Father FABIO CIARDI,OMI

I want to emphasize most of all the feelings and attitudes which have emerged, although the first question which spontaneously comes to me is: What was the use of this congress? What did it produce?

Perhaps the young people would tell us that these questions express utilitarian calculations. For them coming together, being together and celebrating are already a value per se, even above and beyond whatever function these might serve.

Through all this we can see a first basic trait of this generation: the sense of gratuitousness and goodness in coming together, in getting to know one another, in sharing....

We are also called to try not to hear their demands from our own agendas. If other generations had the need of having strong ides in order to face life, nowadays it is strong experiences which are required. Values are learned more through the existential experience of them.

A sense of identity and belonging

Another characteristic I noted is that of a strong sense of identity and belonging. Throughout the congress they expressed confidence, a positive outlook, optimism about the future.

From the work of our constellation this synthesis was formulated: "We believe in our vocation to religious life because it fills our lives with happiness and meaning. This "creed" of ours is not something abstract. It comes from a genuine experience of God as our life’s companion. We feel all the beauty of being consecrated.... "

Other testimonies also demonstrate "a fear because of our weakness and limitations" but this, they continue, "is still not capable of diminishing our hope for the future".....

"During these days", wrote yet another participant, "I experienced an enthusiasm, euphoria and joy which I hardly ever feel in the communities of my institute. I am not frightened by the situation in which I live; I still have the desire to dream, but most of all to struggle".

Idealism and enthusiasm

Another characteristic that I noted is the idealism and enthusiasm; if they are understood well, they are two positive realities. The idealism which characterizes youth is not an abstraction, a futile dream, but a genuine way of experiencing truth beyond above and beyond praxis. The consecrated life and the charism of the institute are intuited in their purity, absoluteness, immediateness, in the way they are meant to be, rejecting all types of compromise. The enthusiasm which one could note in the assembly hall seemed to me to be an authentic gift from God, capable of instilling strength and courage to pursue the ideals they perceive. Nothing seems impossible or too difficult. The idealism of the young religious is for us, their elders, a continuous "recall" to that freshness, that authenticity and purity of the charism which life’s experiences sometimes put us in danger of losing.

The need for "mediation"

Another demand which emerged is the need for mediation. This was shown most of all through the report of Veilleux. I was somewhat amazed by how many of them reacted: "It was too doctrinal, too abstract. It did not touch us deeply". I thought it was a discourse that was rich in theological content. Therefore, I ask: why did you not appreciate a theological talk? The answer is immediate: "It is not that we did not appreciate the talk. Every day in our university classes we are offered a good deal of content. What we do not receive is mediation. We lack the people who help us translate doctrine into our existential experience".

I understand that masters and witnesses are no longer enough. What is needed is the humble work of mediation: standing at the young people’s side, in dialogue and not imposing; helping them to challenge themselves. The older religious is asked for the ability to set out on a journey which the young person him/herself must undertake and travel; journey along with rather than go before; point out a direction rather than anticipate a goal.

Rather than a provocative style which had a strong resonance in generations like our own, today’s young people prefer a persuasive style. You can say anything to them but without imposing your ideas. In a culture that is pluralistic and tolerant, about points of view, it is important to leave time for dialogue, reflection, and let the seeds planted grow from within into personal conviction.

The need for dialogue and confrontation

Another strong demand is that for dialogue with one another, for learning about the experiences or the life of others. Does this mean that they are more sensitive to praxis than to theory? I think, rather, that they are aware that they have within themselves the resources for new paths. By communicating with one another they find the way to bring out the best in themselves. In giving to others, they understand more thoroughly what lies within their own heart.

Several times the participants said that in their communities they are not always able to express "deep down" what they are experiencing. They do not always find those who can accept them with serenity and love, without judging them. Much of what they experience seems "involuted" and meaningless to them.

They are given many experiences, but they risk not becoming men and women of experience because they do not have sufficient means for giving and reflecting on the experiences they have received.

The need for sharing and communion

In fact, the experience which most strongly affected the young people during the congress is that of communion in diversity. They were able to experience it and together compare ourselves to how others understand and live it. The fruit of the congress - they themselves said - will not be a revolution in religious life but the first step towards a more open community has been taken.

I would be able to quote many, many statements in this regard: "It is possible to live in communion even in diversity. We have discovered this, or rather experienced this, during this congress." "I have not seen the Lord... but I have seen his effects: the miracle of a ecclesial communion which has been made "flesh". This is what I shall proclaim when I go back to my community; this will be the proclamation of my life".

The birth of a new hope

The experience of genuine communion has nourished hope. Finding oneself among so many others, with so much diversity yet everyone oriented towards a great common plan, caused many of them to say how they had felt lonely and isolated: "But now it is possible!"

For many of them it was an authentic experience of interior liberation. "It is possible to fly", was the title of a written work which Sister Rosanna handed to me at the end of the Congress: "Sometimes one may feel closed up, caged in! But then, one day there was a special suggestion: an international congress for young religious... something was transformed in me: that which had been a cage, a weight, shackles, had become a free choice, an occasion for responsibility, maturity, love... To put it simply, .... a passion for life".

Thinking about the future (where religious life is headed) the key words which emerged were: openness, creativity, courage to take risks, radicalness, novelty, a sense of wonder, trust, gratitude, imagination in renewal, prophecy, responsibility. But most of all: sharing personal gifts within the community, sharing the richness of community life with all the people with whom we live, communion and collaboration between religious institutes.

The need for freedom and creativity

Connected with this hope, one demand that was heard very much was that of being involved in building community and in apostolic planning. They want to be actively involved in their respective institutes, conscious of the fact that they have something to offer. "Allow us to be creative", they said in so many ways, "give us room, allow us to express ourselves". "I hope that in our institutes they will not continue to consider the young as adolescents, unable to assume responsible roles. Please think of us as young, yes, but... as young adults!"

A re-analysis of the contents of the consecrated life with communion as the departure point.

After having spoken of the attitudes and feelings, please allow me to speak briefly about the content which emerged from the young people. The key word which in some way sums up everything, it seems to me, is communion.

It could seem slightly "reductionist" to condense into a single word everything new that was offered. However, it seems that even the other fundamental aspects which emerged must be understood and reinterpreted in the light of the basic category of unity and communion.

In the reflection on the spiritual life, for example, there were demands and sensitivities expressed that are new in comparison to the traditional processes.

The option for God, the following of Christ, the strong desire for Gospel radicalness, the need for prayer, are seen as a journey made in common. The emphasis is placed on sharing the spiritual journey and the fruits of the Word that is lived, on fraternal correction, and the regular review of the community journey....

The young people feel the need for a spiritual journey to be traveled in unity. The idea of a whole community of saints, because the Holy One lives in their midst, struck them very deeply. The classical elements of spirituality need to be rethought from a more ecclesial and communitarian perspective of the Christian life.

The same can be said of mission, of dialogue with cultures and peoples, of reaching out to the nations....

Furthermore, there is a strong demand for communion among diverse institutes and their spirituality. Why not communicate reciprocal riches? Why not remain constantly open to the whole Church, to all charisms, including those that are born today, including those of the ecclesial movements?

Hence the need to dialogue with the consecrated persons of other Churches, with the monks of other religions, with the young lay people.

It seems to me that this is a trail to follow in order to open the young people more and more to the great dialogue to which the Church is called.

Continuing a journey together

In conclusion, it seems to me that the most important fact was that the participants were made conscious of a reality that is already present in all of them: the need to be in communion with the members of the community and the institute, with the other religious charisms and various cultures.

From this experience they received a firmer conviction of the necessity of journeying together. A conviction that is also a necessity: I do not want to feel alone in this journey towards a religious life that is more open and capable of being challenged and hence of always being more ‘prophecy’!

Now I know that there are many other young religious who are struggling with me and that you who have responsibility for formation have heard our deepest desires and are committed to passing them on and helping us to fulfill them".

This demand can be interpreted as weakness, fragility, immaturity. However, it can also be interpreted positively, as the most beautiful fruit of a Church which is rediscovering itself as an image of the Trinity, the people of God on the journey, called to live a spirituality of communion. Perhaps these young people will be able to accept the charge which the Pope has given the religious: "Help make the spirituality of communion grow" (Vita Consecrata, 41).

The secretariat had also planned the testimony of the moderator of a third linguistic constellation, Father Robert Morin, French Constellation moderator; he could not personally participate, so he sent a text for Father Audet to read to the Assembly.