International Conference of Ecclesial Families of Consecrated Life
The Spiritual Family The Work was recognised as a Family of Consecrated Life by the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life on 29 August 2001. For some years now, we have been in close contact with other ecclesial communities that have received the same or similar approval as a new form of consecrated life. Under the title "Ecclesial families of Consecrated Life: Five Years Together on the Path to Synodality", a conference was held on 27 and 28 May 2024 at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce in Rome, which was attended by representatives of our Spiritual Family.
In the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata by John Paul II, it says in No. 62: "The Spirit, who at different times has inspired numerous forms of consecrated life, does not cease to assist the Church, whether by fostering in already existing Institutes a commitment to renewed faithfulness to the founding charism, or by giving new charisms to men and women of our own day so that they can start institutions responding to the challenges of our times."
Indeed, before and after the Second Vatican Council, new charisms were awakened by the Holy Spirit. These were or are in search of their specific identity within the Church. The new institutes differ from Religious and Secular Institutes as well as from Societies of Apostolic Life. The official recognition of these new communities is reserved to the Holy See.
A New Form of Consecrated Life
One of these new forms is the Ecclesial Family of Consecrated Life, to which our Spiritual Family belongs. One of its distinctive features is that it unites in one juridic person different states of life: consecrated men and women, clergy and laity, who share the same charism and mission. The unity and complementarity among the members in their different vocations and gifts are not given by chance, but are essential elements of this form of life. A "Forum" founded in 2018 currently brings together eight ecclesial families originating in different countries (Spain, Italy, France, Canada and Belgium): Some have already received papal approval, others have diocesan recognition and two communities are still in the process of being recognised by the Church.
The aim of the exchange and co-operation is to share the charismatic graces entrusted to each community and the experiences associated with them, and to identify and deepen common elements in response to the challenges facing the Church and the world today.
First International Conference
Since 2011, international meetings of numerous new communities have been held at regular intervals in Rome, with the main aim of friendly exchange and mutual familiarisation. The meeting organised by the above-mentioned Forum at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce was the first international colloquium specifically dedicated to reflecting on the identity and nature of the ecclesial families of consecrated life through exchanges with experts in consecrated life and representatives of other communities on fundamental theological and canonical aspects. In 2019, the Forum produced a comprehensive document entitled "Communion and Co-responsibility", which was submitted to the Dicastery in preparation for its next Plenary Assembly. This fundamental text was the basis for the exchange within the Conference. The topics discussed and explored in depth during the colloquium highlighted the richness and perspectives within the ecclesial families. The questions and contributions from representatives of classical institutes of consecrated life as well as of members of new communities from France, Great Britain, Italy and Canada, who are on the way to similar canonical recognition, were valuable.
The participation of Fr Leonello Leidi, CP, representing the Dicastery for Consecrated Life, was greatly appreciated by all. In his talk, he presented the practice of the Dicastery in the process of recognising new foundations that include different vocations and states of life within a community. He spoke openly about the complexity of the new forms and at the same time encouraged us to continue on the path we have already embarked on together.
Synodality in the DNA of the New Communities
The meeting – with its own working style - was embedded in the current synodal process of the universal Church, as it reflects the synodal experience that has matured over the last five years, both through collaboration in the Forum and within the respective communities. After the Italian journalist Angela Ambrogetti had extensively interviewed the participants of the colloquium, she summarised her impression of the peculiarity of ecclesial families: “Insieme - together!” She thus expressed the mission of this new form of consecrated life: to bear witness to the Church as the Family of God through its charism and to be a reflection of the ecclesial community (Communio). Unity in diversity is the missionary force of the ecclesial families of consecrated life in our time.
