The motu proprio Ecclesiae Sanctae has two important provisions cited in this section, namely that religious women and men serve under the legal umbrella of the local bishop and the bishops’ conference:
53. The following dispositions of the Apostolic Letter Ecclesiae Sanctae, issued motu proprio, should always be kept in mind:
“1. All religious, even exempt, are bound by the laws, decrees and ordinances laid down by the local ordinary affecting various works, in those matters which concern the exercise of the sacred apostolate as well as the pastoral and social activity prescribed or recommended by the local ordinary.
“2. They are also bound by the laws, decrees and ordinances of the local ordinary or the episcopal conference” — or, according to the locality, the patriarchal synod (cf. Christus Dominus 35, 5) — laws, that is, regarding various elements referred to in them (ES I, 25, 1-2, a, b, c, d).
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Catholic Sensibility 