Vatican on Monasticism. A Benedictine oblate blog

The Oblate Spring web site is the companion to this blog. Today I revised the page containing links to "Vatican Documents on Monasticism." Some of the Vatican's statements have been extracted and added as quotes below the links.

A summary of the documents linked on the "Vatican Documents on Monasticism" page might be the following from Pope John Paul II in 1996:

"In the heart of the Church and the world, monasteries have been and continue to be eloquent signs of communion, welcoming abodes for those seeking God and the things of the spirit, schools of faith and true places of study, dialogue and culture for the building up of the life of the Church and of the earthly city itself, in expectation of the heavenly city."

I especially think the following from Pope John Paul II in 1995 helped me understand the total call of being part of the faithful baptized. What is sometimes thought of as being “monastic” can also be sought by all:

"Moreover, in the East, monasticism was not seen merely as a separate condition, proper to a precise category of Christians, but rather as a reference point for all the baptized, according to the gifts offered to each by the Lord; it was presented as a symbolic synthesis of Christianity.”