Apersonal prelature is a canonical structure of theCatholic Church which comprisesclergy andlaity under the jurisdiction of aprelate who undertake specific pastoral activities. Along with dioceses and military ordinariates, personal prelatures, were originally under the administration of the Vatican'sCongregation for Bishops, but since 4 August 2022, personal prelatures have been placed in theDicastery for the Clergy.[1] Unlikedioceses, which cover territories, personal prelatures—likemilitary ordinariates—minister to persons as regards some objectives regardless of where they live.The first personal prelature isOpus Dei.
In theCatholic Church, the personal prelature was conceived during the sessions of theSecond Vatican Council in no. 10 of the decreePresbyterorum ordinis and was later enacted into law byPaul VI in hismotu proprioEcclesiae sanctae. The institution was later reaffirmed in the1983 Code of Canon Law.[2]
A personal prelature is an institution having clergy and lay members which carry out specific pastoral activities. The adjectivepersonal refers to the fact that, in contrast with previouscanonical use for ecclesiastical institutions, thejurisdiction of the prelate is not linked to a territory but over persons wherever they happen to be. The establishment of personal prelatures is an exercise of thetheologically inherent power of self-organization which the Church has to pursue its mission, though a personal prelature is not aparticular church asdioceses andeparchies are.[citation needed]
A personal prelature is an ordinary jurisdictional structure of the Catholic Church. The prelate is a presbyter nominated by the Pope and governs the prelature withordinary 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.[3]
The prelate has the right to erect a national or internationalseminary, and to promote students toholy orders, in service to the pastoral mission of the prelature (can. 295).[citation needed]
Thelay faithful of a prelature aredetermined by a 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: for example, the determinationa iure of those lay faithful for whom the pastoral mission is intended, or the expressinscription in an apposite register, as is the case in other personal ecclesiastical circumscriptions. It is also possible that, through amutual agreement or convention, lay faithful can pursue the specific mission of the prelature in organic cooperation with the prelate and his presbyterium, by the terms established in its statutes (can. 296). The fact that these lay persons are under the jurisdiction of the prelate does not impede their being under the authority of the diocesan bishop or pertaining to other ecclesiastical jurisdictions (accumulative jurisdiction).[citation needed]
The statutes likewise are to define the relations of the personal prelature with thediocesan bishops in whosedioceses the prelature exercises its pastoral or missionary works (can. 297).[citation needed]
The first, and thus far the only, personal prelature isOpus Dei, which was established as a personal prelature byPope John Paul II in 1982 through theApostolic constitutionUt sit. In the case of Opus Dei, the prelate is elected by members of the prelature and confirmed by the Pope.[citation needed]
According to John Paul II, the priests and lay faithful (both men and women) in the Prelature of the Holy Cross are "the components by which the Prelature is organically structured." According to the websitePrelaturas Personales.
John Paul II, speaking about the Prelature of Opus Dei, affirmed: 'First of all, I wish to emphasize that the membership of the lay faithful in their own particular Churches and in the Prelature, into which they are incorporated, enables the special mission of the Prelature to converge with the evangelizing efforts of each particular Church, as envisaged by the Second Vatican Council in desiring the figure of personal prelatures.' (Discourse, October 17, 2001). "[4]
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.[5]
TheSociety of Saint Pius X has been offered a canonical restructuring as a personal prelature by Rome.[6]
On October 20, 2009, it wasannounced that the Holy See would createpersonal ordinariates for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church, a formula inspired by existingmilitary ordinariates, in ways that are comparable to the current Opus Dei personal prelature.[7] A major difference between an ordinariate and a prelature is the ordinariates (both personal and military) may erect parishes and those who inscribe themselves in the apposite register effectively become transients in their geographic diocese (no accumulative membership). The personal ordinariates for former Anglicans were also authorized to use a unique liturgy developed by theCDF andCDW.Three are established:Our Lady of the Southern Cross for Australia and Japan,Our Lady of Walsingham for England and Wales,The Chair of Saint Peter for USA and Canada.[citation needed]
Another, unique prelature is thePersonal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney in Brazil, for theTridentine Use.[citation needed]
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