Areligious (using the word as anoun) is, in the terminology of manyWestern Christian denominations, such as theCatholic Church,Lutheran Churches, andAnglican Communion, what in common language one would call a "monk" or "nun".[1][2][3]
More precisely, a religious is a member of areligious order orreligious institute, someone who belongs to "a society in which members [...] pronounce publicvows [...] and lead a life of brothers or sisters in common".[1][4] A religious mayalso beordained into the clergy, but ordination does not in itself define someone as a religious.
Some classes of religious have also been referred to, though less commonly now than in the past, as"regulars", because of living in accordance with a religious rule (regula inLatin) such as theRule of Saint Benedict.
Religious are members of religious institutes, societies in which the members take public vows and live a fraternal life in common.[5] Thusmonks such asBenedictines andCarthusians,nuns such asCarmelites andPoor Clares, andfriars such asDominicans andFranciscans are called religious.
If a religious has been ordained as a deacon, a priest or a bishop, he also belongs to theclergy and so is a member of what is called the "religious clergy" or the "regular clergy". Clergy who are not members of a religious institute are known assecular clergy. They generally serve a geographically defineddiocese or a diocese-like jurisdiction such as anapostolic vicariate orpersonal ordinariate, and so are also referred to asdiocesan clergy.
A religious who has not been ordained is a member of thelaity (a lay person), not of the clergy. However, once any non-ordained religious professes vows, especially final vows, they must be formally dispensed from those vows, which is a lengthy and formal process, with set procedures, that involves their local superior, the local Bishop or other Ordinary, the head of the Order, and the Vatican's Congregation for Religious. If they are ordained, they must also be formally suspended from and then relieved of their duties, and then laicized (formally removed from the clerical state), which is a related but separate matter. Both laicization and dispensation of vows are only done for very serious reasons, except for perhaps when one seeks to get married once it is done. The process is even more complex if they are accused of a secular or ecclesiastical offense or crime (some procedures can be expedited in certain criminal cases involving sex abuse). The state of a non-ordained religious, therefore, is not precisely the same as a lay unmarried person who is not a religious.[6]
While the state of consecrated life is neither clerical or lay, institutes themselves are classified as one or the other. A clerical institute is one that "by reason of the purpose or design intended by the founder or by virtue of legitimate tradition, is under the direction of clerics, assumes the exercise of sacred orders, and is recognized as such by the authority of the Church".[7] In clerical institutes, such as theDominican Order or theJesuits, most of the members are clerics. In only a few cases do lay institutes have some clergy among their members.
The1983Code of Canon Law devotes to religious 103canons arranged in eight chapters:
In the Lutheran Churches, religious are defined as those who makereligious vows before theirbishop to live consecrated life, especially in areligious order.[3] An ordained priest who is not a part of a Lutheran religious order is considered 'secular', rather than 'religious'.[8]
In the Anglican Communion, the religious are those who have taken "vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, usually in community".[9]
Individuals called to a cloistered life are referred to as monks (men) and nuns (women), whereas men and women who are members of an order, but not living in cloister, are usually referred to by the term "religious," or "religious brothers" or "sisters. Examples of contemplative orders within the Roman Catholic tradition include, but are not limited to, Augustinian, Benedictine, Carthusian, Carmelite, and Cistercian. Among active orders in that same tradition are the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Jesuits. In addition the single form of monasticism in the Orthodox tradition, the Protestant tradition includes, but is not limited to, the following religious orders: the Order of St. Luke (Methodist Church); the Order of Lutheran Franciscans and the Congregation of the Servants of Christ (Lutheran); the Order of Julian of Norwich (Episcopal Church USA); the Order of St. Luke the Physician (Ecumenical); and the Knights of Prayer Monastic (Evangelical, Ecumenical).
Being a priest is a separate thing from being a monk, though monks can be priests (and so can Anglican and Lutheran nuns). But, basically, monks, whether priests or not, are 'religious' and distinct from those, priests or laypeople, who are 'secular'.
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