London: Consecrated virgins say they are "disappointed" by the Vatican's new guidance that literal virginity is not necessary.

A document released this month says that a woman does not need to have "kept her body in perfect continence" to become a consecrated virgin.

Pope Francis waves to faithful Credit:AP

The Vatican document, titled Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago, says that the "call to give witness to the Church's virginal, spousal and fruitful love for Christ is not reducible to the symbol of physical integrity".

It continues: "Thus to have kept her body in perfect continence or to have practised the virtue of chastity in an exemplary way, while of great importance with regard to the discernment, are not essential prerequisites in the absence of which admittance to consecration is not possible."