"Paradigm" for the Movement of Religious

5^th of August 2016

“Paradigm” or reference point for the Movement of Men Religious

In the course of the history of the Movement of Men Religious (MR) some elements have emerged, in referring to its characteristics and initiatives, that can form a kind of ‘paradigm’ of reference for men religious who belong to the Work of Mary.

1.     The specific aim

The charismatic vision in which the MR is inserted is the same as that of the Work of Mary: namely to contribute to the realization of the ‘Ut omnes’. In fact, the MR has the same specific aim as the Focolare Movement, as expressed in the General Statutes in Art. 6.4. This means that in every initiative the MR acts always together with the whole Work of Mary, so that also through the unity among charisms, which is the privileged field of the religious of the Work of Mary, the MR tends towards “that all may be one”.

2.     The components of the MR

In the same way as the other larger movements of the Work of Mary have their own target group (the families for the New Families Movement, the youth for Youth for a United World, those who belong to parishes for the New Parishes Movement and the Diocesan Movement), so the MR has its own target groups, but these are not only the men religious as would seem to be the case at first sight, but also those persons who form a parcel of the Church and of humanity inspired by charisms.

2.1 A proof of this is the presence in the Regulation of the MR of lay people   connected to a charism, be it in Art. 2 as well as in Art. 8. Proof of this is also the fact that today inside religious communities the role of lay people inspired by a specific charism is becoming more and more a determining factor for communion with religious families and their mission. It is not exceptional to find that tasks that were first carried out by religious have now been entrusted to lay persons of Third Orders, Associations or Movements born of the charism of the same founder. Pope Francis in his opening letter to the Year of the Consecrated Life, expressed this reality by using the term “Charismatic Families”.

2.2 Another motif of a charismatic nature leads us to have this vision. Chiara, in her mystical experience of ’49, ‘saw’ a kind of picture representing the composition of the Work of Mary: like in an “amfitheatre” the Religious Orders surrounded the focolarine and  focolarini, who in turn stood around Chiara herself. Who were representing the religious in this particular vision? Only consecrated persons who at that time were living the ideal of unity? Or, more clearly, were they already showing the variety and multiplicity of the charismatic presence in the Church that was forming itself and in the future would connect itself to the charism of the Work of Mary? We tend to favour the second explanation

3.     Women and Men Religious

Today in the Work of Mary exist the MR and the Movement of Women Religious. They are two distinct realities, each with its own Regulation and whose animators are the men and women religious of the respective branches. In the local ecclesial situation there is a progressive removal of this distinction: in many places the diocesan responsible persons are the same, the organization of Major Superiors are unified, but above all they take common initiatives. For instance, the ones taken during the Year of the Consecrated Life, promoted by the Vatican, were the same for men and women religious. Also the initiatives taken for men and women religious in the various zones of the Work of Mary are more and more done in common. For this it would be desirable to have a stable link between men and women religious, both in the zones and at the Centre.

4.     Contents of the initiatives of the MR

On the basis of what we have expressed so far, we have to see the MR as a reality that proposes to religious, to lay people connected to a charism and to charismatic families, a journey of communion, a way of Trinitarian relations that proceeds in two directions: one towards the Church and the other towards humanity.

4.1 Towards the Church, the MR aims through the communion among charisms, that is the relation between religious families and with other ecclesial groups (Reg. MR Art. 2) to make visible - according to some of Chiara’s expressions - “Christ spread throughout the ages”, or “a living Gospel”, or also - according to the affirmation of H.U. von Balthasar - the Marian profile itself of the Church.

4.2 Towards humanity, the MR helps religious families by putting at their service the transforming power that springs from the individual charisms and their reciprocity. Chiara speaking about the City-fest, used the following expression: “it will be sanctity that will penetrate society” and Emmaus says that for this project everyone will be a precious gift, the men and women religious will be so “with their rich charisms, masters in loving the face of Jesus in the least”.

5.     Young Religious

In the course of the history of the MR we have seen that young people have always been particularly sensitive to this reality: be it young people who are close to religious (through whom some have heard the call to the religious life), or young religious in formation. Today in our desire to promote the spirituality of communion and the ecclesial way of communion among charisms, we distinguish less between young religious and Gen Re (those who want to involve themselves explicitly in the Ut omnes): we give the Ideal to all, leaving it up to God to bring out in some of them the vocation to the Work of Mary.

6.     The structures of communion among the religious

The organisms of Major Superiors (in Italy CISM and USMI, in Spain the CONFER, in Brazil the CRB, etc.) are by nature structures of communion among different Institutes; as such they have to be sustained with the spirit of unity which animates the branch of the religious, putting itself at their service. Let us give to those Conferences our support by the method in of “being yeast”. We want to contribute by giving a “soul” to these ecclesial structures.

7.     Instruments and “spaces” offered by the Work of Mary

In order to realize what has been mentioned until now, the Work of Mary in its totality, offers to the religious the necessary instruments and “spaces”:

7.1 It provides the cultural, spiritual and experiential basis in order to proceed on the way of reciprocity (points of the spirituality and the aspects – as singled out in many documents of the Magisterium) and to develop the culture of “the worlds” of New Humanity and the Inundations. The Centre “Evangelii Gaudium”, born in Loppiano and the Course for animators and formators “Wake up the world” are privileged means in this perspective;

7.2 It favours relationships inside the MR by sharing gifts and fruits that are born from living the charisms. It is here that the magazine “Charisms in Unity” plays its role;

7.3 It offers occasions of contacts with other Movements with a broad outreach, by organizing common activities in common in favour of the Church and of humanity;

7.4 It gives the possibility of making the experience of universal brotherhood in the local communities of the Work of Mary, which are living cells made  up of all the vocations trying to give an answer to the social challenges in a given area.

8.     Ecumenism between religious

Recently the ecumenical dialogue between consecrated people of other Christian Churches has come to light. The “ecumenical encounter” promoted by the Congregation of Religious in the context of the Year of Consecrated Life (January 2015), has shown the necessity to get involved in this area. Some religious are working in order to increase contacts with ecumenical institutions of consecrated people in close relation with the Centre of Religious, but each religious of the branch should be attentive in order to use every small opportunity to advance this particular dialogue.

     9.     Interreligious Dialogue

We involve ourselves in promoting contacts with monks of other religious traditions. 

(Centre of Religious)