Cardinals João Braz de Aviz (Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life) and Mario Grech (Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops) sent a joint letter to all the general governments that are members of the USG (Union of Superior’s General of men’s institutes of religious life) and UISG (International Union of Superiors General of women’s relgious institutes), inviting them to “reflect on the exercise of governance within institutes and the relations between the various institutes” (17 January 2022), as a way of actively participating in the Synod process on synodality.
In fact, even before receiving that letter, from October 2021 until April 2022, the general governments of the various institutes and societies of apostolic life carried out their own processes of dialogue and prayer, sometimes involving members of the Curia, provincial governments or even the entire Congregation. 224 congregations participated, including the General Leadership team of the MSC.
Six perspectives were offered for the conversation:
- Evoke stories and accounts of synodality in your Institutes.
- Discover the seeds of synodality that already exist.
- Discover weeds that threaten the seeds.
- God’s dream of synodality for the Church and the consecrated life of the third millennium.
- Consequences for consecrated life.
- Implications for the life and mission of the Church.
The present document (In French, Italian, Spanish and English) reflects the contributions that were received. We recommend the document for your study and for use in your work with members of the Chevalier Family worldwide, in all its branches.
Also for your reading is this excellent article from the Australasian Catholic Record by Elissa Roper entitled, Synoldality: A Process Committed to Transformation.