A secular institute is a community of secular men, women or both. They are secular, because they do not belong to a religious family. Some make private vows. Some live in community and others live in their own homes. The follow a common spirituality and often have a common apostolate. Members of secular institutes are celibate, whether they make vows or not. The institute has a constitution that describes their spirituality, their formation, their government and their role in the Church.
The most famous secular institute right now is the SSPX, despite their irregular status. They are an institute for secular priests. They do not make private or public vows. Therefore, they are not religious. But they have a constitution and a common bond.
Like them there are many institutes that are much older.
Secular Orders are part of a religious family. The members have a rule of life. They have a formation program that lasts about five years. At the end of that period the candidate makes a solemn promise to live according to the rule of the founder and live the Gospel life in the manner of the founder. The members can be married, single, deacon, priest, or bishop. The single members can be celibate. The members can profess private vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.
The members of secular orders usually live in the secular world. However, they are bound to live in the world by the same rule and life as the other members of their religioius family: Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites and Missionaries of Charity.
Secular orders are not lay orders. A lay order is one in which all the members are lay men or lay women, such as the Christian Brothers. In secular orders, some members are clerics: deacons, priests, bishops, popes. For example, Pius XII and John XXIII were Secular Franciscans.
I believe that either Paul VI or John Paul II was a Secular Dominican.
The members of a secular order make a religious profession in a liturgy. The profession is solemn and it is public. The profession is received by the Church and by the superior in the name of the order. Secular Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites are not members of the same order as the friars and the cloistered nuns are. They are their own order. Their attachment is a fraternal and a spiritual one. Usually, a friar or a nun serves as the spiritual assistant to the Secular brothers and sisters. However, this is not always necessary.
Today, more than ever, there are secular brothers and sisters who are trained theologians and trained spiritual directors. They serve as spiritual directors to their own brothers and sisters, provided that they are not members of the same local fraternity.
While the profession of a member of a secular institute is private, the profession of a member of a secular order is public and equivalent to that of the profession of friars and nuns in the same family.
In the case of the Franciscans, the Secular Franciscans were actually founded by St. Francis of Assisi. Their original name was the Brothers and Sisters of Penance. Pope Paul VI changed the name to the Secular Franciscan Order in 1978. Their rule was written by St. Francis and can only be changed by a pope, not by the friars or by the secular brothers and sisters. Their rule dates back to 1209. This year the Franciscan family celebrated its 800th birthday.
To the best of my knowledge, the Secular Franciscan Order is the oldest secular order in the Church. But not too old . . . the Secular Dominicans and Secular Carmelites were founded shortly after. Tradition has it that they borrowed the idea from the Franciscans. But they do not live the same life. Each order lives according to its own charism. Each is a gift to the Church from the Holy Spirit.
Secular Orders wore traditional religious habits until the 1800s. Then the habits were modified and gradually disappeared. But there is no reason why they cannot be recovered. It is up to the order.
In a nutshell, secular orders have a rule, a constitution, a religious tradition and are part of a religious family. They have a public profession that binds them to live according to the rule until death.
Secular institutes have a constitution or statutes. They make private vows. Their vows may be temporary and renewed every year or can be for life. Unlike secular orders who always make their commitment for life.
Both have a place in the life of the Church and are a gift to the Church.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
