SUMMARY- Since the promulgation of the new Code of Canon Law in 1983 it is increasingly dif­ficult to find a document issued by the supreme authority of the Church without a direct or indirect reference to juridic-canonical norms. Studying the course followed by the apostolic post-synodal exhortation Vita consecrata of John Paul II, from the Lineamenta, through the Instrumentumla-boris and the Propositiones to the promulgation of the magisterial document on consecrated life one can see that the Code is continually and prominently present in a normative role. This fact al­so gives the document a canonical, disciplinary character and thus makes it a secure guide for the future of consecrated life and its mission in the Church and the world.