There is a third order. Which is kind of strange since the SSPX is not an order. I wonder how they will be affected.
In the Code of Canon Law of 1983 the term Third Order was applied to any association of the faithful that shares in the charism and spirituality of an institute. The institute does not have to be an order, in which case, it’s third order, is not a canonical order. That’s how I understand it. It seems to be a term to refer to secular orders as well as secular associations attached to an institute.
I think of it like “Pampers”. How many people set out to buy Pampers and purchase Huggies? There is a brand name called Pampers, but the term became so popular that all disposable diapers are often referred to as pampers.
They aren’t a third order of ther SSPX. They are third order Franciscans who are attached to the SSPX in some way. They have separated, at least jurisdictionally, from the Franciscan orders of brothers and sisters.
They’re not Franciscan. I just read their rule on their site. They do not mention Francis, nor do they include the Rule of Penance in their constitution and their infrastructure is different. They are governed by the priests of the Society. Secular Franciscans govern themselves, have their own rule, their own funds and properties, and use the friars as spiritual assistants.
They mention very specifically that the focus is on the priesthood. None of Francis’ rules focus on the priesthood. There have always been friars who are priests and Secular Franciscans that are priests, but the Franciscan family does not exist to do priestly ministry. It’s main focus is one living the Gospel, not on priesthood.
The SSPX would cease to exist if it lost all of its priests. Nothing would change among Franciscans if we lost all of our priests. We have many houses without priests and we do perfectly fine. Most of the Secular Fraternities do not have a priest as a spiritual assistant.
But if they have brothers and sisters then they do have lay people.
The Church only recognizes two categories of people, lay and clergy.
Even consecrated religious in orders under solemn vows are lay people if they are not ordained.
I think that what gets people confused is the difference between lay and laity. Perfectae Caritatis was written under the code of 1917, which used the term lay for anyone who was not ordained. But it makes perfectly clear that non ordained religious (male or female) are not part of the laity. They are in a separate group. This is repeated in Vita Consacrata.
For this reason, many orders have stopped referring to their non ordained members as lay brothers unless that is what the founder truly intended, such as the Carthusians and Dominicans. In those communities, the Fathers and the Brothers share one spirit, but different vocations.
Among Benedictines, Franciscans, Trinitarians, not sure about Carmelites, all professed members are canonically religious brothers and do not cease to be religious brothers if they are ordained. They all share in the same religious vocation. Hence the reason for avoiding the term “lay brother” so as not to confuse it with orders that truly have two separate vocations and not to confuse it with laity.
** Vita Consecrata Parr 60) According to the terminology currently in use, Institutes which, by reason of their founders’ design or by legitimate tradition, have a character and purpose which do not entail the exercise of Holy Orders are called “Lay Institutes”.Nonetheless the Synod pointed out that this terminology does not adequately express the particular nature of the vocation of the members of these Religious Institutes. In fact, although they perform many works in common with the lay faithful, these men do so insofar as they are consecrated, and thereby express the spirit of total self-giving to Christ and the Church, in accordance with their specific charism.For this reason the Synod Fathers, in order to avoid ambiguity and confusion with the secular state of the lay faithful,proposed the term Religious Institutes of Brothers.**
It may be that in the context of the SSPX people are confusing the brothers with the laity. They are both lay, because they are not ordained, but both are not part of the laity. The consecrated life is a separate state from the state of the laity and Holy Orders.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, FFV
