A personal prelature is an institution of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

which comprises

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

, and optionally

laity In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all Church membership, members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-Ordination, ordained members of religious orders, e ...

, under the jurisdiction of a

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

, which undertakes specific pastoral activities. Along with dioceses, and later military ordinariates, personal prelatures were originally under care of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops, but since 4 August 2022, personal prelatures have been placed under care of the Dicastery for the Clergy. Unlike

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

s, which cover territories for the ordinary pastoral care of the faithful, personal prelatures minister to persons according to some specific pastoral goals, regardless of where they live. The first personal prelature is Opus Dei.

Origins

In the

, the personal prelature was conceived during the sessions of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

in no. 10 of the decree ''Presbyterorum ordinis'' and was later enacted into law by Paul VI in his '' motu proprio'' ''Ecclesiae sanctae''. The institution was later reaffirmed in the

1983 Code of Canon Law The 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' (abbreviated 1983 CIC from its Latin title ''Codex Iuris Canonici''), also called the Johanno-Pauline Code, is the "fundamental body of Ecclesiastical Law, ecclesiastical laws for the Latin Church". It is the sec ...

Nature

A personal prelature is an institution having clergy, and optionally lay people, who carry out specific pastoral activities. The adjective ''personal'' refers to the fact that the pastoral activities are not linked to a territory but over persons wherever they happen to be. The establishment of personal prelatures is an exercise of the theologically inherent power of self-organization which the Church has to pursue its mission, though a personal prelature is not a

particular church In metaphysics, particulars or individuals are usually contrasted with ''universals''. Universals concern features that can be exemplified by various different particulars. Particulars are often seen as concrete, spatiotemporal entities as opposed ...

s and eparchies are.

Structure

A personal prelature is a new and special institutional organization within the Catholic Church. The prelate is a presbyter nominated by the Pope and governs the prelature with ordinary power. In order to de-emphasize the importance of hierarchy in the governance of the personal prelature Pope Francis decreed in 2022 that the prelate should not be consecrated bishop. The prelate has the right to erect a national or international

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

, and to promote students to

holy orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

, in service to the pastoral mission of the prelature (can. 295). The faithful under care of a prelature is ''determined by personal criteria'', which is established in each case by the Apostolic See, in the constitutional documents of the prelature, or in its statutes. Diverse organizational models are possible, according to a variety of possible missions. The statutes likewise determine the relations of the personal prelature with the diocesan bishops in whose

s the prelature exercises its pastoral or missionary works (can. 297).

Application

Opus Dei

The first, and thus far the only, personal prelature is Opus Dei, which was established as a personal prelature by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in 1982 through the

Apostolic constitution An apostolic constitution () is the most solemn form of legislation issued by the Pope.New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, pg. 57, footnote 36. By their nature, apostolic constitutions are addressed to the public. Generic constitutions use ...

''Ut sit''. In the case of Opus Dei, the prelate is elected by members of the prelature and confirmed by the Pope.

Other possible personal prelatures

Philippine clergy proposes personal prelatures for the pastoral care of Filipino migrants. This canonical set-up can help the Filipino migrants integrate better into their local church and help spread best practices in integration from other places where Filipinos have migrated. A prelature rather than an ordinariate can better serve the purpose since it will not have to provide all the pastoral services and the migrants will continue to be faithful of their specific dioceses. The Society of Saint Pius X has been offered a canonical restructuring as a personal prelature by Rome.

Footnotes

External links

Prelaturas Personales

Canonical texts on personal prelatures

How do personal prelatures resemble and how do they differ from dioceses, religious orders and movements?

What is a personal prelature?

Spanish texts and video

Preguntas frequentes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Personal Prelature Catholic canonical structures