III. WHY must refounding take place?

1. For the consecrated life to be meaningful to the man and woman of today

Following the thinking of the previous paragraph, we can speak of a gap between the world of thinking, feeling, speaking, acting and being of contemporary man and woman and that preserved and proposed by the consecrated life. The latter has shared a common nature with the surrounding culture; nor has anyone entered it by pure instinct. However, at very few times has what it proposed appeared so incomprehensible to the surrounding culture as at the present time. In some places it is resisted; in practise one must do battle to live this form of life. In other places it has ceased to be important or has simply been changed into an "inventory item".

The people know this, and a few religious are aware of it as well. Let us suppose that this knowledge creates a deep malaise that at times becomes anguish or depression and it can be noticed in the living out of all dimensions of daily activity: vows, prayer, community life, interpersonal relations, work…. Sometimes this anguish is increased because some religious feel responsible and partially at fault for this situation.

Following a logical process, when these facts and these situations are not accepted or understood a crisis of identity takes place. It is difficult to know how to be and what to do to be happy and to do good for others. Any step that is made is not pleasing and there is a type of inconsistency in persons and a lack of effectiveness in their action. As someone once said, this is causing chaos. And we understand "chaos" in its biblical meaning, in its deepest sense. And we refer to the lack of sense and light and relish, to the existential disorientation, personal, group and institutional insecurity, to the inconsistency that is neither desired nor sought after, but nonetheless is present.

When, in the past, some institutes came to this point, its path of revitalisation became one of refoundation. In like manner it becomes significant for those who live it and see it and share its concerns and visions. The crisis that the consecrated life is undergoing at this point is due, to a great degree, to the effects of an ensemble of rapid social and cultural changes, upon a universal scale, upon religious. These changes have disoriented a number of groups of religious who are seeking, without success, to gain back the power of what is authentic, simple, charismatic and prophetic.

2. In order to redefine the tasks, ministries, or certain important elements of the consecrated life.

Some of the representatives of the consecrated life who in the past experienced a refounding, especially the great religious orders, have expressed a certain reticence that this is the dynamic that is truly needed today. I think they may be right. In the face of all the questioning about the consecrated life, they have found a way of being and proceeding that has a great deal of tradition, is more assimilated, and sustained by a strong spirituality; they have examples from the past and consistent points of reference within and without in the present; it is enough to recall them to find again the evangelical principles that are in the spirit that gives them their being and can be what inspires the man and woman of today at the deepest core of their being.

They do not lack clarity in their relationship with those for whom their mission is destined and the way in which it is to be conducted.

For the institutes born around the 19^th and 20^th centuries, strongly centred in the identity that gives them tasks or apostolic works, refounding was felt necessary.

Services have changed and, in general it is the culture and social reality that has made them change. The main reason why they must proceed in a refounding is not that a lack of fervour or mass infidelity. When what was said before is true, a reform is necessary. In our case it is a question of return to make a charism and the evangelical counsels meaningful in a social and cultural context in which they are not, and to restructure the works and renew the manner in which they are accomplished. In other words, there is a model of the consecrated life in these institutes that is coming to an end and we can almost say that we, the greater part of those who are now in the leadership in the consecrated life, are the last examples of this model.

There are sufficient numbers of men and women religious who with conviction continue to show their appreciation for the consecrated life, and discipline is not what is most lacking in them. It is necessary to affirm the spirit and find the structures that maintain and strengthen this renewed spirit. Services to the Church and society must change. Those very religious who have served as administrators of institutions, as they often were, must be changed, most of all, into people who inspire and transmit a charism.

3. To give the step that is missing in the process of renewal that has begun

The consecrated life is possible, convenient and necessary for society and the Church; and it makes a sufficient number of men and women happy. Saint Teresa once asked herself: "What would the world be like if there were no religious?" (The book of her life, c. 32, 11). This is the reason we have tried to renew, adapt, return to our origins, the sources; in short, we have sought to improve and transform the life of our institutes.

However, all this has kept us hoping for results that have not come: that is, making the consecrated life meaningful ad intra and ad extra and giving "consistency" to the religious and, as a result, continue the growth and effectiveness of our institutes; and, most of all, the visible happiness of our religious.

The identity of the consecrated life continues to be rooted in its ability to give a clear and visible sign of the radical commitment that is inherent in the vocation of each Christian. In order to pursue it, the dynamic of refounding requires that the period of renewal that is begun be more critical, radical, realistic and grounded. In other words, an in-depth revitalisation is indispensable.

Refounding is necessary.

All of the effort at renewal resulted in an improvement of spirit; it both occasioned and prevented "ups" and "downs"; to put it simply, it was a purification. It presupposed a return to the sources and to the founders. It came by way of an adaptation, which was not easy nor always well understood, to the changing conditions of the world and the Church (Perfectae caritatis, 2). However, there is an impression that some thing remained half way; that there is a process that was begun, but not continued and never ended. Therefore the refounding is necessary; it is the part of the path that is lacking in order for us to arrive and the goal and it is the dynamism and method that can help in it.

The history of the consecrated life teaches us that the great renewals of it were brought about during times of crisis and when there was a realisation that this vacuum existed and of the possibility of filling it with something new and different, when the surrounding culture provokes and at the same time even offers new paths. Some religious chose to die living in the time that remained in peace and leaving things as they are. For others the consecrated life as a whole has lost its enchantment and mystery. This is a strong statement, but in some contexts their ways of proceeding are a consequence of this.

It is considered something that can be cast aside; something which we can do without and that has nothing to do with the meaning of life, with the vital orientation and with a strong and almost natural and necessary theological reference of every believer. In order to overcome this situation a revitalisation is necessary. It is time for it.

The crisis of many institutes has already given us and in enough cases the challenge to live the new vision that is coming into being. Some commit themselves to go on living the challenge as a crisis because the results that they are obtaining in no way correspond to the efforts that they make. Genuine refounding is a path of hope.

Refounding is desirable

For some, however, refounding is not even advantageous; it is more opportune for them to continue the process of renewal that they have begun. Thus one day they will arrive, in a natural way, to obtain the fruit they have always hoped for and this will be followed by a consecrated life that is meaningful and capable of inspiring hope and bear witness to the Good News in the Church and today’s society. It is not advantageous to embark on something that one is not clear about. What structures require changing? Is there anything else to do but begin to practice or put into work that to which we have committed or decided?

Refounding is possible

There are those who go much further and venture to say that it is not possible. Conditions are not right for it. In one way or another it is said that these steps are limited to the great changes of era, and that ours is not one of them; or they say that we do not have the people necessary to do it; they even say that the sense of democracy today do not allow us to take those paths that presuppose persons of strong conviction and clear direction. In a refounding there is less room for discussion and negotiation in order to broaden the acceptance without discussion of the principal aspects of the new vision.

Revitalisation taken to its ultimate consequences demands much; it supposes a good knowledge of the present culture and we have hardly begun that, and have not even begun the evangelical discernment of its tendencies, which is necessary if we want to enter into a process of creative fidelity. There are those we think that we must wait for the society and culture to change and come to the right point and turn back on their course; we are undergoing a time of torment and it is necessary to take cover until it passes, and then continue on the path we had taken before.

Refounding is difficult

There is something on which everyone is in agreement: it is difficult. Little progress has been made toward the goal; we got only half way along the path of renewal and we stopped and, as we said before, and we see that part of this path is in ruins. Many things have been changed but in the long run nothing has been changed; "life is the same", as the documents have documented the inability to produce real transformation. A sufficient number of institutes can say the same thing that G.K. Chesterton once said in response to some accusations that were being made about Christianity. The problem is not that its charism or documents have failed; the problem is that they have not been tried.

Refounding is a complex reality that requires the involvement of all the forces of an institute and that they assume the consequences that are produced day by day. Those who participate in it should agree on the same diagnosis at the starting point but frequently this is not the case. The greater part of the consecrated life developed in the context of a society that was difficult, but at least it was a society of believers. It believed in the Christian vision and in the consecrated life. It served the men and women who needed it and who have expressed their appreciation for all that it gave them or demanded of them.

Now we are in a society in which being Christian does not matter much, in the East as well as West, in the north and south alike. Being religious counts less; it is something marginal. In this society and in this culture the consecrated life must be made meaningful. We must form people for it and work in it . In it we must pray and proclaim the Gospel and carry out our mission. This gives rise to special necessities for the religious and the believe. In these circumstances it is necessary to seek out "the wounded" or "marginalised" of society.

These cultural conditions lead to a change of language and method, in some cases to a change in those to whom we direct our outreach, and in every case requires a change of style and method. All of this makes possible, desirable and necessary a serious revitalisation that presupposes a meaningful restructuring and which is therefore difficult to bring about.