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{{Short description|Canonical institution of the Catholic Church}} {{Canon Law}} {{Catholic Church Hierarchy|Administrative and pastoral titles}} A '''personal prelature''' is a canonical structure of the [[Catholic Church]] which comprises [[clergy]] and [[laity]] under the jurisdiction of a [[prelate]] who undertake specific pastoral activities. Along with dioceses and military ordinariates, personal prelatures, were originally under the administration of the Vatican's [[Congregation for Bishops]], but since 4 August 2022, personal prelatures have been placed in the [[Dicastery for the Clergy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/amp/news/251851/to-guard-the-charism-in-new-decree-pope-francis-makes-changes-to-opus-dei|access-date=26 July 2022|title='To guard the charism': In new decree, Pope Francis makes changes to Opus dei}}</ref> Unlike [[Diocese|dioceses]], which cover territories, personal prelatures—like [[Military ordinariate|military ordinariates]]—minister to persons as regards some objectives regardless of where they live. The first personal prelature is [[Opus Dei]].

== Origins ==
In the [[Catholic Church]], the personal prelature was conceived during the sessions of the [[Second Vatican Council]] in no. 10 of the decree ''Presbyterorum ordinis'' and was later enacted into law by [[Paul VI]] in his ''[[motu proprio]]'' ''Ecclesiae sanctae''. The institution was later reaffirmed in the [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|1983 Code of Canon Law]].<ref name="Vatican">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_P10.HTM|title=Personal Prelatures cann. 294–297|publisher=Vatican.va|access-date=2013-10-14}}</ref>

== Nature ==
A personal prelature is an institution having clergy and lay members which carry out specific pastoral activities. The adjective ''personal'' refers to the fact that, in contrast with previous [[Canon law|canonical]] use for ecclesiastical institutions, the [[jurisdiction]] 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 the [[Theology|theologically]] inherent power of self-organization which the Church has to pursue its mission, though a personal prelature is not a [[particular church]] as [[Diocese|dioceses]] and [[Eparchy|eparchies]] are.{{Cn|date=July 2021}}

== Structure ==
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 with [[Ordinary (Catholic Church)|ordinary 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/20220714-motu-proprio-ad-charisma-tuendum.html|title=Motu proprio ''Ad Charisma Tuendum''|publisher=[[Holy See Press Office]]|date=14 July 2022}}</ref>

The prelate has the right to erect a national or international [[seminary]], and to promote students to [[holy orders]], in service to the pastoral mission of the prelature (can. 295).{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

The [[Laity|lay faithful]] of a prelature are ''determined 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 determination ''a iure'' of those lay faithful for whom the pastoral mission is intended, or the express ''inscription in an apposite register'', as is the case in other personal ecclesiastical circumscriptions. It is also possible that, through a ''mutual 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|date=January 2025}}

The statutes likewise are to define the relations of the personal prelature with the [[Bishop|diocesan bishops]] in whose [[Diocese|dioceses]] the prelature exercises its pastoral or missionary works (can. 297).{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

== Application ==

=== Opus Dei ===
The first, and thus far the only, personal prelature is [[Opus Dei]], which was established as a personal prelature by [[Pope John Paul II]] in 1982 through the [[Apostolic constitution]] ''Ut sit''. In the case of Opus Dei, the prelate is elected by members of the prelature and confirmed by the Pope.{{Cn|date=July 2021}}

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 website [https://prelaturaspersonales.org/ Prelaturas Personales.]

{{quote|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). "<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://prelaturaspersonales.org/prelaturas-personales/preguntas-frecuentes-2/,%20https://prelaturaspersonales.org/prelaturas-personales/preguntas-frecuentes-2/|title=Preguntas Frecuentes &#124; Prelaturas, Ordinariatos y otras circunscripciones personales - Prelaturas, Ordinariatos y otras circunscripciones personales|date=February 24, 2012|website=prelaturaspersonales.org}}</ref>}}

=== Other possible personal prelatures ===
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.<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=November 8, 2023|title=Proposal for a Personal Prelature for Migrant Filipinos – PONTIFICIO COLLEGIO FILIPPINO|url=https://pcfroma.org/kb/proposal-for-a-personal-prelature-for-overseas-filipinos/|website=Pontificio Collegio Filippino}}</ref>

The [[Society of Saint Pius X]] has been offered a canonical restructuring as a personal prelature by Rome.<ref>{{Cite web|title=SSPX Bishop Fellay: Personal Prelature Offer Under Consideration|url=https://www.ncregister.com/news/sspx-bishop-fellay-personal-prelature-offer-under-consideration|access-date=2021-10-10|website=NCR|language=en}}</ref>

== Related structures: personal ordinariate and apostolic administration ==
On October 20, 2009, it was [[Anglicanorum coetibus|announced]] that the Holy See would create [[Personal ordinariate|personal ordinariates]] for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church, a formula inspired by existing [[Military ordinariate|military ordinariates]], in ways that are comparable to the current Opus Dei personal prelature.<ref>[http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=9164 Note of the CDF about personal ordinariates for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church], 2009</ref> 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 the [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith|CDF]] and [[Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments|CDW]]. Three are established: [[Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross|Our Lady of the Southern Cross]] for Australia and Japan, [[Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham|Our Lady of Walsingham]] for England and Wales, [[Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter|The Chair of Saint Peter]] for USA and Canada.{{Cn|date=July 2021}}

Another, unique prelature is the [[Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney]] in Brazil, for the [[Tridentine Use]].{{Cn|date=July 2021}}

== See also ==

* [[Territorial prelate]]

== Footnotes ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304121539/http://prelaturaspersonales.org/ Prelaturas Personales]
* [http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_PZ.HTM Canonical texts on personal prelatures]
* [http://www.opusdei.org/art.php?p=25462 How do personal prelatures resemble and how do they differ from dioceses, religious orders and movements?]
* [http://www.opusdei.org/art.php?p=25460 What is a personal prelature?]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111002134944/http://www.almudi.org/Recursos/OpusDei/Materias/PrelaturaPersonal.aspx Spanish texts and video]
* [http://iniciativas-opus-dei.evangelizando.org/libros/itinerario_juridico10.htm Itinerario Juridico del Opus Dei]
* [http://www.opusdei.es/ssec.php?a=4243 Preguntas frequentes]

{{Opus Dei}} {{Lay Cath Spirituality}}

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