I think that we need to step back on this and examine what’s going on in this thread. It feels to me that this is becoming a situation of people wanting to run a diocese long-distance, which is illegal and does not work. Only bishops and the priests council can run a diocese.
If we look at this at face value, whether or not a diocese is optimal is not the question. There is no such thing as an optimal diocese. Every diocese has issues, be they dissenters, immoral behavior among priests, apathetic lay people, financial problems, and the list gets longer.
The issue, as it has been presented by the Chancellor of the diocese falls under the canons and rules of the Sacred Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. I don’t know what the constitutions of the LC and RC say, but it may even fall under their own constitutions. I know that most religious communities have clauses built into their constitutions or their rule (if they have one) that says that they may not serve in a diocese without the bishop’s permission.
The rule of the universal Church is that a bishop does not need a reason to deny any religious institute entrance into his diocese or to ask the major superior of an institute to remove his/her religious from his diocese. So our asking why or what other motives were there, is irrelevan to the Vatican, the canon law, and the Sacred Congregation for religious life.
If I, as a religious, complained that I was asked to leave a diocese or that I was not allowed to enter a diocese, the Vatican would tell me to obey and be quiet. I have no rights, except within my religious order. Outside of that, I have no rights in the Church. I surrender those rights when I make a vow of obedience. The only rights that I have are those that are granted by the rule of St. Francis and the Constitutions of the order, because those rights are approved by the Vatican. Other than that, I have very few rights under canon law.
If you read canon law, under consecrated life, you will be amazed that most of the law DOES NOT grant religios men or women too many rights.
Let’s bullet them.
We have the right to exist once approved by the Holy See
We have the right to govern ourseles without interference from bishops and laity
We have the right to live within our religious community regardless of our sinfulness, until dismissed by the Holy See or the community
We have the right to exercise our ministry in OUR own territories, not a bishop’s
Now let’s look at the rights that we do not have
We do not have the right to appeal a bishop’s decisions
We do not have the right to express our opinion on any matter without the permission of the proper authorities
We do not have the right to enter any diocese or diocesan property without permission of the Ordinary of the diocese
We do not have the right to remain in a jurisdiction without the permission of the canonical authority in that jurisdiction
We do not have the right to preach, minister, administer sacraments and make any contact with the laity without the approval of the Ordinary
We do not have the right to compete with diocesan clergy, as the diocese is their domain, not that of religious
We do not have the right to recruit vocations or promote our ministries and our teaching without the permission of the Ordinary
We do not have the right to speak to the Ordinary of any diocese unless he wishes to speak to us first
We do not have the right to manifest our presence in any diocese by wearing a habit in public, posting signs, running activities, using the media or other, without the consent of the Ordinary
We do not have the right to erect a house, oratory, or institution without the expressed permission of the Ordinary, which must be in writing to the major superior
We do not have the right to an appeal if our presence in a diocese was never consented to by the Ordinary
We do not have the right to own property within a diocese without the permission of the Ordinary
We do not have the right to an explanation when we are asked to abandon a diocesan ministry or the diocese
Whether this seems fair or not, these are the rules that have been in place since the 13th century. On the other hand, institutes that are canonically established in a diocese work these things through their Ordinary with the Ordinary of the diocese. Those communities that are guests in a diocese do not have this right. They simply serve at the discretion of the bishop.
The rules that govern public associations of the faithful, such as third orders or secular order, required that these associations be canonically erected. The superiors of these associations know this. If they are not canonically erected the local bishop can disband them without further permission from anyone. Canonical erection is not the same as approval by the Holy See. The Holy See can approve a religious order, religious congregation, third order, secular order, society of apostolic life, clerical society or institute and they are still not canonically erected in a diocese until the process is completed between the bishop and the major superior. The Holy See only grants permission for an institute and an association to receive members and to exist in the universal Church. It does not grant them permission to exist in any diocese of the universal Church. That permission can only be granted by the local bishop.
Finally, all religious and lay associations must serve the diocesan/secular clergy. They are above us in rights and authority in any diocese, because it is their diocese, not our own. When we become religious, we cease to be members of any diocese. Therefore, we have no home. I know that there are disobedient religious who run ammock in a diocese. That is not the norm. They are the exception.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
