Seeking the Face of God

Seeking the Face of God

Pope Francis

The Final Provision of the Pontiff's Apostolic Constitution on the contemplative life of women

On 29 June [2016], Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul, the Holy Father signed the Apostolic Constitution "Vultum Dei Quaerere" on women's contemplative life. The following is the English text of the Conclusion and Regulations of the Document presented on Friday, 22 July.

Art. 1. With reference to canon 20 of the Code of Canon Law, and after a careful study of the above 37 articles, with the promulgation and the publication of this Apostolic Constitution Vultum Dei Quaerere, the following are derogated:

1. Those canons of the Code of Canon Law that, in part, directly contradict any article of the present Constitution;

2. and, more specifically, the articles containing norms and dispositions found in:

— the Apostolic Constitution Sponsa Christi of Pius XII (21 November 1950): Statuta Generalia Monialium;

— the Instruction Inter Praeclara of the Sacred Congregation for Religious (23 November 1950);

— the Instruction Verbi Sponsa of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (13 May 1999) on the contemplative life and enclosure of nuns.

Art. 2 § 1. This Constitution is addressed to the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, and to individual cloistered monasteries of nuns, whether wholly contemplative or not, and whether part of a federation or not.

§ 2. The matters regulated by this Apostolic Constitution are those listed above in No. 12 and further developed in Nos. 13-35.

§ 3. The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life — if need be, in agreement with the Congregation for the Oriental Churches and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples — will regulate the different modalities of implementing these constitutive norms, in accordance with the different monastic traditions and taking into account the various charismatic families.

Art. 3 § 1. Through suitable structures identified during the elaboration of a plan of community life, individual monasteries are to give special attention to ongoing formation, which is the foundation for every stage of formation, beginning with initial formation.

§ 2. In order to ensure adequate ongoing formation, federations are to promote cooperation between monasteries through the exchange of formational materials and the use of digital means of communication, always exercising due discretion.

§3. Together with the careful selection of sisters to serve as formators and to guide candidates in the development of personal maturity, individual monasteries and federations are to make every effort to ensure a sound preparation of formators and their assistants.

§ 4. Sisters charged with the sensitive task of formation may also attend, servatis de iure servandis, specific courses on formation outside their monastery, always conducting themselves in a way fitting and consistent with their own charism. The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life is to issue particular norms in this regard.

§ 5. Monasteries are to pay special attention to vocational and spiritual discernment, ensuring that candidates receive personalized guidance, and to provide adequate programmes of formation, always keeping in mind that ample time is to be set apart for initial formation.

§ 6. Even though the establishment of international and multicultural communities is a sign of the universality of the charism, the recruitment of candidates from other countries solely for the sake of ensuring the survival of a monastery is to be absolutely avoided. To ensure that this is the case, certain criteria are to be determined.

§ 7. To ensure a high quality of formation, monasteries should, as circumstances dictate, promote common houses for initial formation.

Art. 4 § 1. Recognizing that prayer is the heart of contemplative life, each monastery is to review its daily horarium to see if it is centred on the Lord.

§ 2. Community celebrations should be reviewed to see if they constitute an authentic and vital encounter with the Lord.

Art. 5 § 1. Given the importance of lectio divina, each monastery is to establish fitting times and means for respecting this requirement of reading and listening, ruminatio, prayer, contemplation and sharing of the sacred Scriptures.

§ 2. Since sharing the transforming experience of God’s word with priests, deacons, other consecrated persons and the laity is an expression of genuine ecclesial communion, each monastery is to determine how this spiritual outreach can be accomplished.

Art. 6 § 1. Each monastery, in elaborating its plan of community and fraternal life, in addition to carefully preparing its eucharistic celebrations, is to set aside appropriate times for eucharistic adoration, also inviting the faithful of the local Church to take part.

§ 2. Particular attention is to be given to the selection of chaplains, confessors and spiritual directors, taking into account the specific charism and the demands of fraternal life in community.

Art. 7 § 1. Those called to carry out the ministry of authority, besides being attentive to their own formation, are to be guided by a true spirit of fraternity and service so as to foster a joy-filled environment of freedom and responsibility, thus promoting personal and community discernment and truthful communication of what each member does, thinks and feels.

§ 2. The plan of community life should readily welcome and encourage the sharing of each sister’s human and spiritual gifts for mutual enrichment and growth in fraternity.

Art. 8 § 1. Juridical autonomy needs to be matched by a genuine autonomy of life. This entails a certain, even minimal, number of sisters, provided that the majority are not elderly, the vitality needed to practice and spread the charism, a real capacity to provide for formation and governance, dignity and quality of liturgical, fraternal and spiritual life, sign value and participation in life of the local Church, self-sufficiency and a suitably appointed monastery building. These criteria ought to be considered comprehensively and in an overall perspective.

§ 2. Whenever the requirements for a monastery’s genuine autonomy are lacking, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life will study the possibility of establishing an ad hoc commission made up of the ordinary, the president of the federation, a representative of the federation and the abbess or prioress of the monastery. In every case, the purpose of this intervention is to initiate a process of guidance for the revitalization of the monastery, or to effect its closure.

§ 3. This process may also envisage affiliation to another monastery or entrustment, if the monastery belongs to a federation, to the federation president and her council. In every case, the ultimate decision always rests with the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Art. 9 § 1. Initially, all monasteries are to be part of a federation. If, for some special reason, a monastery cannot join a federation, after the vote of the chapter, permission to allow the monastery to remain outside a federation is to be sought from the Holy See, which is competent to study and decide the question.

§ 2. Federations can be established not only on a geographical basis but also on an affinity of spirit and traditions. Norms in this regard will be issued by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

§ 3. Assistance in formation and in meeting concrete needs through the exchange of nuns and the sharing of material goods is also to be ensured, in accordance with the provisions of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. The Congregation will also determine the competencies of the federation president and council.

§ 4. The association, even juridical, of monasteries to the corresponding Order of men is to be encouraged. Confederations and the establishment of international commissions made up of different Orders, with statutes approved by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, are likewise to be encouraged.

Art. 10 § 1. Each monastery, following serious discernment and respecting its proper tradition and the demands of its constitutions, is to ask the Holy See what form of cloister it wishes to embrace, whenever a different form of cloister from the present one is called for.

§ 2. Once one of the possible forms of cloister is chosen and approved, each monastery will take care to comply with, and live in accordance with, its demands.

Art. 11 § 1. Even if certain monastic communities, in accordance with their proper law, may enjoy some income, this does not mean that the members are exempted from the obligation of labour.

§ 2. In communities devoted to contemplation, the income received from labour should not be used exclusively to ensure a decent sustenance, but also, if possible, to assist the poor and monasteries in need.

Art. 12. The daily horarium is to include suitable moments of silence, in order to foster a climate of prayer and contemplation.

Art. 13. In its plan of community life, each monastery is to provide for some fitting means for expressing the ascetic discipline of monastic life, in order to make it more prophetic and credible.

Final Provision

Art. 14 § 1. The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life will issue, in accordance with the spirit and the norms of the present Apostolic Constitution, a new Instruction concerning the matters dealt with in No. 12.

§ 2. Once they have been adapted to the new regulations, the articles of the constitutions or rules of individual institutes are to be submitted for approval by the Holy See.

L'Osservatore Romano
Weekly Edition in English
29 July 2016, page 4

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