Are some forms of consecrated life superior to others?

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Controversial question, I know…but should it be? Is the church egalitarian after all? It certainly doesn’t seem be in practice.
 
Matthew 19:21 says it all, as far as perfection sought by vows of entry into the consecrated life and the evangelical counsels established by Christ. No order waivers from this seeking of perfection, and therefore, no order is superior to the other.
 
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No. for 10. How is your discernment going?
 
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Theemonk said:
Controversial question, I know…but should it be? Is the church egalitarian after all? It certainly doesn’t seem be in practice.
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How exactly do you see the church as not being “egalitarian” “in practice”?

There isn’t a hierarchy of forms of consecrated life. People do what they are called to do.
 
Is there no hierarchy in it? Don’t most forms of consecrated life not require a vow of obedience?
 
I’m confused. You mean do religious orders have some kind of superior or authority in governance? Yes, every organization tends to have some kind of leader.

But your original question sounded like you thought some “forms of consecrated life” were superior in God’s eyes. What exactly are you asking?
 
No, no form of consecrated life is superior to any other. You could not compare a Carthusian monk who lives the life of a semi-hermit and who spends many hours a day in prayer with a religious brother who spends most of his time on the streets working among the homeless. They are two different forms of the consecrated life. One is not better than the other and both are of equal value. We need both in the Church as well as all the other forms of consecrated life.

There has been a precedence established for the religious orders based on their provenance, i.e. their antiquity. I believe it is monastic orders, orders of canons regular, mendicant orders, and orders of clerks regular. This precedence may be put into action in a liturgy in a church or where religious are seated in choir. It most certainly does not mean one form of the religious life is better than another form.
 
Right, and no one sincerely choosing religious life would be selecting an order based on its supposed prestige or lack of prestige compared to other orders.
 
Theemonk said:
Is there no hierarchy in it? Don’t most forms of consecrated life not require a vow of obedience?
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It will depend on the order or community. I strongly suggest you go visit and explore a few communities. In discernment it is crucial to find a spirituality and a form of active expression that suits you.

There is a hierachy in the Catholic Church. It is not a democracy. The Pope has the final and abiding say in everything. What the Pope says goes within the Church as far as Church matters go.
In communities and Orders there is also hierachy, the head or leader, down to the latest novice.
 
There have been some people who have thought that communities of monks were not exactly egalitarian prior to Vatican 2; as the communities were divided between choir monks, who recited the Office, and non-choir monks, or the worker bees. The groups were split into two, in part because the lay brothers for the most part could not read Latin and so did not participate in reciting the Office.

For the most part, the distinction between choir monks (those ordained) and lay brothers has dissolved with the introduction of the Office in the vernacular.
 
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