Pope Francis closes Year of Consecrated Life, calls religious to make courageous choices

Pope Francis on Tuesday evening in Rome called on consecrated men and women to make courageous and prophetic choices, to not be afraid of getting their hands dirty and of walking the geographical and existential peripheries of mankind today. The Pope was speaking to consecrated men and women during the closing Mass of the Year of Consecrated Life in St. Peter's Basilica.

The Year, which was celebrated throughout the world, began on the First Sunday of Advent in November 2014 and came to a close on the World Day of Consecrated Life on 2 February 2016.

The initiative, called for by Pope Francis, aimed to be an occasion of renewal for men and women in consecrated life, of thanksgiving among the faithful for the service of sisters, brothers, priests, and nuns, and an invitation to young Catholics to consider a religious vocation.

During his homily the Pope described the just-ended Year of Consecrated Life as "a river", saying "it now flows into the sea of mercy, into the immense mystery of love that we are experiencing through the Extraordinary Jubilee".

The final days of the Year of Consecrated Life were marked in the Vatican with a theological symposium on religious life, on the theme Consecrated Life in Communion. A common foundation in the diversity of styles.