Priesthood, Marriage, And Laicization

[CatholicCid]

I've heard it said that Priesthood is an impediment to marriage (An ordained Priest cannot marry) while marriage is not an impediment to Ordination (Married men can be ordained).

However, can a Priest be laicized and then married? If so, how and why?

Thanks for the help.

God bless.

[LouisvilleFan]

Yes, he can be laicized, and because he is laicized he is free to marry. Obviously, being ordained does not make valid marriage impossible, but it would be illicit without first being laicized.

[MithLuin]

In the diaconate, married men are accepted for ordination all the time. This is with the understanding that, should their wife die, they will not remarry. Also, if an unmarried man wishes to be ordained as a deacon, he cannot then go on and get married.

[cappie]

The Church regards it as a tragedy when a priest leaves the ministry but it recognizes that there are cases in which it is pastorally prudent to allow this to happen. As a result, the Church has a procedure known as laicization by which a priest can be returned to functioning in the Church as if he were a layman.

This means (among other things) that he can no longer celebrate the sacraments apart from emergency circumstances (e.g., hearing the confession of a dying man). There also are restrictions on the kind of public role he can play in parish life (the Chruch doesn't want such individuals to have too high a profile because of the confusion it can cause the faithful). Laicized priests may, however, be able to marry.

On the other hand, some priests simply abandon their ministry and do not pursue laicization. Some of these then attempt marriage in a civil ceremony, which results in an invalid marriage because the sacrament of holy orders creates an impediment to marriage that must be dispensed if the marriage is to be valid. This applies even if the priest formally defects from the Church. The only way a priest can validly contrat marriage is if he is laicized first.

[TeresaBenedicta]

[quote name='cappie' post='1733077' date='Dec 21 2008, 07:39 AM']This means (among other things) that he can no longer celebrate the sacraments apart from emergency circumstances (e.g., hearing the confession of a dying man). There also are restrictions on the kind of public role he can play in parish life (the Chruch doesn't want such individuals to have too high a profile because of the confusion it can cause the faithful). Laicized priests may, however, be able to marry.[/quote]

What type of restrictions are on their public role? We have a laicized priest who is a youth minister at a large parish and then comes to teach some theology courses at my university.

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='TeresaBenedicta' post='1733127' date='Dec 21 2008, 04:48 PM']What type of restrictions are on their public role? We have a laicized priest who is a youth minister at a large parish and then comes to teach some theology courses at my university.[/quote]
I'm curious as well. The cantor at our parish is a laicised priest.

[MithLuin]

Generally, they are instructed not to celebrate the sacraments or present themselves as a Catholic priest, I think. The roles you mentioned are roles that are often filled by laypersons, so I see no conflict there. Starting their own church would be seen as a Bad Thing.

[cappie]

The standard rescript of laicization that was implemented in 1980 and that, with minor modifications, has been in use ever since.

(The minor modifications would concern things like the name of the current pontiff, the fact that the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is now called just the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and updating the numbers of a couple of canons that allow laicized priests to hear deathbed confessions, since the numbers are different in the 1983 Code than they were in the 1917 Code).

The main do's and don'ts that pertain to how the priest is to conduct himself on an ongoing basis are found in sections 4 and 5 of the rescript and can be summarized as follows:

1) He can't celebrate any of the sacraments except for hearing deathbed confessions. It is especially noted that he can't give homilies.

2) He can't serve as an extraordinary minister of holy Communion.

3) He can't serve any "directive office in the pastoral field" (e.g., serving as a parish administrator).

4) He can't do anything at all in a seminary.

5) He can't serve as a director or teacher in a Catholic university.

6) He can't teach theology or any closely related discipline (e.g., religious studies, history of theology) in a non-Catholic university.

7) He can't serve a director (e.g., school principal) in a parochial school.

8) He can't serve as a teacher in a parochial school unless he gets the bishop's permission.

9) He shouldn't live in or frequent places where his status as an ex-priest is generally known, unless he gets the bishop's permission.

[b]By extension (though there are some doubtful cases), anything a laicized priest is not forbidden to do in his rescript is something he is permitted to do.
[/b]
In doubtful cases the text of the rescript that was given to an individual priest should be consulted, and the interpretation of the local bishop followed regarding whether a particular action or office violates the instructions the rescript contains.

Rescript of Laicization

Prot. N. ___________________

Father __________________, a priest of the (Arch) Diocese of _____________________, has petitioned a dispensation from priestly celibacy.

His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, after having received a report on the case from the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on (date, month, year), has granted the request but with the following provisions:

1. The rescript has its effect from the moment of notification made to the petitioner by the competent ecclesiastical authority, and inseparably includes a dispensation from priestly celibacy and, at the same time, loss of the clerical state. The petitioner never has the right to separate those two elements, that is, to accept the first and refuse the second. If the petitioner is a religious, the rescript also contains a dispensation from the vows. Further, the said rescript carries with it, insofar as it is necessary, absolution from censures, not excepting the excommunication which may have been incurred because of a marriage attempted by the parties; it also includes legitimation of offspring.

2. Let notice of the grant of dispensation be recorded in the baptismal register of the petitioner’s parish.

3. With regard to the celebration of a canonical marriage, the norms set down in the Code of Canon Law must be applied. The Ordinary, however, should take care that the matter be discreetly handled without pomp or external display.

4. The ecclesiastical authority to whom it belongs to communicate the rescript to the petitioner should earnestly exhort him to take part in the life of the People of God in a manner consonant with his new mode of living, to give edification, and thus to show himself a most loving son of the Church. However, at the same time, he should be informed of the following points:

a) the dispensed priest automatically loses the rights proper to the clerical state as well as ecclesiastical dignities and offices; he is no longer bound by the other obligations connected with the clerical state;

b) he remains excluded from the exercise of the sacred ministry, with the exception of those functions mentioned in canons 882 and 892, §2, and, as a result, he may not give a homily. Moreover, he may not function as extraordinary minister in the distribution of Holy Communion nor may he discharge any directive office in the pastoral field;

c) similarly, he may not discharge any function in seminaries or equivalent institutions. In other institutions of higher studies which are in any way whatever dependent upon ecclesiastical authority, he may not exercise the functions of director, or office of teaching;

d) however, in those institutions of higher studies which are not dependent upon ecclesiastical authority, he may not teach any discipline which is properly theological or closely connected with the same;

e) on the other hand, in institutions of lower studies, which are dependent upon ecclesiastical authority, he may not exercise the function of director or the office of teaching unless the Ordinary, in keeping with his prudent judgment and provided that there is no scandal, shall have decided to decree otherwise as far as the office of teaching is concerned.

5. As a rule, the priest who has been dispensed from priestly celibacy, and, all the more so, a priest who has married, ought to stay away from places where his previous status is known. Nevertheless, the Ordinary of the place where the petitioner is staying, after he has listened, insofar as it may be necessary, to the Ordinary of incardination or the major religious superior, will be able to dispense from that clause attached to the rescript, if it is foreseen that the presence of the petitioner will not beget scandal.

6. Lastly, some work of piety or charity should be imposed on him. At an opportune time, however, a brief report should be made to the sacred Congregation on his performance, and, finally, if there should be any wonderment on the part of the faithful, let a prudent explanation be provided.

All things to the contrary notwithstanding.

From the offices of the S. C. for the Doctrine of the Faith, on the (date, month, year).

[Published in Canon Law Digest, vol. 9, pp. 99-101.]

[Archaeology cat]

Thanks, cappie. Clears things up for me.

[puellapaschalis]

How can laicization be squared with the idea that Ordination imposes an indelible mark upon one's character?

[MithLuin]

It is an issue of practice, not of 'undoing' ordination. The laicized priest may still hear deathbed confessions, for instance, while [i]I[/i] certainly couldn't do something like that!

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='MithLuin' post='1733067' date='Dec 21 2008, 05:31 AM']In the diaconate, married men are accepted for ordination all the time. This is with the understanding that, should their wife die, they will not remarry. Also, if an unmarried man wishes to be ordained as a deacon, he cannot then go on and get married.[/quote]

To add a bit more to this, there are two different kinds of deacons. Married men are ordained as permanent deacons while men being formed for priesthood are ordained as transitional deacons. Being a permanent deacon not only requires sacrificing marriage in the event of his wife's death (unless he is first laicized), but also means he cannot seek ordination as a priest either.

[MithLuin]

I'm not sure about the latter. I know of an ordained permanent deacon whose wife died. He is now seeking ordination to the priesthood, and I think our diocese may have accepted him.

Edited December 22, 2008 by MithLuin

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='MithLuin' post='1733798' date='Dec 22 2008, 11:41 AM']I'm not sure about the latter. I know of an ordained permanent deacon whose wife died. He is now seeking ordination to the priesthood, and I think our diocese may have accepted him.[/quote]

Yeah, I wouldn't surprised if it's allowed. Maybe it requires a dispensation from the "permanent" part of his diaconate. Those who make the rules can break-- or dispense with them

Edited December 22, 2008 by LouisvilleFan

[CatherineM]

He will probably be required to upgrade his education. A permanent Deacon doesn't have the same educational requirements in most places that a priest does.

We had a former priest in our seminary last year who had been married and was now returning. I didn't ask him if his wife had died or if he was divorced, but I know he has grown children. The bishop was making him take some classes. I don't think it was an upgrade on his part, I think the bishop was enforcing a bit of penance on him because he was making him jump through so many hoops he just about gave up, but he's got a parish up north now. He wasn't re-ordained, but I don't know if he'd been laicized or not. I never felt comfortable asking him.

[MithLuin]

Of course. Men are ordained as transitional deacons during their time in seminary, but must continue with seminary before being ordained to the priesthood. This man I mentioned will be re-entering formation now that he is seeking to be ordained a priest.

[CatholicCid]

[quote name='cappie' post='1733077' date='Dec 21 2008, 07:39 AM']The Church regards it as a tragedy when a priest leaves the ministry but it recognizes that there are cases in which it is pastorally prudent to allow this to happen. As a result, the Church has a procedure known as laicization by which a priest can be returned to functioning in the Church as if he were a layman.

This means (among other things) that he can no longer celebrate the sacraments apart from emergency circumstances (e.g., hearing the confession of a dying man). There also are restrictions on the kind of public role he can play in parish life (the Chruch doesn't want such individuals to have too high a profile because of the confusion it can cause the faithful). Laicized priests may, however, be able to marry.

On the other hand, some priests simply abandon their ministry and do not pursue laicization. Some of these then attempt marriage in a civil ceremony, [b]which results in an invalid marriage because the sacrament of holy orders creates an impediment to marriage that must be dispensed if the marriage is to be valid[/b]. This applies even if the priest formally defects from the Church. The only way a priest can validly contract marriage is if he is laicized first.[/quote]

I'm confused at what the dispensation does exactly. What does it do so that removes the impediment of ordination?*

I am assuming that the reason ordination is an impediment to marriage is that the Priest is not free to marry due to the ordination.

Also, can a Priest who is formally laicized proceed to return to his ministry (with approval of the Bishop) after the passing of his wife?

*After re-reading your second post Father concerning laicization, I'm guessing that a majority of the issue is clerical celibacy, but considering that it is a discipline, it stills seems as it cannot be the sole issue that is addressed.

Edited December 23, 2008 by CatholicCid

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='CatherineM' post='1733851' date='Dec 22 2008, 01:30 PM']The bishop was making him take some classes. I don't think it was an upgrade on his part, I think the bishop was enforcing a bit of penance on him because he was making him jump through so many hoops he just about gave up, but he's got a parish up north now. He wasn't re-ordained, but I don't know if he'd been laicized or not. I never felt comfortable asking him.[/quote]

I'm sure he was getting a bit of a penance... especially for his own good, to make sure he's determined to be faithful to his vocation this time around But it's also true that, like any profession, the professional side of priesthood requires continual education. Any bishop with the means to do so requires his priests to receive some minimal amount of education every year. Plus, rubrics and emphasis in training change with time. A priest educated in the 70s most likely didn't receive as good training in homiletics as a seminarian today, so going back to seminary helps him "catch up" in that area.

[quote name='CatholicCid' post='1734252' date='Dec 23 2008, 02:30 AM']I'm confused at what the dispensation does exactly. What does it do so that removes the impediment of ordination?*[/quote]

The details are different in each case, depending on the relevant doctrine and discipline, but the bottom line is everything must be done in submission to the Church through our bishops and religious superiors. For example, if a permanent deacon decides he wants to re-marry, his desire for marriage must be lower than his desire to obey his bishop and his willingness to grant a dispensation.

Edited December 23, 2008 by LouisvilleFan

[CatholicCid]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1734294' date='Dec 23 2008, 09:30 AM']The details are different in each case, depending on the relevant doctrine and discipline, but the bottom line is everything must be done in submission to the Church through our bishops and religious superiors. For example, if a permanent deacon decides he wants to re-marry, his desire for marriage must be lower than his desire to obey his bishop and his willingness to grant a dispensation.[/quote]

How is it different... I can understand each case being handled differently depending on the circumstances, but that is not my question.

What is the dispensation dispensing that would prevent a valid marriage?

Edited December 23, 2008 by CatholicCid

[CatherineM]

Each situation is different because each man is different. We also have a former priest in our parish. He's elderly now, and does no ministry. He married a developmentally disabled woman 15-20 years his junior when her parents died. They eventually had 7 kids together. He was laicized and does receive communion.

Some priests fall in love with women they can not marry in the church. Laiciziation wouldn't matter to them. Some men leave the church entirely, not just the priesthood. When/if they return, there are lots of things to look at.