Vatican City, Jul 28, 2020 / 09:15 am
The cardinal leading the Vatican's congregation on consecrated life said Monday that contemplative religious communities are needed and will not disappear, even as more than 30 monasteries closed in Spain last year.
"Contemplative life is not destined to disappear, but must reflect with transparency the ideal of evangelical life of the founders that is at its base," Cardinal João Braz de Aviz said in an interview published Monday.
"We need contemplative life as we need food and water to live," he added, saying that "contemplative life, however, cannot be an island parallel to the life of the Church, but its treasure well integrated into its body."
The prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life said "the Church has received from the contemplative life throughout the centuries an authentic experience of the face of God and has learned to have a praying heart."