Editing Religious vows (section)

{{Short description|Promises made by members of religious communities}}
{{Redirect|Vows of chastity|the Danish filmmaking manifesto of that name|Dogme 95}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|Votary|Notary}}
[[File:Adolphe Roger - Une prise de voile.jpg|thumb|250px|''Une prise de voile'' ("Taking the Veil") by [[w:fr:Adolphe Roger|Adolphe Roger]] (1829).]]
'''Religious vows''' are the public [[vows]] made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views.

In the [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] tradition, in particular within the [[Mahayana]] and [[Vajrayana]] traditions, many different kinds of religious vows are taken by the lay community as well as by the monastic community, as they progress along the path of their practice. In the monastic tradition of all schools of Buddhism, the [[Vinaya]] expounds the vows of the fully ordained Nuns and Monks.

In the [[Christianity|Christian]] tradition, such public vows are made by the religious{{snd}} [[Cenobium|cenobitic]] and [[Hermit|eremitic]]{{snd}} of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, Anglican Communion, and Eastern Orthodox Churches, whereby they confirm their public profession of the [[evangelical counsels]] of poverty, chastity, and obedience or [[Rule of St Benedict|Benedictine]] equivalent. The vows are regarded as the individual's free response to a call by God to follow [[Jesus Christ]] more closely under the action of the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] in a particular form of [[Christian monasticism|religious living]]. A person who lives a religious life according to vows they have made is called a ''votary'' or a ''votarist''. The religious vow, being a public vow, is binding in [[Church law]]. One of its effects is that the person making it ceases to be free to marry. In the Catholic Church, by joining the consecrated life, one does not become a member of the [[Catholic Church hierarchy|hierarchy]] but becomes a member of a state of life which is neither [[Catholic Church hierarchy#The Clergy|clerical]] nor [[Catholic Church hierarchy#Laity|lay]], the consecrated state.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P1X.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law: text - IntraText CT|website=www.intratext.com|accessdate=Apr 23, 2023}}</ref> Nevertheless, the members of the religious orders and those hermits who are in [[Holy Orders]] are members of the [[Catholic Church hierarchy|hierarchy]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060826234244/http://uk.geocities.com/deo_auxiliante@btinternet.com/churchchart.html Chart showing the place of those making religious vows among the People of God]</ref>