Secular institute

In the Roman Catholic Church, a secular institute is an organization of individuals who are consecrated persons – professing the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience – while living in the world, unlike members of a religious institute who live in community. It is one of the forms of consecrated life recognized in Church law (cf. the Code of Canon Law, can. 710–730).

Canon 710
A secular institute is an institute of consecrated life in which the Christian faithful living in the world strive for the perfection of charity and work for the sanctification of the world especially from within.

Description

Secular institutes first received papal recognition from Pope Pius XII in Provida Mater Ecclesia (1947). Secular institutes are recognized either by a Bishop (diocesan right) or by the Holy See. Most are registered in the World Conference of Secular Institutes.

Currently, up to 60,000 members belong to more than 200 secular institutes. Most of Secular Institutes' members are lay people. Some join as diocesan priests or deacons, and some Institutes are founded specifically for diocesan priests who wish to take vows and lead a consecrated life while still being incardinated in their diocese and working in the diocesan framework. Some Secular Institutes even train and incardinate their own priests, such as the Schoenstatt Fathers.

Notable Secular Institutes

• Secular Institute Pius X (I.S.P.X.)
• The Institute of the Maids of the Poor, O.F.M. Cap., is the first Roman Catholic secular institute in India.

See also

• Institutes of consecrated life
• Religious institute (Catholic)
• Societies of apostolic life
• Vocational Discernment in the Catholic Church

External links

• Concerning Secular Institutes in the Code of Canon Law (1983), can. 710–730
• United States Conference of Secular Institutes
• World Conference of Secular Institutes
• Provida Mater Ecclesia at the Vatican website