CNS STORY: Vatican's laity council publishes index of international lay groups

The whole CNS
public Web site
headlines, briefs
stories, etc,
represents less
than one percent
of the daily news
report.

Get all the news!

If you would like
more information
about the
Catholic News
Service daily
news report,
please contact
CNS at one of
the following:
cns@
catholicnews.com
or
(202) 541-3250

Copyright:

This material
may not
be published,
broadcast,
rewritten or
otherwise
distributed.

Copyright
(c) 2004
Catholic News
Service/U.S.
Conference of
Catholic Bishops.

CNS Story:

LAY-DIRECTORY Nov-24-2004 (450 words) xxxi

Vatican's laity council publishes index of international lay groups

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church has a strong hierarchical structure, but it also lives and acts in the world through the work of lay associations and movements, said the head of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, council president, made his comments in the introduction to the Index of International Associations of the Faithful.

The index includes the self-descriptions of 123 lay associations, communities and movements that have a formal relationship with the laity council.

Published only in Italian, the index was released to coincide with the Nov. 25 opening of the council's plenary assembly. Translations into English, Spanish and French are planned.

A statement from the council said the project began in 2000 at the request of Pope John Paul II to have a comprehensive listing of Catholic lay groups.

The council sent out questionnaires to groups it was in contact with; the 123 groups listed responded to the questionnaire "in different ways and at different times."

All of the groups, for example, list the regions or countries in the world where they have members, but while some give a membership figure, others do not.

Council officials, the statement said, edited the material only to ensure clarity and some equality in the amount of space dedicated to each group.

The council decided to include only groups that have an international presence and only those whose primary contact with the Vatican is through the Council for the Laity.

Opus Dei, which began as a lay movement but is now a personal prelature, is not listed in the index, although the Cooperators of Opus Dei are. The cooperators, while not formally belonging to the prelature, support the work of Opus Dei through their prayers, time and economic contributions.

The Neocatechumenal Way, which includes hundreds of lay communities around the world, also is not listed. While it does operate under the guidance of the council, it considers itself "an itinerary of Christian formation" and not a movement or association.

Most of the 123 entries include a brief history of the group, and all of the entries contain a statement of identity.

The oldest group is the Militia Christi, a chivalric order founded in 1209 by the Dominicans. Reorganized in 1870, its focus has been to educate members in Catholic doctrine, ecumenism, Marian piety, social justice and acts of charity. The group has 506 members in nine countries.

The newest association is Signis, an international association for Catholic communicators formed in 2001 with the union of Unda -- the international Catholic association for radio and television -- and the International Catholic Organization for Cinema.

END

Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250