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Prophetic Witness Today: Insights from the Jubilee of Consecrated Life in Rome
Kasmir Nema, SVD
The celebration, organized by the Dicastery for Evangelization and the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, became a living testimony of communion, hope, and peace for the universal Church.
For the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), this Jubilee offered a profound moment to revisit our roots, drawing inspiration from the spirituality of St. Arnold Janssen and the directions of the 19th General Chapter (2024): to be faithful and creative disciples in a wounded world — witnessing to the Light from everywhere for everyone.
A Pilgrimage of Hope: Passing Through the Holy Door
The Jubilee opened with a pilgrimage through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica — a symbolic passage into a time of grace. Thousands of religious men and women, monks, nuns, hermits, secular institutes, and members of new communities walked together in prayer and reconciliation.
At the evening Vigil, Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, SDB, presided over a liturgy centered on the theme “Pilgrims of Hope on the Paths of Peace.” Testimonies from around the world — a cloistered nun reflecting on Gaza, a missionary sister affirming “My life is mission” — highlighted hope as both fragile and resilient.
Cardinal Artime invited consecrated persons to look to Mary as “a force in motion, a womb that generates hope.” Reflecting on the Visitation, he described consecrated life as movement, encounter, and light — imagery that deeply resonates with the missionary dynamism of the SVD since its foundation in Steyl in 1875.
“Ask, Seek, Knock”: Pope Leo XIV’s Spiritual Roadmap
On 9 October, Pope Leo XIV presided at the Eucharist in St. Peter’s Square, offering consecrated men and women a spiritual itinerary based on Luke 11:9:
- Ask in poverty, recognizing that everything is a gift;
- Seek in obedience, discovering God’s daily path;
- Knock with a chaste heart, offering received gifts to others.
The Pope urged religious people to remember the free gift of their vocation, from their congregational origins to their mission today, and to bear witness to God’s primacy in a fragmented world.
For SVD, this call speaks directly to the Chapter theme of radicati in Verbo Dei (rooted in the Word), inviting us to live our vows as communicative acts of love and signs of eschatological hope.
Synodality and Mission: Walking Together Interculturally
The theme of synodality took center stage on 10 October. Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad presided at the Eucharist, followed by Sr. Simona Brambilla’s evocative image of consecrated life as “many unique sounds forming a single Jubilee symphony,” blown through the biblical yobel horn.
Pope Leo XIV addressed the assembly with a decisive call:
“Work to become, day by day, more and more experts in synodality, because it is in this style that the Church recognizes the face of Christ walking with us.”
Consecrated persons gathered in various Roman institutions for spiritual conversations, embodying a synodal Church. For SVD, this mirrors General Chapter 2024, which invites the Society to walk together interculturally, discerning God’s mission in community.
The day concluded with multilingual prayers for peace under the theme “Many Languages — One Heart for Peace” — a powerful sign of intercultural communion that lies at the core of the SVD charism.
Prophets of Hope and Artisans of Peace
The Jubilee’s final day turned toward peace-building. Cardinal Artime called consecrated men and women to become “prophets of hope” and “bearers of living water,” rooted in the Word. Sr. Teresa Maya challenged participants to create “ecosystems of peace” through intercultural and interreligious encounters — themes deeply intertwined with the SVD’s mission in diverse and often wounded contexts.
Workshops on mediation and conflict transformation echoed the Society’s prophetic dialogue and its commitment to Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC).
The celebration concluded at St. Paul Outside the Walls, where 4,000 consecrated men and women renewed their profession of faith and commitment to be “pilgrims of hope on the path of peace.” Sr. Simona Brambilla sent them forth with these words:
“Let us go, pilgrims of hope on the path of peace, carrying within us the experience we have lived — to treasure it in our hearts and share it with those we meet!”
SVD Spirituality in the Jubilee Journey
While not a formal participant, the SVD draws rich spiritual and missionary inspiration from this Jubilee of Consecrated Life. The themes proclaimed in Rome — rootedness in the Word, synodal walking, prophetic dialogue, intercultural communion — are precisely the pathways highlighted by the 19th General Chapter.
This global celebration is a kairos moment for the SVD to rekindle the missionary zeal of our founders, to live our vows as communicative acts of God’s love, and to bring the “oxygen of God’s love” to the peripheries of today’s wounded world.
