Charism

The charism of a religious Congregation refers to its founding vision. Inspired by Christian faith, the founder felt called to respond to a particular need of the Church and society of his or her time. The charism is God’s gift to that individual, and to the group he or she gathered together to answer this call to serve a section of God’s people in special need.

Thus Claude Poullart des Places felt called by God to leave aside a promising legal career and a comfortable lifestyle in order to found a community dedicated to educating poor seminarians in 18th century France. These in turn would serve the poor and the marginalized in rural France and elsewhere, especially in places where the Church had difficulty in finding workers.

Therefore, the charism of a particular Congregation refers to:

• its distinctive spirit, the particular way in which it feels called by God to live the Gospel message;
• the characteristic manner in which its members perceive and relate to the world in which they live;
• the ethos which marks its internal life and the works that it undertakes.

The perennial challenge for every Congregation is to live in creative fidelity to the founding vision, to be true to the original inspiration and intuitions of the founder, within the changing circumstances of the contemporary world.

Today we realize that the charism of a religious Congregation is not confined to its professed members but is shared by laypeople, single and married, who feel drawn by the same vision.

The Spiritan Charism »