All members, whether lay, on vocational discernment, seminary or ordained are incardinated directly in the CRSHJ Institute.

Once your membership application has been received, the process to grant you membership begins, culminating with your incardination in the CRSHJ as a Lay Brother or Lay Sister, subject to a satisfactory conclusion of your application.

Your Incardination ID Card will state your role, “Brother” or “Sister”. CRSHJ Brothers may follow a vocational discernment route to the Priesthood, this path is open to male candidates only for the time being, subject to formal review in 2036.

It all begins with becoming a Lay Brother first. And you have then two years of discernment and studies during which your vocational calling to Holy Orders will be discerned carefully and you will be closely accompanied in your journey of discovery.

During this two-year period of study and personal discernment, you remain incardinated in the CRSHJ Institute as a Brother.

Upon a satisfactory conclusion of your vocational calling discernment and satisfactory completion of your studies, you will be scheduled to be ordained and will receive your Sacramental Holy Orders to the Priesthood. The CRSHJ do not ordain deacons.

After your Ordination, you will be incardinated as a Canon Regular of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. You will surrender your former ID Card and will be issued a new ID Card stating you state of life as a Canon Priest. You will also receive two certificates, one of your Ordination and another of your Incardination.

The CRSHJ Institute welcomes applications for Incardination, from existing Priests who have already been ordained elsewhere, subject to satisfactory inspection of their existing Ordination Certificate, current Incardination Certificate, and satisfactory references and safeguard checks.

Because priests cannot be excardinated before re-incardination in another diocese, or religious order or Institute, your Incardination in the CRSHJ will be pending and becomes effective at the moment your Excardination Certificate has been issued and a copy supplied to the CRSHJ, to stay in your file.

You may also need to be re-ordained sub-conditione, if there are doubts about the validity of your Holy Orders received elsewhere, or indeed concerns regarding the Apostolic Succession of whomever ordained you.

Finally, you will also be subject to an Enhanced DBS Check, to verify your criminal records, which include a thorough search in the sex offenders registers, Police computer records, etc. Minor traffic offences and some minor spent convictions may be acceptable. Any other offences or unspent convictions, or spent major convictions will disqualify you from joining the CRSHJ Institute. It is always best to have a frank conversation with us as it is only by knowing intimately the details of your situation that we can determine your suitability.

Assuming the whole process was completed satisfactorily, you will be issued your ID Card and Incardination Certificate, and - if applicable - your sub-conditione Ordination Certificate.