Catholic movement

The Catholic movement is a form of organization of religious activity in the Catholic Church , uniting mainly the laity for the more effective implementation of their apostolic mission according to their common charisma .

The term is defined in the Catholic Church as a religious group with an informal structure. Members of the Catholic movement in most cases live a joint, community life. As a rule, the Catholic movement bases its missionary and apostolic activities on the charisma of its founder. These religious movements in the bosom of the Catholic Church appear as a response of believers to negative religious and social phenomena, for example, secularization , moral degradation of society.

Catholic movements are systematized by goals and character, by the composition of participants, by spiritual or social activities. The activities of the Catholic movements are under the control of church institutions, which, if necessary, oppose the radical views that may arise in such informal organizations. To this end, ecclesiastical, synodal, papal and episcopal instructions are issued by church authorities that regulate the activities of the Catholic movements.

The need for the participation of believers in the mission of the Church is described in the decree on the apostolate of the laity Apostolicam actuositatem II of the Vatican Council , in the apostolic address of Evangelii nuntiandi of Pope Paul VI , in the encyclical " Mater et Magistra " of Pope John XXIII , as well as in the apostolic appeal of Christifideles lai John Paul II . Legal provisions regarding the religious activities of the Catholic movements are defined in the Code of Canon Law .