effected by God's love, in addition to being an
essential witness for evangelization, has great significance for apostolic
activity and for its ultimate purpose. It is from this that the fraternal
communion of religious community derives its vigour as sign and instrument. In
fact, fraternal communion is at both the beginning and the end of apostolate.
The Magisterium, since the time of the Council, has deepened and
enriched the renewed vision of religious community with fresh
insights.(8)
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