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La vita consacrata e la sua missione nella Chiesa e nel mondo

SUMMARY: This study on «The consecrated life and its mission in the Church and the world» is suggested by the «Lineamenta», prepared by the Council of the general secretariat of the Synod, and the conception of the consecrated life underlying the same outlines. Inser­ting itself in the actual reflection, it underlines certain aspects of the topic and intends to offer in favour of the synodal debate the specific contribution made by the Pontifical Athe­naeum «Antonianum», from the post-conciliar era to the present time, towards the deepe­ning of the consecrated life. On the basis of biblical-patristic and theological-juridical data, the following themes are discussed: 1. The divine origin of the consecrated life, its biblical-theological foundations, and its constitutive elements. - 2. The typology of the consecrated life and its reflection on the organisation and on the way of living fraternal communion wi­thin the individual Institutes. - 3. The ecclesial dimension of the consecrated life, as it ap­pears from the religious profession (consecration to God) and from the profession of obe­dience (incorporation to the Institute). - 4. The role of the evangelical counsels in the conse­crated life; the concept of vow and its three-dimensional structure: biblical, theological and juridical. - 5. The exercise of the threefold «munus» (priestly, prophetic and regal) in the ob­servance of the evangelical counsels. - 6. The belonging of the members of the Institute of consecrated life to the Church (universal and particular) and to the proper Institute, and their specific contribution to the salvific mission of the Church. - 7. The nature and purpose of the rules and religious constitutions; the origin, nature and exercise of the jurisdiction wi­thin the Institutes of consecrated life, taken into account the typology of membership.