(Latin: collegium, college, corporation)
A term applied to a body of persons or its "corporate acts" when applied to things, e.g., collegiate church, it refers to the corporation or body of persons directing the Church. Church law distinguishes between physical and moral personality. The latter is either collegiate or non-collegiate. Collegiate personalities are chapters, councils, boards, committees, and must consist of at least three physical persons. Non-collegiate personalities are benefices, asylums, hospitals. The classic age of Roman law acknowledged only collegiate moral personalities. The concept of non-collegiate moral personality is a product of the Christian mind and was developed principally by the canonist, Sinibaldo de' Fieschi, later Innocent IV (died 1254).
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