As for Orders and Congregations "with a long tradition within the Church", in the last few decades, "almost all of them have gone through a difficult crisis due to the aging of their members, to a more or less significant decrease in vocations, and sometimes also to spiritual and charismatic ‘tiredness’". In "some cases", pointed out the Pope, the crisis "became even worrisome", but "beside difficult situations, which one should look at with courage and truth, there are also positive signs of recovery, especially when the communities have chosen to go back to their roots to live the spirit of the Founder in a more suitable way". In almost all the recent General Chapters of Religious Institutes, the "recurring theme" was actually "the rediscovery of the Founder’s charisma, to be carried out and represented in a renewed way in current times", and "rediscovering the spirit of the origins, and deepening the knowledge of the male or female Founder, fostered the imprinting in the Institutes of a promising new ascetic, apostolic and missionary input". "Starting over from Christ": that was the invitation launched by John Paul II, which "the Institutes of Consecrated life, too, must constantly follow, if they want to keep or find again their apostolic effectiveness and vitality", in every "plan of community and apostolic renewal".
