Vultum Dei quaerere
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Vultum Dei quaerere (“Seeking the Face of God”) is an Apostolic Constitution on the contemplative life in women's orders . The constitution was issued by Pope Francis on June 29, 2016 .
content
The chapters of the apostolic constitution that explain and deepen the content are divided into
- Appreciation, praise and thanks for the consecrated life and the contemplative monastic life
- Accompaniment and guidance through the church
- Essential elements of the contemplative life
- Topics that require differentiation and a revision of the standards
- The testimony of the nuns
At the beginning, the Pope once again explains the meaning and direction of the contemplative life of consecrated persons , beginning with the search for God and the testimony of the disciples at the transfiguration of Christ , “Lord, it is good that we are here”. He strikes this arc up to the life of the consecrated virgins and the contemplative monastic life, the historical development of which he explains in detail and appreciates in relation to the consecrated virgins and the women's orders in numbers 5 and 6. He compares the contemplative nuns with a beacon, without which those on the open sea would be lost.
Numbers 7 and 8 contain statements on ecclesiology and the spiritual direction of the nuns, whereby the Pope is based on works by his predecessors, such as Vita consecrata and Perfectae caritatis, as well as on the dogmatic constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium , and also on some documents of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life , published between 1992 and 2002. From there, Pope Francis explains why it seemed advisable to him to issue a new apostolic constitution, which “reflects both the intense and fruitful path that the Church herself has traveled in the last few decades in the light of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council changed socio-cultural conditions ”.
After a synopsis of the essential elements of the contemplative life, starting with Christ himself and the Mother of God under the cross, the constitution from number 12 onwards leads the invitation to a “consideration and clarification” of certain points that affect consecrated life in general as well concern monastic life in particular. The Pope counts among these points: formation, prayer, the word of God, the sacraments of the Eucharist and reconciliation , sisterly life in community, independence, federations, the meaning and design of the enclosure , daily work, silence in life the community, the use of means of communication and possibly also social media and asceticism .
The Pope deals in a dedicated manner with the question of recruiting candidates for the order and training in the novitiate . The monasteries had the serious task of distinguishing between vocation and spirituality in candidates, which took a considerable amount of time.
In No. 31 the Pope explains the nature and organization of life in the cloister, of which he executes four basic forms: the papal , the constitutional and the monastic cloister - which excludes external tasks - as well as the cloister of all religious institutes. Within the same orders, the way in which the cloister is observed should be seen as a wealth, not as an obstacle to the community of sisters.
In this context, the Pope also addresses the use of social media. Although digitization has changed the way people interact with one another, it is necessary to make a wise distinction whether the use of such means serves the contemplative life and the necessary connections. They should not “give rise to distraction and escape from the sisterly life in community”, they should neither damage one's vocation nor represent an obstacle to the contemplative life.
Another section, beginning at no.36, deals with the testimony of nuns in the Church and in the world. Finally, dispositions of a canonical nature are made in the constitution.
Implementing regulations Cor orans
On May 15, 2018, the Roman Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life issued the implementing provisions of the Apostolic Constitution under the title Cor orans .
See also
literature
- Scholastika Häring OSB: Cor orans - overview, appreciation, questions , in: Erbe und Einsatz , 94 (2018), issue 3, pp. 318–329.
Web links
- Vultum Dei quaerere - on the contemplative life in women's orders (from June 29, 2016)
- Like “lighthouses and torches”, religious sisters show the way, Apostolic Constitution “Vultum Dei Quaerere” published, July 22, 2016, Britta Dörre, Pope Francis
- Apostolic Constitution "Vultum Dei Quaerere"
