To mark the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and reflect on the major changes it brought to consecrated life, the Vatican’s congregation for religious has overhauled the course it offers on theology and canon law.
The Second Vatican Council’s call for religious to return to the founding inspiration of their orders and, at the same time, to respond to the needs of the modern world “was not an easy task,” said Sister Nicla Spezzati, a member of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ and undersecretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
“Laudable initiatives were undertaken by various institutes and organizations,” she told L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper.
At the same time, she said, there was also “a certain ‘experimental’ character,” which made it “difficult to find a wise balance” in how religious orders could remain faithful to their founding inspiration while adapting to modern needs and concerns.