CODE
OF CANON LAW
Part
III
INSTITUTES
OF CONSECRATED LIFE
Norms
common to all Institutes of consecrated life
Can. 573 -
1. Life consecrated by the profession of the evangelical counsels is a stable form of
living by which faithful, following Christ more closely under the action of the Holy
Spirit, are totally dedicated to God who is loved most of all, so that, having dedicated
themselves to His honour, the up-building of the Church and the salvation of the world by
a new and special title, they strive for the perfection of charity in service to the
Kingdom of God and, having become an outstanding sign in the Church, they may foretell the
heavenly glory.
2. Christian
faithful who profess the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience by vows
or other sacred bonds according to the proper laws of Institutes freely assume this form
of living in Institutes of consecrated life canonically erected by competent Church
authority and through the charity to which these counsels lead they are joined to the
Church and its mystery in a special way.
Can. 574 -
1. The state of those who profess the evangelical counsels in Institutes of this kind
pertains to the life and sanctity of the Church and for this reason is to be
fostered and promoted by all in the Church.
2. Certain
Christian faithful are specially called to this state by God so that they may enjoy a
special gift in the life of the Church and contribute to its salvific mission according to
the purpose and spirit of the Institute.
Can. 575 -
The evangelical counsels, based on the teaching and examples of Christ the Teacher, are a
divine gift which the Church has received from the Lord and always preserves through His
grace.
Can. 576 -
It belongs to the competent authority of the Church to interpret the evangelical counsels,
to regulate their practice by laws, to constitute therefrom stable forms of living by
canonical approbation, and, for its part, to take care that the Institutes grow and
flourish according to the spirit of the founders and wholesome traditions.
Can. 577 -
In the Church there are very many Institutes of consecrated life which have different
gifts according to the grace which has been given them: they follow Christ more closely as
He prays, announces the Kingdom of God, performs good works for people, shares His life
with them in the world, and yet always does the will of the Father.
Can. 578 -
The intention of the founders and their determination concerning the nature, purpose,
spirit and character of the Institute which have been ratified by competent ecclesiastical
authority as well as its wholesome traditions, all of which constitute the patrimony of
the Institute itself, are to be observed faithfully by all.
Can. 579 -
Diocesan bishops each in his own territory can erect Institutes of consecrated life by a
formal decree, provided that the Apostolic See has been consulted.
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 aggregated Institute.
Can. 581 -
Dividing an Institute into parts, whatever the parts are called, erecting new ones,
joining previously erected parts or defining them in another way pertains to the competent
authority of the Institute, in accord with the norm of the constitutions.
Can. 582 -
Mergers and unions of Institutes of consecrated life are reserved to the Apostolic See
alone; confederations and federations are also reserved to it.
Can. 583 -
Changes in Institutes of consecrated life which affect matters which have been approved by
the Apostolic See cannot be made without its permission.
Can. 584-
Suppressing an Institute pertains to the Apostolic See alone, to whom also it is reserved
to determine what is to be done with the temporal goods of the Institute.
Can. 585 -
Suppressing parts of an Institute pertains to the competent authority of the Institute
itself.
Can. 586 -
1. For individual Institutes there is acknowledged a rightful autonomy of life, especially
of governance, by which they enjoy their own discipline in the Church and have the power
to preserve their own patrimony intact as mentioned in can. 578 ç ². It belongs to
local ordinaries to safeguard and protect this autonomy.
Can. 587 -
1. In order to protect more faithfully the particular vocation and identity of each
Institute, its fundamental code or constitutions must contain, besides what must be
observed according to can. 578, fundamental norms about the governance of the Institute
and the discipline of members, the incorporation and formation of members, and the proper
object of sacred bonds.
2. A code of this
kind is approved by the competent authority of the Church and can be changed only with its
consent.
3. In this code
spiritual and juridical elements are to be suitably joined together. however norms are not
to be multiplied unless it is necessary.
4. Other norms
established by the competent authority of the Institute are to be suitably collected in
other codes, which can moreover be fittingly reviewed and adapted according to the needs
of places and times.
Can. 588 -
1. The state of consecrated life by its very nature is neither clerical nor lay.
2. An Institute is
said to be clerical if, by reason of the purpose or design intended by its founder or in
virtue of legitimate tradition, it is under the supervision of clerics, it assumes the
exercise of sacred orders, and it is recognized as such by Church authority.
3. An Institute is
called lay if recognized as such by Church authority, by virtue of its nature, character
and purpose it has a proper function defined by the founder or by legitimate tradition
which does not include the exercise of sacred orders.
Can. 589 -
An Institute of consecrated life is said to be of pontifical right if it has been erected
by the Apostolic See or approved by a formal decree of the Apostolic See; on the other
hand an Institute is said to be of diocesan right if, after having been erected by a
diocesan bishop, it has not obtained a decree of approval from the Apostolic See.
Can. 590 -
l. Institutes of consecrated life, inasmuch as they are dedicated in a special way to the
service of God and of the entire Church, are subject to the supreme authority of this same
Church in a special manner.
2. Individual
members are also bound to obey the Supreme Pontiff as their highest superior by reason of
the sacred bond of obedience.
Can. 591 -
In order to provide better for the good of Institutes and the needs of the apostolate, the
Supreme Pontiff, by reason of his primacy over the universal Church and considering the
common good, can exempt Institutes of consecrated life from the governance of local
ordinaries and subject them either to himself alone or to another ecclesiastical
authority.
Can. 592 -
1. In order that the communion of Institutes with the Apostolic See be better fostered
each supreme moderator is to send a brief report on the status and life of the Institute
to the Apostolic See in a manner and at a time determined by the latter.
2. The moderators
of every Institute are to promote knowledge of the documents of the Holy See which affect
members entrusted to them and be concerned about their observance of them.
Can. 593 -
With due regard for the prescription of can. 586, Institutes of pontifical right are
immediately and exclusively subject to the power of the Apostolic See in internal
governance and discipline.
Can. 594 -
With due regard for can. 586, an Institute of diocesan right remains under the special
care of the diocesan bishop.
Can. 595 -
l. It belongs to the bishop of the principal seat of the Institute to approve the
constitutions and confirm any changes legitimately introduced into them, except in those
matters in which the Apostolic See has intervened; it also belongs to him to deal with
business of greater importance which affects the whole Institute and which are beyond the
power of its internal authority, he does so after consulting other diocesan bishops if the
Institute has spread to several dioceses.
2. The diocesan
bishop can grant dispensations from the constitutions in particular cases.
Can. 596 -
1. Superiors and chapters of Institutes enjoy that power over members which is defined in
universal law and the constitutions.
2. Moreover, in
clerical religious Institutes of pontifical right, they also possess ecclesiastical power
of governance for both the external and the internal forum.
3. The
prescriptions of canons 13 l, l 33 and l 37- 144 are applicable to the power referred to
in ç ¬.
Can. 597 -
l. Any Catholic, endowed with a right intention, who has the qualities required by
universal and proper law and who is not prevented by any impediment can be admitted to an
Institute of consecrated life.
2. No one can be
admitted without suitable preparation.
Can. 598 - l. Each Institute, keeping in mind its own
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 for its way of
living.
2. All members must
not only observe the evangelical counsels faithfully and fully, but also organize their
life according to the proper law of the Institute and thereby strive for the perfection of
their state.
Can. 599 -
The evangelical counsel of chastity assumed for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, as a
sign of the future world and a source of more abundant fruitfulness in an undivided heart,
entails the obligation of perfect continence in celibacy.
Can. 600 -
The evangelical counsel of poverty in imitation of Christ who, although He was rich became
poor for us, entails, besides a life which is poor in fact and in spirit, a life of labor
lived in moderation and foreign to earthly riches, a dependence and a limitation in the
use and disposition of goods according to the norm of the proper law of each Institute.
Can. 601 -
The evangelical counsel of obedience, undertaken in a spirit of faith and love in the
following of Christ who was obedient even unto death requires a submission of the will to
legitimate superiors, who stand in the place of God when they command according to the
proper constitutions.
Can. 602 -
The life of brothers or sisters proper to each Institute, by which all members are united
together like a special family in Christ, is to be determined in such a way that it
becomes a mutual support for all in fulfilling the vocation of each member. Moreover by
their commuí®©on as brothers or sisters, rooted in and built on love, the members are
to be an example of universal reconciliation in Christ.
Can. 603 -
1. Besides Institutes of consecrated life, the Church recognizes the eremitic or
anchoritic life by which the Christian faithful devote their life to the praise of God and
salvation of the world through a stricter separation from the world, the silence of
solitude and assiduous prayer and penance.
2. A hermit is
recognized in the law as one dedicated to God in a consecrated life if he or she publicly
professes the three evangelical counsels, confirmed by a vow or other sacred bond, in the
hands of the diocesan bishop and observes his or her own plan of life under his direction.
Can. 604 -
l. Similar to these forms of consecrated life is the order of virgins, who, committed to
the holy plan of following Christ more closely, are consecrated to God by the diocesan
bishop according to the approved liturgical rite, are betrothed mystically to Christ, the
Son of God, and are dedicated to the service of the Church.
2. In order to
observe their commitment more faithfully and to perform by mutual support service to the
Church which is in harmony with their state these virgins can form themselves into
associations.
Can. 605 -
Approving new forms of consecrated life is reserved to the Apostolic See alone. Diocesan
bishops, however, should strive to discern new gifts of consecrated life granted to the
Church by the Holy Spirit and they should aid their promoters so that they can express
their proposals as well as possible and protect them with suitable statutes, utilizing
especially the general norms contained in this section.
Can. 606 -
Whatever is determined about Institutes of consecrated life and their members applies
equally to either sex, unless the contrary is apparent from the context of the wording or
nature of the matter.
Chapter
VIII
Conferences
of major superiors
Can. 708 -
Major superiors can usefully associate in conference or councils so that joining forces
they can work toward the achievement of the purpose of their individual Institutes more
fully, always with due reí§¡rd for their autonomy, character and particular spirit,
transact common business and foster suitable coordination and cooperation with conferences
of bishops and also with individual bishops.
Can. 709
- Conferences of major superiors are to have their own statutes approved by the Holy See, by which alone they can be erected, even as a juridic person, and under whose supreme governance they remain