In Cover Story 2, the author, Fr Arnald Mahesh, explores the future of religious life within a globalized world, emphasizing the need to strengthen communion and highlighting nine key features that will shape the future of religious life in our interconnected world.
Religious life is a theological reality. This consecration is lived within a given Institute according to Constitutions which the Church approves. Some essential elements of religious life are: the call of God and consecration to Him through profession of the evangelical counsels by public vows; a stable form of community life; for institutes dedicated to apostolic works, a sharing in Christ’s mission by a corporate apostolate faithful to a specific founding gift and sound tradition; personal and community prayer; asceticism; public witness; a specific relation to the Church; a lifelong formation; and a form of government calling for religious authority based on faith.
Globalization is generally a movement of capitalism spreading across the globe. It also refers to an open flow of information, technology, and goods among countries and consumers. This openness occurs through various relationships, from business, geopolitics, and technology to travel, culture, and media. Since globalization can be defined as a process of an ever more interdependent world where political, economic, social, and cultural relationships are not restricted to territorial boundaries, globalization has much to do with its creation of a homogenized “global culture.”
Religious life in a globalized world
Historical and cultural changes bring about evolution in the lived reality, but the forms and direction that the evolution takes are determined by the essential elements of religious life without which religious life loses its identity. The process of globalization has truly made the world a smaller place – a global village – in which political, social, and economic events elsewhere affect individuals anywhere, including religious across the globe. As a result, individuals (including consecrated persons) search for identities in a world that is ever changing. The relationship between globalization and religious life is one with new possibilities and challenges. Put differently, globalization has engendered some desirable and less desirable consequences in religious life. Although these challenge religious life, they would never make it obsolete – as these challenges can be converted into possibilities – because it is a divine action.
Fr Arnald Mahesh SDB
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