Religious orders

[thorlakursaint]

Dear all,

Can someone give me and advise of a Religious order where you can become a priest in approx. 4 years time?

Thanks

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Dear all,

Can someone give me and advise of a Religious order where you can become a priest in approx. 4 years time?

Thanks

1. Get a spiritual director. Each order has its own charism and you might not be called to live it.
2. It will take longer than 4 years with a religious order. It will take longer with a diocese too,

First, you must have 30 credits of philosophy and 12 credits of theology that the major seminary will accept. The the program is 4 years long usually with a pastoral year (for a diocese and many orders).

Take my order (and province) for example.

1. You enter into the pre-novitiate. If you have your credits then you are there for a year, if not then two years.
2. You enter the novitiate year. (you enter temporary vows at the end of the novitiate)
3. You start your studies for the priesthood (1st year of MDiv program).
4. You go out on a two year internship in one of our ministries.
5. You return for the last 3 years of the MDiv.

Add that up it is any where from 8 to 9 years. Right now, depending on my CA treatments I am on a 8.5 year program for it. I am 4 years into it, almost finished with my first year of internship.

 

[CDNowak]

The absolute quickest I have heard of is 5 years, for diocesan students at 1 US seminary, if they have their Bachelors degree and previous formation (ie they are transferring from an order).

However, the very question raises red flags, why the rush?

 

[JReducation]

Many religious orders look very suspicioiusly at someone who comes and says,“I’m on the fast track to the priesthood.” The first thing that the vocation director is looking for is not a vocation to the priesthood. He’s looking to determine if you may have a vocation to the religious life. You cannot be ordained a deacon, until after you have made perpetual vows in the religious life.

You had better be sure that you have a vocation to the religious life, first. If something goes wrong and you are not allowd to be ordained, you are still a religious. If you are already in perpetual vows, you’re stuck for life, unless the Holy See grants you a dispensation. Those are becoming harder and harder to get.

The Church takes the matter of religious vows very seriously. You need to get a vocation director and a spiritual director to help you discern if you have a call to the religious life. You can’t enter a religious community, just because you want to be a priest. A man who wants to be a priest, but has given little thought to the life of Carmel will make a lousy Carmelite. More than likely, he’ll be asked to leave at some point during the formation years. The same happens with any other order. The first thing that you have to prove to us is that you have a vocation to live our way of life, then we’ll talk about the preisthood later.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF