Transfer Cases
- At Marriage (Wife to Husbands, Children to either, Latin husband to Wife’s)
- Revert (after a change) after Marriage or at Age 14 for Children
- East to West without overlapping jurisdictions *
- East to West with overlapping jurisdictions +
- West to East without overlapping jurisdictions *
- West to East with overlapping jurisdictions +
- East to East without overlapping jurisdictions *
- East to East with overlapping jurisdictions +
- Congregation for Oriental Churches
- Holy See gives consent where both bishops approve in writing (but note eastern to west or eastern to eastern has been denied even when bishops are in favor)
Sufficient reasons:
- Unification of Church sui iuris in a family (mother, father).
- Return to the Church sui iuris of one’s ancestors.
- Spouse who wishes to transfer for peace and unity in the home.
- Physical or moral impossibility by permanent circumstances to use one’s own Church sui iuris.
- Domicile and or activity among those who are almost all of another Church sui iuris.
- Entry into religious life under different Church sui iuris.
- Incardination to serve different Church sui iuris.
Insufficient reasons:
- Education, attending school or church or sacraments, in another Church, or ignorance of own Church sui iuris with good knowledge of other Church sui iuris.
- Good for the soul (because all churches are good for the soul).
- Defects in a Church (because all churches are have defects).
- Peace of mind or conscience cannot be judged.
(Eastern)
CCEO Canon 32
- No one can validly transfer to another Church sui iuris without the consent of the Apostolic See.
- In the case of Christian faithful of an eparchy of a certain Church sui iuris who petition to transfer to another Church sui iuris which has its own eparchy in the same territory, this consent of the Apostolic See is presumed, provided that the eparchial bishops of both eparchies consent to the transfer in writing.
CCEO Canon 33
A wife is at liberty to transfer to the Church of the husband at the celebration of or during the marriage; when the marriage has ended, she can freely return to the original Church sui iuris.
(Latin)
Can. 112 §1 After the reception of baptism, the following become members of another autonomous ritual Church:
1° those who have obtained permission from the Apostolic See;
2° a spouse who, on entering marriage or during its course, has declared that he or she is transferring to the autonomous ritual
Church of the other spouse; on the dissolution of the marriage, however, that person may freely return to the latin Church;
3° the children of those mentioned in nn. 1 and 2 who have not completed their fourteenth year, and likewise in a mixed marriage the children of a catholic party who has lawfully transferred to another ritual Church; on completion of their fourteenth year, however, they may return to the latin Church.
§2 The practice, however long standing, of receiving the sacraments according to the rite of an autonomous ritual Church, does not bring with it membership of that Church.
Canon 112 (NCCCL, Beal, Coriden, Green)
“… because ascription to a ritual church is definitive, it belongs to the status of persons.”
“In effect, the canon distinguishes membership from liturgical practice. This means that change of ritual church membership occurs in one of the three ways provided for in paragraph one.”
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