{"id":48267,"date":"2015-10-22T10:40:16","date_gmt":"2015-10-22T14:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=48267"},"modified":"2015-10-22T10:45:43","modified_gmt":"2015-10-22T14:45:43","slug":"what-defrock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2015\/10\/what-defrock\/","title":{"rendered":"What defrock?!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Holy_Orders_Picture\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This happens with some frequency, so it might be a good idea to look at a term that has become fairly common in the media:<\/p>\n

\u201cDefrock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lately, a few places have used that word, or a variation of it,\u00a0to describe what was done to that Polish monsignor <\/a><\/strong>who announced that he was gay and had a boyfriend.<\/p>\n

\u201cBishop Defrocks Gay Priest\u201d was a common headline.<\/p>\n

Except, that\u2019s really not accurate.<\/p>\n

As one canon lawyer noted a few years ago<\/a>,<\/strong> the term \u201cdefrock\u201d appears nowhere in canon law. \u00a0Usually, when someone talks about \u201cdefrocking,\u201d they\u2019re referring to laicization, which is a more complicated canonical procedure. \u00a0(As you\u2019ll note below, that\u00a0still means that a priest is a priest\u2014Holy Orders cannot be removed\u2014 but he can no longer act as one.) \u00a0However, in the case of the Polish monsignor, that\u2019s not entirely accurate, either. Press reports indicate he was \u201csuspended,\u201d which suggests the punishment is not permanent and can be lifted.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how all this is described in canon law:\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

The proper canonical term for such a punishment is \u201cdismissal from the clerical state.<\/i>\u201d It is also referred to as\u201claicization\u201d<\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0\u201cforced laicization\u201d<\/i>. These terms mean that a priest is forbidden from exercising his priesthood for the rest of his life.<\/p>\n

1338 \u00a72. Privation of the power of orders is not possible but only a prohibition against exercising it or some of its acts; likewise, privation of academic degrees is not possible.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

While forbidden to exercise his priesthood for the rest of life, it should be remembered that a priest is a priest for life. Such is found in Canon Law.<\/p>\n

Can. 290 \u201cOnce validly received, sacred ordination never becomes invalid. A cleric, nevertheless, loses the clerical state:<\/i><\/p>\n

1\/ by a judicial sentence or administrative decree, which declares the invalidity of sacred ordination;<\/p>\n

2\/ by a judicial sentence or administrative decree, which declares the invalidity of sacred ordination;<\/p>\n

3\/ by rescript of the Apostolic See which grants it to deacons only for grave causes and to presbyters only for most grave causes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLaicization<\/i>\u201d can be applied to priests, if they do not repent, who:<\/p>\n

\u2013 gets married in secret,<\/p>\n

\u2013 are living common-law in public or secret,<\/p>\n

\u2013 refused to return to their Diocese under the authority of their Bishop,<\/p>\n

\u2013 participates in schisms such as the ordaination of women priests,<\/p>\n

\u2013 commits a sexual offense with a minor under the age of sixteen years,<\/p>\n

\u2013 etc\u2026<\/p>\n

Can. 1395 \u00a71. \u201cA 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.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a72. \u201cA 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,\u00a0is to be punished with just penalties,<\/span>\u00a0not excluding dismissal from the clerical state if the case so warrants.\u201d<\/p>\n

It should be noted that in the above short list of offenses where a priest can be laicized, such does not happen all the time. The Code of Canon Law says\u00a0\u201cis to be punished with just penalties.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0In some cases a just penalty requires laicization while in other cases it does not. It depends if the priest has repented of his offence. When it is apparent that the priest is out of control and repentance is intended but not implemented, the priest is laicized.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Catholic Answers <\/a><\/strong>adds:<\/p>\n

\n

Laicization is a process which takes from a priest or other cleric the licit use of his powers, rights, and authority. Laicization occurs automatically when a priest, deacon, or monk marries or joins the military without permission. Major clerics (priests and deacons) are directly laicized through their superiors by the penalty of degradation. The Holy See also has the privilege of laicizing major clerics.<\/p>\n

Laicized clerics are forbidden to wear clerical dress or to perform ceremonies or to administer the sacraments ordinary to their former offices. Priests who are laicized are required to continue practicing celibacy, although dispensations from this discipline are frequently given. Otherwise, laicization renders a cleric for ecclesiastical purposes the equivalent of a layman.<\/p>\n

The supernatural mark of holy orders and the powers connected with the sacrament (especially for the priest) remain even after laicization, although they cannot be used licitly. A laicized priest has the power to confect the Eucharist. Although to the world he may live as a layman, in a sense \u201conce a priest, always a priest.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While\u00a0it\u2019s understandable that secular writers\u00a0might use the shorthand \u201cdefrock\u201d to describe a priest forbidden to act\u00a0as a priest, Catholics should justifiably ask, when they see that, \u201cWhat defrock?!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0There ain\u2019t no such thing.<\/p>\n

Image: Wikipedia<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This happens with some frequency, so it might be a good idea to look at a term that has become fairly common in the media: \u201cDefrock.\u201d Lately, a few places have used that word, or a variation of it,\u00a0to describe what was done to that Polish monsignor who announced that he was gay and had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bishops"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat defrock?!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This happens with some frequency, so it might be a good idea to look at a term that has become fairly common in the media: "Defrock." 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