Can a nun start a new order?

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I was wondering if a nun who is serving in an order and desires to begin a new order, can this be done?
MrsY
 
Note that while Mother Theresa founded a new order, Mother Angelica founded a new monestary withing her original order.
 
Joe_Kelley said:
Note that while Mother Theresa founded a new order, Mother Angelica founded a new monestary withing her original order.
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True. A much more striter sense of the order.

To add to that answer, it should be said, I guess, that it is God that calls for a new order if one already belongs to one.
 
mommyof4 said:
Didn’t St. Theresa of Avila start a new one too?
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Like mother Angelica, I believe she founded a much stricter order of Carmel…they are called the discalced. While the others still exist, the discalced are much sgtricter and closer to the orignial rule. St John of the Cross went through the same thing except he suffered persecution big time from his own Brothers in Christ.

I guess the political term ‘liberal/conservative’ spirit existed way back then also. Nothing new under the sun.🙂
 
Mother Teresa actually did form a new order.

Mother Angelica just built a new foundation. I have also not heard that her community is any more strict then most of the other PCPA communities. They all follow the same Rule. They are the same order. Founding an order and founding a monastery are much different. Founding a monastery is just like re-locating a group from the previous monastery. Everything, in that sense, is the same.

Founding an order is totally going out and well… founding an order. There are no sisters. There is no monastery. There is no nothing. You, with Jesus’ guidance, think up and start everything.

St. Teresa of Avila did not intend to found a new order. She just wished to return to the original way of life of the early Carmelite hermits, but after O.Carm opposition the foundations of Teresa and the O.Carms became two separate orders under the Carmelite umbrella. Both, from what I understand, follow the Rule of St. Albert. The OCD follow St. Teresa’s Constitutions as well.
 
Dear daughterofmary,
Thank you for the information. I will be doing a little more research on St. Terese of Avila.
Your sister in Christ,
MrsY
 
To the OP: Yes, a nun can start a new order. An example of this would be the Sister Servants of the Eternal Word. They were extern sisters who were Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration at the foundation that Mother Angelica founded. They broke off and founded a totally new order: The Sister Servants of the Eternal Word.

Another example, as mentioned previously, is Mother Teresa. If you read her letters you can read how she actually went about this. First she wrote to the Bishop in her Diocese asking to found the new order (because the order would reside and work in that Diocese). Then when he granted her permission she wrote the mother general of the order in Ireland (she was in Calcutta at a different foundation) and requested permission to leave the order. She wrote to Rome and requested permission to leave the Order and start founding the other. They granted her permission to leave Loreto. They could have granted her an indult of secularization (which would mean that she would return the world with her vows dispensed) or an indult of exclaustration (authorizing her to stay outside the Loreto convent “for one year or less if a shorter period is sufficent”). They granted the indult of exclaustration. She was still bound by vows and they granted it so that if her adventure did not work out that she could return to Loreto. It did though, and when it started to take root … well the rest is history. Of course she had to seek approval for the MC’s too etc. But that is how she left one Order and transitioned to founding her own.
 
Interesting thread…can a nun on her own start a new religious order or need she have fellow women prepared to follow her into this new Order and if so, how many women are stipulated officially?
 
A member of CAF with the user name of Cloisters posted a year ago about the process of founding an order:
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Cloisters:
The steps to foundation are this:
  1. Get the charism (gift to the church and the world) down on paper. If the community is to wear a habit, find someone who can sketch it.
  2. This next step is nebulous, and no one has ever stated what must happen next. Either visit the bishop with the paperwork mentioned in #1, or put the charism onto a website to advertise; gather aspirants; then ask the bishop’s blessing on the venture. I personally am doing the latter.
  3. The diocese is in no way financially responsible for the start of a new community. They (the future sisters/brothers) MUST show that they can be financially viable (right word?).
  4. The first classification of a new order is “de facto association.” Both the local bishop and Rome must know about it.
  5. The second classification is “private association of the faithful.” Another aspiring foundress has informed me that even a de facto association comes under this classification. When one’s community is a private association of the faithful, they are not permitted to make new foundations.
Footnote: I’m finding that bishops are being inconsistent where the habit is concerned at the “private association” step. One budding community wears a uniform of sorts with their bishop’s blessing, but another community in another diocese can’t wear the charism’s habit until they grow. The sisters are in a habit, but they’re different colors. Yet, a men’s community in another diocese was reprimanded because they all wore the same t-shirt. The diocese said what they were wearing was too much like a habit. I might be reading all that incorrectly, and if I am, I hope someone enlightens me.
  1. When the community has grown, they may take public vows and don the habit. At this point, if they grow further, they may make new foundations.
  2. After 10 years of steady growth, the community is approved as a religious institute of “diocesan right.” (That might be spelled “rite.” With the time change, I can’t remember squat right now).
  3. After 20-25 years of steady growth, the community can be approved by Rome, and become a religious institute of “pontifical right.” They are added to a book published yearly listing such communities, and are answerable to the pope himself.
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forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=1614065&postcount=7

Cloisters runs a Yahoo group called Founders Forum, but it is open only to invited members. If you wish to join, or if you just want to ask questions, Cloisters welcomes email.
 
Dear Dale M.,

This is great and has been so helpful in getting started. My daughter’s are really excited about their new order and want it to become a reality. I too, would be so happy for them. No greater crown could be given to me than to see my girls serving God in their order. God bless and thank you again.
MrsY
 
MrsY, you are most welcome. I am glad the information was helpful.

I will be praying for the success of your daughters! 🙂
 
🙂 Yes,they can.many orders have been founded in this way.Good luck to your daughters and can you tell us something about their community? I’m curious about it.
 
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