Laicization

[Akanke]

I am reading The Courage to be Catholic by George Weigel. On page 126 he says,

What the Church can do to a grossly malfeasant priest is, to use the canonical jargon, ‘dismiss him from the clerical state.’ That is, a man is forbidden from functioning, publicly or privately, as a priest, and has lost his legal claim on the Church for a living. He has been dismissed from the priesthood, although theologically speaking he remains a priest and could, say, administer the sacraments in an emergency.

At RCIA a man, who taught law at Vanderbilt University and has been Catholic for several years, said that a priest might be laicized and could never administer sacraments again, even in the case of an emergency.

I’m not very good at navigating my way through Canon Law. Could someone please direct me to adequate sources that I may better understand what actually happens to a priest when he abuses his role as in persona Christi? I’m particularly interested in whether or not the sacraments could be administered in an emergency and what laicized actually means. (I am reading about the latter on New Advent. It’s a healthy article.)

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Akanke:

I am reading The Courage to be Catholic by George Weigel. On page 126 he says,

At RCIA a man, who taught law at Vanderbilt University and has been Catholic for several years, said that a priest might be laicized and could never administer sacraments again, even in the case of an emergency.

I’m not very good at navigating my way through Canon Law. Could someone please direct me to adequate sources that I may better understand what actually happens to a priest when he abuses his role as in persona Christi? I’m particularly interested in whether or not the sacraments could be administered in an emergency and what laicized actually means. (I am reading about the latter on New Advent. It’s a healthy article.)

That is incorrect. Any validly Ordained Priest can administer certain Sacraments by virtue of his Ordination without any need of jurisdiction being granted by a Superior or Bishop. Any validly Ordained priest can in an emergency, Baptize, Hear a persons “death bed” Confession.

Any priest in good standing can in an emergency, Baptize, Hear a Confession, Celebrate Confirmation, Anoint the Sick, celebrate Mass and witness a Marriage.

Under normal circumatances (not an emergency) a priest may only celebrate these Sacraments with his Bishops permission called “Jurisdiction”.

Only a Pastor has standing jurisdiction for the Sacraments in his parish. If he wishes to celebrate a Sacrament in another parish he must seek permission from the pastor of the parish where he wants to celebrate the Sacrament.

In other words Fr. X cannot hear Confessions in another diocese without the Bishops permission. He cannot celebrate Mass, Baptize, Anoint the Sick, or witness a Marriage, without the Parish Pastors permission. (except as noted above in an emergency)

 

[Akanke]

What about when they have been “dismissed from the clerical state”?

 

[thistle]

I was under the impression that a priest who had be sacked or had left the priesthood could still administer the last rites in case of emergency.

 

[Digitonomy]

Akanke:

What about when they have been “dismissed from the clerical state”?

It appears that Br Rich answered this

Any validly Ordained priest can in an emergency, Baptize, Hear a persons “death bed” Confession.

Any priest in good standing can in an emergency, Baptize, Hear a Confession, Celebrate Confirmation, Anoint the Sick, celebrate Mass and witness a Marriage.

So it appears that a laicized priest could baptize and hear confession in an emergency. However, not being in good standing, he could not celebrate mass, confirmation, witness a marriage, or annoint the sick.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Akanke:

What about when they have been “dismissed from the clerical state”?

Any validly Ordained Priest can administer certain Sacraments by virtue of his Ordination without any need of jurisdiction being granted by a Superior or Bishop. Any validly Ordained priest can in an emergency, Baptize, hear a persons “death bed” Confession.

A priest who was “dismissed from the clerical state” cannot function in any way in the Church. He cannot even teach CCD, Confirmation, or ever act as a youth minister, Etc.

 

[Akanke]

Thank you for your help! I think I was confused about the “good standing” part. I was unsure whether laicization is “good standing” or not.

I appreciate it!

 

[Brendan]

Br. Rich SFO:

Any validly Ordained Priest can administer certain Sacraments by virtue of his Ordination without any need of jurisdiction being granted by a Superior or Bishop. Any validly Ordained priest can in an emergency, Baptize, hear a persons “death bed” Confession.

A priest who was “dismissed from the clerical state” cannot function in any way in the Church. He cannot even teach CCD, Confirmation, or ever act as a youth minister, Etc.

We covered this in our Sacramentology class.

The emergency Baptism comes from the the common priesthood of the Baptized, and does not require any jurisdiction.

The Authority to forgive sin was given to the Apostles, and their sucessors, the Bishops. It is therefore only through the Bishops that a priest has authority to forgive sin.

Thus a person in Presbyterial Orders alone actually does require a jurisdiction. That jurisdiction come from the Holy See, which has authorized the hearing of confessions in an emergency situation. So faculites are thus granted by the Bishop of Rome.

If the Pope ever recinded that authority, the priest would have no such authority, and the absolution would be invalid.

A person in Episcopal Orders, may absolve in cases of emergency under the authority of their own Orders, as they recieve fully the Authority Christ gave to the Apostles.

 

[Digitonomy]

Brendan:

Thus a person in Presbyterial Orders alone actually does require a jurisdiction. That jurisdiction come from the Holy See, which has authorized the hearing of confessions in an emergency situation.

Interesting. Do you happen to know of any official documentation which explains this? I’d like to see how exactly they word this.

 

[Andreas_Hofer]

Just to clarify, a laicized priest can still validly celebrate Mass, but cannot do so licitly. It is a sacrament whose validity does not require jurisdiction or faculties, and thus any priest, given proper form, matter, and intent, can confect the Eucharist. So while a laicized priest “may not” do this, he still “can” if he wants to commit grave sin.

Laicization does not remove this power because Holy Orders, like Baptism and Confirmation, leaves an indelible mark on one’s soul. Once a priest, always a priest, even if strictly forbidden from acting and presenting yourself as one.