It depends. If the priest followed the proper channels then everything could be OK. But if he just left without permission (I don’t know the story) then probably not.
I’m sorry. I’m asking in general. I don’t know anything about the other story.
A priest can ask permission to be laicized --which includes a release from his vow of obedience to his superiors-- and to be dispensed from his vow of celibacy. If his requests are granted then he would be free to marry.
Is it relatively hard to be granted laicization for that purpose?
I suspect it’s a lot easier for a priest to be granted permission to be laicized than it once was. I imagine it depends a lot on the bishop ( or other superior). At least in the United States I think most bishops would rather grant the priest his request than have the priest just leave and be in a state of sin. But no doubt there are bishops who think otherwise. In practice what would probably happen is that the bishop would grant the priest a few months leave from his duties where the priest is supposed to live as a lay person and pray about his future. If at the end of that period he still wished to be laicized then the formal procedures could begin.
I agree! But when people decide they are in love it seems as if all the other rules go out the window.
In the end, feelings about what a priest should or should not do are not so important as whether or not the priest obediently follows the rules --even if they are rules about how to be released from obedience.It depends. If the priest applied for and was granted laicization and he was released from his obligation to celibacy he would be free to marry. These have to be granted by Rome.
It depends what you mean by leaving the priesthood. A priest could simply walk away and never undertake any priestly functions again but he would still be a priest and if involved with a woman would not be able to receive Communion.
he would not be granted lay status for that reason there must be something more grave (if you mean, returned to the lay state on his own request). It is the last of a series of canonical sanctions for a priest who “walks away”.
I’m not sure how difficult it is to be laicized, now. There was a period where it was relatively easy and a lot of priests made that choice. IIRC, with Pope Paul VI it was relatively easy but it gradually became less & less so with Pope John Paul II & Pope Benedict.
There are a couple recent cases of this and it has happened numerous times in the past. I had a pastor who was a priest for many years. He retired in good standing but ill health, was officially laicized and was married in the Church in a Mass concelebrated by several of his friend priests. Perfectly legitimate. He was laicized by the pope.
Wow!
It all depends on getting an annulment and just because you want one doesn’t mean you’re getting one.Wow!
If he were to repent, have his marriage annulled and ask to be able to resume his priestly functions, is there a process such as ummm “de-laicization”?
Was he even laicized? He appears to have just walked away without the proper procedures. Of course, the Church may have laicized him as a penalty. Nevertheless, this is an interesting question. He cannot be unordained so remains ordained. May be it is possible for the Church to allow a priest who has been laicized to return to the priestly ministry. Another question might also be would the Church be willing to allow laicized priests to become active priests again?Wow!
If he were to repent, have his marriage annulled and ask to be able to resume his priestly functions, is there a process such as ummm “de-laicization”?
Since no one has answered this, I will. It is possible for a priest to be laicized, marry, and then later, after the death of his spouse, be “reinstated” as a priest. I think it is really rare, but the reason I know this is because a few years ago we had such a priest as an associate in our parish. I do not know why he was laicized in the first place, it does not necessarily have to be that he met a woman. That could have happened later, after he was laicized.