Resignation from an ecclesiastical office structural peculiarities and open issues

Abstract

The Code of Canon Law and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches establish the characteristics of the resignation as a cause for cessa­tion from ecclesiastical office. This con­tribution compares the ‘general model’ of resignation with some ‘special’ cases concerning in particular the offices of diocesan Bishop and of Roman Pontiff in order to identify the common aspects and – above all - the divergent ones, which are sometimes necessary to con­form the canonical legislation to the needs that are rooted in divine law. Fi­nally, the essay considers the opportuni­ty to clearly distinguish the resignation from office from the case of the entirely impeded Roman See.