If someone were to get ordained online would it cause that person to be excommunicated?

[Anastasia13]

If someone were to get ordained online for kicks or what not (assuming whatever one the person found didn't seem to require affirming things contrary to the Church as a statement of faith) would it cause that person to be excommunicated? I don't think the person has any serious intention of using that in a real ministry role other than their usual church involvement as a lay person.

[superblue]

I'll take a crack at this since it has been passed up.

First  I have to ask in what world can a guy be ordained by the Catholic Church, online ?

Number B i would have to say is one would have to look at the Catechism and look at what constitutes an excommunication, or find out from a cannon lawyer, though i would wager a best guess that  it is such an oddity that one would have to take this " online ordination " and either find a church to pretend to be a priest at ,  who ever or what ever this situation is that you suggest, one would have to go so far out of their way to either warrant an automatic excommunication or receive one .

But if we are talking about online ordinations, then why not just skip that, and read some book off a shelf, and then write up your own ordination papers and save yourself the time an probably money of being ordained online.

where did ya come up with this L&T ?

[Gabriela]

I recommend you post this in the Q&A phorum. It'd probably get more attention there. We've got some Church scholars, canon lawyers, and clergy who might see it over there.

[veritasluxmea]

@Ice_nine could you please move so it gets more attention? 

A practicing Catholic on my facebook feed last year got ordained online because they thought it was funny. Unitarian, I think. Anyway it caused a discussion on the same topic, and the consensus was don't do it. If you think about it- just the act of getting ordained online, whatever your intentions, is a rejection of the Church, a rejection of our statement of Faith. You wouldn't reject the faith even if you "didn't really mean it", right? If someone really did get ordained online as a joke and with pure intentions without thinking it through that right there makes it not a mortal sin, but I would consider it a venial sin because rejecting the Faith is a serious matter. So if their intentions were as a joke and they really hadn't through it through as with my facebook friend no, they wouldn't be excommunicated, just sinning (although I might be wrong). 

Edited September 19, 2015 by veritasluxmea

[CatherineM]

First off it isn't a real ordination. The ordinations that females attemp also arent real ordinations, the difference is that they are serious in the attempt and your friend wasn't. Someone nominated my husband to be a Kentucky Colonel, and he has the certificate on the wall as a gag. He doesn't think it entitles him to run a KFC or the Kentucky National Guard. 

So, as far as I can tell, no excommunication. Stupid but not inherently harmful. I knew someone who got one of those so they could officiate at a wedding for some friends. That's different. 

[blazeingstar]

The funny thing about being "ordained" is that it means different things to different people. To me, it's like being a Catholic and leading a non-profit organization.  Of course you can, but it may not mean you should.  My big question is what do you get out of it.  Seeking it seems like an ego-boost and one that can be very dangerous at that.  Even if one quit priesthood the day before being ordained, one does still not have the spiritual weight of a priest.

riests are the only ones who can celebrate Mass, Marriages and other ceremonies, even among 2 non-Catholics.  I do know a man who is a Justice of the Peace and will only officiate weddings by word of mouth and so only does straight weddings where he knows that the people are not Catholic.  He mostly uses this power to be notary public.

There's really no serious reason to be "ordained" outside the Church in this country where civil laws are more powerful than religious ones.  There's plenty of free theology, leadership, youth group, etc programs to learn about the faith. 

I would only say that it's 100% fine in cases where the Catholic Church doesn't have a strong corner on an issue and the education process ends in ordination as graduation (more of a commission perse) Topics off the top of my head would be really specific ones like youth groups for the learning disabled or lost arts like sacred manuscripts.

[MarysLittleFlower]

Here's what Fr Z said: http://wdtprs.com/blog/2015/03/ask-father-becoming-minister-of-on-line-church-to-do-wedding/