Miroir des attentes et de la mise en oeuvre de Perfectae caritatis et d'Ecclesiae sanctae : La Vie des communautés religieuses et l'adaptation de la vie consacrée.

This co-authored paper results from a presentation on September 23, 2022, at the Société canadienne d'histoire de l'Église catholique annual conference on the reform of the constitutions of religious communities in light of the Second Vatican Council. It is based on an analysis of the articles published in Vie des communautés religieuses (VCR). Founded in 1942, VCR is the leading French-language journal dedicated to consecrated life in North America. The journal constitutes a material of primary importance for measuring the impact of the transformations the Second Vatican Council brought about in the religious congregations of Quebec and French-speaking Canada. From 1942 to 1980, the articles attest to a subtle but profound attention to the constitutions, which are approached from the predominant angle of theology. But it is, above all, the theological context of the time, i.e. the adaptation and renewal of religious life to modern times, a title taken up by the decree Perfectae caritatis, that provides the key to reading the reform of the constitutions of religious institutes in the articles published by VCR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]