LEGAL AND SECURITY CHALLENGES IN THE APPLICATION OF THE APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION SPIRITUALI MILITUM CURAE IN THE MACEDONIAN SECURITY SYSTEM

Abstract

This paper analyzes the institutional setting of religious service in the armed forces 
through the prism of the Apostolic Constitution Spirituali militum curae (SMC), issued by Pope 
John Paul II on April 21, 1986. This important document of the Roman Catholic Church 
regulates the aspects of spiritual care for members of the military forces of the Catholic faith 
through the establishment of special church structures – the so-called military ordinariates. 
Previously, church rules for the military chapel and military pastoral care were regulated by an 
older document (Solemne semper, document of Pope Pius XII from 23 April 1951), but 
conditions were changing: professionalism in the armed forces increased, society had new 
views on the role of the military, and new rules in the Concise Code of Canon Law – so a 
unified, modern legislative framework was needed: so, this constitution SMC superseded the 
previous rules. The central hypothesis of the research is that this model, which establishes 
“military ordinariates” as equivalents of dioceses, but with extraterritorial jurisdiction, 
represents a sui generis legal construction that creates specific challenges for national 
sovereignty and the secularism of the state.  The paper makes a comparative analysis between 
the national norms of the Holy See and the positive law of the Republic of North Macedonia. 
Special focus is placed on the security implications – from the issue of “dual loyalty” of military 
personnel, through the protection of classified information, to the risk of institutional 
asymmetry in the multi-confessional composition of the Army of North Macedonia (ANM). 
The conclusion offers recommendations for a “Coordination Model” that balances NATO 
standards with the domestic legal order.