The juridical aspect of any subject is, per se, tedious, and my
presentation comes to you when your attention has already been put
to the test during these days. I will try, however, to make the material,
if not entertaining, then acceptable, and I shall limit myself to a
few important elements.
- THE RIGHT OF ASSOCIATION IN THE CHURCH
1.1 The Right of Association
is part of the rights of all there faithful. The affirmation
of this principle is clear in the Code of Canon Law, c. 215: “The
faithful are free to found and direct associations which have a charitable
or pious purpose, or associations that seek to increase the Christian
vocation in the world; they are also free to have meetings so they
can fulfill their stated purposes.”
This is a right common to all the faithful that is brought up again when lay
people are mentioned (c. 225, §1), and is repeated again for everyone
when associations of the faithful are treated in c. 299, §1).
It is important to recall that this right to associate relates to the implementation
of ecclesial purposes, that is, purposes that conform to the nature of the
Church, as c. 298, §1 makes explicit when it speaks about the growth of
a more perfect life, the promotion of public worship or of Christian doctrine,
other works of the apostolate which are initiatives of evangelization, the
exercise of works of piety or of charity, the bringing to life of the temporal
order through a Christian spirit. “The enumeration is by way of example,
and leaves space for other possibilities. Never, however, can one speak of
purposes that, by their nature, are proper to civil society or extraneous to
the mission of the Church.”
1.2 The Various Types of
Association according to Ecclesiastical Legislation.
a. We have to say that the names that the phenomenon
of associations has taken are many. The Pastoral Note of the Italian Episcopal
Conference (CEI) of May 22, 1981 (thus prior to the promulgation of the Code)
on the “Criteria of Ecclesiality for Groups, Movements, and Associations
of the Faithful in the Church” used the terms association, movement,
group, society, and community. The Code, on the other hand, always uses
the term “consociatio” (association), and gives a description of
one in c. 298, §1: “In The Church there are associations which are
distinct from institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life.
In these associations, Christ’s faithful, whether clerics or laity, or
clerics and laity together, strive with a common effort to foster a more perfect
life, or to promote public worship, or Christian teaching. They may also devote
themselves to other works of the apostolate, such as initiatives for evangelization,
works of piety or charity, and those that animate the temporal order with the
Christian spirit.
b. Inside the one juridical name of the associative
entities is the fundamental distinction between public and private associations:
--Those that are public are those erected by the competent ecclesiastical
authority (c. 301, §3). C. 301, §1 makes clear that “the
competent ecclesiastical authority alone can establish associations of Christ’s
faithful which intend to impart Christian teaching in the name of the Church,
or to promote public worship, or which are directed to other ends whose pursuit
is, of its nature, reserved to the same to ecclesiastical authority.” The
same canon, in §2 says that “the competent ecclesiastical authority,
if it judges it expedient, can also establish associations of Christ’s
faithful to pursue, directly or indirectly, other spiritual ends, whose attainment
is not adequately provided for by private initiatives.” Through the
decree of erection, public associations are constituted as juridical persons
(c. 313). We are, therefore, speaking of a public juridical personality.
--Private are those associations constituted through a private agreement
among the faithful (c. 299, §1), and they remain as such even if ecclesiastical
authority praises them, or recommends them, or gives their approval for them
(c. 299, §§2 and 3), and even if ecclesiastical authority has approved
their statutes, and even if they enjoy juridical personality (c. 322). While
these associations are always subject to the supervision of ecclesiastical
authority, private associations enjoy ample internal autonomy.
According to some authors, we might speak of five levels of authoritative
recognition of associations, separating out only in the final one the public
associations of the Code:
*associations about which ecclesiastical authority has made no judgment;
*associations which have been praised or recommended;
*associations explicitly recognized;
*associations “electae et particulari modo promotae [chosen and particularly
promoted]
*associations directly set up by the hierarchy.
c. It has some value to point out that an association
may be: common to all the faithful, be they lay or clerics (as is
usually the case); for clerics, if it is directed by clerics, assumes
the exercise of Holy Orders, and is recognized as such by the competent authority
(c. 302); only for lay people (cf. cc. 327-329).
d. The Code takes note also of those “associations
whose members conduct an apostolic life and work toward Christian perfection
by participating in the world using a charism of a religious institute, under
the direction of the same institute (c. 303).” Here the Code refers
to the so-called Third Orders.
e. Finally, we note that only the ecclesiastical
authority is empowered to bestow the name “Catholic” on an association.
1.3.1 The Choice of an
Ecclesiastical Assistant.
a. In a public association, the
same ecclesiastical authority that approves the association nominates
the chaplain or ecclesiastical assistant, having consulted, if
it seems opportune, the major officials of the association (c.
317, §1).
b. In a private association, the assistant
is chosen by the organization itself, but the person chosen is to be confirmed
by the Ordinary of the place (c. 324, §2).
c. In the associations erected by members of religious
institutes because of an apostolic privilege: if one is dealing with
associations erected outside of one’s own churches or houses, the norm
for public associations applies; if, instead, one is dealing with associations
erected for one’s own Church or institute, the nomination or the confirmation
of the assistant is the right of the superior of the Institute, according
to the norms of their Statutes (cf. c. 317, §2).
2. JURIDICAL SITUATION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL
2.1 Journey through History
The first “Association of the Holy Medal of the Immaculate
Conception” was born in Paris, and was approved by the Holy
See for Paris in 1847. The recognition of the Association at a
worldwide level, with the approval of its purpose and its Statutes,
happened on July 8, 1909, by Pope St. Pius X..
Some modifications to the Statutes were presented in 1990, and
the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies
of Apostolic Life approved them through a decree dated September
8, 1990. The 14th of September of the same year the Congregation
for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments approved
the new texts for the Blessing and the Imposition of the Medal
of the Immaculate Blessed Virgin Mary.
The present Statutes were approved by the Congregation for
Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life by
a decree dated February 19, 1998.
2.2 What type of association are we?
We are an Association of the faithful, whose Statutes have
been presented for examination by the supreme authority of the
Church, who have taken a good look at the Statutes, have approved them,
as well as their later modifications.
We are an Association recognized at the level of the Universal
Church with branches in various nations and dioceses.
We have a spiritual purpose of devotion to Mary, of the sanctification of
our members, and of the apostolate of charity (art. 2).
Our Director General is the Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission
and of the Company of the Daughters of Charity (art. 3, §1), and he
has the right to nominate the national Directors or Presidents (art. 3, §2).
From all this taken together, it seems to me that we can deduce that according
to present-day Canon Law, we are a private association. This should
not cause any wonderment. One may consider the fact that the AIC (Association
Internationale des Charités de Saint Vincent de Paul), one of the
organizations that is part of the Organizzazioni Cattoliche Internazionali
(OIC), is considered private.
MISEVI is a different case: its Decree of Approbation, dated April 7, 1999,
says expressly that the “work called the Vincentian Lay Missionaries (MISEVI)
is a public international association of the faithful,” and in art.
1.1 of the Statute it affirms that the “Association of Vincentian
Lay Missionaries (MISEVI) is canonically erected as a Public Association
of the Faithful with an autonomous and complete juridical personality.”
The Statutes of the AMM of Chile (art. 1) states that it is a “public
association in the Church, that was approved by the Roman Pontiff on July
8, 1909.” Is their idea that they are a public association because
they have the approval of the Roman Pontiff? Does the approval of the Roman
Pontiff change the nature of an association?
In some illustrative works of the Association of Spain they speak
of themselves as a “public association of the Church, to which all
faithful Christians of any state of life may belong;” they say it was “founded
by Pius IX on June 21, 1847 (but confined to the Mother House of the Vincentians
in Paris); they affirm that “Pope St. Pius X, on July 8, 1909, erected
the Association of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Medal, with a definitive
and universal character, for the whole Church.”
The Statutes of Mexico limit themselves by saying that the Association
is “a gathering of lay Catholics that was born from the apparitions
of the Virgin to St. Catherine Labouré in 1830 . . .; it was approved
and recognized through the whole Church by the Brief Dilectus Dei Filius of
Pius X, dated July 8, 1909 (art 1).” But then they speak of this Brief
as the “Brief of Foundation.”
If we keep with the documents we have quoted, at what result do we arrive?
That the Association of the Miraculous Medal came to life in Paris through
the private initiative of the Priests of the Mission and of the Daughters
of Charity, that it was recognized and approved, first for Paris by Pius
IX, and then for the whole Church by St. Pius X. It does not seem to me that
we can speak of its having been founded or erected by a Pope, nor can we
speak of the Brief of St. Pius X as the Brief of Foundation. But let this
be clear as well: to say that an association is private rather than public
does not equal diminishing its importance, and it does not take anything
away from its ecclesial nature. We are simply speaking to make precise its
identity, and its configuration.
Nothing prohibits us from asking the Holy See, for that which regards the
Church universal, or an Episcopal conference, for that which pertains to
a nation, or an individual diocesan bishop regarding his own diocese, for
a formal decree erecting the AMM as a public association. Making public the
association would have as a logical consequence a tighter bond with the hierarchy.
2.3 The Statutes
a. The International statutes are
presented by the Director General to the Holy See and are approved
and confirmed (the term used in the Decree) by the Holy See.
b. The particular statutes (national) are
proposed by the national Director to the Director General and approved by
him.
The text does not say how one arrives at the formation of particular statutes.
I believe, however, that, because of the climate of fraternal communion that
should be characteristic of the life of the Church, these should be the fruit
of a wide collaboration. It is clear that there is no need to have statues
at the diocesan level.
c. As I said above, the approval of the Statutes by
the competent authority does not change the juridical nature of the Association,
which is private.
d. Speaking of the content and of style of
the Statutes, I don’t have a lot to say. However, the Statutes should
be an essential text, and, thus, brief, that delineates the constitutive
and stable elements: the purpose, government (its organization), to whom
it pertains, the rights and duties of the members . . . . Everything else,
that is, everything else that make up details that are more particular and
more transitory should be put in another text, e.g., the Rules . .
. .It may be that it is necessary to insert other material in the Statutes because
national legislation wishes it there so that one can obtain juridical civil
recognition and the consequent juridical capacity to receive, possess, and
administer goods. In this regard, one may make the observation that some
national Statutes are too detailed.
I conclude by saying that, although important, the Statutes are
a means, and not an end: the law requires them as a guide for life, but
not as essential for life. The categories public and private can be of
some usefulness as we shape the reality of associations, but what counts
is the ecclesial communion and the apostolic fruitfulness that such a
reality signifies and promotes. With its essentially ecclesial, missionary,
Marian, and Vincentian character, the AMM can be such a simple, but serious
and efficacious means for personal sanctification and for the mission
of the Church. Let this be at the heart of what we are about!
THE JURIDICAL SITUATION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL — THE
NATIONAL STATUTES
Rev. Alberto Vernaschi, C.M.
AMM International Encounter
Rome, October 26, 2001
1. THE RIGHT OF ASSOCIATION IN THE CHURCH
1.1 The right of association
Is a right of all the faithful cf. Code of Canon Law, cc. 215, 225, §1
and 299, §1.
The right of association is in relationship to ecclesial purposes: cf. c. 298
1.2 The Various Types of Association according to ecclesiastical legislation
a. the many names for the phenomenon of associations
b. fundamental distinction in the Code between
public associations cc. 301, 313
private associations: cc. 299, 322
c. Another distinction between associations common to all the faithful, those
that are clerical, and those that are only lay
d. The so-called Third Orders (c. 303)
e. Catholic associations (c. 300)
1.3 The Choice of an Ecclesiastical Assistant
The ways of choosing the assistant vary according to the type of organization
(cc. 317, §1; 324, §2; 317, §2)
2. JURIDICAL SITUATION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL
2.1 Historical journey: 1830—1847—1909—1990—1998
2.2 What kind of association are we: recognized, approved, public, private?
2.3 The Statutes: a. international
b. particular (national)
c. approval of the Statutes does not change the nature of the Association
d. Content and style of the Statutes: Statutes and Rules
To deepen our knowledge of the subject:
Are the Vincentian organizations similar to the so-called Third Orders
of religious institutes?
Does the difference between public and private association have any
impact on the importance of an association of the faithful?
Is there a good reason to do something so that the AMM be formally
established as a public association?
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