INSTITUTE OF CANON LAW
THE SEPARATION OF MEMBERS
FROM THE RELIGIOUS INSTITUTES ACCORDING TO CANONS 684 -704: A CASE STUDY OF THE
RELIGIOUS INSTITUTE OF THE AUGUSTINIANS OF THE ASSUMPTION IN THE AFRICAN
PROVINCE
A Thesis Submitted to the Institute of Canon Law
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Licentiate Degree in Canon
Law
Claude Kakule Siriwayo,aa
March 2012
Nairobi - Kenya
TITLE OF THE THESIS:
The Separation of
Members from the Religious Institutes according to Canons 684-704: A Case Study
of the Religious Institute of the Augustinians of the Assumption in the African
Province.
I, the undersigned, declare that this thesis is my original work
achieved through my personal readings, scientific research and has never been
submitted to any College or University for academic reward. All the sources
consulted have been duly acknowledged.
Name: Claude SIRIWAYO
KAKULE, aa
Signature: ……………………………..
Date:…………………………………
This thesis has been submitted with my approval as the First
Supervisor
Name: Rev. Dr. Fabien LONEMA
Signature:…………………………
Date:…………………………….
This thesis has been submitted with my approval as the Second
Supervisor
Name: Rev. Dr. Dieudonné NGONA
Date……………………………….
To all the members of the Augustinians of the Assumption of the Province
of Africa and to the big Family of the Assumption, I dedicate this Licentiate
thesis.
I would like to
thank very much all those who assisted me in one way or another in the writing
of this thesis. In the first place, I thank the Almighty God for His constant
love and care for me. I know that without His assistance I would not have
achieved what I intended to do.
I heartily appreciate and thank my superiors
in the entire Congregation of the Augustinians of the Assumption, and
especially the provincial Superior Rev. Fr. Vincent KAMBERE KAGHANIRYO and his
provincial council, the Assistant Provincial Superior and local Superior of
Emmanuel House community in Nairobi Rev. Fr. Roger KASEREKA SYAYIPUMA, the regional Superior of East
Africa Rev. Fr. Protais KABILA KALONDO and his regional council, for making it
possible for me to pursue Licentiate studies in canon law.
To my supervisors
Rev. Dr. Fabien LONEMA and Rev. Dr. Dieudonné NGONA, I owe much for their
immediate, constant, committed, meticulous and judicious guidance throughout
the writing of this thesis. This work
has come to its completion thanks to them.
My heartfelt gratitude goes to all my lecturers
in the Institute of Canon Law at the Catholic University of East Africa: Rev.
Dr. Martin OWOR, Rev. Dr. Daniel NGURE, Rev. Dr. Emmanuel JADA, Rev. Dr.
Noelina NAKATO (Sr.), Rev. Dr. Pius MALE and Rev. Dr. Raphael OBETIA.
I also sincerely thank all my fellow canon law
students, Fathers Joseph WARATHO, Damien ERIPON, John MAKOLA, and Sister Edith
TUMWESIGYE for the mutual support and enrichment.
I acknowledge the
special contribution of Fathers KOMBI NGWESE and KAKULE MUSABINGO for providing
me sufficient information about the Augustinians of the Assumption in the
Province of Africa. My sincere thanks go also to all my Brothers and Sisters in
the big Family of the Assumption and especially those in Emmanuel House
community in Nairobi for assisting me in correcting the thesis and in providing
resourceful information for its betterment. The same gratitude goes to Remmy
KAMBOLE, Missionary of Africa from Zambia. He proofread this thesis and made
many valuable suggestions for improving it.
May God bless you all.
AA Augustinians
of the Assumption
AAS Acta
Apostolicae Sedis
Art. Article
ART Adveniat
Regnum Tuum
BC Before
Christ
c. / cc. Canon/
canons
SCCE Sacred
Congregation for Catholic Education
CCEO Codex
Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium
CIC Codex
Iuris Canoni
CDF Congregation
for the Doctrine of Faith
Cf. Confer
CLSA Canon
Law Society of America
CILSAL Congregation
for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic
Life
CLSGB Canon
Law Society of Great Britain
Cor Corinthians
CR Clergy
Review
CUEA The
Catholic University of Eastern Africa
Decr. Decree
D.R.C Democratic
Republic of Congo
Dt Deuteronomy
ed. /eds. Editor/
Editors
Gal Galatians
Jn John
Ibid. Ibidem
Mk Mark
Mt Matthew
n./ nn Number/
numbers
SA Supremum Tribunal
Signaturae Apostolicae
SC Sacrosanctum Concilium
SCR Sacred
Congregation for Religious
SCRIS Sacra Congregationio pro Religiosis et Institutis Saecularibus
St. Saint
RC Renovationis
causam
R.I Religious
Institute
Tim Timothy
Tit. Title
p. / pp. page/
pages
Quest. Question
Rev. Reverend
Rm Letter
of St. Paul to the Romans
Vol. Volume
USA United
States of America
USCCB United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops
One of the
religious phenomena today is that many religious seek to leave their religious
institutes either by transfer, departure or dismissal. What could be the
reasons for separation of members from the religious institutes?
This thesis aims at explaining that religious
life is freely chosen by the members of a given institute. The religious
institute is governed by laws which regulate the behaviour of the members in
order to help to protect the integrity of the institute according to the mind
of the founder and the sound tradition. On the one hand, the member is free to
remain perpetually in the institute, but he or she is also free to choose to go
away if he or she finds no reason for remaining there. On the other hand, the
institute can request a member to leave the institute. It follows that this
thesis is a research on how separation may be avoided or how it can be
initiated by the individual or by the institute. The purpose for going into
this subject is to help members of religious institutes and especially those of
the Augustinians of the Assumption to be aware of the mechanisms for avoiding
separation from the religious institute by taking into account the good of both
the members and the institute.
Religious life is established
by the competent ecclesiastical authority in a stable manner. No one comes into
religious life for a trial. However, the motives for joining and leaving are
now becoming complex. Along with the
decline of religious vocations in some parts of the world, we find the
separation of members from religious institutes has become a common place.
The reason for the choice of this topic is that,
nowadays, people are timelessly separating from religious institute. On the one
hand, some members who, either transfer, or depart, or are dismissed usually
give wrong motives for leaving the institute. They blame the institute and
forget about their own responsibility in the facts that led to separation. In
fact, not all go away for the same motive. Some have good reasons to leave and
may tell the truth about it. But, some of those who are forced to leave, end up
becoming bitter, all against religious people. They may finally destroy the
reputation of the whole Church through libel and defamation.
On the other hand, we have to look at the way
the separated members are treated especially when it comes to support them in
their new state of life. Canonically, the institute is not obliged to provide
assistance to the dismissed members because the religious profession does not
give rise to the right to be lodged or fed for life unless the person remains a
member of the institute. At the same time, the institute must apply “equity”
and “evangelical charity” towards the leaving members (c.702).
The central question of
investigation is: Why do members
abandon religious life and what are the canonical procedures and the effects of
the separation of religious from the institutes?
Maybe among the major changes of our times some
are affecting religious to the point that they may be tempted to forget about
religious values and the obligations attached to the choice of religious
life. Maybe the institutes are not
pleased in sending their members away. But, only when the pastoral means,
paternal solicitude and fraternal correction aiming at the good of the member
are exhausted, the institute may be obliged to initiate the procedure for the
separation of some members for their own good or for the good of the institute.
This thesis will follow the historical,
analytico-juridical and prospective method. The historical method will trace
the institution of separation of members from their institutes in the Canonical
tradition of the Church. It will use analytico-
juridical approach because it will analyze both canonical norms related to the
separation of members from religious institute and various types of separation
and their juridical effects. The prospective method will make recommendations
for the future, especially in the institute of the Augustinians of the
Assumption.
This thesis will comprise
of four chapters. The first chapter: Background
of the Augustinians of the Assumption in the Province of Africa will include
some elements on the foundation of the Augustinians of the Assumption, the
mission and charism, the governance and the historical development of the
Augustinians of the Assumption. In order to have a clear picture of the
institute of the Augustinians of the Assumption in the Province of Africa, we
will also give a short statistics.
The
second chapter: History and Canonical
Status of Separation in the Church`s Tradition. This chapter will be
devoted to the history and the canonical status of the institute of separation.
We will focus on the notion of separation in the Sacred Scriptures, separation
according to the Fathers of the Church, separation in the period between the
third century and the Decree of Gratian, separation in the period between Gratian
and the Council of Trent, separation in the period between the Council of Trent
and the 1917 Code of canon law and separation according to the Second Vatican
Council.
The third chapter: Types
of Separation of Members from Religious Institute. This will analyze the
various types of separation of members from the religious institute according
to the 1983 Code of Canon Law. We will focus on the following points: transfer,
departure, exclaustration and dismissal basing our reflection on the sources, the
formulation and analysis of the related norms but also their juridical effects.
The fourth chapter: Means to Avoid Separation of Members and Recommendations. This
chapter will deal with the procedures of avoiding separation from the religious
institute by underlining the importance of Rule of Life, the role of the
Superior, and the observance of law. With regard to the care for the separated
members, care must be taken especially for the exclaustrated and dismissed
religious because their rights and their obligations are affected by the
penalty.
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