Becoming a nun if marriage is annulled

[JReducation]

Most orders I’ve heard of take the vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity. Is the married state necessarily a barrier? I guess it depends on the example or precedence it would set for that order.

There are religious orders and secular orders. To enter a religious order one cannot be married. This was once possible, if both parties agreed to live celibacy. But the code of 1983 ruled this out.

One may enter a secular order and remain within the married state. It is still an order and it is a way of life. However, the first secular order ever founded, the Secular Franciscans, allowed for all things that were proper to the secular state: marriage, ownership of property and self-determination, as long as these things are exercised within the parameters set forth in the rule. The other secular orders that were later founded: Dominican, Carmelite, etc followed the same rules, but within their charism. A married person, secular deacon, priest, bishop or pope can certainly enter a secular order and remain within his current state. He must adopt his lifestyle to the way of life of that order.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF