From The Code of Canon Law, (The Canon Law Society of America, 1983, pp. 70-77, 104-109, 114-115): Can. 208 In virtue of their rebirth in Christ there exists among all the Christian faithful a true equality with regard to dignity and the activity whereby all cooperate in the building up of the Body of Christ in accord with each one's own condition and function. Can. 209 §1. The Christian faithful are bound by an obligation, even in their own patterns of activity, always to maintain communion with the Church. §2. They are to fulfill with great diligence the duties which they owe to the universal Church and to the particular Church to which they belong according to the prescriptions of law. Can. 210 All the Christian faithful must make an effort, in accord with their own condition, to live a holy life and to promote the growth of the Church and its continual sanctification. Can. 211 All the Christian faithful have the duty and the right to work so that the divine message of salvation may increasingly reach the whole of humankind in every age and in every land. Can. 214 The Christian faithful have the right to worship God according to the prescriptions of their own rite approved by the legitimate pastors of the Church, and to follow their own form of spiritual life consonant with the teaching of the Church. Can. 215 The Christian faithful are at liberty freely to found and to govern associations for charitable and religious purposes or for the promotion of the Christian vocation in the world; they are free to hold meetings to pursue these purposes in common. Can. 216 All the Christian faithful, since they participate in the mission of the Church, have the right to promote or to sustain apostolic action by their own undertakings in accord with each one's state and condition; however, no undertaking shall assume the name Catholic unless the consent of competent ecclesiastical authority is given. Can. 223 §1. In exercising their rights the Christian faithful, both as individuals and when gathered in associations, must take account of the common good of the Church and of the rights of others as well as their own duties toward others. §2. In the interest of the common good, ecclesiastical authority has competence to regulate the exercise of the rights which belong to the Christian faithful. Can. 225 §1. Since the laity, like all the Christian faithful, are deputed by God to the apostolate through their baptism and confirmation, they are therefore bound by the general obligations and enjoy the general right to work as individuals or in associations so that the divine message of salvation becomes known and accepted by all persons throughout the world; this obligation has a greater impelling force in those circumstances in which people can hear the gospel and know Christ only through lay persons. §2. Each lay person in accord with his or her condition is bound by a special duty to imbue and perfect the order of temporal affairs with the spirit of the gospel; they thus give witness to Christ in a special way in carrying out those affairs and in exercising secular duties. Can. 226 §1. Lay persons who live in the married state in accord with their own vocation are bound by a special duty to work for the upbuilding of the people of God through their marriage and their family. §2. Because they have given life to their children, parents have a most serious obligation and enjoy the right to educate them; therefore Christian parents are especially to care for the Christian education of their children according to the teaching handed on by the Church. Can. 227 Lay Christian faithful have the right to have recognized that freedom in the affairs of the earthly city which belongs to all citizens; when they exercise such freedom, however, they are to take care that their actions are imbued with the spirit of the gospel and take into account the doctrine set forth by the magisterium of the Church; but they are to avoid proposing their own opinion as the teaching of the Church in questions which are open to various opinions. Can. 298 §1. In the Church there are associations distinct from institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, in which the Christian faithful, either clergy or laity, or clergy and laity together, strive by common effort to promote a more perfect life or to foster public worship or Christian doctrine or to exercise other apostolic works, namely to engage in efforts of evangelization, to exercise works of piety or charity and to animate the temporal order with the Christian spirit. §2. The Christian faithful should enroll especially in associations which are erected or praised or recommended by competent ecclesiastical authority. Can. 299 §1. The Christian faithful are free, by means of a private agreement made among themselves, to establish associations to attain the aims mentioned in can. 298, §1., with due regard for the prescriptions of can. 301, §1. §2. Such associations are called private associations even though they are praised or recommended by ecclesiastical authority. §3. No private association of the Christian faithful in the Church is recognized unless its statutes are reviewed by competent authority. Can. 300 No association shall assume the name "Catholic" without the consent of competent ecclesiastical authority, in accord with the norm of can. 312. Can. 301 §1. Competent ecclesiastical authority alone has the right to erect associations of the Christian faithful which set out to teach Christian doctrine in the name of the Church or to promote public worship or which aim at other ends whose pursuit by their nature is reserved to the same ecclesiastical authority. §2. Competent ecclesiastical authority, if it judges it expedient, can also erect associations of the Christian faithful in order to attain directly or indirectly other spiritual ends whose accomplishment has not been sufficiently provided for by the efforts of private persons. §3. Associations of the Christian faithful which are erected by competent ecclesiastical authority are called public associations. Can. 305 §1. All associations of the Christian faithful are subject to the vigilance of competent ecclesiastical authority, whose duty it is to take care that integrity of faith and morals is preserved in them and to watch lest abuse creep into ecclesiastical discipline; therefore that authority has the right and duty to visit them in accord with the norm of law and the statutes; such associations are also subject to the governance of the same authority according to the prescriptions of the following canons. §2. Associations of any kind whatever are subject to the vigilance of the Holy See; diocesan associations and also other associations to the extent that they work in the diocese are subject to the vigilance of the local ordinary. Can. 321 The Christian faithful guide and direct private associations according to the prescripts of their statutes. Can. 322 §1. A private association of the Christian faithful can acquire juridic personality by means of a formal decree of the competent ecclesiastical authority mentioned in can. 312. §2. No private association of the Christian faithful can acquire juridic personality unless its statutes have been approved by the ecclesiastical authority mentioned in can. 312, §1; however, the approval of the statute does not change the private nature of the association. Can. 323 §1. Although private associations of the Christian faithful enjoy autonomy in accord with the norm of can. 312, they are subject to the vigilance of ecclesiastical authority in accord with the norm of can. 305, and are subject to the governance of the same authority. §2. It is also the responsibility of ecclesiastical authority, while observing the autonomy proper to private associations, to be watchful and take care that their energies are not dissipated and that their exercise of their apostolate is ordered toward the common good. Can. 324 §1. A private association of the Christian faithful freely selects its own moderator and officials in accord with the norm of its statutes. §2. A private association of the Christian faithful can freely choose a spiritual advisor, if it desires one, from among the priests legitimately exercising ministry in the diocese; however, he needs the confirmation of the local ordinary. |
