Three women pause in prayer as they are consecrated to the Order of Virgins (CNS photo/Joel Breidenbach)
Posted on 07/13/2018 5:53:37 PM PDT by ebb tide
The document says it is 'not essential' that a woman should have 'kept her body in perfect continence'
The US Association of Consecrated Virgins has said it is “deeply disappointed” at new rules issued by the Vatican that appear to say consecrated virgins need not be virgins.
The group has taken issue with section 88 of the new document, which states: “Thus to have kept her body in perfect continence or to have practiced the virtue of chastity in an exemplary way, while of great importance with regard to the discernment, are not essential prerequisites in the absence of which admittance to consecration is not possible.”
The USACV said it was “shocking to hear from Mother Church that physical virginity may no longer be considered an essential prerequisite for consecration to a life of virginity.”
“The entire tradition of the Church has firmly upheld that a woman must have received the gift of virginity – that is, both material and formal (physical and spiritual) – in order to receive the consecration of virgins,” the association added.
They said that the new rules do not change the prerequisites for consecration as stated in the Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity, which says: “In the case of virgins leading lives in the world it is required that they have never celebrated marriage and that they have not publicly or manifestly lived in a state contrary to chastity.”
The USACV says that this means virginity is a minimum requirement for consecration, and they add that there are “some egregious violations of chastity” that, although they do not violate virginity, do disqualify women from receiving consecration.
The Vatican issued the document, titled Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago, last week after requests from bishops throughout the world for clarity on the role of consecrated virgins amid an upsurge in vocations.
A consecrated virgin is a woman who has never married who pledges perpetual virginity and dedicates her life to God. Unlike a nun, she does not live in a community and leads a secular life, providing for her own needs.
Next: pregnancy OK as long as you aren’t ‘showing’.
So, “consecrated virgins” don’t have to be virgins anymore...
and we all have heard that priests don’t have to be celibate (or even ‘straight’)anymore, either
what next?
what next?
clothing optional mass?
consecrated virgins need not be virgins
American Community-Organizers-in-Chief need not be Americans
Why is this controversial?! Mary Magdalene was likely NOT a virgin when she encountered Christ, but is believed to have led a consecrated life of singleness after becoming a follower.
A lot of early Christians were prostitutes in their former lives. And to this day GOD has called His people from among the most sexually broken and abused.
what next?
We needn't breed like rabbits.
Rahab, a great heroine of the Bible was a prostitute...Mary Magdalene was not a virgin when she met Christ but likely led a life of singleness and permanent devotion afterward...And that’s just one example among numerous women throughout the ages who came to Christ after leading lives in darkness...
And what about women of faith who have been raped in the past? Should they be disqualified from consecrated life?
No.
WOW! He really said such a thing!? WOW!
he appears to have zero understanding of love or marriage
(or Biblical morality or church teachings)
his wording is disparaging, insulting to millions of people, too
i do not believe (correct me if wrong, thanks) the issue is limited or even primarily about one’s past. at least, I do not argue that point. past is past,
the statement sounds like it would authorize or excuse breaking one’s (voluntarily-undertaken) vows ... in one’s future life (while supposedly upholding those vows)
Jesus reportedly taught the adultress to ‘go and sin no more’... keep her vows for the future....
best,
fhc
But they were never considered to be virgins and they never called themselves virgins.
Francischurch has become a joke.
There are other forms of consecrated life, e.g. for widows, but they don’t run around calling themselves virgins.
Some women who encounter God later in life did not grow up in Catholic-Christian households and were likely not baptized as infants.
They may take a vow of chastity upon their entrance into the sacramental life of the Church: Baptism signifying the washing away of their sins (including sexual sins)...
That still doesn't make them "virgins".
In God's eyes such women are washed in the blood of Christ and clothed now in His purity.
"Come now, let us settle the matter," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. ~ Isaiah 1:18
yes. as far as past conduct is concerned, forgiven for sure
Are you even Catholic?
This is Catholic Caucus.
I go to mass several mornings a week. Before the priest says the Eucharistic blessing of consecration — they are just bread and wine.
My thinking here, is that the members of an Order of Widows are widows And the members of an Order of Virgins, are virgins.
Doesn't that make sense?
And some religious orders include women of all sorts of backgrounds, such as the Daughters of Charity, which was founded by a widow, St. Elizabeth Seton.
My point is that there's room for a variety of different kinds of consecration. Any Catholic woman, no matter what her sexual or marital past, can be a consecrated woman.
But she can't be a consecrated widow if she's not a widow, and she can't be a consecrated virgin if she's not a virgin.
Those are just two specific niches. They don't comprise the whole of consecrated life. OK?
Mary Magdalene was not a prostitute. That is tradition not based on scripture.
A virgin is a virgin, but not always physically. Rather like circumcision as the Apostle Paul wrote about it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
