Editor’s note: During this Year of Consecrated Life, this is the fourth in a series based on the Second Vatican Council’s document, Perfectae Caritatis (Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life) written by Abbot Marcel Rooney, OSB, former abbot primate of the Benedictine order who now resides in Madison.
When the Second Vatican Council called for the renewal of Religious Life, it was not speaking primarily about the externals which characterized that life, such as the Religious habit to be worn, the living arrangements of communities and individuals, etc.
Rather, from the outset, the council was concerned about the deeply interior renewal of this special sign of the Church’s life.