Perfectae Caritatis Nos. 6 – 10 Novice Carlos PezañaAvenido

Based from the Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life, PerfectaeCaritatisProclaimed by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on October 28, 1965

       After the declaration of the new Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church in the contemporary period, Pope Paul VI wasted no time for building a new era of the Church guiding all religious institutions and lay people to a sublime and sequential participation in the Church.

       The calling of all religious institutions to the pursuit of perfect charity had certainly emphasized in the document (PerfectaeCaritatis), “... intends to treat of the life and disciple of those institutes whose members make profession of chastity, poverty, and obedience and to provide for their needs in our time”. Thus, many had witnessed the development of the individual institution which vary and grounded on this calling.

       The call for those who make profession of the evangelical counsel “to strive to foster in all circumstances a life hidden with Christ in God” is the key to focus a more vivid symbol of Christianity which is to cultivate both the spirit and practice of prayer.Community which are entirely dedicated to contemplation should “be revised according to the principles and criteria of adaptation and renewal mentioned in the preceded numbers”. In addition, both clerical and lay institutions which devote themselves to various apostolic tasks should “be inspired by an apostolic spirit and all their apostolic activity formed by the spirit of religion”.

       The monastic life should “be preserved with care and its authentic spirit permitted to shine forth ever more splendidly”. Moreover, they should “revived 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”.Lastly, religious life undertaken by lay people are called and urged “to the pastoral mission of the church in educating youth, caring for the sick and carrying out its other ministries”.

       All in all, these tasks that were defined for all religious institutions are concrete and perennial that will not be erased even though the secular world is constantly changing. Pope Paul VI had very good vision for the Catholic Church, nevertheless the problem that I have seen in the first place is the actuality of all the tasks that were mentioned. There are many institutions in the Church nowadays who are facing a lot of issues especially in terms of sexual abuse and flaws of the administration of the Church in Vatican.

       The message of this document is very clear, however, a lot of intellectuals interpret this message base on their fields and expertise. For instance, one religious institution might decipher this document base on the nature or charism of their institution. That is why we must find the very reason of all these, and for me, the very reason is clear, the document says that “all institutions should seek and love above all else God who has first loved us and let them strive to foster in all circumstances a life hidden with Christ in God... this love of God both excites and energizes that love of one’s neighbor which contributes to salvation of the world and the building up of the Church”. Hence, if the charisms of all religious institutions grounded on the love of God, the unity between these institutions may be achieved, and the gratification of the goals of the Catholic Church will be surely fulfilled.