**ENCLOSURE (CLAUSURA).** — The term *c.*, derived from the Latin *claudere* (to shut), has in the law of religious two related meanings. It is commonly used to denote both the law regulating entry into and exit from religious houses (*c.* formal) and the place within those houses subject to the law of *c.* (*c.* material).
Generally, three types of *c.* are distinguished: papal *c.*, which is the classic *c.* imposed on religious of both sexes and sanctioned with severe penalties by common law; episcopal *c.*, proper to religious congregations; and statutory *c.*, regulated by particular constitutions or statutes.
I. HISTORY. — The practice of *c.* among religious is very ancient; however, it was St. Pius V who, with the constitutions *Regularium* (24 Oct. 1566) and *Decet* (16 July 1570), imposed it by common law on all religious. Other popes, such as Gregory XIII (*Ubi gratiae*, 13 June 1575), Clement VIII (*Nullus omnino*, 25 July 1599), Benedict XIV (*Regularis disciplinae*, 3 Jan. 1742), etc., confirmed this discipline and reinforced it with severe penalties, which Pius IX reorganized in the celebrated constitution *Apostolicae Sedis* (11 Oct. 1869). The *c.* of nuns, however, is already found in the *Liber Sextus* of Boniface VIII (*c.* un. de statu regularium, III, 16 in VI). The Council of Trent (Session XXIV, *De regulis*, can. 5) sanctioned with excommunication the entry into *c.*, and Pius V (*Decori*, 19 Feb. 1570) extended this penalty to the illegitimate exit of nuns; this sanction was reconfirmed in the aforementioned constitution *Apostolicae Sedis*. The *Codex Iuris Canonici* (CIC) reworked the entire matter of *c.*, applying it also to congregations, while the Sacred Congregation of Religious, with a specific Instruction of 6 Feb. 1924 (*AAS*, 16 [1924], pp. 96–101), interpreted and supplemented the Code’s discipline on the *c.* of nuns. Here follows a brief summary of the current discipline on *c.*
II. **C. IN RELIGIOUS HOUSES.** — First, as a general principle, in all legitimately constituted religious houses (can. 497), whether of men or women, formal or not (can. 488, 59), papal *c.* must be observed (can. 597 § 1). This law of *c.* precisely concerns the entire house inhabited by the religious, including gardens reserved for them, but not the church, the adjacent sacristy, or the choir accessible from the same church. However, parts of the house not inhabited by the religious, even if physically connected to it, do not fall under the law of *c.*, nor do the guesthouse or parlors, which should be near the entrance of the convents (can. 597 § 2). It is the duty of the major superior or the General Chapter (or the bishop, if it concerns monasteries of nuns even if subject to religious) to carefully define, prescribe, and, for just cause, change the boundaries of *c.*, which must be clearly and visibly marked (can. 597 § 3). This is especially relevant when not the entire house is inhabited by the religious. With this common principle established, the Code determines the scope of *c.* for both men and women, which, as will be seen, differs significantly.
1. **C. in male religious houses.** — It is only passive, meaning that it prohibits women of any age, gender, or condition from entering, under any pretext, the places reserved for the habitation of the religious (can. 598 § 1). The law thus does not prohibit men from entering the *c.* of religious, though this may be prohibited by particular statutes and rules. The prohibition, even if so universally expressed as to include even young girls, admits exceptions in favor of the wives of actual heads of state and those women who may form part of their entourage when visiting regular convents (can. 598 § 2); it is understood that women heads of state, such as queens, are not included in this law of the *c.* of religious. If the house has an attached boarding school for internal students or some other work proper to the religious (hospital, clinic, school, etc.), the religious must, as far as possible, have a part reserved for them and subject to the law of *c.* (can. 559 § 1); however, even in places not included in *c.*, intended for internal or external students or for private works of the religious, persons of the opposite sex are not admitted except for a just cause and with the permission of the superior (can. 599 § 2).
Severe sanctions protect the *c.* of religious: in the second degree, reserved to the Holy See, women who have reached puberty (*can. 2230*) incur the penalty *ipso facto* for violating the *c.* of religious, as do superiors and anyone else who introduces or admits them; moreover, religious who introduce women into *c.* are to be deprived of their office and of both active and passive voice (can. 2342 n. 2).
2. **C. in monasteries of nuns.** — The law of the *c.* of nuns is stricter and more rigorous than that of religious, and it forbids both entry into the monastery (*c.* passive) and exit from it (*c.* active): in the *c.* of nuns, that is, of religious who make solemn vows (*Pontifical Commission for the Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law*, 1 March 1921), no one may enter without the permission of the Holy See, regardless of age, gender, or condition; the prohibition is absolute and applies to all, men and women, children and adults.
Yet there are exceptions here as well, dictated by necessity or convenience. The following may enter the *c.* of nuns:
a) The local Ordinary, the regular superior to whom the monastery is subject, and their delegates, but only to conduct a canonical visitation of the monastery, not to hear the religious or preside over elections (can. 506 § 2), or for any other reasons not contemplated in the Code, and never alone, but accompanied by a cleric or religious of advanced age who does not leave their side during the entire time they remain in the monastery (*Instruction*, n. 2, a);
b) The ordinary confessor or the priest acting in his stead, to administer the Sacraments to the sick and assist the dying (can. 600 n. 2) and for burial. What is said of the ordinary confessor also applies to the extraordinary confessor during the times he accesses the monastery in accordance with can. 521 § 1, and to other confessors whom the religious may call when gravely ill and in danger of death (can. 523, 882). Here too, entry is made with the necessary precautions (*Instruction*, n. 2), specifying that the priest who brings the Eucharist to the religious must be accompanied from entrance to exit by four religious, preferably of advanced age, and the confessor by two religious; the latter remain near the door of the room, which must remain open. Upon completing his ministry, the priest or confessor must leave the monastery without delay (*Instruction*, n. 2, h, i b);
c) Heads of state with their entourage and cardinals (neither the Code nor the *Instruction* mentions the entourage of cardinals);
d) Those in the first year of novitiate within the *c.*, and thereafter they may enter with the permission of the superior and the habitual approval of the Ordinary the doorkeeper nuns of monasteries of nuns (*S. C. de Religiosis*, 16 July 1931: *Statuta a sororibus monasteriorum monialium cuiusque Ordinis servanda*, nn. 3, 7, 27, 107);
e) Finally, the superior, with the habitual approval of the local Ordinary and always with the necessary precautions usually determined in the constitutions or customs of the monasteries, may permit entry into *c.* to physicians, surgeons, and those whose work is necessary for the religious or the monastery, e.g., blacksmiths, carpenters, masons, etc. If any urgent case of this kind arises, not habitually approved by the Ordinary and there is no time to seek such approval, the approval is presumed by law. Outside these commonly occurring cases, the Ordinary cannot authorize entry into the monastery. Thus, it is the Ordinary who permits the entry of aspirants, but recourse must be made to the Holy See if the constitutions do not allow the admission of young women for education or for other reasons (*Instruction*, IV).
No less strict is the active *c.* of nuns, by which, without the permission of the Holy See, no nun, after profession, is permitted to leave the monastery, even for a short time and for any reason or pretext, except in the case of imminent danger of death.
or of some other very grave evil (can. 601 § 1): if, however, there is time, this danger must be recognized in writing by the local Ordinaries (can. 601 § 2).
Pius V (Constitution Decori, § 2) among the examples of these most grave imminent evils lists fire, pestilence, leprosy; the Instruction adds inundation, collapse of the monastery building, war, invasion and other dangers of this kind (III, n. 1, a); all these examples are demonstrative, not exhaustive, of the gravity of the harm sufficient to justify departure. Today political or administrative elections are easily recognized as a very grave cause; it must, however, be declared as such by the local Ordinaries. On the other hand, a summons to court would not be sufficient reason to leave the cloister; in such a case the religious should be examined in her own monastery (can. 1770 § 2 n. 2).
It should be noted that the law of active cloister also obliges novices and postulants, though not by virtue of this canon 601 which concerns only professed religious, even those with simple vows. It is obvious that novices, postulants, and also religious after the temporary vows have ceased (whether voluntarily or because not admitted to renew them), may leave the monastery; the same applies to religious of simple or solemn vows who have been legitimately dismissed (cf. can. 647 § 1, 652 § 2, 653).
To better safeguard the cloister of nuns, the Code further prescribes that it be arranged in such a way that there are no active or passive prospects, that is, that the nuns cannot see outside the monastery, nor can outsiders see inside (can. 602); this precept is minutely determined by the Instruction which regulates the arrangement of windows, choir grilles, confessionals, the place for Communion, turntables, terraces, etc. (II, nn. 1-6; III, n. 1, c).
The cloister of nuns, even those subject to regulars, is under the special vigilance of the local Ordinaries, who may, when necessary, reprove and punish transgressors, not accepted by their own regulars, with penalties and censures (can. 603 § 1); the regular superiors also watch over the cloister of the nuns subject to them; and they may likewise punish either the religious or their own subjects who fail in this regard (can. 603 § 2).
But independently of these possible punishments, all persons of any kind, condition or sex who enter the cloister of nuns illegitimately, or who introduce or admit others, incur a simple reserved excommunication reserved to the Holy See; if the violators are clerics, they must moreover be suspended by the Ordinary for a time proportionate to their fault (can. 2342 n. 1). Nuns who illegitimately leave the monastery in violation of can. 601 § 2 also incur the same excommunication.
III. CLOISTER IN CONGREGATIONS
A limited passive cloister, called “episcopal,” is also imposed on religious congregations, by which persons of the opposite sex may not enter their houses, with all the exceptions noted for regulars (can. 592 § 2) and for nuns (can. 600), and with the faculty recognized for superiors to admit, for just and reasonable causes, those persons—understood to be of the opposite sex—they deem opportune (can. 604). Can. 599 also applies to them, by which, if a house is attached to a boarding school for internal pupils or for other works proper to the institute, a part reserved for the religious should, if possible, be subject to the law of cloister, while the prohibition remains of admitting persons of the opposite sex without the superior’s permission even into parts reserved for internal or external pupils or for the institute’s own works (can. 599 § 2).No penalty is imposed in the Code against violators of the cloister proper to congregations; the bishop is nevertheless granted, for grave reasons and in particular cases, to reinforce this cloister with ecclesiastical censures, provided that it does not concern exempt clerical congregations. The bishop must otherwise always ensure that this cloister is observed and that any abuses are eliminated (can. 604 § 3). The religious superiors, for their part, must watch over it so that, during visits of outsiders, no unnecessary conversations are held to the detriment of discipline and religious spirit (can. 605); and so that the constitutions are observed regarding active and passive visits of religious, not authorizing, moreover, except for reasons of study, the stay of subjects outside the house for more than six months (can. 606). Religious women, moreover, cannot go out alone from the house except in case of real necessity, and bishops and superiors must watch over this (can. 607). Everything said of congregations of sisters also applies to those monasteries of nuns where solemn vows are not in fact emitted. Other particulars and modalities of statutory cloister, that is, proper to individual institutes, are to be seen in their own statutes or constitutions.