No, a priest and a nun did not secretly marry!
The New York Post published a sensationalized story about a Catholic couple who discerned out of the religious life to pursue a vocation to the Sacrament of Marriage.
Former Carmelite novice and current Instagram influencer Laís Dognini and former seminarian Jackson Dognini recently made headlines after announcing their marriage. Each discerned religious life in the convent and seminary before tying the knot.
The New York Post’s story falsely reported,
“A glamorous nun has married a Catholic priest after they fell in love while praying together.
“Laís Dognini, a former nun who later became an influencer, originally met priest Jackson Dognini when he offered to pray for her to help her deal with depression, Brazilian outlet O Globo reported.”
However, Laís never said her final vows, and Jackson was never ordained a priest.
Laís Dognini set the record straight in an Instagram post on Oct. 9, 2025. She explained that once they married, she “had already left the convent for three years” and “he already left the seminary after discerning his vocation.”
“We hadn't had any contact; we even lived in different states. It was only after that that we started dating, so there were no scandals,” Laís added. “We love being Catholic, we admire all vocations, and today we serve God through marriage.”
Laís also never said she married him “in secret."
Many of her followers were not even aware of her discernment in the Carmelite monastery until she explained their marriage story in this June 2025 Instagram post.
Here is their full vocation story:
“Last week I received several direct messages from followers saying they didn't even know my husband and I had followed religious life (and I've already talked about that here).
So I'll try to be brief. I don't want to make you read a long text, and there won't be any declarations of love here. I prefer to do this in person. 💅🏻
- He spent five years in the seminary.
- I spent two years as a Carmelite.
Six months of dating and four months of engagement.
It may not seem like much, but let's face it, we're adults now and we know what we want in life.
We've known each other for over six years, when I was still a missionary, but we'd never spoken, not even a "hi" to each other.
He wanted to be a priest and went to the seminary; I wanted to be a nun (I don't use the word "nun" because I think it's ugly) and went to the convent.
So right after I left, he sent me a message saying he heard I'd gone to the convent, that he was sorry I was leaving, and that he was praying for me. He intended to make me change my mind and return to Carmel, but little did he know that I didn't even want to leave 🥲
A few months later, we subscribed to my Catholic library together, because I didn't even have the money to pay the monthly subscription at that time lol
Anyway, time passed, and two years later, he began to realize that that wasn't his calling and prayed a lot to discern what he should do (let it be clear that I have nothing to do with this, okay!!!)
He told me what he was going through, and I started praying more for him, until...
In April of last year, he left for good, and we made plans to attend Mass together. Since then, we haven't been apart and soon started dating, got engaged, and married. ✨"