DECREE
ON
THE ADAPTATION AND RENEWAL OF RELIGIOUS LIFE
PERFECTAE CARITATIS
PROCLAIMED BY HIS HOLINESS
POPE PAUL VI
ON OCTOBER 28, 1965
THE ADAPTATION AND RENEWAL OF RELIGIOUS LIFE
PERFECTAE CARITATIS
PROCLAIMED BY HIS HOLINESS
POPE PAUL VI
ON OCTOBER 28, 1965
1. The sacred synod has already
shown in the constitution on the Church that the pursuit of perfect charity
through the evangelical counsels draws its origin from the doctrine and example
of the Divine Master and reveals itself as a splendid sign of the heavenly
kingdom. Now it intends to treat of the life and discipline of those institutes
whose members make profession of chastity, poverty and obedience and to provide
for their needs in our time.
Indeed from the very beginning of
the Church men and women have set about following Christ with greater freedom
and imitating Him more closely through the practice of the evangelical
counsels, each in his own way leading a life dedicated to God. Many of them,
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, lived as hermits or founded religious
families, which the Church gladly welcomed and approved by her authority. So it
is that in accordance with the Divine Plan a wonderful variety of religious
communities has grown up which has made it easier for the Church not only to be
equipped for every good work (cf. 2 Tim 3:17) and ready for the work of the
ministry-the building up of the Body of Christ (cf. Eph. 4:12)-but also to
appear adorned with the various gifts of her children like a spouse adorned for
her husband (cf. Apoc. 21:2) and for the manifold Wisdom of God to be revealed
through her (cf. Eph. 3:10).
Despite such a great variety of
gifts, all those called by God to the practice of the evangelical counsels and
who, faithfully responding to the call, undertake to observe the same, bind
themselves to the Lord in a special way, following Christ, who chaste and poor
(cf. Matt. 8:20; Luke 9:58) redeemed and sanctified men through obedience even
to the death of the Cross (cf. Phil. 2:8). Driven by love with which the Holy
Spirit floods their hearts (cf. Rom. 5:5) they live more and more for Christ
and for His body which is the Church (cf. Col. 1:24). The more fervently, then,
they are joined to Christ by this total life-long gift of themselves, the
richer the life of the Church becomes and the more lively and successful its
apostolate.
In order that the great value of a
life consecrated by the profession of the counsels and its necessary mission
today may yield greater good to the Church, the sacred synod lays down the
following prescriptions. They are meant to state only the general principles of
the adaptation and renewal of the life and discipline of Religious orders and
also, without prejudice to their special characteristics, of societies of
common life without vows and secular institutes. Particular norms for the
proper explanation and application of these principles are to be determined
after the council by the authority in question.
2. The adaptation and renewal of the
religious life includes both the constant return to the sources of all
Christian life and to the original spirit of the institutes and their
adaptation to the changed conditions of our time. This renewal, under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of the Church, must be advanced
according to the following principles:
a) Since the ultimate norm of the
religious life is the following of Christ set forth in the Gospels, let this be
held by all institutes as the highest rule.
b) It redounds to the good of the
Church that institutes have their own particular characteristics and work.
Therefore let their founders' spirit and special aims they set before them as
well as their sound traditions-all of which make up the patrimony of each institute-be
faithfully held in honor.
c) All institutes should share in
the life of the Church, adapting as their own and implementing in accordance
with their own characteristics the Church's undertakings and aims in matters
biblical, liturgical, dogmatic, pastoral, ecumenical, missionary and social.
d) Institutes should promote among
their members an adequate knowledge of the social conditions of the times they
live in and of the needs of the Church. In such a way, judging current events
wisely in the light of faith and burning with apostolic zeal, they may be able
to assist men more effectively.
e ) The purpose of the religious
life is to help the members follow Christ and be united to God through the
profession of the evangelical counsels. It should be constantly kept in mind,
therefore, that even the best adjustments made in accordance with the needs of
our age will be ineffectual unless they are animated by a renewal of spirit.
This must take precedence over even the active ministry.
3. The manner of living, praying and
working should be suitably adapted everywhere, but especially in mission
territories, to the modern physical and psychological circumstances of the
members and also, as required by the nature of each institute, to the
necessities of the apostolate, the demands of culture, and social and economic
circumstances.
According to the same criteria let
the manner of governing the institutes also be examined.
Therefore let constitutions,
directories, custom books, books of prayers and ceremonies and such like be
suitably re-edited and, obsolete laws being suppressed, be adapted to the
decrees of this sacred synod.
4. An effective renewal and
adaptation demands the cooperation of all the members of the institute.
However, to establish the norms of adaptation
and renewal, to embody it in legislation as well as to make allowance for
adequate and prudent experimentation belongs only to the competent authorities,
especially to general chapters. The approbation of the Holy See or of the local
Ordinary must be obtained where necessary according to law. But superiors
should take counsel in an appropriate way and hear the members of the order in
those things which concern the future well being of the whole institute.
For the adaptation and renewal of
convents of nuns suggestions and advice may be obtained also from the meetings
of federations or from other assemblies lawfully convoked.
Nevertheless everyone should keep in
mind that the hope of renewal lies more in the faithful observance of the rules
and constitutions than in multiplying laws.
5. Members of each institute should
recall first of all that by professing the evangelical counsels they responded
to a divine call so that by being not only dead to sin (cf. Rom. 6:11) but also
renouncing the world they may live for God alone. They have dedicated their
entire lives to His service. This constitutes a special consecration, which is
deeply rooted in that of baptism and expresses it more fully.
Since the Church has accepted their
surrender of self they should realize they are also dedicated to its service.
This service of God ought to inspire
and foster in them the exercise of the virtues, especially humility, obedience,
fortitude and chastity. In such a way they share in Christ's emptying of
Himself (cf. Phil. 2:7) and His life in the spirit (cf. Rom. 8:1-13).
Faithful to their profession then,
and leaving all things for the sake of Christ (cf. Mark 10:28), religious are
to follow Him (cf. Matt. 19:21) as the one thing necessary (cf. Luke 10:42)
listening to His words (cf. Luke 10:39) and solicitous for the things that are
His (cf. 1 Cor. 7:32).
It is necessary therefore that the
members of every community, seeking God solely and before everything else,
should join contemplation, by which they fix their minds and hearts on Him,
with apostolic love, by which they strive to be associated with the work of
redemption and to spread the kingdom of God.
6. Let those who make profession of
the evangelical counsels seek and love above all else God who has first loved
us (cf. 1 John 4:10) and let them strive to foster in all circumstances a life
hidden with Christ in God (cf. Col. 3:3). This love of God both excites and
energizes that love of one's neighbor which contributes to the salvation of the
world and the building up of the Church. This love, in addition, quickens and
directs the actual practice of the evangelical counsels.
Drawing therefore upon the authentic
sources of Christian spirituality, members of religious communities should
resolutely cultivate both the spirit and practice of prayer. In the first place
they should have recourse daily to the Holy Scriptures in order that, by
reading and meditating on Holy Writ, they may learn "the surpassing worth
of knowing Jesus Christ" (Phil. 3:8). They should celebrate the sacred
liturgy, especially the holy sacrifice of the Mass, with both lips and heart as
the Church desires and so nourish their spiritual life from this richest of
sources.
So refreshed at the table of divine
law and the sacred altar of God, they will love Christ's members as brothers,
honor and love their pastors as sons should do, and living and thinking ever
more in union with the Church, dedicate themselves wholly to its mission.
7. Communities which are entirely
dedicated to contemplation, so that their members in solitude and silence, with
constant prayer and penance willingly undertaken, occupy themselves with God
alone, retain at all times, no matter how pressing the needs of the active
apostolate may be, an honorable place in the Mystical Body of Christ, whose
"members do not all have the same function" (Rom. 12:4). For these
offer to God a sacrifice of praise which is outstanding. Moreover the manifold
results of their holiness lends luster to the people of God which is inspired
by their example and which gains new members by their apostolate which is as
effective as it is hidden. Thus they are revealed to be a glory of the Church
and a well-spring of heavenly graces. Nevertheless their manner of living
should be revised according to the principles and criteria of adaptation and
renewal mentioned above. However their withdrawal from the world and the
exercises proper to the contemplative life should be preserved with the utmost
care.
8. There are in the Church very many
communities, both clerical and lay, which devote themselves to various
apostolic tasks. The gifts which these communities possess differ according to
the grace which is allotted to them. Administrators have the gift of
administration, teachers that of teaching, the gift of stirring speech is given
to preachers, liberality to those who exercise charity and cheerfulness to
those who help others in distress (cf. Rom. 12:5-8). "The gifts are
varied, but the Spirit is the same" (1 Cor. 12:4).
In these communities apostolic and
charitable activity belongs to the very nature of the religious life, seeing
that it is a holy service and a work characteristic of love, entrusted to them
by the Church to be carried out in its name. Therefore, the whole religious
life of their members should be inspired by an apostolic spirit and all their
apostolic activity formed by the spirit of religion. Therefore in order that
their members may first correspond to their vocation to follow Christ and serve
Him in His members, their apostolic activity must spring from intimate union
with Him. Thus love itself towards God and the neighbor is fostered.
These communities, then, should
adjust their rules and customs to fit the demands of the apostolate to which
they are dedicated. The fact however that apostolic religious life takes on
many forms requires that its adaptation and renewal take account of this
diversity and provide that the lives of religious dedicated to the service of
Christ in these various communities be sustained by special provisions
appropriate to each.
9. The monastic life, that venerable
institution which in the course of a long history has won for itself notable
renown in the Church and in human society, should be preserved with care and
its authentic spirit permitted to shine forth ever more splendidly both in the
East and the West. The principal duty of monks is to offer a service to the
divine majesty at once humble and noble within the walls of the monastery,
whether they dedicate themselves entirely to divine worship in the
contemplative life or have legitimately undertaken some apostolate or work of
Christian charity. Retaining, therefore, the characteristics of the way of life
proper to them, they should revive their ancient traditions of service and so
adapt them to the needs of today that monasteries will become institutions
dedicated to the edification of the Christian people.
Some religious communities according
to their rule or constitutions closely join the apostolic life to choir duty
and monastic observances. These should so adapt their manner of life to the
demands of the apostolate appropriate to them that they observe faithfully
their way of life, since it has been of great service to the Church.
10. The religious life, undertaken
by lay people, either men or women, is a state for the profession of the
evangelical counsels which is complete in itself. While holding in high esteem
therefore this way of life so useful to the pastoral mission of the Church in
educating youth, caring for the sick and carrying out its other ministries, the
sacred synod confirms these religious in their vocation and urges them to
adjust their way of life to modern needs.
The sacred synod declares that there
is nothing to prevent some members of religious communities of brothers being
admitted to holy orders by provision of their general chapter in order to meet
the need for priestly ministrations in their own houses, provided that the lay
character of the community remains unchanged.
11. Secular Institutes, although not
Religious institutes involve a true and full profession of the evangelical
counsels in the world. This profession is recognized by the Church and
consecrates to God men and women, lay and clerical, who live in the world.
Hence they should make a total dedication of themselves to God in perfect charity
their chief aim, and the institutes themselves should preserve their own
proper, i.e., secular character, so that they may be able to carry out
effectively everywhere in and, as it were, from the world the apostolate for
which they were founded.
It may be taken for granted,
however, that so great a task cannot be discharged unless the members be
thoroughly trained in matters divine and human so that they are truly a leaven
in the world for the strengthening and growth of the body of Christ. Superiors,
therefore, should give serious attention especially to the spiritual training
to be given members as well as encourage their further formation.
12. The chastity "for the sake
of the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19:12) which religious profess should be
counted an outstanding gift of grace. It frees the heart of man in a unique
fashion (cf. 1 Cor. 7:32-35) so that it may be more inflamed with love for God
and for all men. Thus it not only symbolizes in a singular way the heavenly
goods but also the most suitable means by which religious dedicate themselves
with undivided heart to the service of God and the works of the apostolate. In
this way they recall to the minds of all the faithful that wondrous marriage
decreed by God and which is to be fully revealed in the future age in which the
Church takes Christ as its only spouse.
Religious, therefore, who are
striving faithfully to observe the chastity they have professed must have faith
in the words of the Lord, and trusting in God's help not overestimate their own
strength but practice mortification and custody of the senses. Neither should
they neglect the natural means which promote health of mind and body. As a
result they will not be influenced by those false doctrines which scorn perfect
continence as being impossible or harmful to human development and they will
repudiate by a certain spiritual instinct everything which endangers chastity.
In addition let all, especially superiors, remember that chastity is guarded
more securely when true brotherly love flourishes in the common life of the
community.
Since the observance of perfect
continence touches intimately the deepest instincts of human nature, candidates
should neither present themselves for nor be admitted to the vow of chastity,
unless they have been previously tested sufficiently and have been shown to
possess the required psychological and emotional maturity. They should not only
be warned about the dangers to chastity which they may meet but they should be
so instructed as to be able to undertake the celibacy which binds them to God
in a way which will benefit their entire personality.
13. Religious should diligently
practice and if need be express also in new forms that voluntary poverty which
is recognized and highly esteemed especially today as an expression of the
following of Christ. By it they share in the poverty of Christ who for our
sakes became poor, even though He was rich, so that by His poverty we might
become rich (cf. 2 Cor. 8:9; Matt. 8:20).
With regard to religious poverty it
is not enough to use goods in a way subject to the superior's will, but members
must be poor both in fact and in spirit, their treasures being in heaven (cf.
Matt. 6:20).
Religious should consider themselves
in their own assignments to be bound by the common law of labor, and while they
procure what is required for their sustenance and works, they should banish all
undue solicitude and trust themselves to the provident care of their Father in
heaven (cf. Matt. 6:25).
Religious congregations by their
constitutions can permit their members to renounce inheritances, both those
which have been acquired or may be acquired.
Due regard being had for local
conditions, religious communities should readily offer a quasi-collective
witness to poverty and gladly use their own goods for other needs of the Church
and the support of the poor whom all religious should love after the example of
Christ (cf. Matt. 19:21, 25:34-46 James 2:15-16; 1 John 3:17). The several
provinces and houses of each community should share their temporal goods with
one another, so that those who have more help the others who are in need.
Religious communities have the right
to possess whatever is required for their temporal life and work, unless this
is forbidden by their rules and constitutions. Nevertheless, they should avoid
every appearance of luxury, excessive wealth and the accumulation of goods.
14. In professing obedience,
religious offer the full surrender of their own will as a sacrifice of
themselves to God and so are united permanently and securely to God's salvific
will.
After the example of Jesus Christ
who came to do the will of the Father (cf. John 4:34; 5:30; Heb. 10:7; Ps.
39:9) and "assuming the nature of a slave" (Phil. 2:7) learned
obedience in the school of suffering (cf. Heb. 5:8), religious under the motion
of the Holy Spirit, subject themselves in faith to their superiors who hold the
place of God. Under their guidance they are led to serve all their brothers in
Christ, just as Christ himself in obedience to the Father served His brethren
and laid down His life as a ransom for many (cf. Matt. 20:28; John 10:14-18).
So they are closely bound to the service of the Church and strive to attain the
measure of the full manhood of Christ (Eph. 4:13).
Religious, therefore, in the spirit
of faith and love for the divine will should humbly obey their superiors
according to their rules and constitutions. Realizing that they are
contributing to building up the body of Christ according to God's plan, they
should use both the forces of their intellect and will and the gifts of nature
and grace to execute the commands and fulfill the duties entrusted to them. In
this way religious obedience, far from lessening the dignity of the human
person, by extending the freedom of the sons of God, leads it to maturity.
Superiors, as those who are to give
an account of the souls entrusted to them (Heb. 13:17), should fulfill their
office in a way responsive to God's will. They should exercise their authority
out of a spirit of service to the brethren, expressing in this way the love
with which God loves their subjects. They should govern these as sons of God,
respecting their human dignity. In this way they make it easier for them to
subordinate their wills. They should be particularly careful to respect their subjects'
liberty in the matters of sacramental confession and the direction of
conscience. Subjects should be brought to the point where they will cooperate
with an active and responsible obedience in undertaking new tasks and in
carrying those already undertaken. And so superiors should gladly listen to
their subjects and foster harmony among them for the good of the community and
the Church, provided that thereby their own authority to decide and command
what has to be done is not harmed.
Chapters and deliberative bodies
should faithfully discharge the part in ruling entrusted to them and each
should in its own way express that concern for the good of the entire community
which all its members share.
15. Common life, fashioned on the
model of the early Church where the body of believers was united in heart and
soul (cf. Acts 4:32), and given new force by the teaching of the Gospel, the
sacred liturgy and especially the Eucharist, should continue to be lived in
prayer and the communion of the same spirit. As members of Christ living
together as brothers, religious should give pride of place in esteem to each
other (cf. Rom. 12:10) and bear each other's burdens (cf. Gal. 6:2). For the
community, a true family gathered together in the name of the Lord by God's
love which has flooded the hearts of its members through the Holy Spirit
(cf.Rom. 5:5), rejoices because He is present among them (cf. Matt. 18:20).
Moreover love sums up the whole law (cf. Rom. 13:10), binds all together in
perfect unity (cf. Col. 3:14) and by it we know that we have crossed over from
death to life (cf. 1 John 3:14). Furthermore, the unity of the brethren is a
visible pledge that Christ will return (cf. John 13:35; 17:21) and a source of
great apostolic energy.
That all the members be more closely
knit by the bond of brotherly love, those who are called lay-brothers,
assistants, or some similar name should be drawn closely in to the life and
work of the community. Unless conditions really suggest something else, care
should be taken that there be only one class of Sisters in communities of
women. Only that distinction of persons should be retained which corresponds
to-the diversity of works for which the Sisters are destined, either by special
vocation from God or by reason of special aptitude.
However, monasteries of men and
communities which are not exclusively lay can, according to their nature and
constitutions, admit clerics and lay persons on an equal footing and with equal
rights and obligations, excepting those which flow from sacred orders.
16. Papal cloister should be
maintained in the case of nuns engaged exclusively in the contemplative life.
However, it must be adjusted to conditions of time and place and obsolete
practices suppressed. This should be done after due consultation with the
monasteries in question. But other nuns applied by rule to apostolic work
outside the convent should be exempted from papal cloister in order to enable
them better to fulfill the apostolic duties entrusted to them. Nevertheless,
cloister is to be maintained according to the prescriptions of their
constitutions.
17. The religious habit, an outward
mark of consecration to God, should be simple and modest, poor and at the same
becoming. In addition it must meet the requirements of health and be suited to
the circumstances of time and place and to the needs of the ministry involved.
The habits of both men and women religious which do not conform to these norms
must be changed.
18. Adaptation and renewal depend
greatly on the education of religious. Consequently neither non-clerical
religious nor religious women should be assigned to apostolic works immediately
after the novitiate. Rather, their religious and apostolic formation, joined
with instruction in arts and science directed toward obtaining appropriate
degrees, must be continued as needs require in houses established for those
purposes.
In order that the adaptation of
religious life to the needs of our time may not be merely external and that
those employed by rule in the active apostolate may be equal to their task,
religious must be given suitable instruction, depending on their intellectual
capacity and personal talent, in the currents and attitudes of sentiment and
thought prevalent in social life today. This education must blend its elements
together harmoniously so that an integrated life on the part of the religious
concerned results.
Religious should strive during the
whole course of their lives to perfect the culture they have received in
matters spiritual and in arts and sciences. Likewise, superiors must, as far as
this is possible, obtain for them the opportunity, equipment and time to do
this.
Superiors are also obliged to see to
it that directors, spiritual fathers, and professors are carefully chosen and
thoroughly trained.
19. When the question of founding
new religious communities arises, their necessity or at least the many useful
services they promise must be seriously weighed. Otherwise communities may be
needlessly brought into being which are useless or which lack sufficient resources.
Particularly in those areas where churches have recently established, those
forms of religious life should be promoted and developed which take into
account the genius and way of life of the inhabitants and the customs and
conditions of the regions.
20. Religious communities should
continue to maintain and fulfill the ministries proper to them. In addition,
after considering the needs of the Universal Church and individual dioceses,
they should adapt them to the requirements of time and place, employing
appropriate and even new programs and abandoning those works which today are
less relevant to the spirit and authentic nature of the community.
The missionary spirit must under all
circumstances be preserved in religious communities. It should be adapted,
accordingly, as the nature of each community permits, to modern conditions so
that the preaching of the Gospel may be carried out more effectively in every
nation.
21. There may be communities and
monasteries which the Holy See, after consulting the interested local
Ordinaries, will judge not to possess reasonable hope for further development.
These should be forbidden to receive novices in the future. If it is possible,
these should be combined with other more flourishing communities and
monasteries whose scope and spirit is similar.
22. Independent institutes and
monasteries should, when opportune and the Holy See permits, form federations
if they can be considered as belonging to the same religious family. Others who
have practically identical constitutions and rules and a common spirit should
unite, particularly when they have too few members. Finally, those who share
the same or a very similar active apostolate should become associated, one to
the other.
23. This synod favors conferences or
councils of major superiors, established by the Holy See. These can contribute
very much to achieve the purpose of each institute; to encourage more effective
cooperation for the welfare of the Church; to ensure a more just distribution
of ministers of the Gospel in a given area; and finally to conduct affairs of
interest to all religious. Suitable coordination and cooperation with episcopal
conferences should be established with regard to the exercise of the
apostolate.
Similar conferences should also be
established for secular institutes.
24. Priests and Christian educators
should make serious efforts to foster religious vocations, thereby increasing
the strength of the Church, corresponding to its needs. These candidates should
be suitably and carefully chosen. In ordinary preaching, the life of the
evangelical counsels and the religious state should be treated more frequently.
Parents, too, should nurture and protect religious vocations in their children
by instilling Christian virtue in their hearts.
Religious communities have the right
to make themselves known in order to foster vocations and seek candidates. In
doing this, however, they should observe the norms laid down by the Holy See
and the local Ordinary.
Religious should remember there is
no better way than their own example to commend their institutes and gain
candidates for the religious life.
25. Religious institutes, for whom
these norms of adaptation and renewal have been laid down, should respond
generously to the specific vocation God gave them as well as their work in the
Church today. The sacred synod highly esteems their way of life in poverty,
chastity and obedience, of which Christ the Lord is Himself the exemplar.
Moreover, their apostolate, most effective, whether obscure or well known, offers
this synod great hope for the future. Let all religious, therefore, rooted in
faith and filled with love for God and neighbor, love of the cross and the hope
of future glory, spread the good news of Christ throughout the whole world so
that their witness may be seen by all and our Father in heaven may be glorified
(Matt. 5:16). Therefore, let them beseech the Virgin Mary, the gentle Mother of
God, "whose life is a model for all,"(1) that their number may daily
increase and their salutary work be more effective.
NOTES
1. St. Ambrose, De Virginitate, 1,
II, c. II, n. 15.
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