TERZIARY ORDER. – It is an association of the faithful who profess to strive for Christian perfection in a manner consonant with secular life, by observing a Rule approved by the Holy See, under the guidance and in the spirit of a religious Order (CIC, cann. 685, 702). The approved Rule, the related juridical personality, and the juridical bond of stability of profession preceded by novitiate assimilate the T.O. to religious Orders; the absence of public or private vows prescribed by the Rule and the lack of common life distinguish it from the other states of Christian perfection; the aim of striving for Christian perfection in the world differentiates it from other associations. The CIC treats of the T.O. at the end of the second book, as the first category of the three kinds of associations of the faithful.
Historically, the T.O. arose in the late Middle Ages from the spontaneous grouping of good seculars around religious. In concreto, elements akin to the T.O. are found in the Oblates of St. Benedict and St. Norbert, which, though little widespread, appear at the beginning of the 12th century; toward the end of the same century, the Poor Catholics and the Humiliati are found. It was St. Francis of Assisi who gave the T.O. its proper form. The idea dates back to about 1212, and the Saint put it into practice around 1220, drawing up, with the help of Cardinal Ugolino, the Rule, now lost in its original form but whose substance is found in the *Letter to the Faithful*, and passed into the *Memoriale propositi fratrum et sororum de poenitentia* (the first five chapters and part of the sixth seem original to 1221, from the middle of the sixth to the whole of the twelfth the substance is also from 1221 with touches up to 1228; the thirteenth and last consists of 15 additions up to 1247). The remarkable spread of the Franciscans brought a proportional spread of the T.O. Pope Honorius III approved it, as attested by nearby papal documents (Gregory IX, Innocent IV); the Popes favored and defended it, granting privileges for the great services rendered to the Church by the T.O. in turbulent times. Nicholas IV reorganized the Franciscan T.O. with a new Rule in 20 chapters (bull *Supra montem*, 19 Aug. 1289). In the 14th and following centuries, tertiaries tended to unite in common life on the religious model, with one or more religious vows, forming various congregations with their own statutes. Leo X (const. *Inter cetera*, 20 Jan. 1521) to remove all variety issued for these communities a Rule in 10 chapters, imposing solemn vows and common life on all; thus arose the Regular T.O.; Pius XI (bull *Rerum conditio*, 4 Oct. 1927) replaced the Leonine Rule with one in 8 chapters, updated to the CIC and to new needs, imposing it not only on the Regular T.O. but also on the various congregations of simple vows that had arisen as tertiaries and aggregations.
The Franciscan Secular T.O. followed the Rule of Nicholas IV, with some comments or touches by various Popes (Julius II, Clement VII, Paul III, Innocent XI, etc.) up to Leo XIII, who saw in the association an effective means for Christian renewal and for this reason among many documents on the subject issued the bull *Misericors Dei Filius* (30 May 1883), by which he updated the ancient Rule.
Around the other religious Orders, too, gathered the faithful eager for a better life; there are references around 1220-25 to the Brothers and Sisters of the Militia of Jesus Christ, gravitating around the Dominicans, though with different aims (defense against heresies); the general Munio da Zamora (1285) reworked the Rule along the lines of the T.O. (v. FRATI PREDICATORI, ORDINE DII, IX). Only later did the Holy See expressly recognize the right of the various religious Orders to aggregate similar associations: to the Dominicans in 1406; to the Augustinians in 1409; to the Servites in 1424; to the Carmelites in 1452; to the Minims in 1508; to the Trinitarians and Premonstratensians in 1751; to the Benedictines in 1871. There is also the T.O. of the Mercedarians. The T.O. should not be confused with other unions, with different aims, even if they are called T.O.
The influence of the T.O. on individuals and on society has been immense: numerous are the saints, the blessed, and the distinguished men and women in virtue and learning among clerics and laity from its inception to the contemporary age, in Europe and in America; tertiaries have been and still are engaged in the most varied works of charity and apostolate, founded or fostered by them.
Only the Holy See can grant the privilege for a religious Order to aggregate a T.O. (can. 703); once the privilege is granted, superiors may enroll individual persons and erect the T.O. as an inorganic body only in their own churches; to erect sodalities as organic bodies (collegial persons) they must have the bishop’s consent, unless there is a distinct privilege or appeal to the Congregation of the Council against an unreasonable refusal; and this under pain of nullity (can. 680 § 3, 703 § 2). Competent superiors with ordinary authority, which may be delegated even *ad universalitatem causarum*, are the generals (for Franciscans and Carmelites *aequo jure* all those of the different families, plus that of the Regular Franciscan Tertiaries), the provincials, the local superiors, even of non-constituted houses, provided they are *sui iuris*, and those equated to them in mission lands and forming provinces (but not their vicars, unless the superiors have ceased from office or been suspended). Their power (except in the case of generals, obviously) for sodalities is territorial; for the admission of isolated tertiaries some authors would maintain that the power is not circumscribed by territory. Delegation may concern the erection of sodalities as organic bodies (collegial persons) or simply as inorganic bodies, or the admission of isolated tertiaries; it may also concern the direction of already erected sodalities.
Organic and inorganic sodalities must be erected with their own seat in a public or at least semi-public church or oratory, or in some altar of a public church or oratory; however, in case of necessity due to lack of (e.g., in mission lands) or displacement of a church, the sodality may be erected in a profane place with the relevant privileges. The sodality does not cease with the cessation (destruction) of the place of erection; and if this is lacking, the tertiaries acquire indulgences in the parish church. In churches of religious, only female sodalities may be erected. In small places it is advisable to erect only one sodality of the same Order; but in large places or cities it is for the prudence of the regular superiors to judge the appropriate distance for the erection of more sodalities. It is lawful to erect more sodalities in the same church for different categories of persons (men, women, priests, distinct nationalities). The major superiors, in
Tertiary Order – List of personalities belonging to the Franciscan T.O. 15th-century code – London, Pennant collection, f. 15 V.
delegating for erection, lay down in general some restrictions intended to preserve harmony among the various families of the same Order that may exist in a place. For the valid erection of a sodality, the faculty of the First Order, the bishop’s consent (after the CIC; before it was not certain), the presence of at least three professed members in the case of an organic sodality, a written decree (after the CIC), and a register (at least provisional) are required. The inorganic sodality is distinguished from the organic in that it cannot perform collegial acts (canonical election of offices) nor give itself statutes; moreover, without the bishop’s consent, they may be erected in the churches of the First Order. Sodalities cease after 100 years from the death of the last member (can. 102) or by act of the competent ecclesiastical authority that erected them.
Isolated tertiaries must remain an exception; they are bound by the novitiate, profession, and other prescriptions of the Rule not connected with the sodality. The sodalities of the Franciscan and Carmelite Third Orders, given the plurality of the first Order, erected by their own authority or by delegation of the superiors of a family, remain under the obedience of that family, even if in practice they are later cared for by another family, unless the superiors of the founding family consent to the transfer of obedience. Individual tertiaries, even those belonging to sodalities, may instead transfer from one obedience to another and from one sodality to another. A person enrolled in a Third Order cannot belong to another Third Order without an apostolic privilege (e.g., in Bologna with regard to the Dominican Third Order); however, one may transfer from one Third Order to another by renewing the novitiate (can. 705).
For admission, the following are required: a) Catholic faith; those notoriously censured and public sinners cannot validly enroll (can. 693 § 1); b) a suitable age (14 years); c) the absence of public vows, even temporary (can. 704), since the purpose of the Third Order is entirely absorbed by them; however, if someone is already a tertiary, they enjoy the graces of the Third Order until taking vows, and upon dismissal after taking vows, they retain their enrollment in the Third Order. Secular clerics may lawfully enroll in a Third Order. Upon enrollment, the year of novitiate begins, which is also required for isolated tertiaries; profession is only made at the end of this period. It may reasonably be deferred for some time, but not for years; in such a case, the novitiate is considered interrupted. Interruption also occurs when an individual publicly declares their departure from the Third Order or is legitimately dismissed. Obligations are generally not merely moral but juridical, so that a culpable person incurs only the sanctions imposed by superiors.
Profession, unlike religious profession, does not constitute a sacred state nor does it bind for religious motives; it expresses only a public purpose received in the name of the Church to live in a certain manner, binding by reason of fidelity. A sanction *ipso iure* entails that those who do not wear the habit do not enjoy the graces and privileges; however, this does not terminate enrollment, except in cases of contempt. The habit cannot be replaced by a medal without individual dispensation (e.g., for certain occupations or illness); it is not required to be worn at night, next to the skin, or externally. It consists of a scapular of woolen cloth, rectangular in shape, of the color of the relevant Order, to be worn hanging from the shoulders over the chest and back; a cord (not a simple thread but a cord) to be worn around the waist; it may be of wool, linen, hemp, or cotton. It suffices that it be blessed once. In past times, tertiaries wore an extreme habit (either full or in the form of a large scapular) during sacred functions and even in civil life; today (can. 703 § 3), it may be used in sacred functions only with the bishop’s permission, except for established customs, acquired rights, and use in private tertiaries’ meetings.
Neglect of the obligations assumed through profession does not terminate membership, as this is a bilateral pact requiring mutual consent for dissolution; it only constitutes a lack of fidelity and generosity toward God and may motivate dismissal.
Tertiaries, including novices and isolated ones, enjoy the privileges granted to the relevant Third Order directly; by privilege, some (e.g., for the Franciscan Third Order: Pius X, May 5 and 17, 1909) also enjoy, by communication, the privileges and graces of the First and Second Orders not strictly connected with the religious state. These generally include: a) indulgences; b) papal absolutions and blessings; c) privileges for Mass and the Divine Office (privileged altar, etc.); d) the right (not obligation) to participate in sacred functions with precedence over confraternities and pious unions; e) for sodalities, the right to possess and administer goods, and in organic sodalities, to elect internal officers (excluding the chaplain), hold meetings, and establish statutes (can. 697, 697, 701, 701). For precedence in sacred functions, collective participation is required, under one’s own cross or banner (by privilege sometimes under the cross of the First Order), and with the habit (full and external) or proper insignia. In some places, it is customary that upon enrollment in the Third Order, one acquires the right to be buried in the church where it is erected, without need for election.
The Third Order depends on the bishop: a) for the erection of organic and inorganic sodalities, excluding for the latter the church of the First Order; b) for the appointment or removal of the director or chaplain (excluding churches of the First Order), unless contrary privilege exists (as with the Franciscan Order); c) for the annual oversight of administration and the collection of alms; d) for canonical visitation outside churches of the First Order. It depends instead on the First Order: a) for the faculty of erection; b) for the proposal (or appointment) of the director and the granting of faculties; c) for visitation and internal discipline of the sodality (presiding over meetings, enrollment, dismissal, etc.).
The director has the duties and rights necessary for the office (admission, conferences, absolutions, etc.); they do not have the right to appoint officers, invalidate their election, reserve the administration of goods, or demand payments, etc.
THIRD ORDER REGULAR OF THE PENITENCE OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. Founded in Albi on June 7, 1866, by the priest Francesco M. Clausade for the preaching of missions.
It consists of clerics and lay brothers and has 7 houses, 5 in France and 2 in Matto Grosso (Brazil), with only 58 religious. It received the decree of praise from the Holy See on January 22, 1873. The Constitutions were temporarily approved on June 12, 1928, and definitively on May 19, 1936. The generalate is in Albi.