Priests & Vocations Sctn.:

Association / Associations

"As for the Catholic groups, while the priests and the seminarians may favor and help them, they shall abstain from joining them as members; for it is fitting that the priestly phalanx should remain above lay associations even when these are most useful and inspired by the best spirit." (Pope St. Pius X, "Notre Charge Apostolique", 1910 A.D.)

"One should hold also in high regard and eagerly promote those associations which, having been recognized by competent ecclesiastical authority, encourage priestly holiness in the ministry by the use of an appropriate and duly approved rule of life and by fraternal aid, intending thus to do service to the whole order of priests." (Second Vatican Council)

"Can. 278 §1 The secular clergy have the right of association with others for the achievement of purposes befitting the clerical state. §2 The secular clergy are to hold in high esteem those associations especially whose statutes are recognized by the competent authority and which, by a suitable and well tried rule of life and by fraternal support, promote holiness in the exercise of their ministry and foster the unity of the clergy with one another and with their Bishop. §3 Clerics are to refrain from establishing or joining associations whose purpose or activity cannot be reconciled with the obligations proper to the clerical state, or which can hinder the diligent fulfillment of the office entrusted to them by the competent ecclesiastical authority." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can. 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 which animate the temporal order with the Christian spirit. §2 Christ's faithful are to join especially those associations which have been established, praised or recommended by the competent ecclesiastical authority." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can. 299 §1 By private agreement among themselves, Christ's faithful have the right to constitute associations for the purposes mentioned in can. 298 §1, without prejudice to the provisions of can. 301 §1. §2 Associations of this kind, even though they may be praised or commended by ecclesiastical authority, are called private associations. §3 No private association of Christ's faithful is recognized in the Church unless its statutes have been reviewed by the competent authority." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can. 300 No association may call itself 'catholic' except with the consent of the competent ecclesiastical authority, in accordance with can. 312." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can. 301 §1 It is for the competent ecclesiastical authority alone to erect associations of the Christian faithful which propose to hand on Christian doctrine in the name of the Church or to promote public worship, or which intend other purposes whose pursuit is of its nature reserved to the same ecclesiastical authority. §2 Competent ecclesiastical authority, if it has judged it expedient, can also erect associations of the Christian faithful to pursue directly or indirectly other spiritual purposes whose accomplishment has not been sufficiently provided for through the initiatives of private persons. §3 Associations of the Christian faithful which are erected by competent ecclesiastical authority are called public associations." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can. 302 Those associations of the Christian faithful are called clerical which are under the direction of clerics, assume the exercise of sacred orders, and are recognized as such by competent authority." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can. 303 Associations whose members live in the world but share in the spirit of some religious institute, under the overall direction of the same institute, and who lead an apostolic life and strive for Christian perfection, are known as third orders, or are called by some other suitable title." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can. 306 To enjoy the rights and privileges, indulgences and other spiritual favors granted to an association, it is necessary and sufficient that a person be validly received into the association in accordance with the provisions of the law and with the association's own statutes, and be not lawfully dismissed from it." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can. 307 §1 The admission of members is to take place in accordance with the law and with the statutes of each association. §2 The same person can be enrolled in several associations. §3 In accordance with their own law, members of religious institutes may, with the consent of their Superior, join associations." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can. 308 No one who was lawfully admitted is to be dismissed from an association except for a just reason, in accordance with the law and the statutes." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can. 309 Associations that are lawfully established have the right, in accordance with the law and the statutes, to make particular norms concerning the association, for the holding of meetings, and for the appointment of moderators, officials, ministers and administrators of goods." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can. 316 §1 A person who has publicly rejected the Catholic faith, or has defected from ecclesiastical communion, or upon whom an excommunication has been imposed or declared, cannot validly be received into public associations. §2 Those who have been lawfully enrolled but who fall into one of the categories mentioned in §1, having been previously warned, are to be dismissed, in accordance with the statutes of the association, without prejudice to their right of recourse to the ecclesiastical authority mentioned in can. 312 §1." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can. 326 §1 A private association of the Christian faithful ceases to exist according to the norm of its statutes. The competent authority can also suppress it if its activity causes grave harm to ecclesiastical doctrine or discipline or is a scandal to the faithful. §2 The allocation of the goods of an association which has ceased to exist must be determined according to the norm of its statutes, without prejudice to acquired rights and the intention of the donors." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Can. 327 Lay members of Christ's faithful are to hold in high esteem associations established for the spiritual purposes mentioned in can. 298. They should especially esteem those associations whose aim is to animate the temporal order with the Christian spirit, and thus greatly foster an intimate union between faith and life." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Another suggestion which we warmly recommend is that priests, as befits brothers, should form a closer union among themselves, with the approval and under the direction of the bishop. It is strongly to be recommended that they should form an association in order to help one another in adversity, to defend the honor of their name and office against attack, and for other similar objects. But it is even more important that they should form an association with a view to the cultivation of sacred learning, particularly in order to apply themselves with greater solicitude to the object of their vocation and to promote the welfare of souls by concerting their ideas and their efforts. The annals of the Church show that at times when priests generally lived in a form of common life, this association produced many good results. Why might not one re-establish in our own day something of the kind, with due attention to differences of country and priestly duties? Might not one justifiably hope, and the Church would rejoice at it, that such an institution would yield the same good results as formerly? There are, indeed, associations of this kind which enjoy episcopal approval; and the advantages they confer are all the greater if one becomes a member early in life, in the very first years of the priesthood. We ourselves have had practical experience of the worth of one such association and fostered it during our episcopate; even still we continue to show special consideration to it and others." (Pope St. Pius X, "Haerent Animo", 1908 A.D.)

Also See: Religious / Religious Life / Religious Institutes

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