II. Elements which set out the situation

The rapid evolution of society towards new and varied forms of living, has brought about a series of phenomena which are having a profound effect on the way of living a Christian life and on its meaning for the man of today. It is in this context that we must place the diminished visibility of the religious life for the present day and the resulting vocational crisis.

The various groups of consecrated life took on the cultural forms of the various periods when they were founded, and this determined in large part the appearance and language with which they are presented to men of today, in such a way that modern man has been shaped by a different culture. At times we get the impression that the language used to speak to contemporary society is marked by a certain almost sacred rigidity.

In the Assembly, it became more evident that the cause of the crisis of vocations to the consecrated life is two-pronged, that is, it does not come only from the lack of deep values in present-day society, but also from the evident deterioration in the way of living some essential aspects of this consecrated life.

On the one hand, today’s society feels lost and confused in the midst of a sea of information, it is often overwhelmed by the multitude of problems which afflict it and faced with which it feels helpless. On the other hand, it offers valid signs of hope, which show up, among other things, in a great readiness to take on and commit oneself to great causes, in a greater solidarity with the needy, and in a greater respect for the dignity of the human person.

The consecrated life has found itself embroiled in the problems which beset society today. The main effect of this situation is found in the difficulty it has in defining its own identity, and in understanding today’s society. This could be one of the causes of the weakness of the meaning the consecrated life holds for the western hemisphere of the northern world, and, at the same time, it explains the difficulty of dialog with society at the level of profound values.

In this sense, on the one hand the consecrated life feels an urgent need to revitalize and to recognize better what is essential in it; on the other, it feels equally well the urgent need to recognize, in a more concrete and realistic way, the face of man today. In this recognition, it wants to appreciate and to listen to what is going on in the heart of the man of today, where God himself speaks to him.