Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

83 the Decree Perfectae caritatis , including the entire process of shaping these documents, and conclude with declarations related to the Year of the Con- secrated Life (2015). Many documents of a theological, pastoral and legal nature may be included in this framework, but the entire edifice rests on three columns: the aforesaid documents of Vatican II (1967), the Apostol- ic Exhortation on religious consecration in the light of the Redemption Redemptionis Donum (1984) and the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on consecrated life and its mission in the Church and in the world Vita consecrata (1996). These documents are of fundamental importance to the subject of this study, and are the main focus of the following analysis. Vatican II The teaching of the Church before Vaticanum Secundum assessed prob- lems of the religious life , but it was done mostly from a legal and practical perspective. The last Council took up theological reflection and showed this reality in the context of the mystery of Christ and the Church. In a way, it marked the beginning of a new path. It was necessary to build a good foundation, define associations with various elements of the mystery of the Church, and specify the vocabularies. The job was not easy. During delib- erations, the very structure of the Decree, Perfectae caritatis was changed five times. “Consecration” was not yet a generally accepted and recognized category in the theology of the religious life. In the sixth chapter of the dogmatic constitution concerning the religious, this term is not used, and in the Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life it is used only four times. If we omit the very word “consecration” and look for the presence of Christological and Passion references in these texts, we should admit that there are few. The sixth chapter of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church obvi- ously has a decidedly ecclesiological perspective. The evangelical counsels are a gift from God to the Church, and the state based on their profession belongs inseparably to her life and holiness (LG 43, 45). Religious orders serve the good and of the whole Church and benefit it. They build up the Body of Christ, and they are an image of Christ’s love for his Bride (LG 43, 44, 45). The Christological dimension of the religious life is most clearly shown by relating the evangelical counsels to the form of life that the Son of God chose for Himself when He came into this world (LG 43, 44, 46). The decree, Perfectae Caritatis is dominated by a theological approach in the sense that the mystery of the religious life is most often referred to God and not to Christ. The Son of God is portrayed rather as the One