[[Dear Sister, are canon 603 hermits considered religious?]]
I have answered this question on the blog before so you might look for it in other places here, but the answer to your question is yes, c 603 hermits are considered religious. In the Handbook on Canons 573-746 and in the section on “Norms Common to Institutes of Consecrated Life” looking at canon 603 specifically, canonist Ellen O’Hara, CSJ writes, [[The term “religious” now applies to individuals with no obligation to common or community life and no relationship to an institute.]]
One can argue the case on the basis of the public profession made, the stable state of life entered, the title hermits are allowed to adopt, post-nomial initials bishops approve, and the other canons which also apply to the c 603 hermit that they have entered the religious state. This is particularly true since religious come together in communities because they are called to chastity in celibacy, religious poverty and obedience, not the other way around. Community life supports and elaborates the more original call to live the vows along with a call to specific mission and charism; one does not make vows because one is called first to live in community. That is, the call to chastity in celibacy is an actual gift and call; it is not embraced merely because it is helpful to life in community or to the community's ministry.
Hermits’ need for more immediate community support is addressed in the next sentence of the chapter when O’Hara says; [[Groups [of hermits] could use the category of associations of the faithful to have ecclesiastical identity if they wish.]] In this way canonists recognize the character of solitary hermits as religious and at the same time honor the requirement (cf commentators on c 603) that c 603 not be used for communities of hermits.
Addendum: It should also be noted that hermits' lives are profoundly, though paradoxically, communal. No, there is no institute, but we are finding hermits coming together today in virtual lavras and, of course, establishing their lives in local parish faith communities. The emphasis on the silence of solitude does not detract from the sense that the eremitical vocation is not isolated except physically; rather, it underscores the wholeness and ineffable quality of union with God and all that originates and finds its ground in this Mystery. Hermits live community in a more obscure way than most religious, but live and foster it they do. This, along with what was noted above, is part of why c 603 hermits are considered religious.
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