A
new Vatican document has caused a stir among consecrated virgins with a
ruling that virginity is no longer a prerequisite to become a “Bride of
Christ”, Punch reports.
The document, Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago,
published by the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated
Life and Societies of Apostolic Life on July 4, serves as a new
instructional concerning consecrated virginity.
The
instructional says that while physical virginity and chastity are
important aspects of the life of a “bride of Christ,” they are not
prerequisite to the extent that, if unmet, would absolutely disqualify a
woman from being consecrated as one.
“The
call to give witness to the Church’s virginal, spousal and fruitful
love for Christ is not reducible to the symbol of physical integrity”.
“Thus,
to have kept her body in perfect continence or to have practised 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
document reads.
“Brides
of Christ” are consecrated virgins who, like nuns, are unmarried and
offer their physical virginity as a sign of the total surrender of their
selves to Christ.
Unlike nuns, however, they do not live in convents and typically work and provide for themselves.
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