Expert: Fr. Michael - 5/18/2011

Question
QUESTION: i kindly wanted to ask, if one has joined a religious order for becoming a lay brother and gone through with the vows.when started it was out of peer pressure and seeking to please others,can some one be allowed to become a lay catholic,like any other to be removed from their vows.can the church allow this,especially if you really do not want to be there and are only pretending but hate everything you have to do

ANSWER: As a traditional Catholic, my answer would be that you have made vows to a non-Catholic, heretical, Protestantized sect, the New Order sect.  Therefore, I would hold the vows to be null and void, just as they would be if you made vows to be a Methodist brother.

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QUESTION: Thank you very much for the answer, am afraid i was not very clear in my question. the person in question is a catholic, and a brother in one of the religious orders in the catholic church. he joined many many years ago and has already taken his vows.problem is the reasons for him joining in the first place and staying there has been basically out of fear of displeasing family and out of peer pressure. yet he does not believe in what he does, nor does he like being a brother,it has made him almost hate the church. is there a way he can be quit this or be relinquished from his vows by the church. or he has to stay a brother to death.thank you so much for you quick response and your time

Answer
If the order was traditional when he entered and changed to the New Order sect afterwards, he no longer has an obligation, as if a Catholic organization went Protestant.  If he was a New Order sect member when he joined, he should consult the management of the order.  He needs to address this matter for himself, not through third parties.