The document Perfectae Caritatis (1965), one of the major decrees from the Second Vatican

Council on the renewal of religious life, gives valuable insights into the contemplative
dimension and enclosure, emphasizing the importance of both for religious life’s integrity
and mission.

Contemplative Dimension

Perfectae Caritatis advocates that the primary purpose of religious life is to deepen union
with God. Contemplative life, particularly for those in enclosed orders, is highlighted as a
response to the call of prayer and spiritual intimacy with God. In the document, religious life
is not seen as merely a set of rules or obligations but rather as a way to experience God’s love
profoundly and consistently. This contemplative approach requires a life of silence, prayer,
and separation from worldly distractions, supporting religious in focusing on God and
fostering a spirit of communion and intercession for the world.

Enclosure

Perfectae Caritatis speaks to the practice of enclosure as a means of fostering the

contemplative life. Enclosure is understood not as isolation but as a profound sign of
dedication to God, symbolizing the leaving behind of worldly pursuits for the sake of divine
intimacy. The document calls for an enclosure that allows for greater concentration on prayer,
spiritual growth, and the deepening of one’s relationship with God, without distraction from
external concerns. However, it also allows for certain adjustments to enclosure based on the
modern needs of the Church and society, as long as these changes do not detract from the
essential contemplative focus.

Renewal and Adaptation

The document encourages religious communities to renew their approach to contemplative

life and enclosure to remain relevant to contemporary needs without compromising the core
purpose of religious dedication to God. This renewal aims to ensure that contemplative
communities maintain their unique mission as places of prayer and intercession for the
Church and the world, staying true to their charism and rule.

In summary, Perfectae Caritatis affirms that both the contemplative dimension and enclosure
in religious life serve as a means of profound communion with God. It highlights that this
lifestyle is an offering for the world, drawing people closer to God through prayer, sacrifice,
and witness to divine love.

The contemplative dimension of religious life and the importance of enclosure are addressed
primarily in Article 7 of Perfectae Caritatis. This article discusses the need for contemplative
communities to focus on prayer and separation from worldly distractions to fulfill their
vocation of union with God and intercessory prayer for the world.

In Article 7, the document states that contemplative communities should retain their
distinctive character and practice enclosure to safeguard the contemplative spirit, while also
allowing for adaptations that do not compromise the essentials of their vocation. The article
affirms the value of contemplative life as a witness to the primacy of God and a form of silent
intercession for humanity.

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DECREE ON
THE ADAPTATION AND RENEWAL OF RELIGIOUS LIFE
PERFECTAE CARITATIS
PROCLAIMED BY HIS HOLINESS
POPE PAUL VI
ON OCTOBER 28, 1965

1. The sacred synod has already shown in the constitution on the Church that the
pursuit of perfect charity through the evangelical counsels draws its origin from
the doctrine and example of the Divine Master and reveals itself as a splendid
sign of the heavenly kingdom. Now it intends to treat of the life and discipline of
those institutes whose members make profession of chastity, poverty and
obedience and to provide for their needs in our time.

Indeed from the very beginning of the Church men and women have set about
following Christ with greater freedom and imitating Him more closely through the
practice of the evangelical counsels, each in his own way leading a life dedicated
to God. Many of them, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, lived as hermits or
founded religious families, which the Church gladly welcomed and approved by
her authority. So it is that in accordance with the Divine Plan a wonderful variety
of religious communities has grown up which has made it easier for the Church
not only to be equipped for every good work (cf. 2 Tim 3:17) and ready for the
work of the ministry-the building up of the Body of Christ (cf. Eph. 4:12)-but also
to appear adorned with the various gifts of her children like a spouse adorned for
her husband (cf. Apoc. 21:2) and for the manifold Wisdom of God to be revealed
through her (cf. Eph. 3:10).

Despite such a great variety of gifts, all those called by God to the practice of the
evangelical counsels and who, faithfully responding to the call, undertake to
observe the same, bind themselves to the Lord in a special way, following Christ,
who chaste and poor (cf. Matt. 8:20; Luke 9:58) redeemed and sanctified men
through obedience even to the death of the Cross (cf. Phil. 2:8). Driven by love
with which the Holy Spirit floods their hearts (cf. Rom. 5:5) they live more and
more for Christ and for His body which is the Church (cf. Col. 1:24). The more
fervently, then, they are joined to Christ by this total life-long gift of themselves,
the richer the life of the Church becomes and the more lively and successful its
apostolate.

In order that the great value of a life consecrated by the profession of the
counsels and its necessary mission today may yield greater good to the Church,
the sacred synod lays down the following prescriptions. They are meant to state
only the general principles of the adaptation and renewal of the life and
discipline of Religious orders and also, without prejudice to their special
characteristics, of societies of common life without vows and secular institutes.
Particular norms for the proper explanation and application of these principles
are to be determined after the council by the authority in question.

2. The adaptation and renewal of the religious life includes both the constant
return to the sources of all Christian life and to the original spirit of the institutes
and their adaptation to the changed conditions of our time. This renewal, under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of the Church, must be
advanced according to the following principles:

a) Since the ultimate norm of the religious life is the following of Christ set forth
in the Gospels, let this be held by all institutes as the highest rule.

b) It redounds to the good of the Church that institutes have their own particular
characteristics and work. Therefore let their founders' spirit and special aims
they set before them as well as their sound traditions-all of which make up the
patrimony of each institute-be faithfully held in honor.

c) All institutes should share in the life of the Church, adapting as their own and
implementing in accordance with their own characteristics the Church's
undertakings and aims in matters biblical, liturgical, dogmatic, pastoral,
ecumenical, missionary and social.

d) Institutes should promote among their members an adequate knowledge of

the social conditions of the times they live in and of the needs of the Church. In
such a way, judging current events wisely in the light of faith and burning with
apostolic zeal, they may be able to assist men more effectively.

e ) The purpose of the religious life is to help the members follow Christ and be
united to God through the profession of the evangelical counsels. It should be
constantly kept in mind, therefore, that even the best adjustments made in
accordance with the needs of our age will be ineffectual unless they are
animated by a renewal of spirit. This must take precedence over even the active
ministry.

3. The manner of living, praying and working should be suitably adapted

everywhere, but especially in mission territories, to the modern physical and
psychological circumstances of the members and also, as required by the nature
of each institute, to the necessities of the apostolate, the demands of culture,
and social and economic circumstances.

According to the same criteria let the manner of governing the institutes also be
examined.

Therefore let constitutions, directories, custom books, books of prayers and

ceremonies and such like be suitably re-edited and, obsolete laws being
suppressed, be adapted to the decrees of this sacred synod.

4. An effective renewal and adaptation demands the cooperation of all the

members of the institute.

However, to establish the norms of adaptation and renewal, to embody it in

legislation as well as to make allowance for adequate and prudent
experimentation belongs only to the competent authorities, especially to general
chapters. The approbation of the Holy See or of the local Ordinary must be
obtained where necessary according to law. But superiors should take counsel in
an appropriate way and hear the members of the order in those things which
concern the future well being of the whole institute.

For the adaptation and renewal of convents of nuns suggestions and advice may
be obtained also from the meetings of federations or from other assemblies
lawfully convoked.

Nevertheless everyone should keep in mind that the hope of renewal lies more in
the faithful observance of the rules and constitutions than in multiplying laws.

5. Members of each institute should recall first of all that by professing the
evangelical counsels they responded to a divine call so that by being not only
dead to sin (cf. Rom. 6:11) but also renouncing the world they may live for God
alone. They have dedicated their entire lives to His service. This constitutes a
special consecration, which is deeply rooted in that of baptism and expresses it
more fully.

Since the Church has accepted their surrender of self they should realize they
are also dedicated to its service.

This service of God ought to inspire and foster in them the exercise of the
virtues, especially humility, obedience, fortitude and chastity. In such a way they
share in Christ's emptying of Himself (cf. Phil. 2:7) and His life in the spirit (cf.
Rom. 8:1-13).

Faithful to their profession then, and leaving all things for the sake of Christ (cf.
Mark 10:28), religious are to follow Him (cf. Matt. 19:21) as the one thing
necessary (cf. Luke 10:42) listening to His words (cf. Luke 10:39) and solicitous
for the things that are His (cf. 1 Cor. 7:32).

It is necessary therefore that the members of every community, seeking God

solely and before everything else, should join contemplation, by which they fix
their minds and hearts on Him, with apostolic love, by which they strive to be
associated with the work of redemption and to spread the kingdom of God.

6. Let those who make profession of the evangelical counsels seek and love
above all else God who has first loved us (cf. 1 John 4:10) and let them strive to
foster in all circumstances a life hidden with Christ in God (cf. Col. 3:3). This love
of God both excites and energizes that love of one's neighbor which contributes
to the salvation of the world and the building up of the Church. This love, in
addition, quickens and directs the actual practice of the evangelical counsels.

Drawing therefore upon the authentic sources of Christian spirituality, members

of religious communities should resolutely cultivate both the spirit and practice
of prayer. In the first place they should have recourse daily to the Holy Scriptures
in order that, by reading and meditating on Holy Writ, they may learn "the
surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ" (Phil. 3:8). They should celebrate the
sacred liturgy, especially the holy sacrifice of the Mass, with both lips and heart
as the Church desires and so nourish their spiritual life from this richest of
sources.
So refreshed at the table of divine law and the sacred altar of God, they will love
Christ's members as brothers, honor and love their pastors as sons should do,
and living and thinking ever more in union with the Church, dedicate themselves
wholly to its mission.

7. Communities which are entirely dedicated to contemplation, so that their

members in solitude and silence, with constant prayer and penance willingly
undertaken, occupy themselves with God alone, retain at all times, no matter
how pressing the needs of the active apostolate may be, an honorable place in
the Mystical Body of Christ, whose "members do not all have the same function"
(Rom. 12:4). For these offer to God a sacrifice of praise which is outstanding.
Moreover the manifold results of their holiness lends luster to the people of God
which is inspired by their example and which gains new members by their
apostolate which is as effective as it is hidden. Thus they are revealed to be a
glory of the Church and a well-spring of heavenly graces. Nevertheless their
manner of living should be revised according to the principles and criteria of
adaptation and renewal mentioned above. However their withdrawal from the
world and the exercises proper to the contemplative life should be preserved
with the utmost care.

8. There are in the Church very many communities, both clerical and lay, which
devote themselves to various apostolic tasks. The gifts which these communities
possess differ according to the grace which is allotted to them. Administrators
have the gift of administration, teachers that of teaching, the gift of stirring
speech is given to preachers, liberality to those who exercise charity and
cheerfulness to those who help others in distress (cf. Rom. 12:5-8). "The gifts are
varied, but the Spirit is the same" (1 Cor. 12:4).

In these communities apostolic and charitable activity belongs to the very nature
of the religious life, seeing that it is a holy service and a work characteristic of
love, entrusted to them by the Church to be carried out in its name. Therefore,
the whole religious life of their members should be inspired by an apostolic spirit
and all their apostolic activity formed by the spirit of religion. Therefore in order
that their members may first correspond to their vocation to follow Christ and
serve Him in His members, their apostolic activity must spring from intimate
union with Him. Thus love itself towards God and the neighbor is fostered.

These communities, then, should adjust their rules and customs to fit the
demands of the apostolate to which they are dedicated. The fact however that
apostolic religious life takes on many forms requires that its adaptation and
renewal take account of this diversity and provide that the lives of religious
dedicated to the service of Christ in these various communities be sustained by
special provisions appropriate to each.

9. The monastic life, that venerable institution which in the course of a long
history has won for itself notable renown in the Church and in human society,
should be preserved with care and its authentic spirit permitted to shine forth
ever more splendidly both in the East and the West. The principal duty of monks
is to offer a service to the divine majesty at once humble and noble within the
walls of the monastery, whether they dedicate themselves entirely to divine
worship in the contemplative life or have legitimately undertaken some
apostolate or work of Christian charity. Retaining, therefore, the characteristics
of the way of life proper to them, they should revive their ancient traditions of
service and so adapt them to the needs of today that monasteries will become
institutions dedicated to the edification of the Christian people.

Some religious communities according to their rule or constitutions closely join

the apostolic life to choir duty and monastic observances. These should so adapt
their manner of life to the demands of the apostolate appropriate to them that
they observe faithfully their way of life, since it has been of great service to the
Church.

10. The religious life, undertaken by lay people, either men or women, is a state
for the profession of the evangelical counsels which is complete in itself. While
holding in high esteem therefore this way of life so useful to the pastoral mission
of the Church in educating youth, caring for the sick and carrying out its other
ministries, the sacred synod confirms these religious in their vocation and urges
them to adjust their way of life to modern needs.

The sacred synod declares that there is nothing to prevent some members of
religious communities of brothers being admitted to holy orders by provision of
their general chapter in order to meet the need for priestly ministrations in their
own houses, provided that the lay character of the community remains
unchanged.

11. Secular Institutes, although not Religious institutes involve a true and full
profession of the evangelical counsels in the world. This profession is recognized
by the Church and consecrates to God men and women, lay and clerical, who live
in the world. Hence they should make a total dedication of themselves to God in
perfect charity their chief aim, and the institutes themselves should preserve
their own proper, i.e., secular character, so that they may be able to carry out
effectively everywhere in and, as it were, from the world the apostolate for which
they were founded.

It may be taken for granted, however, that so great a task cannot be discharged
unless the members be thoroughly trained in matters divine and human so that
they are truly a leaven in the world for the strengthening and growth of the body
of Christ. Superiors, therefore, should give serious attention especially to the
spiritual training to be given members as well as encourage their further
formation.

12. The chastity "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19:12) which
religious profess should be counted an outstanding gift of grace. It frees the
heart of man in a unique fashion (cf. 1 Cor. 7:32-35) so that it may be more
inflamed with love for God and for all men. Thus it not only symbolizes in a
singular way the heavenly goods but also the most suitable means by which
religious dedicate themselves with undivided heart to the service of God and the
works of the apostolate. In this way they recall to the minds of all the faithful that
wondrous marriage decreed by God and which is to be fully revealed in the
future age in which the Church takes Christ as its only spouse.

Religious, therefore, who are striving faithfully to observe the chastity they have
professed must have faith in the words of the Lord, and trusting in God's help not
overestimate their own strength but practice mortification and custody of the
senses. Neither should they neglect the natural means which promote health of
mind and body. As a result they will not be influenced by those false doctrines
which scorn perfect continence as being impossible or harmful to human
development and they will repudiate by a certain spiritual instinct everything
which endangers chastity. In addition let all, especially superiors, remember that
chastity is guarded more securely when true brotherly love flourishes in the
common life of the community.

Since the observance of perfect continence touches intimately the deepest

instincts of human nature, candidates should neither present themselves for nor
be admitted to the vow of chastity, unless they have been previously tested
sufficiently and have been shown to possess the required psychological and
emotional maturity. They should not only be warned about the dangers to
chastity which they may meet but they should be so instructed as to be able to
undertake the celibacy which binds them to God in a way which will benefit their
entire personality.

13. Religious should diligently practice and if need be express also in new forms
that voluntary poverty which is recognized and highly esteemed especially today
as an expression of the following of Christ. By it they share in the poverty of
Christ who for our sakes became poor, even though He was rich, so that by His
poverty we might become rich (cf. 2 Cor. 8:9; Matt. 8:20).

With regard to religious poverty it is not enough to use goods in a way subject to
the superior's will, but members must be poor both in fact and in spirit, their
treasures being in heaven (cf. Matt. 6:20).

Religious should consider themselves in their own assignments to be bound by

the common law of labor, and while they procure what is required for their
sustenance and works, they should banish all undue solicitude and trust
themselves to the provident care of their Father in heaven (cf. Matt. 6:25).

Religious congregations by their constitutions can permit their members to

renounce inheritances, both those which have been acquired or may be
acquired.

Due regard being had for local conditions, religious communities should readily
offer a quasi-collective witness to poverty and gladly use their own goods for
other needs of the Church and the support of the poor whom all religious should
love after the example of Christ (cf. Matt. 19:21, 25:34-46 James 2:15-16; 1 John
3:17). The several provinces and houses of each community should share their
temporal goods with one another, so that those who have more help the others
who are in need.

Religious communities have the right to possess whatever is required for their
temporal life and work, unless this is forbidden by their rules and constitutions.
Nevertheless, they should avoid every appearance of luxury, excessive wealth
and the accumulation of goods.

14. In professing obedience, religious offer the full surrender of their own will as
a sacrifice of themselves to God and so are united permanently and securely to
God's salvific will.

After the example of Jesus Christ who came to do the will of the Father (cf. John
4:34; 5:30; Heb. 10:7; Ps. 39:9) and "assuming the nature of a slave" (Phil. 2:7)
learned obedience in the school of suffering (cf. Heb. 5:8), religious under the
motion of the Holy Spirit, subject themselves in faith to their superiors who hold
the place of God. Under their guidance they are led to serve all their brothers in
Christ, just as Christ himself in obedience to the Father served His brethren and
laid down His life as a ransom for many (cf. Matt. 20:28; John 10:14-18). So they
are closely bound to the service of the Church and strive to attain the measure of
the full manhood of Christ (Eph. 4:13).

Religious, therefore, in the spirit of faith and love for the divine will should
humbly obey their superiors according to their rules and constitutions. Realizing
that they are contributing to building up the body of Christ according to God's
plan, they should use both the forces of their intellect and will and the gifts of
nature and grace to execute the commands and fulfill the duties entrusted to
them. In this way religious obedience, far from lessening the dignity of the
human person, by extending the freedom of the sons of God, leads it to maturity.

Superiors, as those who are to give an account of the souls entrusted to them
(Heb. 13:17), should fulfill their office in a way responsive to God's will. They
should exercise their authority out of a spirit of service to the brethren,
expressing in this way the love with which God loves their subjects. They should
govern these as sons of God, respecting their human dignity. In this way they
make it easier for them to subordinate their wills. They should be particularly
careful to respect their subjects' liberty in the matters of sacramental confession
and the direction of conscience. Subjects should be brought to the point where
they will cooperate with an active and responsible obedience in undertaking new
tasks and in carrying those already undertaken. And so superiors should gladly
listen to their subjects and foster harmony among them for the good of the
community and the Church, provided that thereby their own authority to decide
and command what has to be done is not harmed.

Chapters and deliberative bodies should faithfully discharge the part in ruling
entrusted to them and each should in its own way express that concern for the
good of the entire community which all its members share.

15. Common life, fashioned on the model of the early Church where the body of
believers was united in heart and soul (cf. Acts 4:32), and given new force by the
teaching of the Gospel, the sacred liturgy and especially the Eucharist, should
continue to be lived in prayer and the communion of the same spirit. As
members of Christ living together as brothers, religious should give pride of
place in esteem to each other (cf. Rom. 12:10) and bear each other's burdens
(cf. Gal. 6:2). For the community, a true family gathered together in the name of
the Lord by God's love which has flooded the hearts of its members through the
Holy Spirit (cf.Rom. 5:5), rejoices because He is present among them (cf. Matt.
18:20). Moreover love sums up the whole law (cf. Rom. 13:10), binds all together
in perfect unity (cf. Col. 3:14) and by it we know that we have crossed over from
death to life (cf. 1 John 3:14). Furthermore, the unity of the brethren is a visible
pledge that Christ will return (cf. John 13:35; 17:21) and a source of great
apostolic energy.

That all the members be more closely knit by the bond of brotherly love, those
who are called lay-brothers, assistants, or some similar name should be drawn
closely in to the life and work of the community. Unless conditions really suggest
something else, care should be taken that there be only one class of Sisters in
communities of women. Only that distinction of persons should be retained which
corresponds to-the diversity of works for which the Sisters are destined, either by
special vocation from God or by reason of special aptitude.

However, monasteries of men and communities which are not exclusively lay
can, according to their nature and constitutions, admit clerics and lay persons on
an equal footing and with equal rights and obligations, excepting those which
flow from sacred orders.

16. Papal cloister should be maintained in the case of nuns engaged exclusively
in the contemplative life. However, it must be adjusted to conditions of time and
place and obsolete practices suppressed. This should be done after due
consultation with the monasteries in question. But other nuns applied by rule to
apostolic work outside the convent should be exempted from papal cloister in
order to enable them better to fulfill the apostolic duties entrusted to them.
Nevertheless, cloister is to be maintained according to the prescriptions of their
constitutions.

17. The religious habit, an outward mark of consecration to God, should be

simple and modest, poor and at the same becoming. In addition it must meet the
requirements of health and be suited to the circumstances of time and place and
to the needs of the ministry involved. The habits of both men and women
religious which do not conform to these norms must be changed.

18. Adaptation and renewal depend greatly on the education of religious.

Consequently neither non-clerical religious nor religious women should be
assigned to apostolic works immediately after the novitiate. Rather, their
religious and apostolic formation, joined with instruction in arts and science
directed toward obtaining appropriate degrees, must be continued as needs
require in houses established for those purposes.

In order that the adaptation of religious life to the needs of our time may not be
merely external and that those employed by rule in the active apostolate may be
equal to their task, religious must be given suitable instruction, depending on
their intellectual capacity and personal talent, in the currents and attitudes of
sentiment and thought prevalent in social life today. This education must blend
its elements together harmoniously so that an integrated life on the part of the
religious concerned results.

Religious should strive during the whole course of their lives to perfect the
culture they have received in matters spiritual and in arts and sciences. Likewise,
superiors must, as far as this is possible, obtain for them the opportunity,
equipment and time to do this.

Superiors are also obliged to see to it that directors, spiritual fathers, and
professors are carefully chosen and thoroughly trained.

19. When the question of founding new religious communities arises, their
necessity or at least the many useful services they promise must be seriously
weighed. Otherwise communities may be needlessly brought into being which
are useless or which lack sufficient resources. Particularly in those areas where
churches have recently established, those forms of religious life should be
promoted and developed which take into account the genius and way of life of
the inhabitants and the customs and conditions of the regions.
20. Religious communities should continue to maintain and fulfill the ministries
proper to them. In addition, after considering the needs of the Universal Church
and individual dioceses, they should adapt them to the requirements of time and
place, employing appropriate and even new programs and abandoning those
works which today are less relevant to the spirit and authentic nature of the
community.

The missionary spirit must under all circumstances be preserved in religious

communities. It should be adapted, accordingly, as the nature of each
community permits, to modern conditions so that the preaching of the Gospel
may be carried out more effectively in every nation.

21. There may be communities and monasteries which the Holy See, after
consulting the interested local Ordinaries, will judge not to possess reasonable
hope for further development. These should be forbidden to receive novices in
the future. If it is possible, these should be combined with other more flourishing
communities and monasteries whose scope and spirit is similar.

22. Independent institutes and monasteries should, when opportune and the
Holy See permits, form federations if they can be considered as belonging to the
same religious family. Others who have practically identical constitutions and
rules and a common spirit should unite, particularly when they have too few
members. Finally, those who share the same or a very similar active apostolate
should become associated, one to the other.

23. This synod favors conferences or councils of major superiors, established by

the Holy See. These can contribute very much to achieve the purpose of each
institute; to encourage more effective cooperation for the welfare of the Church;
to ensure a more just distribution of ministers of the Gospel in a given area; and
finally to conduct affairs of interest to all religious. Suitable coordination and
cooperation with episcopal conferences should be established with regard to the
exercise of the apostolate.

Similar conferences should also be established for secular institutes.

24. Priests and Christian educators should make serious efforts to foster religious
vocations, thereby increasing the strength of the Church, corresponding to its
needs. These candidates should be suitably and carefully chosen. In ordinary
preaching, the life of the evangelical counsels and the religious state should be
treated more frequently. Parents, too, should nurture and protect religious
vocations in their children by instilling Christian virtue in their hearts.

Religious communities have the right to make themselves known in order to

foster vocations and seek candidates. In doing this, however, they should
observe the norms laid down by the Holy See and the local Ordinary.

Religious should remember there is no better way than their own example to
commend their institutes and gain candidates for the religious life.

25. Religious institutes, for whom these norms of adaptation and renewal have
been laid down, should respond generously to the specific vocation God gave
them as well as their work in the Church today. The sacred synod highly esteems
their way of life in poverty, chastity and obedience, of which Christ the Lord is
Himself the exemplar. Moreover, their apostolate, most effective, whether
obscure or well known, offers this synod great hope for the future. Let all
religious, therefore, rooted in faith and filled with love for God and neighbor, love
of the cross and the hope of future glory, spread the good news of Christ
throughout the whole world so that their witness may be seen by all and our
Father in heaven may be glorified (Matt. 5:16). Therefore, let them beseech the
Virgin Mary, the gentle Mother of God, "whose life is a model for all,"(1) that their
number may daily increase and their salutary work be more effective.

NOTES

1. St. Ambrose, De Virginitate, 1, II, c. II, n. 15.