DIOCESAN AN ASSOCIATIONS. – In France, the law of 9 December 1905, by denying legal personality to all ecclesiastical bodies and thus their capacity to hold property, replaced them with a single new type of entity, the *association cultuelle* (cult association), which had limited patrimonial capacity (among other things, associations constituted within a year would collect the assets of the suppressed ecclesiastical bodies), but broad powers, within their respective jurisdictions, for all matters concerning the exercise of worship.
The condemnation of the Holy See (encyclical *Vehementer nos*, 11 February 1906; encyclical *Gravissimo officii*, 10 August 1906) and the unanimous opposition of French Catholics induced the legislature to mitigate the rigors of the 1905 law, allowing public worship to be exercised even without an *association cultuelle*, and leaving to the faithful and the ministers of worship, in the absence of an *association cultuelle*, the use of sacred buildings (law of 2 January 1907).
As relations between France and the Holy See improved during the war of 1914–18 and diplomatic relations were restored in 1921, unofficial negotiations began to regulate the condition of the Church in France. Meanwhile, the question of the *associations cultuelles* was resolved by the Bishop of Nice, who proposed the establishment, under the French law of 1901 on associations, of a new type of entity, the *associazione diocesana* (diocesan association), whose statutes would ensure the preponderance of the bishop in the activities of the association and respect for the exclusive competence of the Church regarding the exercise of worship. Since the project was recognized as conforming to the principles of canon law by the other French bishops and the Holy See, and conforming to French law first by a commission of jurists appointed by the President of the Council (opinions of 7 April and 8 December 1923), and then also by the Council of State (opinion of 13 December 1923), Pope Pius XI (encyclical *Maximam gravissimamque*, 18 January 1924) approved the statutes of the new associations, explaining also how the reasons that had led to the condemnation of the *associations cultuelles* did not apply to these.
While the latter had, among their purposes, that of providing for the public exercise of worship, the *associazioni diocesane* (with the establishment of which there now exists only one civilly recognized ecclesiastical entity in each French diocese) have as their purpose the provision for the expenses and maintenance of worship, under the authority of the bishop, in communion with the Holy See, and in conformity with the constitution of the Church (art. 2 of the Statute). They are expressly prohibited from “any interference in the organization of divine service, in the spiritual administration of the diocese, in particular in the appointments and transfers of members of the clergy, as well as in the direction, teaching, and spiritual administration of seminaries” (art. 4). Moreover, the association cannot be constituted without the consent of the bishop, who is by law its president (art. 30).
The *associazione diocesana* falls within the same category as the *associazioni dichiarate* (acquisition of legal personality through declaration to the prefecture) and has the legal capacity pertaining to cultural associations. Changes in French legislation on this matter were introduced in a manner favorable to the Church in 1942; but it is not yet possible to foresee what their fate will be.