The religious presbyter, a specific way of living in the Church: Juridical status and inherent issues

Abstract

When priestly and religious vocation converge in the same person, a specific way of life and a peculiar style of being priest appears in the Church. The participation in the same sacrament and the shared responsibility in the same mission (to sanctify, to teach and to guide) does not justify the identification between religious and secular priests. The religious life specificity gives origin in the religious priest to an own juridical status which cannot be identified with the one of the secular priest. On the one hand, the religious status of the religious priest configures a specific pastoral ministry: «To the universal Church in the local Church». On the other hand, its priestly status gives form to a peculiar way of being religious: to collaborate with the bishop, to be a member of the diocesan family and to be part of the only one presbytery. To live in dynamic unity the religious and priestly dimensions means to get a balance which is difficult to maintain without troubles. The Canon Law, though not studying explicitly the figure of the religious priest, offers enough elements in order to configure this specific way of life in the Church. It provides rules on some issues – formation, incardination, specific duties, apostolate – and fixes the limits of the autonomy and dependence from the diocesan bishop, offering a juridical frame in order to deal with the most problematic topic: the recognition of the religious priest role in the diocesan Church.