By Paschal Norbert
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 17, 2022 (CISA) – “The diocesan bishop, before erecting – by decree – a public association of the faithful with a view to becoming an Institute of Consecrated Life or a Society of Apostolic Life of diocesan right, must obtain the written permission of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life,’’ read a decree by Pope Francis in a rescript of on public associations of faithful in itinere, on June 15.
The approval of the aforementioned provision was occasioned in an audience granted on February 7, 2022, to the Cardinal Prefect, João Braz Cardinal de Aviz and Archbishop Secretary, José Rodríguez Carballo, O.F.M., of the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life.
This means that diocesan bishops must receive written authorization from the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life before erecting a public association of the faithful that is expected to become a religious institute.
The announcement, which was published by the Holy See Press Office on June 15, also noted that the Supreme Pontiff ordered that the rescript “be promulgated by publication in L’Osservatore Romano, coming into force immediately, and then published in the official commentary of the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.”
