CB-Carta Magna (ing) - Casa Balthasar

Lubac-Balthasar-Speyr Association 1
CHARTER OF THE CASA BALTHASAR
I. Nature and General Description of the House
1. Casa Balthasar * is a house of discernment and formation for young men aspiring to the
consecrated life, founded in Rome on 27 September 1990. It is a work of the International
Lubac-Balthasar-Speyr Association, a public association of faithful, erected, under the norm of
can. 312 of the Code of Canon Law by the Pro Vicar General of His Holiness for the Diocese
of Rome, the 8 th of June 1991, under the patronage of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
2. The house is a place of discernment and election of a state of life in the Church, and in this
respect takes its inspiration from St. Ignatius of Loyola. It is intended for young men (under
thirty years of age), both lay and clerics, of every nationality, who desire to give themselves
entirely to the Lord in some form of consecrated life, and so to deepen or discover their
particular vocation. The house is therefore also a school of Christian life centered on the life of
the evangelical counsels and having especially as an aim the integration of a formation which
is at once intellectual and spiritual in the spirit of the Gospel and Tradition. To this end, it
takes as principal points of reference the unitary figure and work of Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs
von Balthasar and Adrienne von Speyr.
3. Admission to the house takes place through the presentation on the part of members of
the Association ** , friends of the house, or by direct contact with its rector. These personally
clarify with the interested party his motivations, submitting to him the present Charter, and
evaluating the terms of his request. If the aspirant does not dispose of the means to finance the
proposed cycle of discernment and formation, he may request a bursary from the Association.
It awaits the rector to make the final decision as to the suitability of the candidate as well as
the possibility or the opportunity to receive him.
4. In the presentation of his request, the aspirant must state with transparency his personal
condition, including his family situation, as well as his motivations for requesting admission.
If he has already contracted an ecclesiastical commitment which is compatible with the ends
of the house (for example, the incardination in a diocese), he must solicit the necessary
permissions from his Ordinary. Once his request is accepted, which is to be countersigned
by a trustworthy person, he commits himself to acquiring knowledge of Italian, which is the
language of the house.
5. The house does not have and does not intend to have the juridical structure of a seminary
or a religious house (that is, of a novitiate). Its ecclesiastical figure is rather that of a school
of evangelical life, based upon the pedagogical principles of the “Spiritual Exercises”. The
cycle of discernment and formation has a basic duration of two complete years (vacation
time included), normally beginning in the month of July. During this period, which may be

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lengthened or shortened according to the judgment of the rector, the resident, in conformity
with the conditions described in this Charter, accepts with a cheerful and free heart to live
the spirit of the Charter under the paternal-fraternal authority of the rector, and to make his
personal decisions in agreement with him. In the management of the house, the rector acts
under the responsibility of the Association and will be aided by various collaborators (vicerector,
counselors, professors, etc.) who share in this spirit.
6. This Charter attempts above all to stress the spirit that is to be lived in the house, briefly
describing the pursued objectives as well as the demands that are derived from these. A
separate document, for internal use, sets forth, in a more detailed fashion, the consuetudines,
that is, the particular customs of the house.
II. A School of Christian Life
7. The house is a school of Christian life. It is not an end in itself; it does not look to recruit
candidates for a specific destination or to introduce an exclusive spirituality. Above all, it
wants to be open to everything which is healthy and alive today in the Church. In this way, it
strives to impart a sense of the “symphonic” truth, without which there can be no authentically
credible witness in the eyes of the world.
8. While taking for granted among its residents a serious intention to be faithful to the doctrine
of the faith and morals professed in the Catholic Church, the house proposes to itself as a
primary goal that of helping each one to live in a Christian way the end for which all men
are created: to praise, revere and serve God our Lord, subordinating to this end the personal
decisions and activities of each day.
9. Joyfully living “to the praise of his glorious grace which He freely bestowed on us in
the Beloved” (Eph 1:6), we want to learn to see in our entire existence the gratuitous gift
of divine love. And we express our gratitude to the Lord not only by a habitual attitude of
thanksgiving, but also in regular moments of explicit prayer in our “room with the door closed”
(Mt 6:6) and by coming together in community (cf. Acts 1:14). Among these, the Eucharist
and personal prayer—to which one is regularly introduced by the points of meditation given
by the rector—play a central role. Important as well are adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
and compline, the Rosary and spiritual reading. Obviously, priests pray the Divine Office.
10. In the filial attitude of reverential fear (cf. Apoc 11:18; 15:4) which the saints lived, we
perceive an authentic sense of the divine majesty. By the modesty of our behavior, we give
witness to the respect owed to the Lord, convinced that the creative goodness, acting in the
inmost of man, does not abolish the distance between God and his creature. This modesty
expresses itself particularly in one's manner of dress which is to be neither relaxed nor refined.
In our daily rapport with others—signs of the Lord's presence (cf. Mt 25:31ff)—we maintain
an interior and exterior respect that is expressed by a certain reserve and distance, which is
entirely compatible with a spiritual closeness (cf. Jn 2:4).
11. Putting ourselves, by the example of Jesus (cf. Mk 10:45; Jn 13:15f) and his Mother (cf.
Lk 1:48), at the discrete service of God and our brothers, particularly those who are most
needy, we want to learn availability, so that, come the time, the Lord may entrust us with

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a mission. Meanwhile we strive to live this unreserved disponibility, carefully fulfilling the
duties of our state of life and also by willingly accepting the particular tasks which are given
to us, especially on the occasion of the feast of Christmas or during the summer vacation.
12. Faced with created realities, we train ourselves in the detachment and the interior liberty of
the “faithful steward” (Mt 24:45; 25:23) who, in his relation with the world, is guided uniquely
by the end for which he was created: the love of God and neighbor. This indifference does not
in any way signify a depreciation of creation: we know that in view of the “precious blood”
of the Lamb (cf. 1 Pet 1:19), the Creator considered it “good” (Gen 1:25, cf. v.31) and that
he allows himself to be “found in all things” (Ignatius of Loyola). It is the world that, always
anew, convinces us of the necessity for a radical Christian commitment. Following Christ's
example (cf. Mk 14:36) and (analogously) that of his saints, we are inclined, if God's will
requests it, to assume the renouncements and the trials through which the authenticity of our
indifference can be verified.
III. A School of the Life of the Counsels
13. The house also has as a scope to open, as largely as possible, our hearts to the Word of
God which personally addresses each with his call through the action of the Holy Spirit (cf.
Jn 16:12-15). Without wishing to hasten a life decision which regards the intimate conscience
of each person before Christ, it invites its residents to be prepared, like the disciples of the
Gospel, to leave all (cf. Mk 1:16-20; Mt 9:9 etc) in order to “be with him” (Mk 3:14) and to
follow him without “looking back” (Lk 9:62).
14. To help to discern a possible specific vocation to the consecrated life, the house offers
to each the possibility of making the “Spiritual Exercises” of election during Holy Week
and summer vacation. It also predisposes, during the course of the year, a practical and
theoretical program of initiation to the state of the counsels, permitting one to already live, in
an experimental way, the spirit and the effective practice of evangelical poverty, virginity and
obedience.
15. Poverty is, above all, a spiritual attitude (cf. Mt 5:3), but he who truly wants to acquire
this attitude needs to know the sensible experience of actual deprivation (cf. Lk 6:20), physical
or psychological. This experience, which corresponds to the first indispensable phase of the
way of the counsels (cf. Mt 19:21a), is already given us when we accept with gratitude our
situation: living “as visitors and pilgrims” (1 Pet 2:11) in the “diaspora” (1 Pet 1:1), making
the effort to express ourselves in the language of the country and to open ourselves to the
universal, “catholic” dimension of the Church. While freely disposing—but as though we do
not personally possess them—of what is necessary or truly useful to carry out our work as
students (books, a computer...), we renounce with a joyful heart those conveniences considered
as normal in the world (costly travel and entertainment, personal means of transportation,
private apparatuses...). We observe the necessary discretion in the use of media of
communication (CIC, can. 666); there is no television set in the house; in a place reserved for
this use, one can listen to the radio and hear or play music. We participate in the financing
of the house according to our means, , ready to provide for the needs of a less fortunate
companion in case of need. We generously put what we possess at the disposition of all,

Lubac-Balthasar-Speyr Association 4
particularly what we have been able to acquire in intellectual and cultural knowledge. The
alimentary regime of the house is sober but of quality. All should see that the simplicity of
their rooms accord with good taste and, to the extent possible, beauty.
16. He who is called to virginity “for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 19:12) is inserted
into the intimate relation between Christ and the Church (cf. Eph 5:25ff) and receives from this
a “more abundant fruitfulness” (CIC, can. 599) which is not purely spiritual but, like poverty
and obedience, participates in the mystery of the Incarnation and the Eucharistic fruitfulness
of the Body of Jesus. Placing our trust in divine grace more than in our own strength, we
strive to understand and to live ever more deeply this reciprocal belonging of the Lord and the
body (cf. 1 Cor 6:13f). We take advantage of our stay in the house to open ourselves to our
personal “gift” (1 Cor 7:7), which eventually implies an effort towards stripping ourselves of
previous habits. In our dealings with women we will try to imitate the naturalness and nobility
testified by Jesus' comportment in the Gospel; in our relationships with others, which are
simple and objective, we refrain from physical expressions of familiarity and affection (regula
tactus), except of course when we welcome or say good-bye to someone. We assume without
complaining the solitude related to our condition, and we do not seek compensations, either
inside or outside the house, in friendships which may be more or less tinged with sensuality or
even only merely worldly ones.
17. In striving to keep nothing for themselves, but to give everything unreservedly— their
goods (poverty), their bodies (celibacy)—for the service of God and man, he who is called to
follow Jesus and to share in his manner of life (cf. Mt 8:20-22) progressively exercises himself
for the greater sacrifice which constitutes the center: the offering of his own will and spirit
(cf. Jn 21:18). Obedience here plays a primary role, because it is the fundamental attitude that
inspires the other two evangelical counsels. With the Son, this manifests itself in a concrete
poverty which finds, in turn, in virginity its properly corporal form. While respecting the
growth and personal journey of each individual, the house helps us to learn, from the example
of the Son (cf. Heb 5:8-9) and His Mother (cf. Lk 1:38), this unconditional obedience to the
Father. We thus propose to imitate the disciples to whom the Lord gave, when he sent them
out on mission, concrete instructions, at times very minute ones (cf. Mk 6:7-13), and asked for
a report on their return (cf. Mk 6:30). Like Mary Magdalene (cf. Jn 20:17-18), we are ready,
when the occasion presents itself, to observe particular directions, even difficult ones. We find
our joy in respecting the daily order that is set up for us, having always in spirit, like Mary of
Bethany, “the one thing necessary” (Lk 10:42). In those who command us according to their
office—the rector or a collaborator, the one in charge of a determined task in the house... —
we accept to see a representative of God (cf. Lk 10:16). And if a task of authority is confided
to us, we will be mindful of the Lord's admonition: “anyone who wants to be first among you
must be your slave” (Mt 20:27), always desiring to let ourselves be corrected in love by our
brothers, even the youngest (cf. Mt 18:15; Lk 9:46-48).
18. To him who undertakes and lives with a spirit of seriousness his own studies, there
does not lack opportunities to do penance for his own sins and for the intentions of the
Church throughout the world. Even more than the practices of mortification for which he
takes personal initiative, the toils and humiliations that accompany the fulfillment of one's
state of life are — if assumed for love of Christ— a source of blessing. Along with these

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unchosen penances, we joyfully follow (cf. Mt 6:16-18) traditional practices of fasting and
abstinence (particularly during Advent and Lent), and, save during meals and times of meeting
or recreation, we also keep silence, understood as respect for the prayer and intimacy of
others. We also make every effort to participate in community life, especially through active
participation at recreation and during the more significant moments of the house.
IV. A Formation At Once Both Spiritual and Intellectual
19. The house, finally, has as a goal to make known and to live the bi-millennial faith of the
Church, as well as to familiarize the students with all the questions of the contemporary world.
The house itself is neither of the “left” nor “right” (categories that do not concern us as with
political labels) and it does not make itself the mouthpiece for any particular ideal; it uniquely
desires to place itself, as much as possible, at the center of the Christian life understood in
its organic totality. It is not easy in these days, even for a student of theology, to embrace
without fear, as he should, the often complex ensemble of subject matter to be assimilated,
and at the same time to conserve intact the vital enthusiasm of his vocation, the central axis
around which all the rest turns. For this reason we are attentive not to let faith lose its apostolic
vigor and become diluted (cf. Mt 5:13), and we encourage one another in the constant effort
towards an ever more perfect integration of intellectual and spiritual formation, of professional
competence and sanctity.
20. To this end the house takes as principal points of reference the figure and works of Henri
de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar and Adrienne von Speyr. We believe, as has been suggested
by several gestures of Pope John Paul II, that these spiritual masters are also teachers who
can enlighten our Christian life with a doctrine that is profoundly ecclesial and Catholic. In
taking them as privileged but not exclusive guides, we hope to become ever more capable
of attesting to and realizing— through a life of believers and of apostles— the central unity
of the mysteries of faith; of following Christ and encountering our neighbor by keeping our
eyes always fixed on God and his Good News; in short, capable of living the serene unity of
ecclesial docility and personal responsibility in a secularized world.
21. Since its inception, the house has sought to gather the works of its privileged authors
and—in the degree that its limited means permits—various books and articles related to their
theological mission. To respond to the scope of the Association, in 1992 the house initiated an
Accademia which has the objective of introducing and guiding the students in the knowledge
of the thought of Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar and Adrienne von Speyr, as well
as in the Tradition and in the Christian literature with whom these have most specifically
entered into dialogue. The Accademia proposes courses and seminars, conferences and public
debates, and takes other initiatives aimed at highlighting both the pastoral and doctrinal
significance and the spiritual positions that are characteristic of these theological missions.
During the summer vacation, it offers a program of formation, open to non-residents, under
the responsibility of members or friends of the Association.

Lubac-Balthasar-Speyr Association 6
* Address: Via Nomentana, 234, I–00162 Roma, Italie (tél./fax +39 06 86 328 193; port. +39
327 0491 033; e-mail: info@casabalthasar.org; www.casabalthasar.org). The rector of the
Casa is Fr. Jacques Servais SJ.
** The founding members of the Association are: Ms. Cornelia Capol, Johannes Verlag,
Basel, Switzerland; Fr. Joseph Fessio SJ, Ignatius Press, San Francisco Ca, U.S.A.; Dr. Felix
Genn, Bishop of Münster, Germany; Card. Marc Ouellet PSS, Archbishop of Québec,
Canada; Card. Christoph Schönborn OP, Archbishop of Wien, Austria; Fr. Jacques Servais
SJ, Università Gregoriana, Roma.