PART III :
INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE AND SOCIETIES OF APOSTOLIC LIFE
SECTION I:
INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE
TITLE I:
NORMS COMMON TO ALL INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE (Cann. 573 -
606)
Can.
573 §1 Life consecrated through profession of the evangelical counsels is a
stable form of living, in which the faithful follow Christ more closely under
the action of the Holy Spirit, and are totally dedicated to God, who is
supremely loved. By a new and special title they are dedicated to seek the
perfection of charity in the service of God's Kingdom, for the honour of God,
the building up of the Church and the salvation of the world. They are a
splendid sign in the Church, as they foretell the heavenly glory.
§2 Christ's
faithful freely assume this manner of life in institutes of consecrated life
which are canonically established by the competent ecclesiastical authority. By
vows or by other sacred bonds, in accordance with the laws of their own
institutes, they profess the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and
obedience. Because of the charity to which these counsels lead, they are linked
in a special way to the Church and its mystery.
Can.
574 §1 The state of persons who profess the evangelical counsels in these
institutes belongs to the life and holiness of the Church. It is therefore to
be fostered and promoted by everyone in the Church.
§2 Some of
Christ's faithful are specially called by God to this state, so that they may
benefit from a special gift in the life of the Church and contribute to its
saving mission according to the purpose and spirit of each institute.
Can.
575 The evangelical counsels, based on the teaching and example of Christ the
Master, are a divine gift which the Church received from the Lord and which by
His grace it preserves always.
Can.
576 It is the prerogative of the competent authority in the Church to interpret
the evangelical counsels, to legislate for their practice and, by canonical
approval, to constitute the stable forms of living which arise from them. The
same authority has the responsibility to do what is in its power to ensure that
institutes grow and flourish according to the spirit of their founders and to
their sound traditions.
Can.
577 In the Church there are many institutes of consecrated life, with gifts
that differ according to the graces given them: they more closely follow Christ
praying, or Christ proclaiming the Kingdom of God, or Christ doing good to
people, or Christ in dialogue with the people of this world, but always Christ
doing the will of the Father.
Can.
578 The whole patrimony of an institute must be faithfully preserved by all.
This patrimony is comprised of the intentions of the founders, of all that the
competent ecclesiastical authority has approved concerning the nature, purpose,
spirit and character of the institute, and of its sound traditions.
Can.
579 Provided the Apostolic See has been consulted, diocesan Bishops can, by
formal decree, establish institutes of consecrated life in their own
territories.
Can.
580 The aggregation of one institute of consecrated life to another is reserved
to the competent authority of the aggregating institute, always safeguarding
the canonical autonomy of the other institute.
Can.
581 It is for the competent authority of the institute to divide the institute
into parts, by whatever name these may be called, to establish new parts, or to
unite or otherwise modify those in existence, in accordance with the
constitutions.
Can.
582 Fusions and unions of institutes of consecrated life are reserved to the
Apostolic See alone. To it are likewise reserved confederations or federations.
Can.
583 Changes in institutes of consecrated life which affect elements previously
approved by the Apostolic See, cannot be made without the permission of the
same See.
Can.
584 Only the Apostolic See can suppress an institute and dispose of its
temporal goods.
Can.
585 The competent authority of an institute can suppress parts of the same
institute.
Can.
586 §1 A true autonomy of life, especially of governance, is recognised for
each institute. This autonomy means that each institute has its own discipline
in the Church and can preserve whole and entire the patrimony described in can.
578.
§2 Local
Ordinaries have the responsibility of preserving and safeguarding this
autonomy.
Can.
587 §1 To protect more faithfully the vocation and identity of each institute,
the fundamental code or constitutions of the institute are to contain, in
addition to those elements which are to be preserved in accordance with can.
578, basic norms about the governance of the institute, the discipline of the
members, the admission and formation of members, and the proper object of their
sacred bonds.
§2 This
code is approved by the competent ecclesiastical authority, and can be changed
only with the consent of the same.
§3 In the
constitutions, the spiritual and juridical elements are to be aptly harmonised.
Norms, however, are not to be multiplied without necessity.
§4 Other
norms which are established by the competent authority of the institute are to
be properly collected in other codes, but these can be conveniently reviewed
and adapted according to the needs of time and place.
Can.
588 §1 In itself, the state of consecrated life is neither clerical nor lay.
§2 A
clerical institute is one which, by reason of the end or purpose intended by
the founder, or by reason of lawful tradition, is under the governance of
clerics, presupposes the exercise of sacred orders, and is recognised as such
by ecclesiastical authority.
§3 A lay
institute is one which is recognised as such by ecclesiastical authority because,
by its nature, character and purpose, its proper role, defined by its founder
or by lawful tradition, does not include the exercise of sacred orders.
Can.
589 An institute of consecrated life is of pontifical right if it has been established
by the Apostolic See, or approved by it by means of a formal decree. An
institute is of diocesan right if it has been established by the diocesan
Bishop and has not obtained a decree of approval from the Apostolic See.
Can.
590 §1 Institutes of consecrated life, since they are dedicated in a special
way to the service of God and of the whole Church, are in a particular manner
subject to its supreme authority.
§2 The
individual members are bound to obey the Supreme Pontiff as their highest
Superior, by reason also of their sacred bond of obedience.
Can.
591 The better to ensure the welfare of institutes and the needs of the
apostolate, the Supreme Pontiff, by virtue of his primacy in the universal
Church, and with a view to the common good, can withdraw institutes of
consecrated life from the governance of local Ordinaries and subject them to
himself alone, or to some other ecclesiastical authority.
Can.
592 §1 To promote closer union between institutes and the Apostolic See, each
supreme Moderator is to send a brief account of the state and life of the
institute to the same Apostolic See, in the manner and at the time it lays
down.
§2
Moderators of each institute are to promote a knowledge of the documents issued
by the Holy See which affect the members entrusted to them, and are to ensure
that these documents are observed.
Can.
593 In their internal governance and discipline, institutes of pontifical right
are subject directly and exclusively to the authority of the Apostolic See,
without prejudice to can. 586.
Can.
594 An institute of diocesan right remains under the special care of the
diocesan Bishop, without prejudice to can. 586.
Can.
595 §1 It is the Bishop of the principal house who approves the constitutions,
and confirms any changes lawfully introduced into them, except for those
matters which the Apostolic See has taken in hand. He also deals with major
affairs which exceed the power of the internal authority of the institute. If
the institute had spread to other dioceses, he is in all these matters to
consult with the other diocesan Bishops concerned.
§2 The
diocesan Bishop can grant a dispensation from the constitutions in particular
cases.
Can.
596 §1 Superiors and Chapters of institutes have that authority over the
members which is defined in the universal law and in the constitutions.
§2 In
clerical religious institutes of pontifical right, Superiors have in addition
the ecclesiastical power of governance, for both the external and the internal
forum.
§3 The
provisions of cann. 131,133 and 137 - 144 apply to the authority mentioned in
§1.
Can.
597 §1 Every catholic with a right intention and the qualities required by
universal law and the institute's own law, and who is without impediment, may
be admitted to an institute of consecrated life.
§2 No one
may be admitted without suitable preparation.
Can.
598 §1 Each institute, taking account of its own special character and
purposes, is to define in its constitutions the manner in which the evangelical
counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience are to be observed in its way of
life.
§2 All
members must not only observe the evangelical counsels faithfully and fully,
but also direct their lives according to the institute's own law, and so strive
for the perfection of their state.
Can.
599 The evangelical counsel of chastity embraced for the sake of the Kingdom of
heaven, is a sign of the world to come, and a source of greater fruitfulness in
an undivided heart. It involves the obligation of perfect continence observed
in celibacy.
Can.
600 The evangelical counsel of poverty in imitation of Christ who for our sake
was made poor when he was rich, entails a life which is poor in reality and in
spirit, sober and industrious, and a stranger to earthly riches. It also
involves dependence and limitation in the use and the disposition of goods, in
accordance with each institute's own law.
Can.
601 The evangelical counsel of obedience, undertaken in the spirit of faith and
love in the following of Christ, who was obedient even unto death, obliges
submission of one's will to lawful Superiors, who act in the place of God when
they give commands that are in accordance with each institute's own
constitutions.
Can.
602 The fraternal life proper to each institute unites all the members into, as
it were, a special family in Christ. It is to be so defined that for all it
proves of mutual assistance to fulfil their vocation. The fraternal union of
the members, rooted and based in charity, is to be an example of universal
reconciliation in Christ.
Can.
603 §1 Besides institutes of consecrated life, the Church recognises the life
of hermits or anchorites, in which Christ's faithful withdraw further from the
world and devote their lives to the praise of God and the salvation of the
world through the silence of solitude and through constant prayer and penance.
§2 Hermits
are recognised by law as dedicated to God in consecrated life if, in the hands
of the diocesan Bishop, they publicly profess, by a vow or some other sacred
bond, the three evangelical counsels, and then lead their particular form of
life under the guidance of the diocesan Bishop .
Can.
604 §1 The order of virgins is also to be added to these forms of consecrated
life. Through their pledge to follow Christ more closely, virgins are
consecrated to God, mystically espoused to Christ and dedicated to the service
of the Church, when the diocesan Bishop consecrates them according to the
approved liturgical rite.
§2 Virgins
can be associated together to fulfil their pledge more faithfully, and to
assist each other to serve the Church in a way that befits their state.
Can.
605 The approval of new forms of consecrated life is reserved to the Apostolic
See. Diocesan Bishops, however, are to endeavour to discern new gifts of
consecrated life which the Holy Spirit entrusts to the Church. They are also to
assist promotors to express their purposes in the best possible way, and to
protect these purposes with suitable statutes, especially by the application of
the general norms contained in this part of the Code.
Can.
606 Provisions concerning institutes of consecrated life and their members are
equally valid in law for both sexes, unless it is otherwise clear from the
context or from the nature of things.
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