RELIGIOUS CONGREGATION. — The *Code of Canon Law* defines a religious congregation as a religious institute in which only simple vows are taken, whether perpetual or temporary (can. 488, 2). This element (exclusively simple vows) constitutes the essential difference between a religious order and a religious congregation, even though in common parlance the two are often confused.
In juridical terminology, members of female congregations are called sisters (*sorores*); the term nun (*monialis*) is reserved for members of ancient orders (can. 488).
I. HISTORY. — The distinction between simple and solemn vows arose fairly early from doubts regarding the effect of the vow of chastity on the validity of marriage. Vows taken at the reception of the habit or at religious profession were considered solemn. Thus arose the opinion that the solemnity of vows was an essential condition for the religious state. This opinion also created no small opposition for the founder of the Society of Jesus in the 16th century. However, the solemn declaration of Gregory XIII, that the scholastics and coadjutor brothers of the Society, despite their simple vows, were true religious, did not remove the ancient opinion but helped to form the concept of religious life with simple vows (see vow).
The origin of religious congregations seems to be traced to certain communities of Franciscan or Dominican tertiaries, bound even by simple vows. Before the 15th century, no example is known of a religious institute with merely simple vows. The Béguines and the Black Sisters, then numerous in Belgium and northern France, may be the first example of this form of institute. Others can be cited from the 16th century, e.g., the Ursulines in Milan. The great reformer St. Pius V sought to suppress all female communities of simple vows without papal enclosure (const. *Circa Pastoralis*, 29 May 1566) and perhaps also male ones (const. *Lubricum vitae genus*, 17 Nov. 1568). In fact, due to a certain tolerance on the part of the Holy See, not all were suppressed; indeed, new ones were founded with the approval of bishops or apostolic nuncios. In the 17th century, female congregations began to multiply, especially to conduct schools or care for the sick; male congregations, with one exception (the Brothers of the Christian Schools), date back at most to the 17th century.
Two papal documents (after that of Pius V) hold special importance for the evolution of religious congregations: the constitution *Quamvis iusto* of Benedict XIV (30 Apr. 1749) on the relations between major superiors and bishops, and the constitution *Conditae a Christo* of Leo XIII (8 Dec. 1900). The latter, which may well be called the Magna Charta of religious congregations, carefully defines the powers of ordinaries with regard to congregations of diocesan and pontifical right. The considerable number of distinguished congregations founded after the French Revolution paved the way for the full recognition of this form of religious life without solemn vows. Yet they had to await the *Code of Canon Law* to receive official recognition of their status as a religious state (can. 487 and 488).
II. LAW. — To found a new religious congregation, ordinaries must obtain a *nihil obstat* from the Sacred Congregation of Religious (can. 492); this is not a positive approval, which is not granted until the new institute has given unquestionable proof of vitality and spiritual utility in the Church. Thus the new congregation, even if it spreads to several dioceses, remains of diocesan right, fully subject to the local ordinary, with a certain autonomy in some aspects of internal governance (can. 492 § 2).
The first degree of approval from the Holy See, in most cases, is the *decretum laudis*, by which the Supreme Pontiff “fully praises and recommends this institute as a religious congregation” (*Normae S. Congr. de Relig.*, 6 Mar. 1921, no. 6). Once this document is obtained, the congregation becomes of pontifical right. The effect of this change in juridical status consists above all in greater immediate dependence on the Holy See and greater independence from the diocesan ordinary in internal governance. For example, ordinaries can no longer alter the constitutions; the election of the superior general no longer requires confirmation by the local ordinary (can. 506 § 4); superiors are far more independent in the administration of the institute’s goods (can. 535); the decree of exclusion (see exclusion) and of secularization (see secularization) must be granted by the Holy See (can. 638).
Very often, with the decree of praise, temporary approval of the constitutions is granted. Approval of the congregation itself will frequently be given with the definitive approval of the constitutions. Shortly after the promulgation of the *Code of Canon Law*, a special commission was established in the Sacred Congregation of Religious for the approval of new institutes.
Almost all religious congregations have a centralized government, although individual provinces and houses are true moral persons, capable of acquiring and administering goods on their own behalf, unless the constitutions provide otherwise (can. 531). Yet the houses and persons remain under the authority of the superior general (can. 502); local superiors are not elected by the community but are designated by the superior general.
Few religious congregations have received the privilege of exemption (see exemption), which removes their members, houses, and churches from the jurisdiction of the local ordinary, except in cases explicitly noted by the *Code of Canon Law*.
In addition to the general purpose of the sanctification of its members through the practice of the evangelical counsels and the rule or constitutions, each congregation has a special purpose, ranging from pure contemplation to the most varied forms of apostolate. Some adhere strictly to a well-defined special purpose, e.g., secondary schools; some devote themselves to all forms of teaching and charity; in recent times, not a few congregations have been founded with the aim of assisting parish priests in their apostolate and especially in the various works of Catholic Action.
No religious congregation, even of diocesan right, may be suppressed except by the Holy See (can. 493).
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**MISSIONARY RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS (MALE AND FEMALE).** — In the conversion of the peoples of northern Europe, Benedictine monks played a most important part, while from the 12th century Dominicans and Franciscans labored zealously in Africa and Asia, giving impetus to the missionary movement that, after the great geographical discoveries of the 15th and 16th centuries, experienced greater development.
At the Beginnings of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide
In the territories of the missions, which included not only Asia, Africa, and America, but also large parts of Europe—excluding only certain regions of France and Italy afflicted by heresy—the following religious institutes exercised the apostolate, as listed in vol. XIV of the Acts of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide, ff. 231–34, where the reform of the faculties granted to missionaries is discussed: the Benedictines in India and England; the Cistercians in Ireland; the Dominicans in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America (i.e., in the East and West Indies); the families of the Franciscans or the Friars Minor of the Observance in the same regions; the Jesuits in the same regions; the Augustinians in Asia and in the East and West Indies; the Reformed Franciscans in Europe and Asia; the Conventual Franciscans only in Europe; the Minims in England and Scotland; the Capuchins in Europe, Asia, and Africa; the Theatines in Asia, Europe, and the East and West Indies; the Mercedarians in the West Indies; the Piarists only in Germany; the Hermits of St Paul only in Europe; the Calced Carmelites in Europe; and the Discalced Carmelites in Asia and the East Indies.
The list, which comprises sixteen religious institutes, enumerates Orders and Clerical Regulars (C.R.), established not long before 1622, the year in which the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide was instituted. None of these religious institutes had been founded exclusively or primarily for the missions. The Jesuits themselves, who immediately sent St Francis Xavier and others on mission, did not have the propagation of the faith as their sole purpose. Therefore, before Propaganda, one cannot speak of true and proper Clerical Regulars for Missions (C.R.M.) whose exclusive aim was the propagation of the faith among unbelievers. This new need arose only after the establishment of Propaganda, which immediately understood the necessity of having all missionary personnel directly under its authority and at its complete disposal. This reorganization effort was opposed by the two colonial powers, Spain and Portugal, which claimed the rights of patronage granted to them by the popes in former times. A struggle ensued in which the missionaries themselves—all belonging to Clerical Regulars—also took part. Thus, the idea matured of having personnel entirely independent of alleged patronage rights and dedicated exclusively to missionary work. For obvious reasons, this idea could not be realized in Portugal or Spain, but it was implemented in France, where in 1650 the Paris Foreign Missions Seminary was founded, which gathered priests from French dioceses to send them on missions entrusted by Propaganda to French Ordinaries in East Asia. This was not a Clerical Regular institute established with distinctive characteristics, but an initiative to overcome the difficult situation faced especially by the missions of East Asia. The example of the Paris Seminary was not followed by others, also because the historical events of the 18th century missions did not create a pressing need to send an ever-increasing number of missionaries.
Instead, during the revival of missionary activity that began with the pontificate of Gregory XVI in the last century, numerous Clerical Regulars and other seminaries of the Paris type emerged, with the exclusive missionary purpose and dependent on the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide. Of these religious institutes, the vast majority were founded in the mission territories themselves by bishops and pious souls, while others were established in Europe. In this way, two categories of Clerical Regulars for Missions (C.R.M.) emerged: the first included those born in mission lands to collaborate directly in apostolic works; the second encompassed those, though founded in Europe, aimed solely at sending their members to mission territories, excluding other purposes. These C.R.M. can be properly called missionary, unlike others in which missionary apostolate is but one part of the manifold good works they perform in the universal Church. They soon became very numerous, and not a few are still flourishing today.
The Sacred Congregation of Propaganda, in regulating the internal organization of these C.R.M., did not require special authorizations but used its ordinary faculties, especially since all other religious missionaries were entirely dependent on II. Through the constitution *Sapienti consilio* of 1908, not only were large territories removed from its jurisdiction, but it also lost competence over missionaries as religious, and thus all C.R.M. passed en bloc to the new Sacred Congregation for Religious. However, within a year, several institutes were again placed under the jurisdiction of Propaganda, thereby reaffirming the principle that institutes with specifically missionary aims should be entirely dependent on Propaganda. This principle has prevailed even after the Code, which in can. 252 § 5 repeats verbatim the provisions of the 1908 constitution. Thus, the situation prior to that constitution has been restored, namely that Clerical Regulars born in mission territories to assist local apostolate depend on Propaganda, as do those congregations or societies founded elsewhere with a specifically missionary purpose. It should be noted, however, that the first criterion has not always been applied in all cases, especially in countries such as Australia and New Zealand.
Currently, a large number of religious institutes of diocesan right depend on Propaganda; nearly all were founded in mission territories. Some were established in dioceses of common right, namely: the Little Servants of the Sacred Heart (diocese of Nice, papal audience 24 April 1933); the Sisters of the Foreign Missions (diocese of Toulouse, papal audience 8 May 1933); the Missionary Dominican Sisters of Namur (diocese of Namur, decree 21 November 1937); the Medical Missionaries of Mary (diocese of Armagh, decree 21 May 1940); and the Medical Mission Sisters (Philadelphia, U.S.A., Secretariat of State letter, 30 December 1941).
Various pontifical-right congregations also depend on Propaganda. As of 1949, there are seven male congregations and twenty female. In addition to the aforementioned C.R., Propaganda also governs other missionary institutes that, despite having particular constitutions, are societies without vows; at present (1949), there are thirteen such societies. In the missions, besides the C.R. and societies without vows that are specifically missionary, there are more than eighty male congregations and more than two hundred female congregations, some of which have a large number of missionaries.
Vedi tav. XV.