Paul J. Philibert
Living in the Meantime

As the twentieth century draws to a close, religious life has paused to re-evaluate its progress, especially in light of the reforms proposed to it by the Second Vatican Council. In Living in the Meantime, editor Paul Philibert, O.P. has collected some fourteen reflections on the present state of religious life in the United States. Men and women in leader-ship positions from a variety of religious communities offer here their personal assessments of an honored Christian practice: to give up all for the following of Jesus. In Living in the Meantime, religious discuss every aspect of their experience, from celibate loneliness to the crisis of decreased membership, seeking to find the most authentic ways to realize the gospel message in their lives.

"In the fall of 1994, the Roman Synod of Bishops will address the topic of 'Institutes of the Consecrated Life and the Apostolic Life." One certain effect of the Synod will be to draw added attention to the status of religious orders and congregations. As a recent state-ment of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men said, "This is an occasion for hope that the Synod's examination of the status of renewal and the prospects for future growth of religious institutes will be a moment of grace and revitalization, of benefit to religious and to the whole church."

-from Editor's Introduction by Paul Philibert, O.P. Living in the Meantime

PAUL PHILIBERT, O.P. is Director of the Institute for Church Life and Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. He has frequently written about religious development and Christian spirituality. He was Provincial of the Southern Province of Dominican Friars and served on the Board of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men. Fr. Philibert has taught at Catholic University and at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, where he also served as President.