The Reception of the Code in the Missionary Territories and the Special Faculties Granted to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples

The Church, by her very nature, is missionary. In order to facilitate her mission she must care for new and developing churches by assisting them in their growth. Whilst always seeking to bring these young churches to maturity, and so to the adoption of the universal law, the Church also recognizes that their development demands a certain flexibility. The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples has a particular concern for this work, and by virtue of certain special faculties is able to derogate from the universal law in a manner that assists these new churches.