“Serving the Gospel together”: that’s the title of the meeting being held by the German Bishops’ Conference at Würzburg on 1st February to discuss the future of the consecrated life. Twenty-five bishops, including the President of the Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, and 120 men and women members of religious orders and secular institutes in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, will take part in the meeting, which represents the culmination of an intensive dialogue pursued over the last two years between bishops and representatives of consecrated life. Cardinal Lehmann will intervene with a theological address on the theme “Vocation and mission of the communities of consecrated life in the Church today”. This will be followed by four declarations by men and women religious on current developments in the field of consecrated life. In the afternoon there will be an exchange of experiences between the participants, subdivided into workgroups. At the end of the meeting, a solemn celebration will be held in Würzburg Cathedral, presided over by Cardinal Lehmann.
