CHAPTER IV

THE SPIRITUAL CARE LOCAL ORDINARIES ARE TO PROVIDE ALIENS

32. Local Ordinaries are to provide for the spiritual care of aliens of every sort, whether they have a quasi-domicile or they have no domicile at all. Whenever, in this ministry it seems for one reason or another inexpedient to apply to the Consistorial Congregation for permission to establish parishes for various language or nationality groups, local Ordinaries are in the future to observe carefully the following rules:

33. Every local Ordinary is to make an earnest effort to entrust the spiritual care of aliens or immigrants to priests, whether secular or regular, of the same language or nationality, i.e., to missionaries to migrants who have, as stated above, a special license from the Consistorial Congregation.

34. In like manner, after consultation with the Consistorial Congregation, and having observed all other requirements of law, every local Ordinary shall try to grant these missionaries to migrants the authority to undertake the spiritual care of immigrant Catholics of their own language or nationality with no canonical quasi-domicile or without any canonical domicile.

35. a) A missionary to migrants, supplied with such authority in exercising the care of souls, is to be considered equal to a pastor. He therefore possesses, making due allowances, the same faculties for the spiritual care as a pastor and is bound by the same obligations and held to the requirements of the common law.

    b) They must therefore in the first place, keep the parish records mentioned in Canon 470 of the Code of Canon Law. An accurate copy must be sent at the end of each year to the pastor of the place and to his Director.

36. a) Parochial authority of this type is personal, to be exercised over aliens or immigrants.

    b) This same authority is cumulative on equal terms with that of the pastor of the place, even if it is exercised in a church or chapel or public or semi-public oratory, entrusted to the missionary to migrants.

37. a) Wherever possible, every missionary to migrants is to be assigned a church, chapel or public or semi-public oratory for carrying on the sacred ministry.

    b) Otherwise, the Ordinary of the place shall set up regulations to enable the missionary to migrants freely and completely to fulfill his duties in another church, not excluding the parish church.

38. Missionaries to migrants are, while in this work, completely subject to the jurisdiction of the local Ordinary, both with respect to the exercise of the sacred ministry and with respect to discipline, excluding every privilege of exemption.

39. For receiving the Sacraments, including marriage, every alien, whether with canonical quasi-domicile or with-out any canonical domicile is free to approach a missionary to migrants or the pastor of the place.

40. For the purpose under discussions, under the designation of immigrants with no canonical quasi-domicile (advenae) or without any canonical domicile (peregrini) are included:

       1. All aliens—not excluding those who migrate from colonies—who for whatever length of time or whatever reason, including studies, are in a foreign land.

        2. Their direct descendants of the first degree of the direct line even though they have acquired the rights of citizenship.