However, the sacrament would be illicit , meaning he violated Church law and would be culpable for this infraction since he no longer has the faculties to function as a priest. Here the Church is recognizing the indelible spiritual character received by the priest— although now laicized— at his ordination.
For instance, suppose a person was hurt in a car accident and was dying. Moreover, even if this priest had left the priesthood without proper permission and was in a state of mortal sin, he could still validly absolve the dying person of sin. Keep in mind too that if a laicized priest decides to return to the active ministry, he would not be re-ordained. Instead, he would have to have permission from the Holy Father and complete whatever other requirements the bishop or other Church authority would impose.
See Code of Canon Law , After studying the rules of the road and practicing my turns and braking, I now possess the ability to drive. Nothing can take that away from me, short of a sharp blow to the head that has a specific and unlikely effect on my memory. But if I egregiously violate the rules of the road, I can have my license taken away, and my right to drive revoked.
I still possess the ability , but I no longer have the right to drive. Or say that I am a police officer who leaves the force, or is removed for some crime. I still possess all of my knowledge of police procedure and my know-how about apprehending criminals, but once I am no longer a part of the police force, I have neither the right nor the responsibility to do those things.
I would not be justified in taking a suspect in for questioning, nor would I be required to. And the police force would no longer have the obligation to provide me a salary or health insurance.
The laicization of a priest is a bit like that, albeit at the soul-level. But his right and his responsibility to exercise that sacred power and to live according to the priestly state is removed. This can be as a punishment for some serious crime, or for some other grave reason, which can be voluntary. To give just a few examples: Priests are bound to pray the Liturgy of the Hours daily, are strongly encouraged to say Mass every day, and are required to hear confessions whenever the faithful reasonably request it; they are forbidden from holding public office.
The release of a list of New Jersey priests credibly accused of sexually abusing children has prompted sadness, outrage — and many questions. One of the most pressing is: What's next?
Many of the accused priests are dead, while those still alive have been "permanently removed from the ministry. Talk of "laicizing" and "defrocking" priests has come up. Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the highest-ranking American Catholic official to have been removed from ministry, was the most prominent name in the Newark list, and he may be laicized later this week, according to the Catholic News Agency. When a priest is laicized, he is dismissed from a clerical state and secularized, becoming a "layperson," according to a canonist, an expert in canon law, quoted by Catholic World Report.
We're not done yet! Your opinion can help us make it better. We use cookies to improve our service for you. You can find more information in our data protection declaration. For about years, the Catholic Church has required that its priests stay celibate. But what happens if a priest falls in love? Sitting in his house in the Bergisches Land region of western Germany, Johannes Wendeler looks at photos of his ordination at Cologne Cathedral in The idea of falling in love never occurred to Wendeler.
When he was ordained as a priest at the age of 30, he had never had a relationship with a woman. Wendeler says, because of this, celibacy seemed to him to be an acceptable lifestyle.
But that changed when, after working as a priest for seven years, he met physiotherapist Lydia Piechotta, following a car accident which left him with a broken hand. The two enjoyed the conversations they had during therapy sessions and became close friends. Soon after, they fell in love.
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