“Consecrated Life, which in the past had great development in Europe and then in America, is growing today in Asia and Africa and, starting from this geographical reality, continues to be the protagonist of evangelization in the world”.
By Arlei Pivetta *
This was stated by the Under-Secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Rev. Sister Carmen Ros Nortes, NSC, this Wednesday, May 7, speaking to the group of Consolata missionaries gathered in Rome for the ongoing formation course.
The nun, originally from Murcia in Spain and belonging to the congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Consolation, emphasized that “Consecrated Life has always sought to give answers to the emerging challenges of its time. Today, to continue to be this prophetic response, it needs to live the synodality and be a symbol of fraternity and hope”.
In this short video recorded after her speech, Sister Carmen Ros summarizes her reflection and leaves a message of hope.
On the day of the beginning of the Conclave, in communion with the entire Church and the world, the group present at the General House anxiously awaits the election of the new Pope.
Read also: The Word of God: soul and guide of consecrated life
According to Sister Carmen Ros, today the challenges are even greater and Consecrated Life must adapt, re-learn and return to the sources of the charism to update itself. In this sense, she recalls that Pope Francis urged the Church to be close to the poorest and most marginalized: “be shepherds with the smell of the sheep”!
We live in an era of change and rapid transformations, Religious Life must be attentive to “read the signs of the times” and try to give new answers to new problems, always in the light of the Word of God. “It can no longer give the same answers that were given in the past, because the needs and challenges have changed and at a very fast pace. News that used to take years to arrive are now available in real time”.
Sister Carmen Ros emphasizes that “in a world of vulnerability and constant uncertainty, living the Consecrated Life requires much courage and determination. This is because what was certain is no longer certain. Religious Life is a prophetic sign in society and must be present where the last ones and excluded are, to be a real presence of God in the lives of those who no longer have hope of living”.
The nun also underlined the importance of “identity and knowing how to position oneself as men and women of God, to be the new face of God in the world. We must make a journey. A journey that is not ready, but that must be made in the course of each day”.
Being a religious man or woman, as Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, is doing and being small, but significant. “What I do is a drop in the ocean. But without it, the ocean will be smaller.” It seems insignificant, “but it is drop by drop that the ocean is made,” she concluded.
Consecrated Life always needs “new oxygen” to be life for everyone. “It needs to be simple but organized, where the weight of large structures is not more important than the service to brothers and sisters. However, the structures have had and still have their value as a support for evangelization”.
Another essential aspect is formation, which according to her, “has a start date, but not an end date. It is a lifelong commitment, both for individual religious and for the congregation”. Learning from the crisis of many congregations and Societies of Apostolic Life, facing a decline in vocations in the face of changes in the mission, “a charism when it no longer responds to the present time must accept that it has made its history and learn to die in peace”.
Motivated by the speaker’s reflections, the jubilee missionaries (25 years of ordination and/or religious profession) shared their concerns and joys about Consecrated Life, enriching the study of the theme proposed by the course program.
* Father Arlei Pivetta, IMC, missionary in Boa Vista, Roraima.
