Florianópolis, Brasil (Tuesday, 02-03-2015, Gaudium Press) Archbishop Wilson Tadeu Jønck, of Florianópolis, in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, wrote an article on the proclamation of 2015 as the Year of Consecrated Life. He recalled that the year started on the first Sunday of Advent, November 30, 2014, and it will end on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, February 2, 2016.
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| Archbishop Wilson Tadeu Jönck |
According to the prelate, in the world there are about 1.5 million religious, men and women, divided into roughly 2000 congregations, orders and secular institutes. He points out that the Year of Consecrated Life was convened in the context of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Ecumenical Council of Vatican II, and that the conciliar teachings on religious life can be found in the document ‘Perfectae Caritatis’ and on Chapter VI of ‘Lumen Gentium’. Archbishop Jønck noted that these documents have been studied in the Synod of Bishops on Religious Life in 1994, resulting in the Apostolic Exhortation “Consecrated Life” which contains the doctrine of the Church on the consecrated life.
The Archbishop recalled that the Pope has invited the religious men and women to look at the past with gratitude, to embrace the future with hope to live the present with passion. For him, the consecrated life is part of the people of God and is the charismatic dimension of the Church.
“Religious live their charisma in communion with the Church and in service to humanity. The charisma of each congregation shows a peculiarity of the person of Jesus Christ. Every religious family living his own charisma makes Christ to be better known in the Church, “he adds.
Finally, the Prelate says that consecrated life is going through a crisis, as vocations have decreased significantly. He believes that it has become harder to continue with some of the charitable works due to the decreasing of numbers of religious. “Pope Francis invites the Church, along with the religious men and women, to reflect deeply on consecrated life. (FB)
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