Institutes of Consecrated Life - Historical-juridical List in The Annuario Pontificio

Historical-juridical List in The Annuario Pontificio

The Annuario Pontificio lists for both men and women the institutes of consecrated life and the like that are "of pontifical right" (those that the Holy See has erected or approved by formal decree). For the men, it gives what it now calls the Historical-Juridical List of Precedence. The arrangement of the institutes for men of Latin Rite in this list dates back many decades. It is found, for instance, in the 1964 edition of the Annuario Pontificio, pp. 807-870, where the heading is "States of Perfection (of pontifical right for men)". In the 1969 edition the heading has become "Religious and Secular Institutes of Pontifical Right for Men", a form it kept until 1975 inclusive. Since 1976, when work was already advanced on revising the Code of Canon Law, the list has been qualified as "historical-juridical" and still distinguishes "orders" from "congregations" in the case of Latin-Rite men, while not separating out "orders" and "congregations" in the case of the Eastern Catholic Churches and Latin-Rite women.

It arranges the institutes for men as follows:

A. Institutes of consecrated life

a. Religious institutes

I. Orders

1. Canons regular

2. Monks

3. Mendicant orders

4. Clerks regular

II. Clerical religious congregations

III. Lay religious congregations

IV. Eastern orders, religious congregations and societies of apostolic life

b. Secular institutes

I. Clerical secular institutes

II. Lay secular institutes

B. Societies of apostolic life

The institutes for women are arranged alphabetically in the following categories:

A. Institutes of consecrated life

a. Religious institutes

I. Orders and institutes with autonomous houses

II. Centralized institutes

B. Societies of apostolic life

These lists are followed by a list of 6 institutes under the heading "Other Institutes of Consecrated Life", a reference to new forms of consecrated life established in accordance with canons 604 §2 and 605 of the Code of Canon Law. Some of these have both male and female members, and one is open to married couples.