Association of the Christian faithful
In the Catholic Church, an association of the Christian faithful or simply association of the faithful, sometimes called a public association of the faithful, is a group of baptized persons, clerics or laity or both together, who, according to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, jointly foster a more perfect life or promote public worship or Christian teaching, or who devote themselves to other works of the apostolate.
A 20th-century resurgence of interest in lay societies culminated in the Second Vatican Council, but lay ecclesial societies have long existed in forms such as sodalities, confraternities, medieval communes, and guilds.
Terminology
Under the 1917 Code of Canon Law, groups of laity that gathered with a common purpose and apostolate were called piae uniones. With the replacement of the former code by the 1983 Code of Canon Law, they were referred to as "associations of the faithful", either "private" or "public".A Pastoral Note of the Italian Episcopal Conference issued on 29 April 1993 defined three of the terms:
- Associations. Those whose structure is organic and institutional with regard to composition of governing bodies and membership.
- Movements. Those united not so much by institutional structure as by adherence in way of life to certain dynamic ideas and by a shared spirit.
- Groups. Those with a certain spontaneity in the way of joining them, wide freedom in self-structuring, and somewhat limited size, giving rise to more homogeneous membership.
Associations of the faithful are distinguished from institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life. A group of people who intend to become an institute of consecrated life or society of apostolic life will normally come together at first as an association of the faithful, while awaiting the decision of the bishop, after consulting the Holy See, to establish them in the desired form.
Ecclesiastical approval
Private associations are not supervised by the local bishop, but bishops are instructed to be watchful that their energies are not dissipated.Public associations are supervised and authorized by the local bishop. The diocesan bishop can create associations of this kind after a consultation of the Holy See, without the need of the latter's permission.
Associations that are approved on an international level are approved by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life and listed in the Directory of International Associations of the Faithful. Associations that exist on a national level are approved by a country's episcopal conference, while those at a diocesan level are approved by the local bishop.
Since 2022, "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."