A Brief History of the
Associate Movement
The Associate movement in religious life is rooted in the 7th and 8th
centuries when lay people first began associating themselves with the
Benedictines for the purposes prayer and works of charity.
By the 11th century adult oblates were being accepted by the Benedictines.
These people offered services to the monasteries in exchange for sharing
in the spiritual lives of the monks. This was the beginning of what
became in the 13th century the Secular Third Orders of St. Francis and
St. Dominic: groups that are connected to the orders through their
use of a Rule. Although the
Dominican Third Order (now known as Dominican Laity) received a rule in
1285 based on the Franciscan rule, it did not receive papal approval until
the 15th century. Many informal associations with religious orders
began over the centuries, although there was not a lot of activity in
this regard compared to the number of religious orders that were founded.
It wasn’t until the Second Vatican Council in 1965 that religious
Sisters and Brothers were directed to
"hold lay apostolic works in high regard
and…help in promoting them in accordance with the spirit and
rules of their institute." (Decree on the Apostolate of Lay People,
ch. V, no. 25; p. 791).
Amos, John. A Legal History of
Associations of the Christian Faithful, in Studia Canonica 21
(1987) at 274.
It was this spirit that gave rise to Associate programs and then, in
1983, the canons which describe them:
"Associations whose members lead an apostolic life and strive
for Christian perfection while living in the world and who share the
spirit of some religious institute under the higher direction of that
same institute"(Canon 303) and "are imbued
with the genuine spirit of their family."(Canon 677)
The Associate movement is undoubtedly the most
rapidly growing trend in the American Catholic Church today. In
2000 a study was conducted jointly by the Center for Applied Research
in the Apostolate and the North American Conference of Associates and
Religious. Over 25,400 Associates were counted, a growth of almost 11,000
since 1995 when the previous survey was taken.
Since not all religious institutes reported the current number
of their Associates, the actual number is higher than the 25,400 recorded.
Part II of the Study, completed in 2002, records attitudes of Associates
and vowed members to this newly emerging form of living the mission and
charism of a religious institute. It reveals an increase in the estimated
number of Associates to over 27,400. In 2005, more than 1700 of these
were Dominican Associates.
The results of this study clearly affirm the truth of the statement made
by Pope John Paul II in his apostolic exhortation in 1996:
"Today, often as a result of new situations,
many Institutes have come to the conclusion that their charism can
be shared with the laity. The laity are therefore invited to share
more intensely in the spirituality and mission of these Institutes.
We may say that, in the light of certain historical experiences…
a new chapter, rich in hope, has begun in the history of relations between
consecrated persons and the laity."
(Vita Consecrata Ch. II, No. 57, 1996)
With gratitude to Deborah Cerullo, SSND for use of her research into
the historical roots of the Associate movement in religious life.
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