“What would become of the world,” St Teresa of Avila asks in her Autobiography , “if there were no religious?”

On February 2, the Church acknowledged once more the contributions of religious women and men serving in various ministries in all parts of the world. Since 1997, the World Day for Consecrated Life has been observed on this day, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.

Pope John Paul II, who initiated the observance, said in his message marking the first World Day, the celebration “is intended to help the entire Church to esteem ever more greatly the witness of those persons who have chosen to follow Christ by means of the practice of the evangelical counsels, and at the same time is intended to be a suitable occasion for consecrated persons to renew their commitment and rekindle the fervour which should inspire their offering of themselves to the Lord.”

It would be impossible to put a proper value on the work of religious communities in Trinidad and Tobago —to put some measure on their contribution to the life of its people.

Where would our country be today without the contributions of the Benedictines at the Mount, the Dominican Fathers in our parishes, the Spiritan Fathers and Presentation Brothers in our schools and the Carmelite and Dominican Sisters in so many institutions of our nation?.

The drop in vocations which has affected many communities, the aging of religious, and the rapid and profound changes taking place in society itself, have led some religious orders to change their manner of involvement. It is important though that their contributions remain in the memory of the nation.

School of Charity

This need becomes even greater in the climate of the sex scandals and allegations of impropriety which has affected the Church in many parts of the world. This climate is one that the vast majority of religious men and women did nothing to create.

Negative reports often do not take into account the enormous disparity between the relatively small group of offenders and the faithful men and women who have committed themselves to live the evangelical counsels of charity, poverty and obedience.

Persons who consecrate their lives to God commit themselves “intimately to God's service and to the good of the whole Church,” says the Catechism of the Catholic Church (art 945). But, in fact, the Light of Christ shines through the dedicated lives and service of our religious for all to see.

Today, our country needs the unique witness that the consecrated life gives. It is imperative that public officials, our schools and the media treat religious with the respect and fairness they deserve.

Last Sunday, at his weekly blessing, Pope Benedict XVI noted that religious orders have given the Church and society many world models of charity and holiness. “The entire history of the Church is a history of holiness, animated by the unique love that has its source in God,” he said.