ESCLAUSTRAZIONE and SECOLARIZZAZIONE. —
I. ESCLAUSTRAZIONE
*Saecularizatio ad tempus*, as it was called before the CIC, is the permission granted by the competent ecclesiastical authority to a religious, whether male or female, to reside for a time outside the religious institute in the manner of seculars (*more saecularium*). It is precisely in this that the difference lies between *esclaustrazione* and other permissions granted to religious to live outside the religious house for the purpose of carrying out certain activities or ministries or for reasons of study (can. 606), illness, etc., but as religious and under the immediate and effective dependence of their superiors. The indult of *esclaustrazione* is granted by the Holy See to religious of pontifical right, and by the local Ordinary to those of diocesan right (can. 638).The juridical position of the excluded religious is regulated as follows. First of all, he remains a true religious and is therefore subject to the vows and to the common obligations, as well as to those specific obligations that can be reconciled with his present state (can. 639). Consequently, despite the vow of poverty, the excluded religious retains the free use of goods necessary for his subsistence; however, with regard to the acquisition of such goods, cann. 540 and 582 remain fully in force; that is, the solemn professed acquires for the Order, or for the Holy See if the Order is incapable of possessing, while the professed of simple vows acquires only for the religious institute, except for the right of particular law, the fruits of his own industry or activity and what is given to him in consideration of the same institute. The administration of goods and the disposition of their use and usufruct remain subject to the provisions of can. 569. Obedience, even by virtue of the vow, is owed by the excluded religious to the institute of the place where he resides, which acts in his regard as the superior (can. 639). The excluded religious may not wear the proper habit of the institute and, if a cleric, wears that of secular clerics, unless, in the case of religious of diocesan right, the local institute authorizes the retention of the religious habit (from the Commission for the Interpretation of the CIC; reply of 12 Nov. 1922; AAS 14 [1922], p. 642 ad 2); moreover, during the time that the *esclaustrazione* lasts, he loses both active and passive voice in the institute (can. 639). On the other hand, he continues to enjoy purely spiritual privileges, such as indulgences, the faculty to give blessings, etc., as well as the right to suffrages in case of death (ibid.), unless the constitutions expressly state otherwise. It also seems that, in case of need, the institute is bound to provide the excluded religious with charitable assistance to the same extent as it would be bound to do for a dismissed religious according to can. 671 § 2; indeed, some hold that this obligation is one of strict justice if the *esclaustrazione* occurred with the full consent of the superiors. Once the time for which the *esclaustrazione* was granted has elapsed, and if the indult is not renewed, the excluded religious must immediately return to the institute. He may, however, return even before the time has expired, especially if the cause of the *esclaustrazione* has ceased; and the superiors may recall him for just reasons before the expiration, which is expressly recognized in the indult of concession (formula no. 5).
There is another kind of *esclaustrazione*, granted *ad nutum Sanctae Sedis*, in use at the Sacred Congregation of Religious, by which, in special cases, a religious is granted the faculty, *sine die*, to remain in the world as a simple excluded religious. In these cases, it is not required that the religious find a bishop who will receive them as in the case of other excluded religious, but rather there is a license to remain outside the institute subject to the Holy See. It is understood that, in order to exercise sacred ministries or to celebrate, the permission of the local institute is required.
II. SECOLARIZZAZIONE
*Secolarizzazione* is, according to the discipline introduced by the CIC, the absolute and perfect dispensation or relaxation of religious profession (can. 638). It is said “according to the discipline introduced by the CIC” because previously there was the dispensation of simple vows and that proper to Regulars, whether temporary or perpetual, which, however, did not imply dispensation from the vows. Consequently, the secularized religious remained a true religious bound by the vows, but with the indult to remain outside the institute either for a determined time or even perpetually. Now, instead, the concept of the secularized religious is the cessation of simple vows and is not applicable to all religious. The secularized religious is thus reduced to the secular state. Consequently: 1) he is completely separated from the institute, lays aside the habit, and in the Mass and the canonical Hours, as well as in the use and administration of the Sacraments, is equated with seculars (can. 640 §§ 1-2; reply of 12 Nov. 1922 of the Commission for the Interpretation of the CIC; AAS 14 [1922], p. 642 ad 1-2); 2) he is freed from religious vows, although the obligations attached to sacred Orders remain in force; but he is no longer bound either to the canonical Hours imposed by profession or to the rules and constitutions (loc. cit., §§ 2-3); 3) if, by apostolic indult, he is readmitted into the institute, he must renew the novitiate and profession according to the constitutions and takes his place among the other religious according to the order of his new profession (loc. cit., § 3). This, however, would not apply to those secularized before the CIC, because *secolarizzazione* did not then produce the dissolution of the vows.Special consideration must be given to secularized religious in sacred Orders. First of all, the difference must be noted between those who lost their diocese by profession (can. 585) and those who did not; the latter, upon obtaining the rescript, must return to their own diocese, and the institute cannot refuse to receive them, whereas the former cannot leave the institute unless they find a bishop who will accept them, and, if they do so, they are forbidden to exercise sacred Orders (can. 641 § 1). This prohibition is not the canonical suspension referred to in can. 2278 § 1, which sanctioned the decree *Auctoris admonitum* (Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, 4 Nov. 1892, no. VI; CIC, Fontes, IV, pp. 1054 ff.). Previously, it was relatively easy to grant the secularized religious a license *ad annum et interim* to leave the religious house in order to more easily seek a bishop who would receive them; now, however, they are not authorized to leave before having found one, indeed in the petition for the indult it is customary to include the document of acceptance. Only the bishop, not the vicar general without special mandate, nor the capitular vicar except after the year of vacancy of the see and with the consent of the Chapter (can. 113), can receive the secularized religious, which is expressly granted for a period of three years. In the first case, there is immediately an incardination into the diocese; in the second, the bishop is granted the faculty to extend the trial period for a further three years, after which, if the secularized religious has not been sent away, he remains incardinated in the diocese (can. 641 § 1). It seems that the bishop is not bound to wait for the three-year period to dismiss the religious who does not meet his expectations, which is clear from the indult of *secolarizzazione ad experimentum*, where it is stated that the religious must immediately return to the institute if, during the trial period, he is dismissed by the Ordinary, after having informed the superiors (formula no. 12). In truth, *secolarizzazione ad experimentum*, according to the practice of the Sacred Congregation of Religious, is nothing other than a *secolarizzazione*. In practice, if the religious is sent away by the institute, he must return to the institute, which is bound to receive him. According to a declaration of the Congregation of 1 Aug. 1922 (AAS 14 [1922], p. 501), the indult of *secolarizzazione* has no value, even if requested by the religious and granted by the superior, unless it is accepted by the religious himself, to which he is not bound.
It should also be noted that the incapacities introduced first by the decree *Quum minoris* of 15 June 1909 (AAS, 1 [1909], 526) and reproduced in can. 642 of the CIC. According to the cited canon, every religious who returns to the lay state, even if in accordance with can. 641 he may exercise sacred Orders, cannot without a special indult of the Holy See: 1) obtain any benefice in major or minor basilicas and in cathedrals; 2) exercise any teaching office or any function in major or minor seminaries or colleges where clerics are educated, nor in universities and institutes that enjoy the apostolic privilege of conferring academic degrees; 3) hold offices or positions in episcopal curias or in religious houses of men or women, even if of diocesan right (can. 642 and 1). This applies also to religious with temporary vows who, after having been bound for a full six years, were dispensed from them (loc. cit., 2; 3). This law, which restores rights, must be interpreted strictly (can. 19). Consequently, it does not appear to include those not ordained in sacred orders, nor those excluded, nor religious with temporary vows who leave the religious institute voluntarily, having completed the time for which they made their vows. However, according to a response of the Commission for the Authentic Interpretation of the Code (24 Nov. 1920; AAS, 12 [1920], pp. 573–574), it does include those secularized before the promulgation of the CIC.
Finally, the secularized religious has no right to compensation for services, even extraordinary ones, rendered to the religious institute (can. 643 § 1, 580 § 2, 582), nor can the institute demand any indemnity for expenses incurred on behalf of the secularized religious. The latter regains full capacity to possess, administer, and dispose of his property, but the religious institute retains as fully acquired whatever came to it by virtue of the solemn profession of the religious in accordance with can. 582. However, to the secularized religious woman the entire dowry must be returned, without the fruits already accrued (can. 551 § 1); but if she was received without giving a dowry and with insufficient dowry, and has no means of providing for herself, the religious institute must, out of charity, give her what is necessary to return decently and safely to her home and to live for some time, to be determined by mutual agreement and, in case of disagreement, by the local Ordinary (can. 643 § 2).