Vatican City, Feb 6, 2008 / 14:36 pm
The prefect for the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Cardinal Franc Rode, said this week that religious brothers and sisters are called to “bear witness to man’s eternal destiny.”
During the presentation of the book “Authority in Consecrated Life,” as part of the activities of the World Day for Consecrated Life, the cardinal pointed out that the mission of religious is to bear witness that “we were not created to live only in this brief time of our earthly life, but rather we are called to an eternal destiny in the presence of the Lord.”
Cardinal Rode thanked the Claretian missionaries for all they have done and for what they will do in the future for consecrated life. He also noted that the members of the consecrated life “are called to bear witness to the eternal destiny of man” following “the example of Jesus who lived a life of poverty, chastity and obedience to the Father.”
“This eschatological call of religious is the most important part of their mission,” he stressed, and he added, “I ardently desire that we offer convincing and measurable testimony of this transcendent mission of man.”