PRESENTATION

- Father Camilo Maccise, Ocd
President of the USG

The First International Congress of young religious, held in Rome from 29 September to 4 October, has been described as "the crowning of the year for religious life and the most important meeting since the Synod" on the consecrated life.

This congress, attended by 840 religious under the age of 30, coming from 69 countries and representing 230 women’s institutes and 150 men’s institutes, was the beginning of an intergenerational dialogue among members of the consecrated life as the Third Millennium approaches.

At the time of the International Congress on the Religious Life, which was held under the auspices of the Union of Superiors General in November 1993, some young people questioned our language and perspectives of approach concerning the charism of the religious life. It was then that we began to reflect on the need for listening to what the Spirit is saying to us through the new generations called by Him, as we were many years ago, to live and place at the service of the People of God the free gift of our vocation and mission.

A first step along these lines was taken by the Meeting of the Superiors General in 1995, the theme of which was "Young People interpellate the consecrated life". During this Meeting the young men and women religious spoke to us about their experiences and expectations about consecration, communion, mission and the spirituality of the consecrated life at this time so as to help us discover the new identity that is at our doors and which asks of all consecrated persons a dynamic and creative fidelity.

From this first contact arose a strong conviction of the necessity of listening to the young religious and plans were begun for an International congress in which they would be the main participants. The two Unions of Superiors General (USG and UISG) decided to work together in preparing and conducting it.

In their greeting at the opening of the congress the two Presidents asked the young people to teach us new paths for a communion which is capable of being a sign understood by the men and women of our age; that they be for us a sign of true Christian freedom, synonymous with love and commitment of one’s self to others, especially to the poor, and finally, that they help us to risk a future in which the Spirit wants to do great things with us (cf. Vita Consecrata, 110).

We now present to you the fruit of this congress which was prepared with such great effort and the generous cooperation of men and women religious of various institutes, especially those which have as their charism ministry with the youth and the means of social communications. Through this material may you learn the longings and hopes of those who constitute, as they themselves emphasize, not only the future but the present of the consecrated life as well. Apparent in the interventions, dialogues, the reports of the language groups, the "constellations" of groups, and the many messages we received via Internet, is a need for authenticity, exchange, commitment and, at the same time, of unity in pluralism. There are basic points of convergence and divergent differences and accents stemming from the diversity of mentalities, saucy-cultural contexts and Churches.

Because of methodological difficulties and lack of time the congress ended without a single message. We had to be satisfied with the messages drafted in the various "constellations" of language groups. As a whole, there are many points of agreement which give us a rough plan of the new horizons of the consecrated life without, however, departing from the roots of its origins. Those lines that best describe the youthful vision of religious life are especially the following: a new christological identity of vocation, a community expression of the same, a vital, incarnational spirituality, prophetic ministry, the need for inculturating the charism of religious life, unity in the richness of diversity and, finally, dynamic and creative fidelity in order to make the charism of the consecrated life in general and of each institute in particular comprehensible and effective.

The christological identity of the call to the consecrated life is emphasized especially in the fascination for the Lord who calls each person to follow Him in a particular way, to live in particular ways the demands which present themselves to every authentic follower of Jesus: to make family and possessions relative and to take up the cross.

This identity projects on community as well. All the groups are in agreement on the importance of this fraternal witness of those who are consecrated to God in the religious life. They want to be persons of community, prayer and service.

The demand for a new and profound spirituality was perceived and manifested in a clear way. It must be a spirituality that is joined with that of the origins and, at the same time, in touch with reality. This demands conversion and radicality. Spirituality cannot be confined to one aspect of life; it must embrace all of life, including action, since it is a question of a "life in the Spirit". The spirituality of the consecrated life, like that of all Christian life, must be nourished by the Word, Eucharist and prayer.

The prophetic service of the consecrated life was expressed in terms of a commitment to evangelization which proclaims God’s plan and which denounces everything that is opposed to it. This must be made through a preferential option for the poor and the new poor so as to work, from a charismatic identity, in the creation of just and human societies. Some pastoral needs must be given priority in the consecrated life: the apostolate with those who are excluded, women, migrants, indigenous peoples, minority groups, families.

An important theme that can be found in different tones in the youthful concerns of the congress’ participants is that of the inculturation of the consecrated life, present in all continents. Basically inculturation is a recognition of the work of the spirit in the charism of the founders and of the "signs of the times and places", which are seen as interpellations of God.

Another point at which we arrived precisely through the language group discussions and the experience of cultural differences was the necessity of accepting and living from the perspective of a great richness, unity in diversity. There were invitations to experience plurality as a benefit which is nurtured in dialogue, service, mutual respect, communion, in the fact of seeing one’s own existential perspectives as relative.

In all different tones the young people speak as those who do not want to live their consecration in a split with the past, but in continuity with it. In the messages and witnesses of life they emphasized the importance and necessity of a fidelity to the founding charism; a fidelity that is dynamic and creative so as not to destroy the richness of the past but to translate it in the present with the audacity of a new interpretation guided by the action of the Spirit.

Less than two months after the International Congress of young Religious the USG gathered for its 52nd semi-annual assembly in Ariccia, Italy from 26 - 29 November 1997; the theme chosen for reflection was: Towards the future with the young religious: challenges, proposals, hopes. During this assembly the testimonies of some of the young people who had participated in the congress were heard and a fruitful dialogue was established with them. Then the leaders of the constellations of language groups for the congress presented their impressions and likewise entered into dialogue with the Superiors General. A third part of the assembly was the critical analysis of the contents of the congress and the presentation of proposals for new formation processes, presented by two of the speakers from the congress: Fathers Amedeo Cencini and Armand Veilleux. There was also an examination - by Don Carlos Garulo - of the service provided to the Congress by communications and an attempt to look at future possibilities of keeping the spirit of the Congress alive and active. The assembly ended with the search for operational guidelines and the summary of the main themes which emerged during it, presented by Fr. Fabio Ciardi. A Message from the Superiors General to the young religious marked the Assembly’s conclusion.

We wanted to publish the main material from the Congress and the USG Assembly in order to help to continue the reflection at the level of each institute. We hope that the reading of these pages will help the consecrated persons to be able to dialogue with the new generations. Unless we are capable of listening to the voice of the young people, we run the risk of maintaining a repetitive fidelity to the charism. Dialogue with them will help us transmit our experience and the fundamental values of the charism and, at the same time, will leave us open to a creative fidelity which anticipates and is able to accept the challenges which the Church and the world of today present us and to which the young people want to be more sensitive.

Listening to what the young consecrated persons think and being aware of how they see things, how the perennial values of the consecrated life can be incarnated in today’s world and in different cultures and continents, will allow us to begin the Third Millennium with a new vision of what it means to be a consecrated person in a multicultural context.