Last week’s post examined the duty to obey sacred pastors and the liberty of the faithful to make known to sacred pastors their needs, and suggestions for the good of the Church. Today’s post focuses on one of the obligations and rights of all Christ’s faithful as stipulated in canon 215.
Canon 215 states: “Christ’s faithful may freely establish and direct associations which serve charitable or pious purposes or which foster the Christian vocation in the world, and they may hold meetings to pursue these purposes by common effort.”
This canon highlights the right of Christ’s faithful, by private agreement, to establish and direct an association distinct from institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life. These associations, which could be for clerics or lay persons only or both together, should “strive with a common effort to foster a more perfect life, or to promote public worship or Christian teaching. They may also devote themselves to other works of the apostolate, such as initiatives for evangelisation, works of piety or charity, and those which animate the temporal order with the Christian spirit” (Canon 298 §1).
The words ‘establish’ and ‘direct’ show that whenever a portion of Christ’s faithful (cleric or lay) decide to establish an association by private agreement, they enjoy an autonomy that gives them the right to direct that association. The Ordinary has a supervisory role and can only interfere in internal matters when there is a crisis, or when the activities of the association deviate from the faith. The law encourages the faithful to join associations established, praised or recommended by the competent ecclesiastical authority (Can. 298 §2). Associations are divided into two: private and public associations.
Private associations are those which the faithful constitute among themselves by private agreement. These associations remain private even if the ecclesiastical authority commends or praises them (Can. 299 §2). A private association is not recognised in the Church except when the competent ecclesiastical authority has reviewed its statute (constitution) (Can. 299 §3).
Public associations are those established by the Holy See (for universal and international associations), the episcopal conference in its own territory, and the diocesan bishop (but not the diocesan Administrator) in his own territory (Can. 312 §1). The law requires prior written permission of the Dicastery of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life before a bishop can establish a public association of the faithful with a view of becoming an institute of consecrated life or a society of apostolic life (cf. Can. 579). The law also requires the written consent of the diocesan Bishop for the valid establishment of an association or a branch of an association in the diocese (Can. 313 §2). Only public associations may call themselves ‘catholic’ (Can. 300), which entails acting in the name of the Church.
All associations are subject to the supervision of the Holy See. The local Ordinary supervises diocesan associations and other associations working in the diocese (Can. 305 §2). The competent authority “ensures that integrity of faith and moral is maintained in them and that abuses in ecclesiastical discipline do not creep in” (Can. 305 §1).
In the context of the spirituality of canon law, one asks why the Church grants any member of the faithful the right to establish an association by private agreement with others. The right to establish and direct association stems from the obligation to holiness, which gives the faithful the right to establish and direct an association that can promote this.
Hence, canon 298 §1 states that through the associations, the faithful “strive with a common effort to foster a more perfect life, or to promote public worship or christian teaching.”
The idea of a ‘common effort’ in the journey of holiness is essential. While salvation is communal, and one must work out one’s own salvation in fear and trembling, common effort is indispensable in the Church because of mutual support and the notion of common good. The common good is “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily” (CCC 1906; Gaudium et Spes, 26 §1). Therefore, there is often no clear-cut distinction between private and public interest in the Church. The ultimate goal of the Church is the salvation of a single soul, and this cannot be achieved without the ecclesial community.
The holiness journey is done alone but in the context of the Christian community. Jesus intentionally sent his disciples in pairs. The purpose of this communal approach is to encourage one another in the journey of holiness.
As the letter to the Hebrews states: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day as long as it is called ‘today’, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:12-13).
Another purpose of associations is to carry out the “works of the apostolate, such as initiatives for evangelisation, works of piety or charity, and those which animate the temporal order with the Christian spirit” (Canon 298 §1). Christian holiness is not only about avoiding sin but also about the good works done. Hence, charity is one of the cardinal virtues, and almsgiving is one of the pillars of the Lenten season.
Associations mean one engages in almsgiving without waiting for the Lenten season. One recalls the words of Christ when he separated the sheep from the goat. His judgement was based on visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and other good deeds (Matt 25:31-46). James also emphasises that faith without good works is dead. Therefore, flowing from the obligation to holiness, the faithful have a right to establish and direct associations because they facilitate their holiness journey.
May God continue to help us🙏🏾
K’ọdị🙋🏾♂️
