The Ordinary in the temporal gods law of religious institutes

A detailed study on the tension between hierarchy and subsidiarity

Abstract

In the temporal goods law of institutes of consecrated life, the Ordinary has certain
competences in different places. In clerical institutes of pontifical law, according to
canon 134 § 1, these are the major superiors of the institutes, according to the rescript issued
by Pope Francis to the DIVCSVA on 18 May 2022, even if they are lay people by way of
exception. The institutes, however, which do not have their own Ordinary, pose special challenges
to the regulations connected with the Ordinary with regard to their autonomy according
to canon 586 § 1. In particular, when the Ordinary proprius is mentioned (canon.
1265 § 1, canon. 1288 and canon. 1302 § 3), it is sometimes unclear in the text and also in
the canon law literature who is actually meant.