...it is necessary to have religious communities with a clear charismatic identity, assimilated and lived, capable of transmitting them to others and disposed to share them, religious communities with an intense spirituality and missionary enthusiasm for communicating the same spirit and the same evangelizing thrust; religious communities who know how to animate and encourage lay people to share the charism of their institute, according to their secular character and according to their different style of life, inviting them to discover new ways of making the same charism and mission operative.On 21 November 2014, Pope Francis declared a "Year of Consecrated Life" to begin on 30 November 2014, the First Sunday of Advent and continue to the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, 2 February 2016.

"[5][6] Jus novum (c. 1140-1563) Jus novissimum (c. 1563-1918) Jus codicis (1918-present) Other Sacraments Sacramentals Sacred places Sacred times Supra-diocesan/eparchal structures Particular churches Juridic persons Philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law Clerics Office Juridic and physical persons Associations of the faithful Pars dynamica (trial procedure) Canonization Election of the Roman Pontiff Academic degrees Journals and Professional Societies Faculties of canon law Canonists Institute of consecrated life Society of apostolic life Institutes of consecrated life are canonically erected institutes in the Roman Catholic Church whose members profess the evangelical counsels by vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience.

[7] There are two types: Religious institutes are characterized by the public profession of vows, communal life, and a degree of separation from the world.

A society of apostolic life is a group of men or women within the Catholic Church who have come together for a specific purpose and live fraternally.

[10] As of 6 January 2025, the Prefect is Sister Simona Brambilla, and the Pro-Prefect is Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime;[11] the two undersecretaries are Father Pier Luigi Nava, S.S.M.

[citation needed] On 8 July 2019, in naming 21 new members to the Congregation, Pope Francis included women for the first time.

[15][16] Catherine Clifford, of Saint Paul University in Ottawa, said "The recent move of Pope Francis represents a new and significant development in that it would give women a deliberative voice in the governing body of the congregation, which until now has been the domain of cardinals, bishops, and the heads of men's religious orders.