Can a priest "quit"?

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victrolatim

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Outside of retirement or being laicized due to a grave matter could an ordained priest leave ministry or give up the priesthood of his own accord and if so how is it done? I assume it would be at the discretion of the local ordinary.
 
victrolatim said:
Outside of retirement or being laicized due to a grave matter could an ordained priest leave ministry or give up the priesthood of his own accord and if so how is it done? I assume it would be at the discretion of the local ordinary.
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Priestly ordination, metaphysically speaking, is permanent. With regard to the clerical state, a priest may be released from the clerical state by the Holy See for a serious cause or by a juridical sentence or administrative decree if it involved invalid orders. See here:
vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PZ.HTM

The pries would have to petition the Holy See and have his petition granted in order to be released from the clerical state. If a priest simply “walks away” eventually there will be some sort of action taken by his Ordinary or religious superior.

A retired priest has not left ministry nor been removed from the clerical state.

Laicized = removed from clerical state.
 
As has been stated, can stop doing Priestly work. I know 2 Priests who left Catholic Holy Orders at their own request. They both went through the process of laicization in order to get married.
 
I think the OP meant more along the lines of a Priest snapping one day, tossing his collar to the ground and driving off never to be seen again…that kind of “quit.” So, in this hypothetical, what would the Church procedure be if that occured?
 
dnu said:
I think the OP meant more along the lines of a Priest snapping one day, tossing his collar to the ground and driving off never to be seen again…that kind of “quit.” So, in this hypothetical, what would the Church procedure be if that occured?
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That issue was addressed in post #2 regarding a priest simply walking away. Hope that helps with your question.
 
dnu said:
I think the OP meant more along the lines of a Priest snapping one day, tossing his collar to the ground and driving off never to be seen again…that kind of “quit.” So, in this hypothetical, what would the Church procedure be if that occured?
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I’m sure that the priest would be removed from the payroll, health plan and the official roster, relatively quickly.
 
There is such a thing as a leave of absence. It would seem to me to be a limited time frame, however, until issues are resolved one way or another.
 
Yes, there is an epidemic of this in the diocese where I live.
 
We’re lucky in my diocese few priests have quit. That last one that did so did not quit but asked for a leave of absence. He talks about how he was a shoe salesman for awhile and then one day he just thought to himself in what he calls a "Holy Spirit moment “God, I know now why I am called to be a priest!~” He came back early from his absence and is currently a priest in a parish in our diocese.

Praying for vocations to the priesthood. I have a Lutheran Pastor friend LCMS and he told me they have a shortage of Pastors now as well. It must not just be a “Catholic problem” that the world seems to blame on the celibacy/no marriage mandate.

Mary.
 
dnu said:
more along the lines of a Priest snapping one day, tossing his collar to the ground and driving off never to be seen again…that kind of “quit.” So, in this hypothetical, what would the Church procedure be if that occured?
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A priest who simply left his assigned position would likely have his priestly faculties suspended by his bishop. This has happened at times. The bishop would attempt to contact him to offer counseling on whatever issues the priest has.
 
ComplineSanFran said:
There is such a thing as a leave of absence. It would seem to me to be a limited time frame, however, until issues are resolved one way or another.
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True, I’ve known a priest to request time off to rethink his vocation. He did non-priestly work for a couple of years, returned to ministry for a few years and eventually requested laicization. .
 
ComplineSanFran said:
There is such a thing as a leave of absence. It would seem to me to be a limited time frame, however, until issues are resolved one way or another.
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I know of one priest who did that and came back after a couple of years.
 
PaulfromIowa said:
A priest who simply left his assigned position would likely have his priestly faculties suspended by his bishop. This has happened at times. The bishop would attempt to contact him to offer counseling on whatever issues the priest has.
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My wife told me of a seminarian at what is now our parish who had his going away party and took everyone’s gifts including money and then a week or two later the pastor got a call from his new assignment asking where he was.

I heard this story after we saw him in a restaurant with his wife a few years later. He just “walked away” so to speak just after being ordained.
 
MaryT777 said:
…] in my diocese few priests have quit. That last one who did so did not quit but asked for a leave of absence. He talks about how he was a shoe salesman for awhile and then one day he just thought to himself in what he calls a "Holy Spirit moment “God, I know now why I am called to be a priest!~” He came back early from his absence and is currently a priest in a parish in our diocese.
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It sounds as though being a shoe salesman was a metaphorical shoe that didn’t fit.
 
victrolatim said:
Outside of retirement or being laicized due to a grave matter could an ordained priest leave ministry or give up the priesthood of his own accord and if so how is it done? I assume it would be at the discretion of the local ordinary.
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The short answer is “yes, he can”. There is a right way and a wrong way to leave active ministry. The right way to ask your bishop for a sabbatical and the wrong way is to just walk away; I’ve seen both.
 
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victrolatim said:
Outside of retirement or being laicized due to a grave matter could an ordained priest leave ministry or give up the priesthood of his own accord and if so how is it done? I assume it would be at the discretion of the local ordinary.
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Happened at our parish. He is married now… to a man…
 
That’s very sad. At least I can say that it’s good he left the ministry. There is a priest in our diocese who is very openly homosexual and was living, at one time, with a partner in the rectory. I had an organist friend who went to fill in at said church and was very uncomfortable at the situation, not to mention that the nave of the church had been decorated with tacky rainbow streamers.
 
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