Need a college degree to join a religious order?

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I was looking over the Jesuit’s website, and while looking at,like, the steps to become a Jesuit, and it said that,after the two-year novice period, if the person still doesn’t have a bachelor’s degree he will study for that. Does that mean you can become a Jesuit right out of highschool? Do all the religious orders have differant requirements regarding academics?
P.S. Do people who want to become Jesuits ( or members of any religious order) need to be like, a straight-A student?
 
BrooklynBoy200 said:
I was looking over the Jesuit’s website, and while looking at,like, the steps to become a Jesuit, and it said that,after the two-year novice period, if the person still doesn’t have a bachelor’s degree he will study for that. Does that mean you can become a Jesuit right out of highschool? Do all the religious orders have differant requirements regarding academics?
P.S. Do people who want to become Jesuits ( or members of any religious order) need to be like, a straight-A student?
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Every order is different. I have found, in general, they prefer some college before you join. And on top of that, each PERSON is different. It is so hard to set a standard on these things, they are more like guidelines.

As for your GPA, I assume they would expect you to maintain decent grades. Although asking for straight A’s is difficult even among the smartest of people.
 
Ok thankyou for the answer. But while whe are here, i want to ask something somewhat on topic. What’s with the degrees and all the years of college a priest needs? Why can’t people just go right into a how to be a priest class after high school? I mean, if a person does awful in school, but knows everything about the Catholic Church and our faith, why can’t he just become a priest? I mean, Jesus never went to college did He?
 
BrooklynBoy200 said:
Ok thankyou for the answer. But while whe are here, i want to ask something somewhat on topic. What’s with the degrees and all the years of college a priest needs? Why can’t people just go right into a how to be a priest class after high school? I mean, if a person does awful in school, but knows everything about the Catholic Church and our faith, why can’t he just become a priest? I mean, Jesus never went to college did He?
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It is about preparing you.

Spiritual formation, Human formation, Intellectual formation and Pastoral formation.

They have to teach you how to pray. No matter what, I promise no high school kid knows how to pray as a priest should. That takes time. They have to build and foster your relationship with Christ. After all, He will be your only partner in life.

They have to prepare you for the celibate life and develop your personality to help others. 17 year olds are just not mature enough to help 40 year olds with a host of problems. They have to teach you how.

They have to teach you the theology. No matter how much you know about the Church or Christ, there is always more to learn and understand. Everyone looks to a priest for all the answers, you MUST be educated!

And finally, they have to teach you how to actually run a church. A brand new priest is sent to a parish expecting to be in charge from day one. He has to have an idea of what to do!
 
I’m sorry i keep adding off-topic posts to this, but i have another question. Are all priests required to speak to large audiences? I mean, even religious priests? I’m not the best with talking in front of a lot of people. I mean, i could do it if like, mass was all ready written and everything and i was just reciting it, but i probably couldn’t really write sermons.
 
BrooklynBoy200 said:
I’m sorry i keep adding off-topic posts to this, but i have another question. Are all priests required to speak to large audiences? I mean, even religious priests? I’m not the best with talking in front of a lot of people. I mean, i could do it if like, mass was all ready written and everything and i was just reciting it, but i probably couldn’t really write sermons.
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It really depends. Secular priests, well, yeah. All you do is celebrate Mass for the people and administer the sacraments.

But religious orders you could get away with not doing it, depending on your job/order. If you were a Franciscan, for example, and you joined a part of the Franciscans where all they did was minister to the poor, you might go for weeks just helping the poor.

But even still, as a priest, you will always have to celebrate Mass. And that means you will always be in front of people. The great thing about being a priest though, your homilies don’t have to be great, and they can be brief. The focus of the Mass is on the Eucharist, not the sermon. So, you could just spend about five minutes speaking about the Gospel for the day, then continue with the Mass.

Daily Mass doesn’t even require a homily. I have heard priests say “Well, I think the Gospel is telling us today that we need to treat each other better.” Then just jump right into the liturgy of the Eucharist.

Edit: That is also part of the human formation in seminary. They will teach you public speaking. You will become better at it. As your knowledge of the information grows, so will your confidence, then you will be able to guide the laity with your homily. Remember, the ONLY chance priests get to reach the majority of Catholics is at Sunday Mass, so the homily is important. But if your only vice is being shy about public speaking, you have it made. The Lord will most certainly help with that.
 
BrooklynBoy200 said:
Ok thankyou for the answer. But while whe are here, i want to ask something somewhat on topic. What’s with the degrees and all the years of college a priest needs? Why can’t people just go right into a how to be a priest class after high school? I mean, if a person does awful in school, but knows everything about the Catholic Church and our faith, why can’t he just become a priest? I mean, Jesus never went to college did He?
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Well, I’m going to take a divergent position here. For I tend to agree with what you’re getting at.

Now that is not to say that formation and discernment isn’t needed. But it CAN be done in other ways than college and seminary: namely apprenticeship.

I see no reason why the Church can’t be more giving in bringing up priests not so much singly through the academic pathway, but also more through an experiencial one. Now, given, even men in seminary have to do ministry periods and all. But that is sometimes more of a complementary/secondary thing to all the academic coursework. Yet there are plenty of people who relate to things better “in the field” and learn by “doing”. I believe that the Church has traditionally allowed for this provision, too, though it is so downplayed these days that no one even thinks of it or will generally dismiss it out of hand. I would, however, support offering the opportunity to some certain young men who might benefit by trying out this route. But since I’m not the bishop, it looks like you’ll probably have to jump through all the contemporary hoops.

Oh, and BTW, I don’t necessarily agree (as someone else suggested) that any 17 year old unequivocally can’t pastorally advise a 40 year old. Given, they might be lacking in a certain degree of experience and understanding. But there are plenty of 15 year olds out there who’ve lived the kind of lives that makes them more mature than you’re average 50 year old, too, who could offer (by the time they are 17) better wisdom to the 40 year old than some 50 year old priests could. Which gets us back to the reality that this all ought to depend upon the individual person and his uniqueness.
 
BrooklynBoy200 said:
I’m sorry i keep adding off-topic posts to this, but i have another question. Are all priests required to speak to large audiences? I mean, even religious priests? I’m not the best with talking in front of a lot of people. I mean, i could do it if like, mass was all ready written and everything and i was just reciting it, but i probably couldn’t really write sermons.
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I understand your feelings. I used to be that way but then I took a public speaking course at college. I suggest you visit your local community college and see if they offer such a course. It’ll help you some. The thing you have to remember is that quite a few people, including many great priests, started out with a fear of public speaking. But you gradually get past it. I think there are private coaches you can hire to help you as well. Check into it. If you want to limit how often you say Mass for a large group of people, I recommend you choose a religious order that doesn’t specialize in lots of parish work.
 
If I remember correctly, the TLM has the priest with his back to the people during most of the Mass. If that is correct, you might consider the FSSP.
 
ChristIsTheWay said:
If I remember correctly, the TLM has the priest with his back to the people during most of the Mass. If that is correct, you might consider the FSSP.
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It is true, but I wouldn’t suggest joining the FSSP just because you are scared to look at everyone 😛 If you love the Latin Mass however, go for it.
 
Unfinished said:
It is true, but I wouldn’t suggest joining the FSSP just because you are scared to look at everyone 😛 If you love the Latin Mass however, go for it.
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Besides, just think of how many saints in heaven you ARE looking at!
 
What does it mean when it says the FSSP don’t have to take religious vows? Like the vow of poverty?
 
BrooklynBoy200 said:
What does it mean when it says the FSSP don’t have to take religious vows? Like the vow of poverty?
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Secular (Diocesan) priests do not take the three vows. (Povery, obedience and chastity) Instead, they make “promises.” They are pretty much the same, pledging obedience to your local ordinary and whatnot. Except you don’t take up poverty because secular priests need to own things such as a car to take care of business.
 
BrooklynBoy200 said:
What does it mean when it says the FSSP don’t have to take religious vows? Like the vow of poverty?
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Could you please provide a link to that? I’d better be able to answer your question if you did. Are you saying that the FSSP does not take the traditional vows? I think I have heard of a few orders that do that. Instead, they take a vow of obedience to the order’s constitution, which includes the promises of the traditional vows in it. Or something like that.
 
ChristIsTheWay said:
Could you please provide a link to that? I’d better be able to answer your question if you did. Are you saying that the FSSP does not take the traditional vows? I think I have heard of a few orders that do that. Instead, they take a vow of obedience to the order’s constitution, which includes the promises of the traditional vows in it. Or something like that.
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here:
fssp.org/en/presentation.htm
 
ChristIsTheWay said:
Could you please provide a link to that? I’d better be able to answer your question if you did. Are you saying that the FSSP does not take the traditional vows? I think I have heard of a few orders that do that. Instead, they take a vow of obedience to the order’s constitution, which includes the promises of the traditional vows in it. Or something like that.
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They are not an “order” in the strictest sense. They serve as secular priests under the Ordinary of the FSSP. So they do not take vows, they make the promises like the rest of secular priests.

Basicly, imagine an entire diocese where all the priests celebrate Latin Mass. That is the FSSP. Except their “diocese” is spread all over the US and the world.

Oh, and they also serve the Bishop whose diocese they reside in. The FSSP has to get his permission to set up an apostolate there in the first place.
 
I’ve heard that, in America, there are only 3 traditional branches of real Orders in the strictest sense of the word “order” who take religious vows:

The CRNJ (augustinian canons)
The Clearcreek Benedictines

and a new traditional Carmel is being started somewhere.

I aspire to the CRNJ. I have visited them (they are only 3 men) and I loved it. I think I am going back over winter break.

I would like to join them right after high school. Their constitutions allow 18 year olds to join…but I think they would “prefer” already having an undergraduate degree…however, they have said it is on an individual basis and they “don’t want vocations to be destroyed at college like they often are”
 
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