Directives on Formation in Religious Institutes - I. RELIGIOUS CONSECRATION AND FORMATION - OBEDIENCE

The evangelical counsel of obedience, undertaken in a spirit of faith and love in the following of Christ, who was obedient even unto death, requires submission of the will to legitimate superiors, who stand in the place of God when they command according to the proper constitutions.(45) Further, all religious "are subject to the supreme authority of (the) Church in a special manner" and "are also bound to obey the Supreme Pontiff as their highest superior by reason of the sacred bond of obedience."(46) "Far from lowering the dignity of the human person, religious obedience leads it to maturity by extending the freedom of the sons of God."(47) Religious obedience is at once an imitation of Christ and a participation in his mission. It is concerned with doing what Jesus did, and, at the same time, with what he would do in the concrete situation in which a religious finds himself or herself today. Whether one has authority in an institute or not, one cannot either command or obey without reference to mission. When religious obey, they offer this obedience in continuity with the obedience of Jesus for the salvation of the world. This is why everything which, in the exercise of authority or obedience, indicates a compromise, a diplomatic solution, the consequence of pressure, or any other kind of temporizing, is opposed to the basic inspiration of religious obedience, which is to align oneself with the mission of Jesus and to carry it out in time, even if such an undertaking is difficult. A superior who promotes dialogue educates to a responsible and active obedience. All the same, it remains for the superiors to use "their own authority to decide and to prescribe what is to be done."(48)

For the teaching of obedience, it should be remembered: - that to give oneself in obedience, it is first necessary to be conscious of one's existence. Candidates need to leave the anonymity of the technical world, to know themselves as they are, and to be known as persons, to be esteemed and loved; - that these same candidates need to find true liberty in order that they may personally pass from "what pleases them" to "what pleases the Father." For this, the structures of a formation community, while ever remaining sufficiently clear and solid, will leave ample room for responsible initiatives and decisions; - that the will of God is expressed most often and preeminently through the mediation of the Church and its magisterium; and specifically for religious, through their own constitutions; - that for obtaining obedience, the witness of the elder members in a community has greater influence on the young than any other theoretical consideration. Still, a person who makes the effort to obey as Christ did, and in Christ, can succeed in overcoming less edifying examples. Education in religious obedience will therefore be given with all the clarity and exigency that is necessary so that one does not wander from the "way," which is Christ in mission.(49)

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Directives on Formation in Religious Institutes

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