To the Presidency of Major Superiors and the Permanent Committee of Religious of the Carmel of Lisieux (2 June 1980)

On Monday, 2 June 1980, the Holy Father addressed the Presidency of Major Superiors and the Permanent Committee of Religious of the Carmel of Lisieux. The Pope encouraged them to understand that “religious life is an “ephiphany” of Christ," a sign to the modern world.

The talks that I had the privilege of having, on Saturday in Paris, with the nuns engaged in the task of evangelization, and just now in this Carmel, with a large group of contemplatives, were in my thoughts intended for all the monks and all the nuns, all the monks and all the nuns of France, who consume their life consecrated to Christ, in the ecclesial service of prayer or of the apostolate.

To you, dear Brothers and Sisters, who have been chosen to bear the responsibility of your Institutes, I want to address a special and important encouragement.

The Council very happily recalled that all authority in the Church was a service and had to be lived in the very spirit of the Lord Jesus[ 1 ]. This evangelical and imperative norm cannot make you abdicate your own responsibilities. The “all responsible” formula, which has been very successful for a good decade, is only valid in a certain sense. Ultimately, you are gravely responsible for the religious spirit of your subjects, for their apostolic performance, for the fidelity of your Institutes to their specific ideal and for the quality of their witness in the Church and the world today. .

I am also aware of all the work of research and experimentation that your Congregations have accomplished since the Council. The balance sheet shows good directions. Make sure that religious life is an “ephiphany” of Christ. The modern world needs signs. The starless night is a source of anxiety. In a word, accredit everywhere in your religious families that the time for the calm and persevering implementation of the revised and approved constitutions has arrived. Dear Brothers and Sisters, I trust your wisdom and your courage. I invoke upon you and your Institutes the most abundant Blessings of the Lord.

 [ 1 ] Cfr. Luke . 22, 27.

© Copyright 1980 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

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