edited by Rita Salerno
 

"The Theology of Apostolic Consecrated Life" is the title of the Seminar held in Rome by the Unions of General Superiors (USG- UISG) which was attended by thirty theologians, male and female, and by twenty between General superiors, male and female. The basic objectives of the meeting were to promote a reflection on the situation of the apostolic consecrated life’s theology today and to identify the main challenges posed by the Church and the world’s  situation to the theology, and to support the research’s renewal in this area. Father Antonio Pernia, a native of the Philippines, General superior from 2000 of the Society of Divine Word (SVD) or Divine Word Missionaries opens the Seminar’s work. Father Pernia professed perpetual vows and was ordained priest in 1975. He holds a Masters in Philosophy at the Divine Word Seminary, Tagaytay City, Philippines, and a doctorate in Fundamental Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. And we asked some questions  of him about the topics covered in the Seminar.

What are the challenges of apostolic religious life in the light of the new world’s view that is emerging?

"This was the theme of the first day of the Seminar on which I was asked to speak with a report focusing on the challenges for the Church, today and in the world. Two assumptions from where I started: one is that of the globalized world and the other is that the Church has taken a global dimension and not just European or Western Church. In the context of the globalized world it seems to me that it is difficult to define the challenge. What is certain is that apostolic religious life is going through a crisis and this is where I pointed out some data, including the drop in vocations. According to the latest pontifical yearbook, in 2008 there was a slight increase of the Catholic population in the world, but at the same time there has been a decline in the number of religious in the West and North America, offset by an increase in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It’s a clear sign that the apostolic religious life is in crisis. We ‘re living this phenomenon in our own Congregation, the Society of the Divine Word, where we have a thousand members in temporary vows in our time of globalization. Of these, only two are from Europe and only one from the north America. All the others come from other continents.

At the same time, we have three hundred novices, only one of which is European and none from North America. So this crisis is an indication of this decline. The lack of vocations to religious life also involves a growing old of the religious men and women in these areas of the planet. For example, on average the age of the members of the SDV Congregation in Europe is sixty-five, while in North America is sixty years. These numbers should be higher if there were not the arrival of some young missionaries members from Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Of course, with the increasing age of religious men and women in these areas of the planet are less the ability to take risks and undertake new initiatives, also exacerbated by the feeling that they are already irrelevant in today's society. Another indication that comes from this globalized world is precisely the perception of the consecrated life’s irrelevance, particularly in these secularized areas. That decline in vocations, that is, is already a part of this perception. Young people no longer think that the consecrated life is a significant decision for their existence. This does not mean that the kids today are less idealistic or generous, because many people are involved in secular organizations or associations engaged in volunteering. They are not attracted to religious life, perhaps because they perceive the consecrated life no longer qualifying as a mission for their existence. And somebody in the Church is convinced that religious life, as is conceived, belongs to the past and the future belongs to the new lay movements, coming to argue that the relevance, the service and usefulness of the consecrated life already seem as passed things.

Thirdly, I think that sometimes there is an unconscious attempt by the official Church to domesticate the religious considering them only as cheap  workforce. For this reason, the consecrated life loses some of her own specific vocation: the membership belonging not to hierarchical but to the charismatic dimension. When one considers the religious only as part of the official Church, partially the specificity of their charisma, that of being a gift, is not even."

Among the goals of the meeting was to promote a reflection on the situation of the of apostolic religious life’ theology today. What reached conclusions by the confrontation triggered by the participants?

"Rather than of conclusions I should speak of directions to be exploited for the future. The Seminar was designed, in fact, as a place where the General Superiors, male and female,  could meet with theologians, male and female,  to reflect together on the crisis of the consecrated life. It is an important fact that this Seminar has been promoted to give way to the two groups, beginning a debate on this issue and to exchange ideas and perspectives to each other. In this sense, one of the proposals that emerged was to create an international theological commission, based in Rome, to continue this dialogue”.

From the Brazilian theologian Vera Ivanise Bombonatto we learned that new communities of apostolic religious life are rising, especially in Brazil, born of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, in contrast with those 'old' struggling with problems of aging and lack of new vocations. How do you explain this phenomenon?

"In these new communities of apostolic religious life, the members feel much the sense of their belonging. The Community life is very special, very experienced and offers opportunities to live an intense spiritual experience that establishes its primacy in God and in contact with people. Especially in the service of the poorest and marginalized members of society. The institutional practicability helps these new experiences, because the community is also very flexible in their responses to the challenges of the present moment. They presents both a great challenge for apostolic religious life of traditional system because often the traditional religious Congregations have adapted to the situation too much and they were not always able to adapt to changes in history and the crucial issues."

In your view, how is evolving the religious life?

" For me, the consecrated life has become a little flock, like a yeast. It belongs to the past the image of the religious present heavily, in all their power in the sense both of numbers and  of the congregation. Now it's time to be in the world and in society not pointing to the socio-political influence, but to the Gospel. To be present in society, that is, not as a power but as a humble little flock, listening. Looking back, we can think about the influence in the world thanks to schools, hospitals, social centers. Today we are called to be present in a humble way.

The Consecrated life must be more international and multicultural in order to give concrete answers to the today's society that every day becomes more and more multicultural.

Small, international, multicultural: these traits today are essential for me. But not only. It must also be inter-congregational. The Congregations, that is, have not to act individually in different areas. Now it's time that the Congregations work together. The school, for example, must be not only of the Jesuits and of the Salesians. This is true not only in Europe but also in mission. The universal Church must act in the world using the inter-congregational contribution. Now is the time to work together. It must act in cooperation with the laity, which is essential for the life of the Church today and in the future. A Church ever more with a secular face, because the component of the laity will be increasingly dominant."
 

It 's now possible to live a religious charisma without a religious consecration committing lifetime a person?

"It 's very difficult to answer this question. Because first you have to understand what it means religious charisma and then, religious consecration. Starting from the idea that charisma is a free gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church to build the Church community, I think it is possible to live a charisma that engages the individual for a certain period of time. I hope very much that the theologians will find this opportunity that would allow to  the youth of today to engage in a charisma without worrying about the indefinitely commitment. In our province in Germany we have several fixed-term missionaries who engage in missionary for two years. For some, this two-year period also serves as the civil service. A ten per cent of these youngs decides to devote himself to God after this experience of the mission."

How can religious men and women help young people to live a personal experience of God?

"Is it not more correct to topple this question? That is, that the religious men and women should learn by today’s children how to live a personal experience of God? The mentality of the boys has profoundly changed, from the word to the image. Specifically, the witnesses have to make a difference. We should not talk about God to young people, but to show the image of God, not only the teaching, but to offer an icon of God. The great challenge for the religious people is to become themselves the icon of God, in a visible way. I think that our young people no longer believe in God, only that they have a different vision of life, often incomprehensible to us."

How to live the charisma of consecrated life understood as a service to the Church and the world that is based on the memory of the past and the vision of the future from the current context?

"During the Seminar it was fixed that the consecrated life is apostolic in nature. It is always at the service of the Church and this service is always characterized by a charismatic dimension, referring to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The religious men and women are like a microscope to discover the  Holy Spirit ‘s gifts to the Church. Another image I like to associate the religious is that they are like the windows of the world. In a secularized society in which people live without a transcendent reference, the religious are called to be the windows of the world, opening the world to the afterlife for people, not to live in a closed world and to break God in society."

The work of the Seminar sponsored by UISG and USG,  what concrete tracks have suggested to you?

"One proposal is to convene a second international Congress of religious life to be held in 2014. Or alternatively, Continental Congress of the religious life divided in areas to be promoted in their contexts of reference. A little as the synods. Another idea emerged during the discussions is to ask to the a theologians a study on the subject to be presented in these Congresses. It is also believed to organize a Seminar, similar to that already done, but widening to about thirty-five young religious in an increasingly inter-congregational optics”.