Adecretum laudis (Latin for 'decree of praise') is the official measure with which theHoly See grants to institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life the recognition of ecclesiastical institutionof pontifical right. When the decree of praise is issued in the form of anapostolic brief, it is referred to as a 'brief of praise'.
To create a new religious community, it is necessary to get, in the beginning, permission from the proper department in theRoman Curia of the Catholic Church (theCongregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, theCongregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, or theCongregation for the Oriental Churches, depending on the purpose of the institute and the coverage of its activities) and also the approval of theOrdinary of the diocese of origin, usually the bishop (or the archbishop). When they are obtained, the congregation is then called “of diocesan right”.
When the congregation has grown in importance and when its spiritual and apostolic maturity is observed, it can be formally approved by thePope with thedecretum laudis, which transforms it into a congregationof pontifical right, subject to immediate and exclusive authority of the Holy See.
Generally, it is followed by the temporary approval and the final approval.
Thedecretum laudis contains, as a rule, a summary of the historical origins of the congregation, and a brief description of the purpose and the constitution of the same, references and letters from the bishops, and the examination made by the appropriateCongregation of the institute. It concludes with the approval and recommendation,amplissimis verbis (Latin, “in the strongest terms”), of the institute in question.
The practice of usingdecretum laudis by the Popes to grant the recognition of the pontifical right to the congregations began to be consolidated in the years between the 18th and 19th centuries, although in the beginning these decrees were followed by formal acts in the form of thePapal bull andPapal brief.
