–The Evolving Story

• Sept 2023
• by Amy Hereford, CSJ, JD, JCD
• http://www.ahereford.org
• amyhereford@gmail.com

• Carrying out the mission of Jesus in the US
• 19th C - Rapid growth
• 20th C - Peak of growth
• 21st C - Continuing decline and efforts at sustainability
  • Missio - continuing the mission of Jesus
  • Communio - continuing in right relationships with the community of faith, and with a hierarchical church

• Canon 116
  • §1. Public juridic persons are
  • aggregates of persons (universitates personarum) or of things (universitates rerum)
  • which are constituted by competent ecclesiastical authority so that,
  • within the purposes set out for them,
  • they fulfill in the name of the Church, according to the norm of the prescripts of the law, the proper function entrusted to them in view of the public good;
  • other juridic persons are private.
• (Goods are ecclesiastical goods, subject to Canon Law book V)
• Examples of Public Juridic Persons are Dioceses, Parishes, Religious Congregations, Provinces, etc.
• mPJP erected by CEA
• Note on Associations of the Christian Faithful

• Since the 1990s in the US,
  • Religious congregations established mPJPs for Healthcare Ministries
  • Established by Religious Congregations
  • Guided by Religious Congregations in their initial years
  • In collaboration with laypersons
  • Catholic Health Assn has many fine resources https://www.chausa.org/
• Since the early 1990s, in Australia
  • Religious congregations established mPJPs for
    • Healthcare
    • Education
    • Social Service
  • Association of MPJPs: https://www.ampjp.org.au
• Diocesan or Pontifical
  • In a single diocese - diocesan mPJP - YMMV - not always appropriate
  • Dicastery for institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life (DICL)
    • Only dicastery currently approving mPJPs
    • Approving them on a very limited basis, a few each year. After a hiatus, 5 at the end of 2022.
  • Requirements for pontifical
    • Multiple dioceses
    • Multiple ministries
    • Under the guidance of a RI for the foreseeable future (Jx)
    • Sustainable support of ministries' Catholic mission and religious charism.
    • Probably multiple institutes/charisms

CIC Book III: Teaching Office

• Can. 801 Religious institutes which have education as their mission are to keep faithfully to this mission and earnestly strive to devote themselves to catholic education, providing this also through their own schools which, with the consent of the diocesan Bishop, they have established.
• Can. 803 §1 A catholic school is understood to be one which is under the control [moderatur] of the competent ecclesiastical authority or of a public ecclesiastical juridical person, or one which in a written document is acknowledged [agnoscit] as catholic by the ecclesiastical authority.
  • §3 No school, even if it is in fact catholic, may bear the title 'catholic school' except by the consent of the competent ecclesiastical authority.
• Can. 808 No university, even if it is in fact catholic, may bear the title 'catholic university' except by the consent of the competent ecclesiastical authority.
• Ex corde ecclesiae ‘90
  • General Norms III § 1. Holy See or Bp may establish.
  • § 2. With the consent of the diocesan Bishop, a Catholic University may also be established by a Religious Institute or other public juridical person. (CCEO 642)
  • III § 3. Others may establish with consent.
  • III § 4. §§ 1 & 2 statutes must be approved.
  • V § 1. Every Catholic University is to maintain communion with the universal Church and the Holy See; it is to be in close communion with the local Church.
• Missio & Communio

• Organized by:
  • Individual Ministry / Network of Ministries
  • Field of Ministry / or Charism group
  • Diocesan / Regional / National / Pontifical
• Observations
  • What is possible to establish?
    • By ministry
    • By congregation
    • By diocese
  • Widest possible net
    • Sustainability
    • Autonomy / Locus of Authority
    • Accountability

• Can. 114 §1 Aggregates of persons or of things … transcends the purpose of the individuals, are constituted juridical persons … by a special concession given in the form of a decree by the competent authority.
• §3 The competent ecclesiastical authority is not to confer juridical personality except on those … which aim at a genuinely useful purpose and which, all things considered, have the means which are foreseen to be sufficient to achieve the purpose in view.
• Collegial – Canon 115
• §2 An aggregate of persons, which must be made up of at least three persons, is collegial if the members decide its conduct by participating together in making its decisions, whether by equal right or not, in accordance with the law and the statutes; otherwise, it is non-collegial.

• Can. 117 No … juridical personality … unless its statutes are approved by the competent authority.
• Can. 120 §1 A juridical person is by its nature perpetual. Unless suppressed or inactive for a hundred years.

• Name and location
• Purpose
• Competent ecclesiastical authority (CEA) with jurisdiction and mutual relationship
• Relation to founding community(ies)
• Relation to sponsored ministries
• PJP Governance
  • Governing Body
  • Initial Board and Succession
  • Meetings, decisions, elections
• Formation
• Temporal goods and their management
• Amendment and Dissolution

• Canonical Responsibilities
• Civil Responsibilities
• Assets / Alienation
  • Care of Sisters / Brothers
  • Ongoing support of the ministry
• Communication & Education
  • Institute leadership and Sisters / Brothers
  • Ministry Board, Admin & Staff, Clientèle, Donor Base, etc.
  • Local Church
  • New JP

• Governance: Officers and CS with CV
• Ministry: highlights of activities, plans
• Stewardship: Audit, Budget
• Formation: Conferences, education, particularly regarding theology, Catholic identity and the particular ministry

• Deepening Communion with and within the Church to involve more of the laity in the Institute’s charism
• Examine sponsorship commitments to strengthen, change, or relinquish them.
• Theological Reflection and Discernment on Ministry and Sponsorship

• Make sponsorship a priority
• Education and consultation leading to decisions
  • Institute
  • Ministries
  • Local Church
  • Professionals
• Study of options, including mPJP
• Selection of mPJP pathway

• Drafting Documents
• Approval of documents and supporting letters:
  • Institute
  • Ministries
  • Local Bishops
• Submit petition
• Negotiate documents
• Approval and Decree

• Formation - Selection and formation of “Canonical Stewards” CS, Members, Councilors, etc
• Appointment and installation of CS
• Communication and public launch
• The formal legal transition of sponsorship
  • Amending ministry governing documents
  • Clarifying ongoing legal & financial relationships with ministries
  • Adjusting ministry statements about foundation and sponsorship
• Development of sustainable funding
• Operationalize with working committees and staff, communications and records, website, etc.
• New Schools: a pathway for discernment and incorporation
• Continued development
• The Institute continues
  • exercising limited reserve powers, appointing CS, amending statutes, approving new schools,
  • supporting and praying for this project as allies in its ongoing journey.