Should a traditional religious sister who is unable to live her religious life in a post-Vatican II community request to be dispensed from her vows?
No. If a religious sees the crisis in the Church, she will only ask to be dispensed from her vows if she is paralyzed by legalism, and by the false notion of obedience that this legalism engenders. The real solution of a traditional sister in a modernist congregation is not to request a dispensation from her vows. It is precisely the contrary that a traditional sister is obliged before God to do to live faithful for life the vows that she made before God. It is precisely to keep her vows that she must leave the modernist community. It is precisely because she is determined to keep to her religious vows that she is obliged to adhere to Tradition. Consequently it makes no sense at all for her to abandon those vows, or ask to be released from them. These vows are not an impediment to her sanctification, but the means for it. It is certainly true that in normal times one does not have the right to leave ones religious community to join another without dispensation or permission from both s
Related Questions
- Why should I choose a traditional formation in the Society of Saint Pius X, rather than simply try to get by in the "mainstream" or post-Vatican II church?
- I feel drawn to religious life, but can’t see myself as a sister for all my life. Can one make a short-term commitment as an Ursuline?
- How complicated are the "traditional" live auctions?
