(Rivista Internazionale - December 1998: The Vow of Obedience - 1/3)
Spirituality
The Vow of Obedience
Ven. Bailiff Fra’ Ludwig Hoffmann von Rumenstein
Grand Commander
 |
Graz. Austria. The solemn ceremony of Profession of Temporal Vows of Knight of Justice, Conte Johannes Orssich de Slavetich, in the presence of the Grand Prior of Austria, Ven. Bailiff Fra' Wilhelm von Liechtenstein, on 27 June. |
The vow of obedience is one of the religious vows that the Knights of Malta have to make as members of the first class, as do the Professed Conventual Chaplains (Article 8 § 1 A of the Constitution of the Order). The central part of article 37 of the Code of the Order reads thus: «I... vow obedience to Almighty God ... to whichever Superior shall be assigned to me by the Holy Order...». Therefore, with the vow of obedience, every Knight and every Professed Chaplain pledges to obey the Holy Father and his legitimate Superior, according to the Constitution and the Code (Article 62 of the Code).
 |
Graz. Austria. The ceremony of investiture of 9 new members of the Order received in the Grand Priory of Austria. |
Superiors convey orders by virtue of the vow when they use the formulae «In virtue...» and/or «In the name of God» or similar formulae (Article 63 § 2 of the Code).
The precept cannot be imposed except for grave and just cause and must be in writing or in the presence of two
witnesses (Article 63 § 2 of the Code).
The prescriptions contained in the laws of the Order do not constitute per se a
precept under pain of sin unless they deal with a matter relating to vows or to divine laws (Article 64 of the Code). As subordinates acknowledge
authority to an increasingly lesser
extent, the content of the vow of obedience has greatly changed both in the secular clergy and in religious orders, especially after Vatican Council II.
It is a fact that some religious installed in the parishes of Benedictine, Cistercian or Premonstratensian abbeys have refused to leave their parishes, even after their mandate has been revoked by the abbots. There are also religious who have complained to the relevant Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life of the Holy See, affirming that their superior, appointed almost ten years earlier, has not been properly elected, albeit the Holy Father had immediately approved his election. One could write whole tomes on the violations of the vow of obedience. To understand better the legislative and spiritual content of the vow of obedience, one needs to analyse the concept itself.
next page
back to summary