SUMMARIUM Consideratur in hoc articulo applicatio principii subsidiarii officii in ambitu aequalitatis radicalis, quae inter omnes christifideles viget. Excluditur ergo id <}uod attinet ad exercitium potestatis ecclesiasticae in diversis eius gradibus. Subsidiarii officii principium afficit modum iuxta quem publica potestas in qualibet societate exercenda est, ad bonum commune promovendum et obtinendum. Personae dignitas postulat ambitum incommunicabilem autonomiae ac libertatis, tum in individuo tum in communitate minori, quapropter, intra hunc ambitum, interven tus publicae potestatis eatenus iustificatur et simul delimitatur, quatenus est adiutorium ut persona individua possit per se exercere munus, quod sibi competit. Consideratur deinceps possibilitas applicandi hoc principium in ordine iuridico Ecclesiae, et haec conclusio statuitur: Cum Ecclesia sit quoque societas, in ea viget subsidiarii officii principium, iis tamen exclusis quae, iure divino, unice ad eos competunt, qui sacramentum Ordinis receperint. Animadvertitur autem ipsum conceptum munere proprii Hierarchiae hodie requirere profundiorem inquisitionem doctrinalem, attentis Magisterii documentis nuper editis, ut apta distinctio statuatur inter actus qui Ordinis sacri receptionem necessario exigunt, ET eos circa quos omnes fideles habent capacitatem. Prae oculis quoque habendum est principium subsidiariI officii applicari etiam posse intra ambitum muneris hierarchici, qua tamen de re hoc in articulo directe non agitur. Cum inter Ecclesiae membra vig.eant simul radicalis aequalitas et inaequalitas functionalis, necessária determinatio principii subsidiarii officii in normis positivis postulat ut iura proClamentur, quibus fideles gaudent (ut determinetur nempe ambitus autonomiae personalis, idque tum in statuto communí omnium christifidelium, tum etiam in statutis clericorum, laicorum ac religiosorum), media iuridica statuantur ad haec iura deíendenda et tandem limites enuntientur intra quos continendus sit interventus discretionalis publicae potestatis, attenta quoque eius natura servitli seu diaconiae. ------------------------------------------- ABSTRA(T 'I'he article studies how the principIe of subsidiarity can be appUed on the fundamental level of christifideles, that is, where al! faithful! are equa!. It exeludes, therefore, al! reference to the exercise of ecclesiastical authority in its various degrees. The principie of subsidiarity affects the way in which authority should be exercised in any society to promote and attain the common good. The dignity of the human person demands an unalienable sphere of autonomy and freedom, both for the individual and tor the smal! community, in such a way that the intervention of public authority within this sphere is restricted to those cases in which it can be justified as a way of helping the individual to fulfil tasks for which he himself is responsible. The possibility of applying this principIe in the legal order of the Church is considered. The conclusion is drawn that since the Church is also a society, subsidiarity is applicable, provided we respect that which by divine law is the exclusive competence of those who have received the sacrament of Orders. Tb-e article points out that the concept of munus propl/ium of the Hierarchy needs to be given greater doctrinal depth in the light of the latest Magisterium, in order to distinguish properly between those acts which necessarily require the reception of Holy Orders and those for which aH the faithfull are capacitated. We should bear in mind that the principIe of subsidtarity can , also be applied within the munus hierarch.icum. This theme however is not dealt with here. Since there exists among the members of the Church' both a radical equality and a functional inequality, the need to give concrete expression to the principIe of subsidiarity in positive norms calls for a proclamation of the rights -the sphere of personal autonomy- which the faithful enjoy (both in the sta tute common to all the christifideles and in the particular statutes oi the clergy, laity and religlous). Tb-e tutelage of these rights needs to be legally safeguarded, and the limits within which the discretional intervention of public authority is possible should be established, without forgetting that such authority should be exercised as a service.