Contours of Consecrated Life

Vita Consecrata, the post-synodal Apostolic exhortation of Pope John Paul II, was published on March 25, 1996. Prior to this, the Synod of bishops, held in 1994, addressed the role of Consecrated Life within the Catholic Church. Vita Consecrata, which translates into The Consecrated Life, is the fruit of the reflections and discernment by the Synod of bishops on an important state of life in the Church. This year, 2026, marks the 30th anniversary of this significant Apostolic Exhortation. It focuses on the meaning and mission of Consecrated Life in the Church and the world.

Anniversaries and other milestones provide an opportunity to look back and to look ahead. This article aims to critically examine the Consecrated Life lived in the Indian context, both in the Catholic Church and in society at large. So, the first part of this article focuses on some salient features of the socio-economic and political climate of the present-day India that are pertinent to living the Consecrated way of Life. The second part takes a quick look at how Consecrated Life is lived within the Indian Church and within the wider society. From these two contexts, an attempt is made in the third part to revisit Vita Consecrata and highlight some challenges this document poses to Consecrated Life and to the Church in India after thirty years of its publication.

The Present Context of India

Though India is one of the fast-growing economies in the world, the wealth is concentrated in a few hands, especially with corporate houses like Adani and Ambani. Less money is budgeted for education, health care and development of rural India. The agriculture sector, where millions of Indians earn their livelihood, is totally neglected. As a result, India continues to face a number of socio-economic challenges like poverty, unemployment, inequality and food security. These issues are interconnected, and they limit development, adversely affecting the quality of life and opportunities for growth. They also give rise to other social evils, such as human trafficking and sexual slavery of girls and women. According to the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, about 234 million people were living in poverty in India as of 2024.

Lack of quality education, especially in rural areas and in city slums, is a cause as well as an effect of poverty. Children from poor families often cannot afford quality education from an early age. Among them, girls are the most affected by poverty; they are the most vulnerable to forced labour and early marriages. Besides, many poor families struggle for safe drinking water, nutritious food, and adequate healthcare. These in turn lead to malnutrition, high infant mortality and many communicable diseases such as cholera, typhus and tuberculosis.

The age-old caste system continues to be a curse in the Indian subcontinent. Atrocities committed against Dalits are on the increase. The prevailing socio-cultural milieu of India does not allow equal human dignity, equality and freedom even though these are guaranteed in the Indian Constitution. People on the socio-cultural and economic margins like Dalits and Adivasis struggle to get their rights as human beings in the present-day India.

Ever since the political right has come to power, India suffers from growing polarisation, division and communal disharmony. There is rising intolerance towards people of minority religions like Islam and Christianity. Twelve of India’s 28 states have enacted anti-conversion laws. These legislations criminalize religious conversions in various circumstances. Those accused of violating the legislation face imprisonment.

Today each and every institution is in the grip of a particular ideology that discriminates against the poor and the minority religious groups. The bureaucracy and the judiciary too are not exempt. Corruption at all levels make it impossible for people, especially the vulnerable ones, to get justice. There is little prospect for the poor and other marginalized groups to secure their rights in spite of the Constitutional guarantees.

Consecrated Life in India

Like the Universal Church, the Indian church too is blessed with various forms of Consecrated Life, namely, monastic life, Order of Virgins, Contemplative Orders, Apostolic Religious life, Secular Institutes, Societies of Apostolic Life and New expressions of Consecrated Life (VC, 6-12). Over one lakh Consecrated Persons, both women and men, are members of the Church in India. They engage in various ministries both traditional and new. They have contributed and are contributing greatly in the fields of education, health care, evangelization and socio–pastoral work.

There are many institutes of Consecrated Life who minister directly among the poor. ‘Preference for the poor and promotion of justice’ (VC, 82) has been taken seriously by individuals with the support of their respective institutes. Fr. Stan Swamy had to pay a heavy price for standing by the Adivasis and conscientizing them about their rights. Sr. Rani Maria and Sr. Valsa John lost their lives because they stood with the oppressed and worked for their empowerment. Both of them were brutally murdered. Despite the risks involved, consecrated persons continue to walk and work with the marginalized groups and engage in advocacy work in order to empower and organize the oppressed who are deprived of their rights.

‘The Church has always seen in the profession of the evangelical counsels a special path to holiness’. (VC, 35). From the beginning of its existence, Consecrated Life has gifted the Church people with outstanding holiness of life. Many saints and martyrs in the Church belonged to Consecrated Life. Likewise, the Church in India too can be proud of women and men who attained holiness of life as consecrated persons. Saints like Alphonsa, Mariam Thresia, Rani Maria, Euphrasia, Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Mother Theresa of Kolkata attained holiness in their own unique ways of living their Consecrated Life.

Vita Consecrata acknowledges the special value of Consecrated Life in the Church. It admits that Consecrated Life ‘is an especially rich manifestation of Gospel values and a more complete expression of the Church's purpose, which is the sanctification of humanity…’ (VC, 32). However, in reality consecrated persons who are not clerics are often taken for granted. They are not given due recognition within the Church. For instance, when a priest goes to his home parish from wherever he is ministering, he is welcomed warmly in the parish and is given due recognition. Whereas a religious sister or a brother does not get such recognition in their home parish or the parish in which they minister. In many dioceses, religious women are treated as if they have nothing to do with the diocese or the parish. They are not even treated with respect by some priests. They are seen as somebody who can be ordered around or shouted at.

It is also to be acknowledged that Consecrated Life in India is not lived to the ideals set in the Gospels. The mystical and prophetic dimension of Consecrated Life is not given adequate importance by many consecrated persons. Consequently, consecrated persons are not often seen or sought after as ‘men or women of prayer.’ Often the ministry takes one’s time and energy that she or he has very little to contribute towards the building of a religious community. Many religious live as if the community is there to provide a support system for one’s engagement in the apostolate. As a result, the ‘being’ is not given adequate or equal importance as that of ‘doing.’

Vita Consecrata in Indian Context

At the outset, it is to be said that Vita Consecrata is as relevant today as it was thirty years ago. The issues that are pressing in our country and the way Consecrated Life is lived in the present context requires a serious study of this Apostolic Exhortation. Not only during initial formation but also for ongoing formation, this document needs to be studied and reflected on. It gives the meaning and purpose of Consecrated Life in a very systematic and coherent manner.

For mutual collaboration, support and challenge, everyone in the Church especially the clerics need to know what Consecrated Life and its function in the Church is. In a similar way, it is necessary for both clerics and consecrated persons to have a clear understanding of the vocation and mission of lay people in the Church and vice versa. Therefore, it would be good that a serious study of this document could be undertaken at various levels; in communities, formation houses, seminaries, dioceses, and during CRI meetings both at local and national levels during the current year. 

The main challenge Vita Consecrata places before consecrated persons in India is regarding their mission. How can consecrated persons be more relevant in the present-day context of India where poverty and other forms of injustice are on the increase. How can they stand for human dignity and rights in a caste-ridden society? How can they be prophetic in the face of corruption, oppression of marginal groups and the destruction of the environment for more profit for the corporates? How can they be a sign of unity in a divided society? The challenge is all the more when every movement of Christians, especially consecrated persons, is watched with suspicion and hatred.

Consecrated persons in the present-day context of India cannot be complacent. Besides the traditional ministries of education and health care, they need to address the root causes of poverty and inequality, division and hatred. This document also highlights the unique role of consecrated women ‘in fostering Christian doctrine and morals, family and social life, and especially in everything that affects the dignity of women and respect for human life’ (VC, 58). In a patriarchal society like India, consecrated women have an important role to work for the empowerment of women by overcoming all discrimination, violence and exploitation.

Concluding Remarks

The present context of India is marked by many anti-Kingdom values. Poverty, inequality, denial of human dignity, freedom and rights, violence against vulnerable people, etc., provide ample opportunities for consecrated persons to be relevant by being at the service of the Kingdom of God. This context calls for a prophetic stand. It is hoped that the study of Vita Consecrata will once again ignite the prophetic fire for God’s mission in India, our beloved country.

[Shalini Mulackal is a Presentation sister who taught systematic theology at Vidyajyoti College, Delhi. She currently works as the Formation Coordinator at UISG (International Union of Superiors General) in Rome].

Blurb

Despite the risks involved, consecrated persons continue to walk and work with the marginalized groups to empower and organize the oppressed who are deprived of their rights.

Many saints and martyrs in the Church belonged to Consecrated Life. Likewise, the Church in India too can be proud of women and men who attained holiness of life as consecrated persons.

In reality, consecrated persons who are not clerics are often taken for granted. They are not given due recognition within the Church.

Besides the traditional ministries of education and health care, the consecrated persons need to address the root causes of poverty and inequality, division and hatred.