SECULAR INSTITUTE

in the Roman Catholic church, a society whose members attempt to attain Christian perfection through the practice of poverty, chastity (celibacy), and obedience and to carry out the work of the church while living in and of the world, attending privately to their business or professional duties. Secular institutes do not require public vows, life in common, or distinctive garb. They may be clerical, lay, or both, and they may adopt a diocesan or interdiocesan form. Approved by Pope Pius XII in 1947, they are a comparatively recent form of the religious state, alongside religious orders and congregations, in which the members take public vows and live in community. The second Vatican Council, in its Decree on the Adapted Renovation of the Life of Religious (1965), called for secular institutes to remain constantly in touch with their original inspiration and yet adapt to the changing times.