Types of International Associations of Faithful: an Attempt at Classification

Abstract

This article examines the international aggregative entities recognized or erected by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life and falling under its direct competency. Its purpose is to identify their principal types, offering a simple and essential categorization which distinguishes between

very different realities. This also allows a better understanding of members’ ecclesial situations. More space is devoted to movements and new communities, with some specific remarks on plurivocationality, understood as the presence of different states of life together, and on the common vocation flowing from adherence to the charism that lies at the origin of these realities.