Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average age for a man entering the seminary or a religious order?
What is the average age for a woman entering a religious order?
What is a Diocesan Priest?
What is a Monk?
What is a Friar?
What is an Apostolic?
What is a Deacon?
What is a Female Religious?
Why are there so many different religious orders?
What is the difference between a religious order priest and a diocesan priest?
What is the difference between a priest and a brother?
What is the difference between a deacon and a priest?
Do priests take a vow of chastity?
What do the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience mean today?
What is the average age for a man entering the seminary or a religious order? According to the study entitled, "Seminarians in the Nineties," the average age for seminarians in 1993 was 32, whereas it was 25 in 1966; it notes that religious order seminarians tend to be somewhat older than diocesan seminarians.
What is the average age for a woman entering a religious order?
According to a study in 1994-95, the average age for those entering the first stage, the pre-novitiate, is 29.5, and for temporary profession, 33.6. This is older than in the past.
What is a Diocesan Priest
These are priests who join a diocese or archdiocese. They have lifelong commitments to celibacy and obedience to their Bishop. Generally they minister within the geographic confines of their (arch)diocese. They have the primary responsibility of meeting the religious needs of the Catholics in their diocese. Generally, but not always, this means parish ministry.
What is a Monk?
A monk is a member of a community of men, leading a contemplative life apart from the world, under the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, according to a rule characteristic of the particular order to which he belongs. They live in the monastic tradition which started in the first thousand years of the Church.
What is a Friar?
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders (lives on the voluntary offerings of the faithful). Friars take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience within a religious community and who follow the vision of their founder.
Apostolic
These are priests who join a religious society or congregation in order to follow the charism of their founder. They do not belong to a diocese. Apostolic priests take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. They usually live and work in their own houses (which may be attached to a parish, college, mission or any other apostolate).
Deacon
A deacon is an ordained minister of the Church who can preach, baptize, witness marriages, and preside at burials. There are two types of deacons: permanent deacons, who are often married and have another occupation to support themselves; and transitional deacons, who are studying for the priesthood. Deacons provide a sacramental witness to the Church in three areas: word (preaching, teaching, etc.); liturgy; and service.
Female Religious
These are women who typically take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience within a religious community and who follow the charism (vision) of their founder. Nuns are cloistered, living a life of prayer within a monastery with limited, internal apostolates. Most Sisters are engaged in active ministry with the People of God. They can be parish administrators, missionaries, teachers, nurses, campus ministers, canon lawyers, retreat/spiritual directors and so forth. They are called upon for many tasks and positions within the Church forming the People of God.
Why are there so many different religious orders?
Each religious order has a founder who was inspired to meet a certain need or respond to a specific situation in the history of the Church. Those orders whose mission or charism addresses ongoing concerns, tend to survive, but many religious orders have gone into and out of existence in the Church?s long history. New religious orders are even beginning in our day and age as women and men strive to apply and live the Gospel in these circumstances.
What is the difference between a religious order priest and a diocesan priest? A religious order priest belongs to a religious community, such as the Franciscans, Dominicans, etc., who strive to live out the charism of their founder and often have a particular type of ministry, e.g., education, health care. They usually live in community and they take the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Diocesan priests, also called secular priests, are ordained for a local church, a geographical area, and generally serve in parishes, although they also assist in schools, hospitals, prisons, etc., depending upon the local needs. Although they do not take the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, diocesan priests do promise: to lead a celibate life; to respect and obey their diocesan bishop; and to live a simple lifestyle.
What is the difference between a priest and a brother?
A priest is ordained and is the ordinary minister of the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist, Penance (confession), Matrimony, and the Anointing of the Sick. The life of a brother is more like that of a religious sister: he lives in a religious community; takes the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience; and, engages is some pastoral or contemplative way of life.
What is the difference between a deacon and a priest?
Both are ordained, but a deacon is a sacramental sign of the service which all Christians are to offer to the world and a priest is to represent Christ as the head of the Church through the three-fold ministry to teach, sanctify and lead. In terms of the sacraments, both deacons and priests can preach, baptize, witness marriages and preside at burials; only priests can celebrate the Eucharist, Penance (confession) and anoint the sick.
Do priests take a vow of chastity?
Religious priests take a vow of chastity and diocesan priests promise celibacy.
What do the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience mean today?
These three vows are also called the evangelical counsels and describe a radical way to live out the Gospel. In each age, they can provide a strong witness to Gospel values in the face of competing or even contrary values in the prevailing culture. POVERTY - A religious chooses to share all in common rather than have personal ownership of material goods. In the face of a materialistic, consumer culture where one?s value is often determined by earning power or the acquisition of wealth, poverty testifies to our dependence upon God as the source of all gifts and our solidarity with one another, especially the poor. When so many are ignoring people who are on the fringes of society, religious with a vow of poverty can connect with the poor, work with them and speak about their needs and concerns.
CHASTITY - A religious chooses a celibate way of loving rather than entering into a conjugal relationship. Sex is used in our society for so many purposes, including the selling of products and recreation, and the prevailing message is that one must be sexually active to be fully human ... even if that means promiscuity. Chastity reminds us of the deeper meaning of sexuality. A genuine witness of chastity expresses a unique way to love, a way to serve others, and invites others to consider that there is more to life that meets the eye, that our relationship with God is indeed primary.
OBEDIENCE - A religious chooses obedience to indicate a preference for the common good over personal desire. The contemporary definition of freedom is to be able to do whatever one wants to do as long as it does not interfere with the rights of others - freedom from responsibility. Obedience demonstrates that the most perfect form of freedom is that which makes a commitment to another person, divine or human, or a cause. Obedience enables one to truly put his or her life at the service of the Church.
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