Dismissal from the Clerical State Through Administrative Procedures

Abstract

The 1983 Code of Canon Law does not legislate for ex officio dismissal from the clerical state. However, the M. P. Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela, and the special faculties granted to the Congregation for the Clergy and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples do include this possibility. An analysis of these norms leads the author to underline some guiding principles and some characteristic traits of these procedures: the exceptional character of this path for dismissal from the clerical state, and the strict obligation to respect the requirements of justice in using administrative procedures ex officio. Due space is dedicated to the relationship between dismissal ex officio and the dispensation from celibacy and from the other obligations related to Sacred Orders, as well as to the role of the Roman Pontiff in these procedures. In conclusion, the author studies the case of declaration of the loss of the clerical state due to abandonment of the ministry for 5 consecutive years.