Consecrated Virgin Requirements

[Cc21]

Can a woman who has had a previously confessed and repented over struggle with pornography and masturbation, but has never had sexual intercourse herself, be a valid Consecrated Virgin? 

[Sponsa-Christi]

The short answer is yes. Hidden sins against chastity (i.e., sins only an individual and her confessor would know about) are not a canonical impediment to receiving the consecration of virgins.

However, on a level of personal discernment, I would say that a woman who continually struggles with these particular sins might want to seriously discern with her spiritual director whether or not she is in fact called to a vocation with a strong spirituality of virginity---as in, would that particular spirituality be a healthy one for her?

The question of whether someone meets the canonical criteria for becoming a consecrated virgin is distinct from the question of whether or not this is where God is actually calling her. 

[Lady Grey, Hot]

Quote

Hidden sins against chastity (i.e., sins only an individual and her confessor would know about) are not a canonical impediment to receiving the consecration of virgins.

Sorry to be that person who resurrects a five year old thread, but I just have a very quick, targeted question about the quote above. Suppose the individual had confided in someone besides her confessor (say a friend) about said hidden sins. Would that be sufficient to make them public?

[gloriana35]

Sponsa Christi can clarify. However, public sins against chastity do not mean someone confided in a friend. A public sin (though the original post mentions a problem with pornography and masturbation - I may be wrong in assuming this means many years earlier) would be, for example, concubinage; appearing in porn films (I actually knew a vocation director who had a enquirer who'd done so); or a problem that would have been generally known. If someone confided in a friend about the problem, it remains hidden - it isn't as if she moaned about outdated Church attitudes towards porn and masturbation on some Channel 4 special. 

[Sponsa-Christi]

I'd agree with @gloriana35 Confiding in a friend isn't generally making past sins "public" in the way that the document Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago specifies.