LAW Overview

1. LAWOverview History Canon Law SFO Constitutions and Statutes

2. Associations in the Earliest Christian Centuries The earliest Christian centuries witnessed a wide variety of people getting together for a common purpose, such as collecting alms for poor churches. A fairly common reason to get together among the Christian laity in this early period was the organization of burial societies.

3. 4th Century Associations At the beginning of the 4th century another group emerged and their purpose was to assist in the liturgical services, for the most part by the chanting of psalms and by participating in the various ecclesiastical processions. Both men and women were eligible for membership. They were subject to the supervision and direction of ecclesiastical authority.

4. 8th & 9th CenturiesDevelopment of Ecclesiastical Associations The chief factor in the development of ecclesiastical associations during the 8th and 9th centuries was the rapid expansion of western monasticism through the Benedictines. Kings, nobles, knights, men and women, rich and poor enrolled in these monastically sponsored associations in order to share in the prayers and spiritual works of the monks.

5. The ecclesiastical association of the 9th & 10th centuries • internal government • dependent on episcopal supervision • served religious and charitable purposes.

6. 11th Century Ecclesiastical Associations By the 11th century the ecclesiatical societies spread throughout Italy. Men and women assembled together under ecclesiastical direction to promote devotion to the saints, ensure spiritual assistance, provide for the needs of the poor, visit and nurse the sick, pray in common for dead members, and have Masses offered for them.

7. Many bishops found it necessary to remind the people that ecclesiastical societies could be only be established with the consent of the local ordinary. • In Rome, Gregory IX (1227-1241) issued a decree to the effect that no ecclesiastical association could be established in the city without the special permission of the Holy See.

8. Enter St. Francis andSt. Dominic in the Middle Ages 13th century Countless numbers of people identified themselves with the Franciscan and Dominican spirit by adopting a religious rule of life specifically designed for the uncloistered masses.

9. 12th & 13th Centuries During the 12th and 13th centuries the confraternity took on the juridical form of a corporate body, possessing property and administering funds under ecclesiastical supervision.

10. Right of the Church to overseeEcclesiastical Associations • Laws at this time asserted the right of the Church to establish associations and oversee the administration of their property insofar as they were ecclesiastical (church related) organizations. • The Church permitted the founders of these societies to formulate the norms/rules that guided their interior life and external activities.

11. These associations/confraternities had their own particular statutory laws, in which detailed provisions were made for: everything from the reception of communion to the management of funds. • Confraternities attached to the churches or convents of religious orders were often placed under their direct supervision and administration.

12. The Council of Trent Bishops • have a right to visitation of any and all kinds of associations and confraternities • The ecclesiastical and lay administrators of confraternities must submit an annual financial report on the administration of the confraternity’s funds and the distribution of alms donated by the faithful.

13. From the 13th – 15th centuries theseecclesiastical societies multiplied and many served the same purpose.

14. 16th Century – The Reformation • As a result of the Reformation, and because of the great need for individual religious instruction, the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine was organized at this time with headquarters in Rome.

15. 17th CenturyEcclesiastical Associations • Clement VIII issued the constitution Quaecumque.Quaecumque to standardize practices and correct abuses.

16. Local Ordinary • consent for the establishmentof an ecclesiastical association • the examination, approval, and the correctionof the statutes • The administration of funds, the liturgical ceremonies, and the works of charity had already been subjected to his supervision by the Council of Trent.

17. The 1917 Code classified the various types of ecclesiastical associations. It was also the first time that a lot of Church law was gathered into one place.

18. As a result of Vatican II, in 1983 a new Code of Canon Law came into effect. It did away with the 1917 Code of Canon Law. It updated and brought the Church’s laws into the current time.This is the Code that we now use.

19. CanonLaw

20. What is Canon Law and Why is it Important? • Every organization, whether secular or religious, requires its own laws and customs in order to maintain order. Within the Catholic Church the law is known as Canon Law.

21. in order to maintain order. • keep the Church focused on its mission to evangelize the nations and provided an environment in which the Church was more receptive to God’s plan.

22. What are “Canons”? • “Canon” comes from Greek meaning norm or measure.“Canons” are individual paragraphs of law that the Church interprets and applies to given situations.

23. Different Kinds of Laws There are different types of law in the Church – A few examples: • Liturgical Law • Sacramental Law • Ecumenical Law

24. The Code of Canon Law contains 7 unique divisions known as books • Book IGeneral Norms,lays down theground rulesof the Church’s legal system • Book IIThe People of God, looks at who makes up the Church, structure, etc. • Book IIIThe Teaching function of the Church, tells how we proclaim the gospel of Christ through teaching, books, universities, catechisms, Mother Angelica

25. Book IV, The Sanctifying Function of the Church,deals with our sanctification by Christ in all of the7 sacraments • Book V,Temporal Goods,gives guidance on how we are to deal withworldly goods: donations, Mass Stipends, Settlements, Selling property • Book VI, Penal Law,describes the Church’s responses toerrant behaviors: clergy misconduct, “put a bad dog down” • Book VII,Procedural Law,explains thelegal processes in the Church

26. Free to have associations • Canon 215The Christian faithful are free to found and to govern associations for charitable and religious purposes or for the promotion of the Christian vocation in the world • are free to hold meetings to pursue these purposes in common.

27. Classification of Associations • their relation to the Church's hierarchy -public and private; • their extension-international or universal, national, diocesan; • their membership-clerical, lay, mixed.

28. Definition: Associations of the Faithful • Can 298 §1. associations distinct from religious life, in which the Christian faithful, either clergy or laity, or clergy and laity together • strive by common effort to promote a more perfect life or to foster public worship or Christian doctrine or to exercise other apostolic works • to animate the temporal/secular order with the Christian spirit.

29. What is a JuridicPerson? • Juridic personalityis conferred upon groups of people or things ordered towards a purpose goes along with the mission of the Church (c. 114 §1) • recognized by the Church. • subject to rights and obligations, (c. 113 §1) • The equivalent in civil law is incorporation.

30. What is a public juridic person? • group of people or things • established by a competent ecclesiastical authority • given amission • statutes andconstitutions have beenapproved by this same ecclesiastical authority.(cc. 313, 116, 117, 301 §3)

31. General Constitutions, Art. 29.1 • Local fraternities are grouped into fraternities at various levels: regional, national and international according to criteria that are ecclesial, territorial, or of another nature. They are coordinated and connected according to the norm of the Rule and the Constitutions. This is a requirement of the communion among the fraternities, of the orderly collaboration among them, and of the unity of the SFO.

32. General Constitutions, Art. 29.2 • Rule 20 These fraternities, that each have their own juridical personality in the Church, should acquire, if possible, a civil juridical personality for the better fulfillment of their mission…

33. What is a private association? • The difference between public and private is that the public association’s constitutions and statutes are approved by an ecclesiastical authority and a private one’s are not. (cc. 298, 301)

34. SFO a tax exempt organization – federal income tax • Included in group ruling of the Catholic Church • Donations deductible • Mileage deductible • No relationship to state tax requirements • Does not exempt fraternities from other taxes (sales, use, etc.)

35. Who has the Right to Establish Associations? • Can 301 §1. Competent ecclesiastical authority alone when you are doing something in the name of the Church

36. Who is the competent ecclesaistical authority that has the right to establish associations? • Can 312 §1. The authority competent to establish public associations is: • (1) Holy See for universal and international associations • (2) Conference of bishops in its own territory for national associations • (3) Diocesan bishop in his own territory for diocesan associations

37. “Catholic” in Title • Can 300.No association shall assume the name "Catholic" without the consent of competent ecclesiastical authority, in accord with the norm of can. 312. • Specific approval to use the name Catholic is not required for associations that have been established as public juridic persons or as private juridic persons

38. Third Orders • Can 303. members lead an apostolic life • strive for Christian perfection while living in the world • share the spirit of some religious institute under the higher direction of that same institute • (GC Art. 85.1)

39. General Constitutions, Art. 85.2 • The spiritual and pastoral care of the SFO, entrusted by the Church to the Franciscan First Order and the TOR, is the duty, above all, of their general and provincial ministers. Thealtius moderamen, of which Canon 303 speaks, belongs to them. The purpose of thealtius moderamenis to guarantee the fidelity of the SFO to the Franciscan charism, communion with the Church and union with the Franciscan family, values which represent a vital commitment for the Secular Franciscans.

40. Statutes for Spiritual Assistance Art. 8.1The General Ministers • The general Ministers exercise collegially thealtius moderamen and the pastoral assistance in regard to the SFO as a whole[1]. [1]SFO Const 87.1

41. Third Orders • Third ordersSecular -members in the world.

42. The Third OrderRegular (TOR) evolved out of the Seculars, men and women who wanted to live together in a community life.Eventually their rule evolved from the SFO rule and is different from it and the rule of the first orders.

43. Necessity of Statutes • Can 304 §1.All associations of the Christian faithful, whether public or private, by whatever title or name they are called, are to have their own statutes…

44. Approval of Statutes • Canon 314The statutes of any public association as well as their revision or change require the approval of the ecclesiastical authority which is competent to establish the association in accord with can. 312,§1.

45. Vigilance and Accountability • Can 305 §1.All associations of the Christian faithful are subject to the vigilance of competent ecclesiastical authority…

46. Can 305 §2.Associations of any kind whatever are subject to the vigilance of the Holy See; diocesan associations and also other associations to the extent that they work in the diocese are subject to the vigilance of the local ordinary.

47. General Constitutions, article 101.1-2 • The Secular Franciscans should collaborate with the bishops and follow their directions… [1] • The fraternities are subject to the vigilance of the Ordinary in so far as they perform their activities within the local Churches. [2] • [1]See Can. 394; 756; 775 ss. [2] See Can. 305; 392.

48. Benefits • Can 306.In order for a person to enjoy the rights and privileges, indulgences and other spiritual favors granted to the association, he or she has to have been validly received into it and not legitimately dismissed…

49. Membership • Can 307 §1.The reception of members is to be done in accord with the norm of law and the statutes of each association. • §2. The same person can be enrolled in several associations. • §3. Members of religious institutes can enroll in associations in accord with their own law with the consent of their superior.

50. Dismissal Canon 308 No one who has been legitimately enrolled may be dismissed from an association except for a just cause in accord with the norm of law and the statutes.