Sins And Religious Life

[Saint Therese]

I couldn't imagine a community accepting a former porn star.

[johnnydigit]

i can't think of many sins that a woman could commit that would prevent her from ever entering religious life, because there would always be room for repentance and conversion. one that does seem to pertain more to males is a history of homosexual behavior or tendencies can disqualify you.

[quote name='Saint Therese' post='1776671' date='Feb 8 2009, 11:40 PM']I couldn't imagine a community accepting a former porn star.[/quote]

Fr. Corapi told a story about a former prostitute who became a sister, and one night she ran away and he had to go pick her up at a brothel and bring her back to the convent.. then there's St. Mary Magdalene..

[InHisLove726]

[quote name='Saint Therese' post='1776671' date='Feb 9 2009, 01:40 AM']I couldn't imagine a community accepting a former porn star.[/quote]

I doubt that would keep her out of a community if she made a sincere repentance and Confessed her sins. She would also have to have all of her videos and pictures thrown away, which would take a considerable amount of time and litigation. I am reminded of the girl on "Starting Over" (that old TV show about real women) where one of the young girls was involved in pornography in her earlier days. It was preventing her from being able to support her son because no one would hire her for a job. Now I know this is different from becoming a religious, but she also had to have the videos and pictures removed. There were contracts to void and stuff and copyrights to null. But she eventually got it finished! I believe her name was Christina.

I can't really imagine a porn star either, but God preached forgiveness and mercy. No one must be blind to the plight of those who are suffering in their chosen ways. Something to remember: not all the girls in the industry are there of their own will. Some have been drugged or raped. If you have someone that is there of their own will and is perfectly aware of the consequences, it would take much to convince her that she is wrong, but it is always possible.

Prostitutes, I believe, have St. Mary Magdalene as their example of how to turn their life around. It's a wretched, evil business, but so many get caught up in it because the money is good. Money and sex can be idols, too.

[Digitaldame]

It might help to distinguish between the canonical requirements specified by the Church and the entrance requirements stipulated by a particular community. The Church has authority to forgive sins and states what the repentant sinner must do to obtain absolution. If one has confessed and been absolved, former sins are not a barrier to admission into a religious community. There may still be legal impediments as has already been noticed, e.g. a marriage which has not been annulled, debt and the like. An impediment is not the same thing as a sin and should not be viewed as such. Individual communities may refuse to accept someone who has had an aborton (even though repented of and absolved), taken hard drugs or whatever, but that is an entrance requirement of the community. I've even heard of one community which won't accept anyone who can't sing properly! Most communities are more likely emphasize that you don't need to be perfect to enter. (As my first abbess used to say, "If you're already in the Seventh Mansion, why bother to become a nun?)

[osapientia]

[quote name='Delivery Boy' post='1776088' date='Feb 8 2009, 06:15 PM']I knew they couldnt recieve communion but I never thought about them not being able to remarry and being in a state of mortal sin. Wow.[/quote]

Are you parents Catholic? Divorced Catholics are permitted to received Communion in the Roman Catholic Church. Those who have been lawfully (in the Church) married, civally divorced (no annullment) and remarried are denied Communion by Canon Law.

The commentary on Canon 1155 of the Code of Canon Law clarifies a misperception which many Catholics have:
“Although Catholics should obtain ecclesiastical permission to initiate civil divorce action, in fact a good number do not seek such a permission. If a divorce is obtained, the spouses are prohibited from a subsequent marriage since the marriage bond is presumed to perdure even though common life has been definitively terminated. On the other hand, they are neither excommunicated nor prohibited from receiving the sacraments or fully participating in the Church’s life.”
“Spouses who separate without ecclesiastical permission may not be deprived of the sacraments unless one or the other enters a subsequent marriage without ecclesiastical approval.”
Put in perhaps simpler terms, Catholics who only separate or divorce may continue to receive the Sacraments. Those who divorce and then remarry civilly without the benefit of a Church annulment for the previous marriage may not receive the Sacraments, although they are still encouraged to come to Mass to be fed with God’s Word, which might hopefully lead them to pursue the possibility of regularizing their status through the Archdiocesan Marriage Tribunal.

[puellapaschalis]

[quote name='Digitaldame' post='1776740' date='Feb 9 2009, 04:30 PM'](As my first abbess used to say, "If you're already in the Seventh Mansion, why bother to become a nun?)[/quote]



The entire post was great, Dame, and this ending just BRILLIANT!