Members of religious orders, religious congregations, secular institutes and secular orders make promises or vows. Their superior accepts them in the name of the Church. The superior also promises the person eternal life if he or she fulfills these promises or vows and does so in the name of the Church.
Some people make private vows before a priest. Others may private vows with the permission of their spiritual director or their confessor. While others make private promises on their own.
In the Church there is a long tradition of making promises and vows. In the psalms there is a verse that says “My vows to the Lord I will fulfill in the presence of all his people.” I can’t recall which psalm it is.
Making promises and vows dates back to the OT. It has always been a part of our covenant relationship with God. Our promises to God usually place emphasis on a particular aspect of the covenant.
As to sin, that depends on the type of promise that one makes. Canon Law is very clear that there are different types of promises, from things that we promise to do to how we promise to live. Then there are grades of promises, from simple promises like promising to say the rosary daily to solemn vows made only by a select group of religious, not all religious make solemn vows.
Then there are the two solemn promises that secular priests make: obedience to their bishop and celibacy. They are not solemn vows as are the vows made by Franciscans, Benedictines, Jesuits, Carmelites, Dominicans, and Augustinians. But they are public and morally binding.
When is the breach of a promise a sin and when is it not? The breach is a violation if the thing that we promised is morally binding.
For example, a person who promises to be chaste sins against chastity, there is an objective sin. Chastity is morally binding. Praying the rosay every day is not morally binding. Obedience to one’s legitimate superiors (secular or in the Church) is morally binding. Obdience to a direct order to commit sin is not morally binding. There is no sin if one disobeys.
There is one more interesting situation. That is celibacy. Celibacy is not morally binding. Chastity is. However, in the case of a secular priest, it becomes morally binding because it is a discipline of the Church that Western secular priests promise to be celibate. If the discipline were abrogated for Western priests, then celibacy would not be morally binding for secular priests.
The promise of celibacy made by secular priests does not apply to men and women in religious life. They promise celibate chastity, which is different. In their case, this cannot be abrogated by the Church, because celibate chastity is what binds religious to their community as one is bound to a spouse.
The promises of marriage are also solemn vows. They are always morally binding and cannot be abrogated by the Church or dispensed with.
Yes, we can make promises. There are many kinds of promises and degrees of promises. Breaking a promise where morality enters the picture, is a sin. One should never make a promise lightly and be responsible to fulfill them. One should always assume that the promise is binding until told differently by one’s confessor or other legitimate voice of authority in the Church.
If one cannot fulfill a promise or a vow, one can ask the confessor or other legitimate authority to dispense one from the promise, suspend the promise until it can be fulfilled, or commute the promise to do something else in its place.
I hope this helps.
Fraternally,
JR
