RELIGIOUS
760
RELIGIOUS
has a very ■nide meaning, and by the terms of that
Decree, this procedure is to be followed for all as-
sociations, whose members have a distinctive name
and habit, and devote themselves to their own per-
sonal perfection, or to works of pietj- or charity:
vows are not required. But, on the other hand, the
institute thus formed remains episcopal; the or-
dinaries exercise over it all the rights mentioned in
the Constitution "Conditse" (ch. i), except the right
txj modify anj'thing that the Holy See has specially
laid down.
(ii) Authority of the bishop. — This Constitution formulates the principle of full and exclusive sub- mission to the bishop; from which we conclude that the rights of the bishop are Umited only by the prin- ciple of natural justice and equity, which dcmantls respect for acquired rights; by the nature of the in- stitute, which must give its religious the means of making progress towards perfection according to the precepts of the Gospel; and by the plain exceptions of pontifical law. We say "the plain exceptions", because Decrees of the Holy See, which do not clearly refer to diocesan institutes, only give directions to bishops without restraining their power; moreover, in the immense variety of cases, prescriptions which are useful to institutes under pontifical government would be very troublesome to those whose hfe is diocesan; and the latter in the immechate control of the bishop often find the same security that the Holy See seeks to give by a new regulation to congre- gations dependent upon itself.
We have now to distinguish between diocesan and interdiocesan institutes. — (a) Diocesan Institutes. — Congregations which exist in but one diocese are de- pendent only on a single bishop: he approves the institute, authorizes the erection of new houses, may forbid the extension of the institute into another dio- cese, and may for sufficient reasons close a house, or suppress the institute itself: but he must take care, during the liquidation, not to violate the canonical laws concerning the disposal and aUenation of ec- clesiastical property. He may receive subjects him- self, ^•isit the houses to inquire into the religious dis- cipline and temporal administration, and resers^e to himself the approval of the most important acts. The Constitution '"Condita^" requires the superior in a convent of women (and we may say the same of male superiors) to be appointed by election; the bishop may not only preside at the election, but also confirm or annul it; and when any grave cause pre- vents the hokhng of a regular election, he may, while awaiting a favourable opportunity for assembling the electors, even make pro\-ision for the internal government of the institute. He is bound, however, except in case of express provision in the constitu- tions, to leave the hands of the superior free to ad- minister the institute and even to transfer the mem- bers (Reply of the Congregation of Bishops and Reg- ulars, 9 .A.pril, 1895). (i^) Interdiocesan Institutes. — If the institute has houses in several cUoceses, each bishop has authority over the houses in his own dio- cese; the consent of all is necessarj- to touch the in- stitute itself. OrcUnarily the ihfiiculties which may be created by this situation may be removed by ask- ing for pontifical approbation for the institute. Often also the bishop of the diocese of origin, in order to prevent difficulties and disputes, refuses tc allow the extension into other dioceses, unless it is agreed that he shall have full authority over the refigious hfe of the institute.
(e) Superior, Vows, Ordination. — In institutes under episcopal authoritj' the ordinarj- jurisdiction is vested in the bishop, never in the superior: the latter has the ruling power which is given him by the vows, and the internal authority which he possesses as head of the house. The vows, except the vow of perpetual chastity, if it has been absolutely taken, are
not reserA'ed to the Holy See. The dismissal of sub-
jects does not require the formahties prescribed by
the Decree "Auctis admodum" (4 Nov., 1S92) which
has been mentioned in connexion with orders and con-
gregations properly so called; and the religious in
Holy orders do not incur the suspension infUcted by
that Decree on those who are expelled, or on those who
depart voluntarily without having found a bishop or
means of subsistence. In fact, the members of these
institutes have always their bishop, who has taken
the responsibiUty of ordaining them. Exception,
however, must be made if the institute has obtained
an indult permitting the superior to dehver to his
subjects letters of ordination which bind only the
institute: in such a case a subject who left the in-
stitute having received major orders in this manner,
would be suspended until he had found a bishop and
means of subsistence.
(f) ReUgious State of the Members. — The question has been raised whether members of an episcopal in- stitute are really in the religious state, provided, be it understood, that they are bound by the three per- petual vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Our answer is in the affirmative, because the bishop, being the ordinarj- authority instituted by Christ him- self, truly gives canonical institution to the association.
B. Religious Rtle. — To complete our descrip- tion of the religious hfe, we have now to deal with the rule or constitutions by which religious are governed. (1) Historical Survey. — In the earUest times, the younger monks were accustomed to seek and follow the advice of some older monk in order to reahze tlie ideal of monastic life; and verj' soon those who were renowned for their wisdom and hoUness saw their instructions observed by a large body of dis- ciples. Others drew up a rule of life for the use of candidates for the hfe of perfection. The necessity for such a rule chief!}" affected the cenobites, for whom it was necessarj- also to organize common hfe and a hierarchical constitution.
The first rules were plans of perfect life, with de- tails differing according to persons, times, and places, but framed upon the Gospel as their common fun- damental rule. The first monks found their first rule in the Acts of the Apostles, i\, 32-5, where we are told how the owners of property voluntarily gave it up for the benefit of the whole community: this pas- sage was called the rule established under the Apos- tles (St. Possidius, "Life of St. Augustine", c. v., in P. L., XXXII, 37). AATien intended for anchorites, the rules contained only individual counsels; those intended for cenobites dealt also with the entrance into the monaster}', the probations, the hierarchy, obetUence, and common hfe. Sometimes they were codifications of received usages, obser\-ed and sub- sequently collected by the chsciples of some famous monks, sometimes they were the authentic work of the saint whose name they bore; not to mention the mixed character of certain rules composed with the help of authentic WTitings, but first published with- out any intention of making them a rule properly so called. St. Pachomius gradually compiled, according to the var}"ing needs of the times, a body of rules, the authentic text of which is not now in existence; cer- tain JNISS. give us more information on the subject of the rules of his disciple, Schenut. We possess the Rule of St. Benedict; the Rules of St. Basil and St. Augustine are of the mixed class. The answers of St. Basil to the questions of the monks form the first; the second consists in great measure of extracts from a letter addressed bv St. Augustine in 423 to the nuns of Hippo (Ep. 211" in P. L., XXXIII, 960-5). Of the first class are the rules which are circulated un- der the names of Saints Anthony, Isaias, Serapion, Macarius, Paphnutius, and others. We need not wonder that legend has attributed to some of the rules a superhumivn origin : the Rule of St. Pachomius,
