Summary: This article argues that the true renewal of religious life, as envisioned by the Second Vatican Council, requires a shift in focus from the external forum (canonical vows, schedules, and institutional identity) to the internal forum of the heart. While obedience and fidelity to the horarium are necessary, they only effect a surface-level purification. The text asserts that the essential priority is a robust, dedicated spiritual formation that guides the consecrated person toward the true goal: profound purification, transformation, and complete union with Christ (the perfection of charity). The current impasse in renewal is attributed to a common temptation to reduce religious life to formalism, a lack of depth in contemporary spiritual theology, and a failure to recognise that authentic, interior change—not merely revising constitutions—is the wellspring of true reform.
The exercise of the religious vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty belongs first and foremost to the canonical sphere, that is, to the external forum, even though their authentic practice presupposes a deep spiritual life and a total commitment to Jesus. In this sense, religious life cannot be reduced to what belongs to the external forum, for such a reduction would leave the person only half-sanctified. The decisive work of religious life is essentially interior. Hence the need for a spiritual formation that sets out the path of purification and transformation which the Holy Spirit intends to accomplish.
Since the goal of religious life is the perfection of charity – in other words, holiness – it is crucial to understand that holiness involves a profound purification of the person. The vows, by their very nature, can effect only an initial purification on the surface. The Holy Spirit must go far deeper. Religious life, considered simply as a canonical state defined by the three vows, is therefore insufficient to lead to holiness if it is not accompanied by genuine spiritual formation and personal spiritual direction.
Obedience to superiors and fidelity to the horarium, despite the fact that they are needed remain, they are external acts. They should, of course, be animated by the Holy Spirit, but in themselves they touch only the surface of the person. The true work of sanctification, the work the Holy Spirit seeks to carry out, requires a dedicated formation that goes well beyond the vows and the observance of the schedule. Spiritual formation is what makes a person mature and responsible, one who listens first to God and follows the Holy Spirit.
The authentic framework of the spiritual life and of spiritual obedience unfolds within the broader exterior framework of ordinary obedience and fidelity to the horarium. In this sense, when rightly understood, the vows and the Horarium actually free the consecrated person, enabling him to devote himself to the inner work, to attend to it, and to remain faithful to it. If this is understood and lived, and if substantial spiritual formation is provided, then religious life can indeed be renewed.
The great temptation in consecrated life is to reduce the Gospel to formal obedience, rites, and external observances, and eventually to a comfortable existence with a degree of security – shelter, food, healthcare, and the like. Such a situation can easily lead to spiritual complacency. Even the very notion of a ‘state of life’ can become a temptation, for the consecrated person is meant to embark on a genuine spiritual journey, taking each day a further step towards union with Christ. Yet in practice, the very notion of a ‘state of life’ often comes to resemble a point of arrival, a settled installation in a fixed condition or position — which undermines the very purpose of the consecrated life.
Another temptation arises from the particular mission or charism of the institute. Instead of remaining focused on the primary goal of the consecrated life, one becomes absorbed in the charism or apostolic work, or in the distinctive identity of the congregation. One gradually strays from the central purpose of one’s vocation: to be sanctified, purified, transformed, and united to Christ. It is as though we have not yet fully grasped the profound relationship between the two commandments or, indeed, the new commandment itself. Worse still, the second commandment is sometimes allowed to eclipse the first, as though tension or conflict existed between them. A lack of depth in the spiritual life inevitably gives rise to this deviation and this dichotomy.
The principal issue for the renewal of religious life, as desired by the Second Vatican Council, is twofold. First, one must recover the true meaning and purpose of religious life, which is union with God and the perfection of charity. It is an interior spiritual journey that belongs to the internal forum and has its own proper means. Secondly, one must recognise that the ordinary external structures of religious life operate only on the surface, and that a genuine, substantive spiritual formation is urgently required today.
In short, renewal cannot be achieved merely through cosmetic adjustments to Constitutions, nor through an exclusive emphasis on fidelity to the vows or to the horarium. Neither can the primary concern be simple adherence to a particular charism. The essential priority is interior fidelity to the Lord, using the means provided by a robust spiritual formation. The difficulty, however, is that contemporary spiritual theology is often weak, superficial, and impractical, neglecting the very question of what ‘spiritual formation’ truly entails. As a result, many formators are unable to perceive what constitutes a substantial and effective spiritual formation.
Are we simply turning in circles — the chicken or the egg, fidelity to the external forum or fidelity to the internal forum, spiritual formation or spiritual theology? Sadly not. The point is straightforward: unless the reality of ‘spiritual formation’, and all that it entails, is itself renewed, there can be no genuine renewal of religious life of the kind envisaged by the Second Vatican Council.
The Council called religious institutes to return to the original sources of their inspiration; it set out the essential elements and conditions of renewal; and it invited communities to revise their constitutions. Yet constitutions, by their very nature, are meant to express an existing spiritual and religious form of life; they are not the instruments that create that life. Change does not arise from law. It arises from authentic formation. Rather than concentrating debates on the wording of Constitutions and Ratio Formationis, the fundamental task should have been to renew our understanding of formation itself — above all, spiritual formation.
Because Spiritual Theology remains shallow, underdeveloped, and insufficiently practical, we have reached an impasse. Constitutions and Ratios have indeed been revised, but often on the basis of a theological framework that has not undergone a corresponding renewal in the spiritual life formation. The result is a partial renewal of doctrine without the corresponding renewal of spiritual formation — and this cannot produce the renewal of religious life sought by the Council.
A parallel can be seen in Mariology. Despite the efforts of the Council, followed by those of Pope Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II, Mariology today remains comparatively superficial and has not been adequately renewed. As long as this remains the case, the renewal of religious life will likewise remain incomplete.
In religious life, we often concentrate on religious formation—external structures, observances, vows and institutional identity—while neglecting the deep spiritual formation. Institutional renewal must be animated by a ‘renewal of spirit’ which takes precedence over external or apostolic activity. (Perfectae Caritatis 2) and leads to authentic renewal
John Paul II teaches that formation in consecrated life is not merely about external competencies, but ‘a path of gradual identification with the attitude of Christ’ (Vita Consecrata, §65), a lifelong journey towards conformity to Christ under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Without this substantial spiritual formation, the external framework of religious life remains insufficient, for true formation, according to the Ratio, aims at gradually ‘transforming … the heart in the image of the heart of Christ’ (Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis (2016), §89).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the authentic renewal of religious life cannot be achieved through mere cosmetic changes, adherence to external observances, or the exclusive emphasis on a particular charism. The core issue, and the prerequisite for genuine reform, is the urgent need to revitalize and implement substantive spiritual formation. This formation must transcend superficial competencies, focusing instead on the deep, interior work of transformation—a lifelong journey of identifying with the attitude of Christ and achieving union with God. Unless we commit to renewing our understanding and practice of spiritual theology, making it practical and profound, the external framework of religious life will remain insufficient, and the post-conciliar vision of a deeply sanctified and fully renewed consecrated life will regrettably remain incomplete. The path to renewal is clear: it is a return to interior fidelity to the Lord.
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