Punishment for adultery by a Priest

[thecone137]

Is there some kind of ecclesial punishment prescribed for a priest justly convicted of adultery? I breifly skimmed the canon law on the Vatican website, but I could not find anything substantial.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jc4751]

Is there some kind of ecclesial punishment prescribed for a priest justly convicted of adultery? I breifly skimmed the canon law on the Vatican website, but I could not find anything substantial.

Thanks in advance.

Are priests guilty of adultery or of fornication? Are their vows to the church considered to be the same as the wedding vows? Not debating, but curious, as I’d never heard it expressed one way or the other.

 

[Aeden]

Well, the code of canon law does allow for a priest to be laicized as punishment for grave offenses, and is thereafter unable to perform any sacrament.

CHAPTER IV.

LOSS OF THE CLERICAL STATE

Can. 290 Once validly received, sacred ordination never becomes invalid. A cleric, nevertheless, loses the clerical state:

1/ by a judicial sentence or administrative decree, which declares the invalidity of sacred ordination;

2/ by a judicial sentence or administrative decree, which declares the invalidity of sacred ordination;

3/ by rescript of the Apostolic See which grants it to deacons only for grave causes and to presbyters only for most grave causes.

Can. 292 A cleric who loses the clerical state according to the norm of law loses with it the rights proper to the clerical state and is no longer bound by any obligations of the clerical state, without prejudice to the prescript of ⇒ can. 291. He is prohibited from exercising the power of orders, without prejudice to the prescript of ⇒ can. 976. By the loss of the clerical state, he is deprived of all offices, functions, and any delegated power.

I don’t know if adultery is considered grave enough, but I’d imagine it could happen.

 

[1ke]

Is there some kind of ecclesial punishment prescribed for a priest justly convicted of adultery? I breifly skimmed the canon law on the Vatican website, but I could not find anything substantial.

Thanks in advance.

Can. 1394 §1. Without prejudice to the prescript of ⇒ can. 194, §1, n. 3, a cleric who attempts marriage, even if only civilly, incurs a latae sententiae suspension. If he does not repent after being warned and continues to give scandal, he can be punished gradually by privations or even by dismissal from the clerical state.

§2. A perpetually professed religious who is not a cleric and who attempts marriage, even if only civilly, incurs a latae sententiae interdict, without prejudice to the prescript of ⇒ can. 694.

Can. 1395 §1. A cleric who lives in concubinage, other than the case mentioned in ⇒ can. 1394, and a cleric who persists with scandal in another external sin against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue is to be punished by a suspension. If he persists in the delict after a warning, other penalties can gradually be added, including dismissal from the clerical state.

§2. A cleric who in another way has committed an offense against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue, if the delict was committed by force or threats or publicly or with a minor below the age of sixteen years, is to be punished with just penalties, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state if the case so warrants.