78 discussed. During his lifetime, Blessed George thought it inopportune to return to the habit. Yet he also once said that we should have but one goal, to restore all things in Christ. “In order to achieve this, we should make use of any lawful and worthy means available to us: the cassock of the priest or the habit of the religious or, if need be, the clothes of the layman” (Journal, 27/X/10). The present position of the Holy See is that the world needs the witness of religious and their consecration. St. John Paul II strongly recommended that religious wear their proper habit in Vita Consecrata 25. Blessed George had encouraged us to follow the spirit of the times 100 years ago. We sought to do so during this General Chapter. Former Superior General, Fr. Andrzej Pakuła, MIC said at one of the plenary sessions of the General Chapter that he had felt a moral imperative to do something about the question of the habit during his term in office. He prayed about it and the persistent thought would not leave him. He therefore consulted the Holy See twice, including with the Prefect of the Dicastery, Cardinal João Bráz de Aviz, on the same proposal, which was accepted without any changes by the General Chapter and finally approved by the Holy See. Consulted experts of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life even said that they would be surprised if such a proposal was not adapted by the Chapter. At the same time, they recommended giving the habit during perpetual vows as a sign of accepting forever the entire charism and patrimony of our Congregation. The rationale provided to the Chapter members also made the valid point that the approval of the proposal would also have a formative function and would put to rest all of the voices inside and outside of the Congregation that have questioned the continuity of the Congregation for 350 years. This change further expresses the identity of the Congregation. How will it be implemented? What the Chapter members did was vote to restore the possibility of wearing the white habit, according to the norms of the Constitutions and Directory accepted during the Chapter. Since the Holy See has approved the changes to our Constitutions, we can now see this as the way that God has used the General Chapter and its authority to gently move the Congregation in a new direction. The declaration, which the
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