The contribution offers an introduction to the Instructions regarding the Institutes affiliated, aggregated or incorporated to an Ecclesiastical Faculty, issued by the Congregation for Catholic Education on 8 December 2020. In particular, the following aspects are illustrated: the concept of «connection» to an ecclesiastical faculty and its typologies; the main innovations of the new regulations; the procedure for granting affiliation, aggregation and incorporation, as well as its suspension or revocation. The article also points out the open questions and the norms that create possible difficulties of interpretation.