Pope stresses value of religious vow of obedience

The Pope met participants in general chapters and assemblies of several congregations and institutes at the Clementine Hall in the Vatican on September 18. He reflected on “some unifying characteristics” of the legacy of the founders of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, the Society of Mary (Marists), the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate Conception and the Ursulines of Mary Immaculate.

First, Pope Leo emphasised the importance of community life “as a place of sanctification and a source of inspiration, witness and strength in your apostolate”. The Pope spoke about the foundations of these organisations and how the Holy Spirit provided the inspiration so that “goodness would multiply and grow through the communion of good people”.

Second, the Pope emphasised the value of “obedience as an act of love” in the context of religious consecration. Drawing on the words of St Augustine, he recalled that obedience is the daughter of charity: “I do not trust what is stuck in the soil unless I can see what’s hanging from the branches. You have charity, do you? Show me its fruit. Let me see obedience,” the saint of Hippo said.

Leo XIV admitted that “talking about obedience is not very fashionable today”, because it is considered to involve a renunciation of one’s own freedom.

“But that is not the case,” he affirmed before explaining that “obedience, in its deepest meaning of active and generous listening to others, is a great act of love by which we accept dying to ourselves so that our brothers and sisters may grow and live”.

“When it is professed and lived with faith, obedience reveals a luminous path of self-giving that can help the world rediscover the value of sacrifice, the capacity for lasting relationships and the maturity in community that goes beyond the ‘feelings’ of the moment by establishing itself in fidelity. Obedience is a school of freedom in love,” he explained.

The third characteristic highlighted by the Pontiff related to “being attentive to the signs of the times”, which he defined as “an open and perceptive gaze toward the real demands of our brothers and sisters”, without which the present congregations would not have existed.

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Pope Leo XIV highlights the value of the vow of obedience (By Nicolás de Cárdenas/CNA)