Abstract
This article is drawn from a broader thesis devoted to the Societies of Apostolic Life and presents a synthesized version of Part One, entitled “Historical Profile: From Antiquity to the Second Vatican Council.” Using the criteria articulated in canon 673 §1 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law—namely, life in common under the governance of superiors according to an approved constitution, and the absence of the three public vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty—the study seeks to reconstruct the historical development of Societies of Apostolic Life. Beginning with the biblical and early Christian experience, the article traces the emergence and evolution of the principal Societies of Apostolic Life chronologically, alongside several lesser-known foundations. Particular attention is given to the historical contexts and concrete ecclesial circumstances that shaped their distinctive juridical configurations. The analysis highlights how these epochal contingencies contributed to the gradual crystallization of specific forms of apostolic life, which were later codified as societates sive clericorum sive laicorum in the 1917 Code and subsequently as Societies of Apostolic Life in the 1983 Code of Canon Law.
Recommended Citation
Touré, Arnaud
(2026)
"The Evolution of Societies of Apostolic Life: From the Early Church to the 19th Century,"
Landas: Vol. 38:
No.
1, Article 10.
Available at:
https://archium.ateneo.edu/landas/vol38/iss1/10