This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience the participants in the General Assemblies of the Societies of Apostolic Life of Regnum Christi.
The following is the address delivered by the Pope to those present:
Address of the Holy Father
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you.
Dear sisters and dear brothers, good morning and welcome!
I am pleased to meet you, on the occasion of your General Assemblies, and I would like to take the opportunity to share some reflections with you, which I would like to divide into three points: charism, governance and communion.
Regarding the first, the Magisterium teaches us that “the Church rejuvenates in the power of the Gospel and the Spirit continually renews her, builds her up, and guides her ‘with hierarchical and charismatic gifts’.[1] The Second Vatican Council has repeatedly highlighted the marvellous work of the Holy Spirit that sanctifies the People of God, guides it, adorns it with virtue, and enrichens it with special graces for her edification”.[2]
In these days you have had the opportunity to reflect and discuss the definition of the charism proper to the respective Societies of apostolic life, recognizing in them a gift of the Paraclete to the Church in order to revive her life and energize her mission, both internally and in society. This gift, while generating life and vitality in the Institute, also gives it a specific identity, which qualifies and makes your presence in the Church and in the world recognizable. Today more than ever, it is necessary to know who we are if we want to dialogue authentically with society without being absorbed or homogenized by it. In order to evangelize the contexts in which you live – the very purpose of your vocation – it is therefore essential that you define your identity with ever greater clarity.
Every sister and every brother who receives the charism is called to bring it to life within themselves, so that it does not remain something to be preserved in a static way, but rather becomes a vital force that flows creatively and freely. As Pope Francis reminded us, “it is a question of remaining faithful to the original source, striving to rethink it and express it in dialogue with the new social and cultural situations”.[3] The Institute, the Society, is a living body in which charismatic energy flows through every cell and every member, who in turn carry it and express it. It is this energy that must animate the mission you carry out and illuminate the path to be followed, so that it may then be handed on as a living legacy to the future generations, in turn called to fall in love with it and make it the wellspring of their service.
Precisely for this purpose, the second theme we want to reflect on is governance, which, in order to initiate mature decision-making processes in an atmosphere of authentic discernment, requires communion.
Once again, the documents of the Church come to our aid in this regard, stating that “consecrated persons … are called to follow Christ obediently as part of an evangelical or charismatic plan, inspired by the Spirit and authenticated by the Church”, and that “on this journey, authority is invested with the pastoral task of guiding and deciding”.[5] Governance is a necessary service within societies of apostolic life: a genuine ecclesial ministry, which accompanies sisters and brothers towards a conscious, free and responsible fidelity in following Christ.[6] Each institute and society is called to identify its own style in this regard, in harmony with its specific charism and spirituality.
An authentically evangelical governance, after all, is always oriented towards service: it supports, accompanies and helps each member to conform themselves more and more to the person of the Saviour every day, and in this sense, community discernment is the privileged place where shared decisions can mature, capable of generating communion and co-responsibility. You should not be afraid to experiment with new models of governance; [7] on the contrary, it is good to keep in mind that the collective search for your own style in the exercise of authority opens up paths that not only enrich the Societies and their individual members, but also strengthen the sense of belonging to and participation in the common mission.
And this leads us to the third theme we wish to focus on: communion within the Regnum Christi Family. Your particular journey, inserted into the great history of an apostolic body, bears the marks of the silent and powerful action of the Holy Spirit, who continually renews the Church and makes her young in hope. In this context, you are called to promote ever deeper communion within the entire Family, sharing spirituality and apostolate, living fully the specific vocation to which God has called you as members of the Society to which you belong, committed to bearing witness with your lives to fidelity to the charism you have received.
As the Apostolic Exhortation Vita consecrata reminds us, “By virtue of their rebirth in Christ, all the faithful share a common dignity; all are called to holiness; all cooperate in the building up of the one Body of Christ, each in accordance with the proper vocation and gift which he or she has received from the Spirit (cf. Rm 12:3-8)”[8]. Unity in baptismal dignity and the diversity of vocations are not opposed to one another; but rather illuminate each other. Organic communion in diversity is the work of the Holy Spirit, who transforms every vocation into service to others, so that the Body of Christ may grow in history and fulfil its mission in the world.
We are all lives on a journey, to whom God continues to inspire his dreams through prophets of yesterday and today, to free humanity from old and new forms of slavery, involving young and old, poor and rich, men and women, saints and sinners in the works of his mercy and in the wonders of his justice. The Lord makes no noise, yet his Kingdom sprouts and grows in every corner of the world. And in this sense, many cities and communities need to hear: “You are by no means least” (cf. Mt 2:6).
Yes, the Lord still surprises us, and still allows himself to be found, through ways that are not our own (cf. Is 55:8), and therefore his faithfulness continues to amaze us. Let us entrust ourselves, in our response to his gifts, to Mary, Star of the Morning.
Dear friends, thank you for what you do. I pray for you and bless you from my heart. Thank you.
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[1] Vatican Council II, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium (21 November 1964), 4.
[2] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter Iuvenescit Ecclesia, 15 May 2016, 1.
[3] Francis, Address to Participants in the General Assembly of the Focolare Movement (6 February 2021).
[4] Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, Instruction The service of authority and obedience (11 May 2008), 9.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Cf. Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, New wineskins for new wine (6 January 2017), 41.
[7] Cf. ibid., 9.
[8] St. John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Vita consecrata (25 March 1996), 31.
