In order to act in the fullness of its identity, the Group needs a canonical figure in the Church, something which we had already obtained, and a civil juridical persona. To obtain this recognition before the State we had to present Statutes and have them approved.

We thought it best to have the one Statutes approved by the authority of the universal Church and recognised by the Italian State. Among other things, this choice corresponded to Fr. Lombardi's own views.Our concern was to ensure that the Group could continue to function as it had up until now and that the Statutes would remain essentially unchanged. The choice resulting from this decisive aim was to make a distinction between Statutes and Rule of Life. The Statutes express the strictly juridical norms which interest the civil law and the Rule of Life expresses those which refer to the spirit and style of life with which to live those same juridical norms.  It is up to all of us to live all that the Statutes and Rule of Life state in a spirit of collegiality, in line with the spirituality of communion. In effect, we have to remember that for human co-existence juridical norms constitute the indispensable minimum for living together, while the spirituality places us before the "more" of the Gospel: love and charity, the fulfilment of the whole law. The spirituality of communion, the meaning of what we are and do, depends on our ability to respond to the gift of God and to translate it into forms of life that can be higher than the law, not in opposition to or denial of the law but because of the fullness of love.