My record is from before I was baptized. It was a conviction of assult with a weapon and assulting a police officer. I accualy do not remember comiting the crime as I was on a major psycidelic drug trip and all I remember from that night is hallucinations. I got time served and probation (which has ended) and I can apply for a pardon in about two years. How does one “prove” their holiness?If you feel called to the religious life, you may want to look at a religious order or religious congregation. Orders and congregations use different criteria to admit men to Holy Orders. They do admit men with criminal records to Holy Orders. However, these men have had to prove their holiness to be admitted to the religious community first. After they are admitted to the religious community and spent six to eight years in formation to make final vows, then they may ask for admission to Holy Orders. Even then, it is up to the major superior to grant permission to be ordained. There is no guarrantee that if you join a religious community you will be ordained, even if you do not have a criminal record. However, religious communities may dispense with the criminal record and call a man to Holy Orders, because they are not bound by all of the rules that bind bishops and the major superior has the same authority as a bishop, even if he’s not a priest, as long as he’s the major superior. Therefore, he can dispense with almost anything that canon law allows to a bishop. But you have to have a vocation to the religious life. No one can enter the religious life to be a priest. That’s not allowed. You must enter because you feel called to live their way of life.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
You begin by being faithful to the Church. If you have an inclination to the religious life, you should also show some of the same attributes as the religious of that community have. For example, if you have an inclination to the Cistercians, you should have a strong inclination to a deeper prayer life. If you have an inclination to one of the Franciscan orders, you should have some degree of detachment from material things and attachment to obedience. If you have an inclination to the Christian Brothers, you should have an attraction to teach or be a teacher, and so forth.
So what do I do when I have an inclination to all of the (or most)? I’m attracted to the teaching orders like the Jesuites I have no want or need for any material things like the franciscan orders (st. francis accualy saved my life when I was homeless a couple of years ago in the middle of a canadian winter when I found some of his writing at the library) I very much like the deep prayer life of the monastic traditions (been doing the hermit thing for three years now) I sometimes get the “wandering preacher” impulse. In short I want it all so where does one go for all of it?You begin by being faithful to the Church. If you have an inclination to the religious life, you should also show some of the same attributes as the religious of that community have. For example, if you have an inclination to the Cistercians, you should have a strong inclination to a deeper prayer life. If you have an inclination to one of the Franciscan orders, you should have some degree of detachment from material things and attachment to obedience. If you have an inclination to the Christian Brothers, you should have an attraction to teach or be a teacher, and so forth.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
As I have said before, it is very hard to define the orders today, we all are doing much that I think our founders would not have thought about.
I do not know the law where you are, but around here, people cannot get state teaching certification if they are a convicted felon- and they probably would not be allowed to teach in a Catholic school that does not require certification if that is your reason for not being able to be certified. I am not sure if being pardoned would change that (I would think so, but I’m not a lawyer). I know this is a consideration dioceses have to make when considering applicants with their vocations offices- I would think religious orders have a similar policy.
Yes, you may be allowed to teach in a Catholic school if you are a convicted felon. There are many things that are taken into consideration. We have a friar who is a convicted felon. He murdered his wife and was in prison for life. Later he was parroled and became a friar. For many years he was an excellent theology professor in several of our high schools. He is now enjoying his senior years at the mother house. I did my novitiate with Br. Jim. We lived in cells next door to each other. He is a very holy man. The link is to a book that has been written about him.