The approval of new forms of consecrated life in the light of Canon 605.
During the Second Vatican Council the state of life then known as religious life was recognised as a structure in the Church though not of the Church. This recognition was verbalised in a separate chapter in the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, Lumen gentium. Chapter 6, "On Religious", was a watershed document as far as religious life (and all other forms of the life that came to be called "consecrated life") was concerned. It recognised consecrated life as an integral element in the Church and part of its mystery, with its mission intimately connected to that of Jesus through His Church. Consecrated life evolved over centuries in response to the needs of particular times and within particular social, cultural and ecclesiological frameworks. This study examines the evolution of forms recognised in the 1983 Code of Canon Law, the treatment of consecrated life in specific Conciliar and Post-conciliar documents, in the documents of the 1994 Synod of Bishops on Consecrated Life and in the ensuing document, Vita consecrata. It follows the history of the development of Canon 605 which speaks of the approval of new forms and the roles of the Holy See and of diocesan bishops in the process of approval. It looks at the possibilities for new forms and suggests principles that would enable bishops to establish criteria for the discernment of new charisms and new forms of consecrated life. This study also examines the understanding of consecration as perceived in the documents and in the Code of Canon Law. It peruses the possibilities of expanding the meaning of the term to include persons who consecrate themselves to God without necessarily undertaking all the obligations as outlined in the canonical requirements for members of consecrated life. Finally, the study outlines the need for a revision of terminology to express the realities of what is happening in the Church today with respect to the consecration of lives to God.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 63-01, Section: A, page: 0222.
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