Religion: Christian Virgins | TIME

Historically, the Roman Catholic Church has regarded virginity as a state of perfection superior even to marriage. But this is a concept that many modern Catholics—theologians as well as laymen—find difficult to accept. The last church legislation governing the ritual profession of virginity was issued in 1596. Thus the pronouncement from Rome last week was received by most Catholics with some surprise and bewilderment: the Vatican has revived, in a shorter version, an ancient rite of virginal consecration. It will enable Catholic women to take a public vow of virginity while still remaining within secular society, much as women did in the early church before there were religious orders or convents.

Under the plan, women who wish to take the vow would do so in a simple ritual performed by a bishop. It would be a binding, permanent commitment to the virginal state, with dispensation from the decision being reserved to bishops. Lay women taking this vow will be known as “Christian virgins.” Unlike nuns, they need not join a religious order, wear any special garb or be required to live in convents or special communities. Beyond maintaining their virginity, they may if they wish function as assistants in the missionary field, in line with their interests and abilities. According to the Sacred Congregation of Divine Worship, which announced the Vatican plan, the new rite is “a mark of esteem for women whose dignity is sometimes offended in our society, which is often dominated by vulgar hedonism.”

One high Vatican official, anticipating reaction to the pronouncement, admitted that few women are expected to take the vows. The ritual will probably be used mostly by those in religious orders as a way of renewing their original dedication. “This document has not been issued with the intention of urging Catholic women to take the vows,” the official says. “We are not beating the bushes to persuade women to swear to remain virgins.”

Nonetheless the move seemed scarcely calculated to calm the growing dissent in the Catholic Church or to convince the faithful that it is becoming more responsive to the times. Such criticism, the Vatican believes, misses the point. When “the most sacred areas of Christian life are being threatened,” a spokesman explains, “the Pope is reminding the world that there is value in certain ancient Christian ideals as a counterweight to creeping secularism.”

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