The Formation of Personal Identity in Consecrated Life

Defining the Term “Identity”

Before reflecting on how the personal identity of consecrated persons is formed, it is important to clarify what we mean by the word identity. The term comes from the medieval Latin identicus, later identitas, derived from the pronoun idem, meaning “the same.” However, identity does not only mean sameness or similarity between people or things. It also refers to what makes a person or thing unique, distinct, and truly itself.[1]

The concept of identity includes multiple dynamic elements held in balance: growth and stability, continuity and change, similarity and difference, tradition and innovation, personal maturity and social belonging. A person’s identity may be considered well-formed when he or she is able to accept change, express clearly who he or she is — first before oneself, then within a community, and finally in the wider cultural and social world.[2]

Human Identity Is Dynamic and Developing

Every human being has — and must develop — a personal identity, which is expressed in communication and in relationship with others. Personal identity is the fruit of one’s life story, individual memory, and countless relationships and experiences. Identity is not fixed or predetermined; it is always in process. Different stages of life and maturity shape identity, sometimes accelerating, sometimes slowing its development.

Identity is therefore something to be formed, not simply received. It is not given fully at birth, but emerges over time through family, relationships, culture, experiences, and personal choices. In this sense, identity is always a choice — but a choice conditioned by the concrete situations, culture, mindset, and circumstances available to the person. Thus, personal identity expresses who a person is at a given stage in life.

Identity Crisis in Modern Society

The final document of the 1998 Congress on Vocations in Europe (New Vocations for a New Europe) describes modern culture as “pluralistic and complex, tending to form young people with incomplete and fragile identities.”[3] The 2018 Synod Preparatory Document echoes this, noting that today’s instability makes the transition to adulthood — and the process of building identity — increasingly difficult and uncertain.[4]

This situation calls for formation programs that are person-centered: sensitive to individual life stories, and capable of guiding growth in freedom, maturity, and faith. Since identity formation is a major challenge of today’s culture,[5] it also affects consecrated persons.

Pope Francis warns consecrated persons against living without “a compass” or clear direction. When a consecrated person loses identity, he says, they become “neither fish nor fowl” — a divided heart, living “between God and the world,” forgetting their first love (cf. Rev 2:4).[6] Without a clear identity, the consecrated person loses orientation and risks being lost.

Identity in consecrated life is therefore both personal and communal. It is shaped not in isolation but within a religious community, where shared life, mutual exchange, and fraternity allow identity to mature — both individually and collectively.

The Link Between “Consecration” and “Mission”

Consecrated life is not important only because of what consecrated persons do, but because of who they are. Pope John Paul II emphasized this: “The most important thing is not what consecrated persons do, but who they are — persons consecrated to the Lord.”[7]

Canon law teaches the same: “The apostolate of all consecrated persons consists primarily in the witness of their consecrated life.”[8]

Their mission begins not with external works, but with the simple fact of being a visible sign of total belonging to God. This is why John Paul II taught in Vita consecrata (1996) that consecrated persons are already “on mission” through their very existence as consecrated witnesses.[9]

Pope Francis calls this “prophecy” — the true meaning and gift of consecrated life in the Church and in the world.[10]

Formation for Inner and Outer Integrity

The document Potissimum institutioni (1990) states that the purpose of formation is to help candidates discover, accept, and deepen the identity of consecrated life.[11] These three stages define the process:

1. Discovery – awakening to one’s identity and vocation.

2. Acceptance – interiorizing it with freedom and maturity.

3. Deepening – integrating it into both inner life (heart–mind) and outward behavior (life–witness).

Only then can a consecrated person become a “clear, fruitful, and faithful witness of the Lord” in the world.

Conclusion

The formation of personal identity in consecrated life is a process of gradual growth, beginning with God’s call and one’s response to it. The task of formation is to help the person embrace the values and virtues that shape a stable, joyful, and mission-oriented identity.

When God calls, He also gives the grace needed to fulfill His will. Identity, therefore, is not only a psychological task — it is also a work of grace, fully realized when the consecrated person becomes a transparent witness of God’s love.

Hieromonk Kypriyan Zeikan, OSBM

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[1] Cf. P. Clavier – E. Coccia, Lessico dei valori morali. Per cittadini di XXI secolo (G. Aleandri ed.), Armando, Roma 2008, 202.

[2] Cf. D. C. Pina, «Identità, cultura e vocazione/1, Percorsi di formazione e di riappropriazione», in Vita consacrata XXXIX/3 (2003) 264-265.

[3] Documento finale del Congresso sulle Vocazioni al Sacerdozio e alla Vita Consacrata in Europa, Nuove vocazioni per una nuova Europa (5-10.05.1997), Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Città del Vaticano 1998, n. 11.

[4] Sinodo dei Vescovi, XV Assemblea Generale Ordinaria «I giovani, la fede e il discernimento vocazionale», Documento preparatorio, Città del Vaticano 2016, n. 3.

[5] Identity was already an issue in the days of the ancient Greek thinkers. The call to “know thyself” sums up the whole teaching of the ancient philosophers. It’s also not easy for modern people to figure out what they can use to recognize their personal identity, whether moral, spiritual, intellectual, or whatever (cf. P. Clavier – E. Coccia, Lessico dei valori morali. Per cittadini di XXI secolo (G. Aleandri ed.), Armando, Roma 2008, 203).

[6] Cf. Francesco, Incontro di preghiera con il clero, i religiosi, le religiose e i seminaristi, Il Cairo (29.04.2017), in https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/speeches/2017/april/docu-ments/papa-francesco_20170429_egitto-clero.pdf [accesso: 06.12.2021].

[7] Giovanni Paolo II, Messaggio ai partecipanti alla sessione plenaria della Sacra Congregazione per i Religiosi e gli Istituti Secolari (07.03.1980), in Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, III/1 (1980) 527-533, n. 2.

[8] Codice di Diritto Canonico. Testo ufficiale, Città Nuova, Roma 1983, Can. 673.

[9] Cf. Giovanni Paolo II, Vita consecrata, Esortazione apostolica post-sinodale circa la vita consacrata e la sua missione nella Chiesa e nel mondo (25.03.1996), in AAS 88 (1996), 377-486, n. 72.

[10] Francesco, Lettera apostolica a tutti i consacrati in occasione dell’anno della vita consacrata, II n. 2, in EV 30, 1222-1237.

[11]  Congregazione per gli Istituti di vita consacrata e le società di vita apostolica, Potissimum institutioni, Direttive sulla formazione negli Istituti religiosi (02.02.1990), in EdVC, 2812-2902, n. 6.