Charisms for Unity Movement

In a fragmented and divided world like ours, the witness of mutual love lived by consecrated men and women, together with lay people who share their respective charisms, aims to be a contribution to the realization of universal fraternity through the specific intuition that the founders and foundresses of charismatic families (religious orders and institutes) had in their time.

Consecrated men and women, who have been referred to as “experts in communion”,(1) feel called to share and bear witness to their respective charisms, together with many lay people. Together, they pursue the dialogue of life with everyone, with a particular sensitivity to ecumenism, interreligious relations, to people of different beliefs and with the various manifestations of contemporary culture.

The nature of a sign that characterizes the consecrated life in the historical journey of the people of God, places it in a privileged way in the line of prophetic evangelism. Pope Francis told young people: “Consecrated life too can be barren, when it is not actually prophetic; when one is not allowed to dream”.(2) Prophecy, in fact, works in the faithful and transforms their hearts giving life to an integrated humanity, where human and divine merge and express themselves as “new humanity”.

The specific aim of the C4UM

The ‘Charism for Unity’ Movement (= MC4U) aims to promote initiatives, such as days of study, discussion and witnessing, conferences, spirituality weeks, refresher courses, symposia, which are inspired by the spirituality of unity, defined by St John Paul II as a spirituality of communion(3) and offer their contribution to synodal ecclesiology.

How does the C4UM work?

The C4UM can therefore be understood as a reality that proposes a path of communion, a path of Trinitarian relationships to consecrated women and men and to lay people associated with a charism and to their charismatic families. It is a concrete proposal of being able to become saints together; it is a new path that moves in two directions: towards the Church and towards humanity.

• Towards the Church: through communion between charisms, that is, through the relationship between religious families and with other ecclesial components, the C4UM aims to make the Mystical Body of Christ, understood as the body of “Christ revealed through the centuries”, visible. It aims to show it as “a living Gospel”, to use Chiara Lubich’s expressions and, as Hans von Balthasar states, to highlight the “Marian profile” of the Church.
• Towards humanity, the C4UM helps charismatic families to put themselves at the service of people with that transforming force that arises when charisms work in a reciprocal way.

Young people and young Religious

The MC4U offers both young people approached in the apostolic activities proper to each charism, and young religious men and women in formation the opportunity to experience the beauty of charisms in communion.

Ecumenism among Religious and Interfaith Dialogue

Ecumenical dialogue between consecrated persons of different churches is another path that the MC4U intends to pursue. The ‘Ecumenical Colloquium’, “, organized by the CIVCSVA as part of the Year of Consecrated Life (January 2015), stressed the need to engage on this front.

The C4UM is committed to promoting regular contacts with monks of other religious traditions through a constant dialogue.

1. SCRIS 1978 Plenary, Religious and Human Promotion, no. 24
2. Pope Francis to consecrated young people, Vatican Sato, Thursday 17 September 2015
3. Novo Millennium Ineunte, 43