The right of association and its application to secular priests.

The right of association is a natural right founded on the social nature of human beings. As a natural right it is inherited by every person, and therefore, it is to be preserved, protected and promoted by all people, by every government and legal system. As members of the human society, the secular priests enjoy this right and the Church has formally recognized it in its legislation. Thus the 1983 Code of Canon Law contains several norms governing the establishment, scope, limitations, and different aspects of the association of secular priests. Canon 278 of the 1983 Code presents principles related to this association in light of the nature and dignity of priesthood. The canon promotes the associations which foster holiness of secular priests, provide fraternal assistance in their priestly ministry, and promote unity among themselves and their bishop. All these principles imply that the right of association of secular priests is always exercised within the context of ecclesial communio. The limitations set forth in the Code are not solely to defend the right of association, but also to safeguard the dignity of priesthood and the rights of others in the Church. Rights in the Church are essentially ecclesial by their very nature. Therefore, competent ecclesiastical authority has the right and responsibility to respect this right, to recognize the statutes of the association, to see that secular priests refrain from establishing or joining associations which are not compatible with priestly dignity, and to oversee their wellbeing with a fraternal spirit and pastoral solicitude. In brief, the statutes of these associations should take into account the freedom of secular priests, the nature and mission of the Church as communio and missio, the common good of the Church, the dignity of clerical state, and the competence of the Church's authority