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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
status of OLSM	John	Monday, May 31, 2010
Question: Bro. Ignatius, Your name implies that you are a vowed religious, a brother of the OLSM, Order of the Legion of St. Michael. In fact, the OLSM is not a canonical religious order, and you are not a vowed religious. I feel like your use of the title Brother and the letters OLSM after your name are deceiving and that you should be careful not to present yourself as a vowed religious brother.
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM Dear John: I am always amused, and sadden, at people pontificating things for which they have no competence. My personal status is that of a consecrated brother. According the Sacred Congregation for Consecrated Life, this designation is valid. I am not canonically consecrated, but, as it is called by the Sacred Congregation, I am "theologically consecrated" [the Congregation's term]. I am a vowed consecrated brother. I offered my vows into the hands of priest and received my habit during Mass with the "go ahead" from the diocese. Priests, various diocesan officials, and even bishops who know my status call me "Brother". Perhaps you know something they don't? Our association is not officially recognized by the Bishop, this is true, but it does not have to be so recognized according to canon law. That is not my opinion, but the opinion of Vatican certified lawyers. We have had many priests and canon lawyers (people who know what they are talking about) look us over and give their affirmation that we are fully in accord with Canon Law and the Church. The Sacred Congregation for Consecrated Life is encouraging of groups like ours and affirms the validity of consecrated status and vows such as I have taken as "theologically consecrated" as mentioned above and considers groups like ours (new foundations, as termed by Pope John Paul II) to be valid and an expression of the Holy Spirit moving in the Church. It is interesting that the Vatican has no problem with associations like ours, and in fact encourages associations like ours, but a lot of people seem to know better than the Holy See I guess. I always note that this is a hard decision -- to either listen to the uninformed opinions of various people in the public, or listen to the Church. Our decision is to listen to the Church and to qualified people who actually know what they are talking about, such as the Congregation on Consecrated Life, Vatican approved canon lawyers, and such. We need to be careful to avoid the crime of rash judgment. It would be best not to try to pretend that we know things we don't and make rash judgments based upon our ignorance and uninformed opinions. For a complete analysis of our status see our Statement of Church Status. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below: Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum. Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

status of OLSM

John

Monday, May 31, 2010

Question:

Bro. Ignatius,

Your name implies that you are a vowed religious, a brother of the OLSM, Order of the Legion of St. Michael. In fact, the OLSM is not a canonical religious order, and you are not a vowed religious. I feel like your use of the title Brother and the letters OLSM after your name are deceiving and that you should be careful not to present yourself as a vowed religious brother.

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear John:

I am always amused, and sadden, at people pontificating things for which they have no competence.

My personal status is that of a consecrated brother. According the Sacred Congregation for Consecrated Life, this designation is valid. I am not canonically consecrated, but, as it is called by the Sacred Congregation, I am "theologically consecrated" [the Congregation's term].

I am a vowed consecrated brother. I offered my vows into the hands of priest and received my habit during Mass with the "go ahead" from the diocese. Priests, various diocesan officials, and even bishops who know my status call me "Brother". Perhaps you know something they don't?

Our association is not officially recognized by the Bishop, this is true, but it does not have to be so recognized according to canon law. That is not my opinion, but the opinion of Vatican certified lawyers.

We have had many priests and canon lawyers (people who know what they are talking about) look us over and give their affirmation that we are fully in accord with Canon Law and the Church. The Sacred Congregation for Consecrated Life is encouraging of groups like ours and affirms the validity of consecrated status and vows such as I have taken as "theologically consecrated" as mentioned above and considers groups like ours (new foundations, as termed by Pope John Paul II) to be valid and an expression of the Holy Spirit moving in the Church.

It is interesting that the Vatican has no problem with associations like ours, and in fact encourages associations like ours, but a lot of people seem to know better than the Holy See I guess. I always note that this is a hard decision -- to either listen to the uninformed opinions of various people in the public, or listen to the Church. Our decision is to listen to the Church and to qualified people who actually know what they are talking about, such as the Congregation on Consecrated Life, Vatican approved canon lawyers, and such.

We need to be careful to avoid the crime of rash judgment. It would be best not to try to pretend that we know things we don't and make rash judgments based upon our ignorance and uninformed opinions.

For a complete analysis of our status see our Statement of Church Status.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below:
Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum.
Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum
Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum
Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum
Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum