ResourcesReligious Life

The consecrated life is at the very heart of the Church as a decisive element for her mission, since it “manifests the inner nature of the Christian calling” and the striving of the whole Church as Bride towards union with her one Spouse… [It] is also a precious and necessary gift for the present and future of the People of God, since it is an intimate part of her life, her holiness and her mission. (Vita Consecrata, 3)

Address for the 13th World Day of Consecrated Life
Pope Benedict XVI
February 2, 2009

 

The Service of Authority and Obedience
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
May 11, 2008

Address for the 12th World Day of Consecrated Life
Pope Benedict XVI
February 2, 2008

Address for the 11th World Day of Consecrated Life
Pope Benedict XVI
February 2, 2007

Homily on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
Pope Benedict XVI
February 2, 2006

Starting Afresh from Christ: A Renewed Commitment to Consecrated Life in the Third Millennium
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
May 19, 2002


Vita Consecrata
Apostolic Exhortation of Pope John Paul II
March 25, 1996

Fraternal Life in Community
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
February 2, 1994

Essential Elements in the Church’s Teaching on Religious Life
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
May 31, 1983

The Contemplative Dimension of Religious Life
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
March 1980

Evangelica Testificatio
Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Paul VI
June 29, 1971

Perfectae Caritatis
Decree of Pope Paul VI
October 29, 1965

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…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, redeemed and sanctified men through obedience even to the death of the Cross. Driven by love with which the Holy Spirit floods their hearts, they live more and more for Christ and for His body which is the Church. 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. (Perfectae Caritatis, 1)