to minister individually in distant places. Their unusually long formation, typically thirteen years, prepared them to represent the intellectual tradition of the Church even in isolation. Secular institutes Secular institutes have their modern beginnings in 18th century France. During the French Revolution, the government attempted to dechristianise France. The French government had required all priests and bishops to swear an oath of fidelity to the new order or face dismissal from the Church, and had forbidden any form of religious life. Fr Pierre-Joseph de Clorivière, a Jesuit, founded a new society of diocesan priests, the Institute of the Heart of Jesus. He also founded the Daughters of the Heart of Mary (). While living a life of perfection, they did not take vows, remaining a secular institute to avoid being considered a religious society by the government. They would eventually receive Pontifical institute status in 1952. The Daughters of the Heart of Mary, though resembling a secular institute in some ways, were recognized as an institute of religious life. On 2 February 1947 Pope Pius XII issued the apostolic constitution Provida Mater Ecclesia recognizing secular institutes as "a new category of the state of perfection" (). The 1983 Code of Canon Law recognizes secular institutes as a form of consecrated life. They differ from religious institutes in that their members live their lives in the ordinary conditions of the world, either alone, in their families or in fraternal groups. World Day for Consecrated Life In 1997, Pope John Paul II instituted the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life, fixed annually on 2 February, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. See also Christian monasticism Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life Enclosed religious orders Institute of consecrated life List of some religious institutes (Catholic) Monasticism Religious institute (Catholic) Vocational Discernment in the Catholic Church References Further reading Section on the Consecrated Life in The Code of Canon Law, 1983 (archived 18 April 2016) Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata of Pope John Paul II, 25 March 1996 Catechism of the Catholic Church – "The Consecrated Life" Christian religious occupations Catholic Church organisation Christian terminology Asceticism Co Catholic spirituality Christian practices Catholic canon law of religious Catholic canon law of persons