Priests without Special Charge

THE Council of Trent declared¹ that no one should receive ordination who was not, in the judgement of his bishop, necessary or useful to the diocese, and it decreed that nobody should in future be ordained without being incardinated in the diocese for whose necessity or advantage he was taken, so that all priests may have occupation and may not wander about without fixed abode.

The new Code of Canon Law prescribes that all clerics must belong either to some diocese or to some religious order, so that unattached clerics are nowise tolerated. A cleric is incardinated in the diocese for whose service he was promoted by the reception of the clerical tonsure (Can, 111).

All clerics, but more especially priests, are bound by a special obligation to show reverence and obedience to their respective Ordinaries. As often and for so long as the necessity of the Church requires it, in the judgement of the Ordinary, and unless excused by some lawful impediment, clerics must accept and fulfil the duties of the office which is assigned them by the bishop (Can. 127, 128).

Although they have not a benefice or a residential office, clerics may not depart for any considerable time from their diocese without at least the presumed leave of their own Ordinary. One who with the leave of his own Ordinary has gone to another diocese while remaining incardinated in his own, can be recalled if there is a good reason and natural equity is observed, and the Ordinary of the other diocese also can for a good reason refuse him leave to stay any longer in his diocese, unless he has conferred a benefice on him (Can. 143, 144).

¹ Sess. 23, c. 15, de Ref.

Before ordaining a cleric the bishop should satisfy himself that the candidate is worthy and fit for the work of the sacred ministry. He must have the requisite holiness of life, without which the receiving of orders will only add to his greater condemnation. He must possess the knowledge necessary for the exercise of his duties, and he must be called by God. There is some apparent difference of opinion as to what precisely is implied by the necessity which all admit of a vocation from God to the clerical state. It is certain that no one may lawfully intrude himself into the ministry of his own accord. He must be duly approved and chosen for the work by the bishop. According to the catechism of the Council of Trent the words of the epistle to the Hebrews are to be understood of this external vocation through the lawful ministers of the Church. ‘‘ Neither,” we there read, “ doth any man take the honour to himself, but he that is called by God as Aaron was.”¹

It is commonly admitted that besides this external vocation by the lawful prelates of the Church in the name of God, an internal call is also necessary. To be consecrated to the service of God a man must have the requisite gifts of body, mind, and soul, and, moreover, he must be satisfied that it is the will of God that he should devote himself to the sacred ministry, and that he will be able to perform its duties worthily, and thereby save his soul. The will of God in such matters is made known in various ways. Sometimes it is as plain and evident as was the call of St Paul on the road to Damascus. As a rule it becomes known by internal inspirations by which one is brought to think highly of the ministry, and by motions of the will by which one is drawn to desire it for the glory of God, the good of one’s fellow-men, and the salvation of one’s own soul. To embrace the priesthood without the consciousness of any such divine call would be hazardous and rash, and it would be grievously sinful if there were no wish or no prospect of being able to fulfil the duties of the clerical state. On the other hand, if the motive for embracing the clerical life were not seriously wrong, and if there were the firm resolve to fulfil the duties of the priesthood faithfully, and a reasonable prospect of being able to do so, many approved divines consider that a person choosing the priesthood without a divine vocation would not sin grievously.

Divines discuss the question as to whether a cleric who has contracted a bad habit of secret sin would sin grievously by receiving sacred orders before he had overcome his bad habit. Some defend the view that he would do so, because he would violate the law of the Church which requires holiness of life in one who is admitted to sacred orders. Even if we admit with others that it is difficult to sustain this view, that the Pontifical seems not to countenance it, yet in ordinary cases it expresses the correct opinion in practice, for commonly there will be little chance of a cleric living up to his profession who before ordination had contracted a vicious habit. Such a one undertakes more than he can fulfil and sins grievously against the natural, if not against the positive law. His confessor then would be justified in bidding him defer ordination till he has corrected himself, and enforcing his command with a threat of refusing absolution, except in some extraordinary case of sudden and complete conversion.

Canon 1363 forbids the Ordinary to receive into his seminary any but legitimate boys whose disposition and will give hope that they will always devote themselves to the ministry of the Church with fruit. Before reception they must show certificates of legitimate birth, of baptism and confirmation, and testimonies of being of good character. Special provisions are made with regard to those who have been dismissed from another seminary or from a religious order (Can. 1363).

There used to be a controversy as to whether a priest as such was bound to say Mass. This question is settled by Canon 805: “ All priests are bound to say Mass several times a year; moreover, let the Bishop or the religious superior take care that they say Mass at least on all Sundays and holidays of obligation, ”’

¹ Heb. v 4.

The following are established:

I. With respect to the minister. They incur by the fact itself suspension for a year from conferral of Orders, reserved to the Apostolic See: 1° those who have ordained another's subject without the dimissorial letters of the proper Ordinary; 2° those who have ordained their own subject, who stayed elsewhere for so much time that he could have contracted a canonical impediment there, without due testimonial letters; 3° those who have promoted someone to major Orders without a canonical title; 4° those who, without prejudice to legitimate privilege, have promoted a religious belonging to a family which is outside the territory of the ordaining Bishop himself, even with dimissorial letters of the proper Superior, unless it has been legitimately proved that some one of the cases occurs of which in canon 966¹ (canon 2373).

II. With respect to the subject. 1. They contract by the fact itself suspension from divine things, reserved to the Apostolic See, who presume to receive Orders from one excommunicated, suspended, or interdicted after a declaratory or condemnatory sentence, or from a notorious apostate, heretic, or schismatic; but one who in good faith has been ordained by any of these persons lacks the exercise of the Order thus received until he is dispensed (canon 2372). Dispensation from this suspension must be sought from the Holy Office, but it is scarcely, or hardly at all, granted.

2. One who maliciously approaches Orders without letters, or with false dimissorial letters, or before the canonical age, or by leap, is by the fact itself suspended from the Order received; but one who does so without testimonial letters, or while held by some censure, irregularity, or other impediment, is to be punished with grave penalties according to the circumstances of things (canon 2374).

III. With respect to minister and subject. 1. A Bishop consecrating someone as Bishop, the assisting Bishops or, in place of Bishops, the assisting priests, and the one who receives consecration without an apostolic mandate, are suspended by the law itself until the Apostolic See has dispensed them (canon 2370).

2. All, even those increased with episcopal dignity, who knowingly have promoted to Orders through simony or have been promoted, or have ministered or received other sacraments, are suspected of heresy; clerics, furthermore, incur suspension reserved to the Apostolic See (canon 2371).

IV. With respect to others. 1. A Vicar Capitular granting dimissorial letters for ordination against the prescription of canon 958, § 1, n. 3,² by the fact itself lies under suspension from divine things (canon 2409).

2. Religious Superiors who, against the prescription of canons 965-967,³ have presumed to send their subjects to an outside Bishop to be ordained, are by the fact itself suspended for a month from the celebration of Mass (canon 2410).

¹ Cf. n. 602.

² Cf. n. 601.

³ Cf. n. 602.

What about priests? - Simple priests are held to serve the church to which they have been assigned, and to devote themselves to the salvation of the faithful. This chiefly demands two things: to teach boys and the uninstructed the rudiments of faith, and to receive the confessions of those who are in mortal sin, if the one who by the office undertaken is held to provide these things is lacking or is not sufficient for all. This is established not only from the general obligation of charity, but also from the office itself of the priesthood, and from Trent s. 23, c. 13, 14, 16 de R., which declares that priests are not ordained except because of the necessity and utility of the Church. Hence clerics cannot be admitted to orders unless they are incardinated or enrolled in some church, Benedict XIV, de Syn. l. 11, c. 2, n. 7, 13. But no one from C. Ex quo of Benedict XIV can abandon without the Bishop's permission the church to whose service he has been assigned. Nor indeed is it lawful to depart from one's own diocese without the command of the Ordinary; and if any have departed, they can also be recalled by penalties and censures, excepting those who depart seeking elsewhere the things necessary for their support, unless provision is made for their suitable sustenance. S. C. C., March 15, 1625; September 13, 1749; August 30, 1732.

Therefore Bishops can forbid foreign priests, without commendatory letters of their own Ordinary, to minister the sacraments in their dioceses or to undertake divine services, not even regulars, and in churches of regulars, unless perhaps of the same order. Trent s. 22, decree de observ. etc.; s. 23, c. 10 de R. - L. l. 6, n. 625; A. S. S. v. 5, p. 475; v. 10, p. 474 ff.; v. 14, p. 121; v. 23, p. 608 ff.; Bizzarri, Collectan., ed. 1885, p. 89, 303, 304.

Priests who emigrate to America or to the Philippine Islands are held to observe the prescriptions of the S. C. Consistorial, March 25, 1914, A. A. S. v. 6, p. 182 ff. Besides other things which are to be observed, they must first obtain the consent of their own Ordinary and of the Ordinary of the place to which they plan to go. The matter is also to be handled between Ordinary and Ordinary by secret letters.

Priests cannot go into the Canadian region and into the United States of North America to exercise the sacred ministry among the faithful of the Ruthenian rite, unless they have been sent by the S. C. de Propaganda Fide. S. C. de P. F., August 8, 1913, art. 12, 13, 14.

No one originating from Poland can be admitted into the diocesan clergy of the United States of North America without leave of the S. C. de Propaganda Fide. S. C. Consistorial, December 9, 1909, A. A. S. v. 2, p. 102.

Likewise priests who seek Rome in order to remain there must observe the Norms constituted in the Letter of Pius X to the Cardinal Vicar, August 6, 1905. "No cleric, whether pertaining to the Roman clergy or to other dioceses, is to be assumed or chosen by anyone, even one shining with Cardinalitial dignity, for any office or benefice which requires stable or long residence in the City, unless he who wishes to choose him has first sought from the Most Eminent Vicar of the City by secret letters whether anything on the part of the Vicariate stands in the way, and has learned that nothing stands in the way. - But any provision or assignment of office otherwise made will be null and void." Pius X, Constitution Etsi nos concerning the Vicariate of the City, Kalends of January 1912.

All priests by reason of the priesthood itself are held by divine law under grave obligation sometimes to celebrate, three or four times in the year. S. C. C., November 1669. For this is the chief duty for which they are constituted. "Each one is held to use the grace given to him when it will be opportune." St. Thomas 3 p., q. 82, a. 10. And St. Alphonsus, l. 6, n. 313, calls this opinion "far the more common and safer." For there is another opinion, which excuses at least from mortal sin, provided they communicate at Easter and contempt and scandal are absent. The reason of this opinion is that there is no certainty about a precept, since the reasons of the opposite opinion are by no means convincing. But that opinion, from St. Alphonsus, "at least because of scandal, is scarcely probable in practice." Cf. Trent s. 22, c. 2; s. 23, c. 14 de R. Yet certainly it is venial without reason to abstain from making the sacred rite and from hearing Confessions, since there is the same reason for both.

In common necessity they can also be compelled by their own Ordinary to make the sacred rite on feast days and to minister the sacraments; indeed, if pastors are not sufficient for this and others are lacking who could be joined to them as coadjutors, to teach boys the rudiments of faith, to preach, and to have the care of souls. - Constitutions of Benedict XIV, Declarasti nobis, March 16, 1746, Etsi minime; S. C. C., March 18, 1578; Roman Council, year 1725, tit. I, cap. 5; Trent s. 24, c. 18 de R.; St. Thomas Quodl. 12, a. 27, 28, 30; A. S. S. v. 14, p. 409; v. 17, p. 288; A. A. S. v. 2, p. 911 ff. "No one, whether secular or regular, even in the churches of his own orders, may presume to preach against the opposition of the Bishop." Trent s. 24, c. 4. Cf. also s. 5, c. 2 de R.; Clement VIII, C. Superna; St. Thomas Quodl. 12, a. 27. Preaching is to be had according to the norms proposed by the S. C. Bishops and Regulars, July 31, 1894, and confirmed by Pius X, Motu Proprio Sacrorum antistitum, September 1, 1910. "Announcing to them the vices which they must decline, and the virtues which they must follow, so that they may be able to escape eternal punishment and obtain heavenly glory." Trent s. 5, c. 2 de R.; Pius X, Letter to the Italian Bishops, July 28, 1906.

All clerics, especially priests, owe reverence and obedience to the Bishop in those things which pertain to morals and to ecclesiastical discipline. C. Conquerente 16 de Off. iud. ord.; CC. 2, 4, 9 de Maior. et obed. - E. M.

245 bis. Note: Preachers, and those chosen for holding sermons through the time of Lent, are held to take and sign the oath according to the formula prescribed in the Motu Proprio Sacrorum Antistitum of Pius X. If it is a question of priests of their own diocese, Ordinaries are to take great care that the same are never admitted to that duty of preaching unless first they have been approved concerning life, knowledge, and morals, that is, unless after a trial has been made, or by another suitable method, it has been established that they are suitable. But if the matter concerns priests of another diocese, they are to allow no one to ascend the pulpit, and this especially on solemn days, unless it has first been established from the written testimony of their own Ordinary or religious Superior that the same are endowed with good morals and are equal to that duty. But the Moderators of each Order are to permit absolutely no one from the pupils of their own discipline to undertake the duty of preacher, and much less are they to commend him by testimonial letters to the Ordinaries of places, unless they have a clear view of the probity of his morals and his faculty of preaching. Pius X, M. P. Sacrorum Antistitum. Bishops and Moderators of regulars cannot grant letters of commendation without note to their subjects who have somewhere been prohibited from preaching. Sacred orators who have been prohibited by Bishops in any place cannot be invited. S. C. Consistorial, September 25, 1910.

A priest can give a blessing, privately or by a private rite, to fields, animals, and other similar things.

Bishops are not to permit gatherings of priests to be held, except very rarely, and so that no discussion be made about Bishops, about the Apostolic See, and nothing be said which injures sacred power, or savors of modernism, or touches presbyterianism or laicism. At meetings of this kind no priest from another diocese is to be present, unless commended by letters of his Bishop. Pius X, M. P. Sacrorum Antistitum.

What about inferior clerics? - "No one doubts that if someone dared to approach sacred ordination, knowing that he has not been called by God, he could not be excused from mortal fault, both because of the grave presumption of intruding himself into the sanctuary against the will of God, and because of the certain danger of damnation to which he then exposes himself. Yet, in order that one to be promoted may be excused from fault, it is enough for him that he present a good end and offer himself to the Bishop to be tested, provided he does not certainly know that he was never called by God." L. 73. The Apostle teaches the grave necessity of this vocation thus: Nor does anyone take honor to himself, but he who is called by God, as Aaron was. Hebrews 5:4. And the sublimity of the order, the holiness of the office, and the gravity of the burden prove the same. L. 802, 803. Cf. here 255, 256. - Concerning one who receives minor orders or first tonsure with the intention of escaping the lay forum, and afterwards of returning to secular life, some, from St. Alphonsus 785, probably say that he sins venially; others more probably say that he sins mortally. Trent s. 23, c. 4 de R. - But one who neglects to follow a divine vocation does not seem able to be excused from some fault, when indubitable signs of vocation are present, because of the dangers to salvation in which he will be placed who, having despised the divine vocation, embraces the worldly state from his own will and from a motive less consonant with reason. Yet grave sin is absent, for divine vocation is an invitation, not a precept; and sufficient graces for salvation are given to all, and if someone prays as he ought, he will also obtain congruous and efficacious graces. Cf. 255 ff.; Roman Catechism on Order, n. 3, 4.

There ought to be two endowments of inferior clerics, so that they may be held worthy of sacred orders: knowledge and holiness. The first reason is that ignorance, speaking generally, in ecclesiastics harms not only themselves but also others. Yet less knowledge is required in religious destined solely for choir, such as Carthusians. Add also if someone, for example, were to be constituted in some chaplaincy in which only Mass would have to be celebrated. The second reason is that from Trent s. 23, c. 12 de R., only those are to be assumed to sacred orders "whose approved life is old age," namely who are old in virtue. And this is confirmed from the common authority of Supreme Pontiffs, Fathers, and Doctors, who all require in one to be ordained not only negative holiness, namely that he be immune from grave sin, but also positive holiness, i.e., that he be imbued with good morals. Innocent XIII, C. Apostolici ministerii. "Sacred orders presuppose holiness." St. Thomas 2. 2, q. 189, a. 1 ad 3. - L. l. 6, n. 782, 783, 892, 893; St. Thomas, Suppl. q. 36, a. 1, 2; Roman Catechism on the Sacrament of Order, n. 30-32; E. M.

Is absolution to be denied to a cleric habituated in hidden sins of lust, who wishes to ascend to sacred orders without a preceding experiment of continence? - As regards the proposed question, St. Alphonsus has these things, l. 6, n. 64 ff., where he has a dissertation on this matter, commended by Benedict XIV, de Syn. l. 11, c. 2: "1. The present and ancient law of the Church, always constant, binds both Bishops and Confessors and those to be promoted, so that when some cleric relapsed or accustomed in the vice of the flesh wishes to ascend to a sacred order, whether to the subdiaconate, or to the diaconate, or to the priesthood, although he has been sincerely converted to the Lord, and therefore can immediately be absolved, nevertheless he will not be able to receive sacred order unless for some time he gives labor to uprooting the depraved habit. And, if he persists in receiving order at once, he is not judged disposed for absolution, because he violates the law of the Church in a grave matter. 2. Yet a case can be given in which God gives the penitent such extraordinary grace of compunction, which renders him so approved that he himself can immediately assume sacred order; and therefore receive the benefit of absolution, without first being proved by experience of time.... And here it must be noted that what has been said about the vice of lust must be said the same of any other, namely drunkenness, avarice, blasphemy, hatred, etc. But that simple sanctifying grace is by no means sufficient for receiving sacred orders, but beyond it interior perfection is required, is established from the common agreement of the holy Fathers and Doctors, who with one voice demand it." But by how long a space of time, outside the extraordinary case, the relapsed are to be tested, there is no determined rule of time, since, all circumstances of person, things, and cases having been maturely weighed, the whole question is to be resolved before the Lord.

The author of the work Istruzione pei Novelli Confessori, p. 2, c. 3, n. 63, denies a positive law of the Church, and others also hold this opinion. Hence they assert that the natural law is to be attended to; since, because celibacy is attached to sacred orders by the law of the Church and by vow, one would act against the right judgment of prudence who would wish to assume so great a burden which he thinks he cannot bear. Hence the Confessor could not absolve him if he still wished to be initiated into sacred orders. On the contrary, the Confessor could absolve him if he sincerely believed that, with the help of God's grace, he could live chastely, and efficaciously proposed that he would use suitable means so that he might be freed from the depraved habit.

But although there is not given a positive law of the Church about a certain time of probation to be awaited, nevertheless there is certainly given a natural and positive law of a holiness not common and ordinary, which the nature of sacred order and the prescriptions of the Canons require beforehand, and which the perfect and perpetual vow of chastity attached by the Church to sacred orders also shows and confirms more than sufficiently. Cf. Trent s. 22, c. 1 de R.; s. 23, c. 12, 13, 14, 18; and St. Thomas 2. 2, q. 184, a. 6, 8; q. 189, a. 1 ad 3; Suppl. q. 36, d. 4 ad 3; q. 35, a. 1 ad 3, where he says: "for the suitable execution of orders, goodness of any sort is not sufficient, but excellent goodness is required." If for execution, therefore also for reception. Hence the Angelic Doctor immediately adds: "so that just as those who receive order are constituted above the people by the grade of order, so also they may be superior by the merit of holiness. And therefore grace is pre-required which suffices for this, that they may be worthily numbered among the people of Christ. But in the reception itself of order a more ample gift of grace is conferred, by which they are rendered suitable for greater things." And the Roman Council, tit. 6, c. 3: "Those who are about to approach more nearly to the most sacred mysteries ... we will that they excel in that knowledge and piety, so that they may worthily minister the sacraments of the Church, teach the faithful of Christ sound doctrine, and be able to go before them on the way of salvation no less by example than by words." The same is drawn from the Norms of the S. C. Bishops and Regulars, January 18, 1908, for the Seminaries of Italy, and from the Exhortation to the Catholic Clergy of Pius X in his Letters Haerent animo, August 4, 1908. How indeed can it prudently be judged that this will be so concerning a cleric hitherto entangled in sins and vice of lust, without another probation?

I. Who are Clerics?. "Those who have been assigned to the divine ministries by at least first tonsure are called clerics" (c. 108, §1).

The Greek word ho kleros designates a lot, that which falls to someone, an inheritance. Wherefore 1 Pet. 5, 3, med' hos katakyrieuontes ton kleron, bears this verbal translation: "nor as dominating your portions," which portions were a certain part of the Church. Thence perhaps, and because of the Vulgate version, "nor as dominating in the clerics," already from the first century the word clerics began to name those who were peculiarly devoted to the Church or to divine worship. Sometimes, as in the Council of Laodicea of the middle of the fourth century, can. 30, they distinguish hieratikous, or those occupied in sacred things (bishops, presbyters, and deacons), and klerikous, inferior clerics. Likewise in the so-called Apostolic Canons there is found katalogos hieratikos and katalogos ton klerikon. Thus the less ancient distinction of major and minor orders is prepared.

But the explanation of St. Jerome prevailed ¹, by which they are called clerics either because they are of the lot of the Lord, or because the Lord is the lot, that is, the portion of clerics, rather than the explanation of St. Augustine: "because Matthias was chosen by lot" ².

¹ Ep. 52, to Nepotianus, P. L. 22, 531.

² Enarr. in Ps. 67, 10, P. L. 36, 824.

— Since they are of unequal grade, there is in the Church a Hierarchy. Hierarchy, etymologically and in the abstract, is the same as sacred power. In the concrete it means a series of persons who participate sacred power in some grade.

2. The hierarchy is twofold: of order and of jurisdiction; each has some grades of divine institution, others of ecclesiastical institution.

"By divine institution, the sacred hierarchy, by reason of order, consists of bishops, presbyters, and ministers; by reason of jurisdiction, of the supreme pontificate and the subordinate episcopate; but from the institution of the Church other grades also have acceded" (c. 108, §3).

In the divinely constituted hierarchy of Order, under the name of ministers there come at least deacons; whether also subdeacons and clerics of minor orders, some affirm, others deny, according to their opinions concerning the sacrament of order.

You will observe that, in the hierarchy of jurisdiction, only the Supreme Pontiff and bishops are placed in grades of divine institution; but the Church, from the supreme authority of the Pontiff, has added others: abbots and prelates nullius, Superiors of exempt clerical religions. Pastors are not named, because only jurisdiction of the external forum, which the pastor lacks, gives a place in the hierarchy of jurisdiction.

— Some orders are major or sacred: such, in the Latin Church, are the presbyterate, together with the episcopate, the diaconate, and the subdiaconate; others are minor: the acolythate, exorcistate, lectorate, and ostiariate (c. 949).

The subdiaconate, with which already in the fifth and sixth centuries in the Western Church the law of celibacy began to be joined, was gradually numbered among the sacred and major orders; this discipline was firm at the close of the twelfth century and the beginning of the thirteenth, from which time subdeacons could be enrolled among bishops. Cf. Peter Cantor, De verbo mirifico, c. 57, about the year 1197, and c. 9, X, I, 14, and 7, X, I, 18; Wernz, Ius Decretalium, II, 20, note 54.

1. Jurisdiction, or the public power of ruling subjects, is one kind ordinary, which by the law itself is annexed to an office; another, delegated, which is committed to a person. Ordinary jurisdiction again can be either proper or vicarious (c. 197): the former is possessed by one's own title and in one's own name; the latter is had by him who supplies the place of another, whether absent, impeded, or also detained by too many affairs. Think of a bishop and vicar general, the Supreme Pontiff and an Apostolic Vicar. Concerning the notion, cf. Wernz, l. c., n. 3.

Ordinary jurisdiction can of itself be delegated to another; delegated jurisdiction cannot, unless this be expressly conceded. Nevertheless there can be subdelegated, unless something else is established, power delegated by the Holy See and power delegated for a universality of causes or business (c. 199). A universality of one genus, as for example of marriages, suffices.

"No subdelegated power can be subdelegated again, unless this has been expressly conceded" (c. 199, §5). This concession must be made by the delegating one, or by the one having ordinary power.

2. Jurisdiction is also divided into jurisdiction of the external forum and jurisdiction of the internal forum. The former is the power of the proper forum of a perfect society, by which subjects are efficaciously directed toward the common end of the society by laws, or precepts, judgments, and sanctions; the latter, which is not had except in the Church, reaches to the very forum of God, not indeed for making laws, but, principally, for loosing obligations which, by reason of divine law, on account of their own acts, whether good, as vows, or evil, as sins, are contracted by the faithful. I say principally for loosing, because, in that forum, the obligations themselves, of returning to the confessor, of doing penance, are imposed from the intention of loosing the bonds of sin or of penalties. The former jurisdiction is immediately for the common good; the latter, immediately for the good of a private person. This latter is instrumental; it becomes known to us not at all from the nature of society, but from Scripture and the usage of the Church. This more explicit notion of the internal forum, which we borrow from C. Billot, De Ecclesia Christi, thesis XI, manifests to us why that power is of a public character, as reaching to the Forum of God; in what way it is in the Church; and by what acts it is contained, so that we can easily discern acts of each forum.

The power of the internal forum is both of the sacramental forum, whose use therefore supposes at least sacramental accusation, and of the extra-sacramental forum, which also outside the tribunal of Penance has valid and licit use. Cf. cc. 196, 202.

Acts of jurisdiction of the external forum have force also for the internal forum, but not conversely (c. 202).

Yet he who in the internal forum has been absolved from a censure can also, scandal having been removed, conduct himself in acts of the external forum as absolved; with the right of the Superior reserved of urging the censure in the external forum, unless the concession of absolution is proved or at least legitimately presumed in this external forum (c. 2251).

What likewise a dispensation effects in the internal forum is explained in its own place.

3. Finally, judicial power cannot of itself be exercised for one's own advantage or outside the territory; but voluntary or non-judicial jurisdiction can, such as jurisdiction of dispensing (c. 201).

II. Who is a Prelate, an Ordinary?. Ordinary jurisdiction in the external forum gives the true quality of Prelate to a cleric, whether secular or religious; although the title of Prelate is also conferred by the Holy See by reason of honor (c. 110).

Yet not every Prelate is an Ordinary. For by this name there come, "besides the Roman Pontiff, each for his own territory, the residential bishop, abbot or prelate nullius and their vicar general, administrator, Apostolic vicar and prefect, and likewise those who, when the aforesaid are lacking, in the interim succeed in governance by prescription of law or by approved Constitutions; but for their own subjects, major Superiors in exempt clerical religions" (c. 198, §1).

The same, except religious Superiors as such, are also called Ordinaries of the place or of places (c. 198, §2).

III. Incardination. Vagrant clerics are in no way admitted. Every cleric must be ascribed either to some diocese or to some religion (c. 111).

Wherefore in canons 648 and 669, §2, provision is made that a cleric dismissed from religion, if he is constituted in minor orders, is by that very fact reduced to the lay state.

Formerly, ascription was made to individual churches, and clerics who were ascribed to no church were distinguished from clerics who, ascribed to the order or catalogue of some church, were nourished by its revenues; these clerics were called canons. Cf. Wernz, Ius Decretalium, II, 767, note 4.

Ascription to a diocese, or incardination, is made by reception of first tonsure; once this has been received, by formal excardination and incardination (cc. 111-117).

Ascription to a religion is made by profession; and indeed fully by perpetual profession, which effects excardination (cc. 115, 585).

By reception of first tonsure a cleric is incardinated in that diocese for whose service he was promoted. But it is not on that account lawful for a bishop, by conferring first tonsure, to enroll any secular at all in his own diocese. For from c. 956 it is necessary that a secular have domicile together with origin, or at least domicile. The notion of domicile was given in I, 235. But someone has origin where, when he was born, the father or, if he was illegitimate, the mother possessed domicile or, domicile being lacking, quasi-domicile. Moreover, for a bishop legitimately to confer tonsure, as proper bishop, upon a secular who in his diocese has only domicile, it is necessary that the one to be promoted confirm by oath his intention of remaining perpetually in the diocese (c. 956).

Furthermore, letters of excardination and incardination must be perpetual and absolute, not conditioned.

Yet any bishop can receive, not purely and simply but for experiment for a three-year period, a dismissed religious who has lost his diocese (c. 641).

I. Clerics are all who have received first tonsure. On account of their unequal grade they compose the Hierarchy, which, taken concretely, means the series of persons who participate sacred power in some grade, while abstractly it signifies sacred power itself.

II. A twofold hierarchy is distinguished: of order and of jurisdiction. Orders are some major and sacred, others minor; jurisdiction, public power of ruling, is distinguished as ordinary, which, whether proper or vicarious, is annexed by the law itself to an office, and delegated, which is committed to a person.

Ordinary jurisdiction can of itself be delegated; delegated jurisdiction cannot of itself be subdelegated, unless it is for a universality of causes, or proceeds from the Holy See. Subdelegated jurisdiction, without the express concession of the one having ordinary power, cannot be subdelegated again.

Jurisdiction is also distinguished as of the external forum, immediately for the good of the Church; and of the internal forum, to be exercised immediately for the good of a private person, either in the sacrament of penance alone, sacramental jurisdiction, or also outside it.

Acts of the external forum have force also for the internal forum, but not conversely, with those things being preserved which are to be said concerning absolution from censures and various dispensations.

A Prelate is one who has ordinary jurisdiction in the external forum; an Ordinary, one who, in his own name or by vicarious reason, has episcopal or quasi-episcopal power: thus an Apostolic Prefect, a vicar general, and a major Superior of an exempt clerical religion. This latter, however, contrary to the others, is not an Ordinary of a place.

III. Every cleric must be ascribed to a diocese or to a religion. To a diocese, by first tonsure legitimately conferred; once this has been received, by letters of excardination and incardination, which must be perpetual and cannot be given conditionally. Yet a bishop can try for three years a religious who has lost his diocese through perpetual profession. Ascription to a religion is made by religious profession; and fully, by perpetual profession.

740. Special dispositions of canon law concerning the manner of proceeding to ordinations.

A. As to the examination to be instituted concerning the qualities and endowments, or concerning the suitability of the one to be ordained, according to the mind of can. 973:

a) as to good morals, he must bring the testimony of his superior or of the priest to whom he has been commended (can. 993).

b) as to due knowledge, anyone to be promoted, whether secular or religious, must undergo a prior and diligent examination concerning the very order to be received; those to be promoted to sacred orders should also be tested in other treatises of sacred theology, according to the manner and matter to be determined by the bishop who ordains by his own right or gives dimissorial letters; nevertheless he can commit this to another bishop who is to ordain, if the latter is willing to take up that burden (can. 996-997).

But the other bishop ordaining, although he can, nevertheless is not bound to acquiesce in dimissorial letters by which it is asserted that the candidate has been examined and found suitable; but if according to his conscience he judges that the candidate is not suitable, let him not promote him (can. 997, § 2).

B. As to the publications to be made for investigating the morals of the one to be ordained and impediments to orders, can. 998 has force:

"§ 1. The names of those to be promoted to each sacred order, except religious from perpetual vows whether solemn or simple, are to be publicly announced in the parish church of each candidate; but the Ordinary, according to his prudence, can both dispense from this publication for a just cause, and prescribe that it also be carried out in other churches, and substitute for the publication a public posting at the doors of the church for some days, among which at least one feast day is included.

"§ 2. The publication is to be made on a feast day of precept in church during the solemnities of Masses, or on another day and hour at which a greater attendance of the people is had in church.

"§ 3. If within six months the candidate has not been promoted, the publication is to be repeated, unless it seems otherwise to the Ordinary."

Let it be noted: a) "All the faithful are held by the obligation of revealing to the Ordinary or pastor before sacred ordination impediments to sacred orders, if they know any" (can. 999).

b) "The Ordinary is to commit to the pastor who carries out the publication, and also to others, if this seems expedient, that he diligently inquire from trustworthy persons concerning the morals and life of those to be ordained, and transmit to the Curia testimonial letters reporting the investigation itself and the publication." And "the Ordinary should not omit to make other investigations, even private ones, if he has judged this necessary or opportune" (can. 1000).

C. As to gradation, can. 977 lays down:

"Orders are to be conferred by degrees, so that ordination by a leap is altogether prohibited," concerning which see n. 732, 2.

D. As to interstices, let can. 978 be noted:

"§ 1. In ordinations the interstices of times are to be observed, in which those promoted exercise themselves in the orders received, according to the prescription of the bishop." Nevertheless this exercise is not a rigorously binding precept.

"§ 2. The interstices between first tonsure and ostiary-ship, or between the individual minor orders, are committed to the prudent judgment of the bishop; but let an acolyte not be promoted to the subdiaconate, a subdeacon to the diaconate, a deacon to the presbyterate, before the acolyte has spent at least one year, and the subdeacon and deacon at least three months each, in his own order, unless the necessity or utility of the Church, in the judgment of the bishop, demands otherwise."

"§ 3. Never, however, except by peculiar permission of the Roman Pontiff, let minor orders be conferred with the subdiaconate, or two sacred orders on one and the same day, any contrary custom being reprobated; - indeed neither is it licit to confer first tonsure together with any one of the minor orders, nor all minor orders together," although a contrary custom is not reprobated.

E. As to the spiritual exercises to be premised to ordination, let can. 1001 be heard:

"§ 1. Those who are to be promoted to first tonsure and minor orders are to devote themselves to spiritual exercises for at least three whole days; but those to be promoted to sacred orders, at least for six whole days; but if any are to be promoted to several major orders within a semester, the Ordinary can reduce the time for ordination to the diaconate, but not beyond three whole days."

"§ 2. If, after the exercises have been completed, sacred ordination is deferred for any reason beyond a semester, the exercises are to be repeated; otherwise let the Ordinary judge whether they are to be repeated or not."

"§ 3. Religious are to carry out these spiritual exercises in their own house or in another according to the prudent judgment of the superior; but seculars in the Seminary, or in another pious or religious house designated by the bishop."

F. As to the testimonies to be brought to the bishop:

I. Seculars to be promoted, or religious who, as regards ordination, are ruled by the law of seculars, are to bring:

1. Testimony of the last ordination, or, if it is a question of first tonsure, of received Baptism and Confirmation.

2. Testimony concerning completed studies required for individual orders, according to the norm of can. 976 (n. 739, 3).

3. Testimony of the rector of the Seminary, or of the priest to whom the candidate was commended outside the Seminary, concerning the good morals of the same candidate.

4. Testimonial letters of the Ordinary of the place in which the one to be promoted has stayed for so much time that he could have contracted a canonical impediment there (i.e., from can. 994, three months for soldiers, for others six months after puberty, which can be understood as morally continuous stay).

5. Testimonial letters of the religious major superior, if the one to be promoted has been enrolled in some religion (can. 993).

6. Moreover, according to can. 1001, § 4, testimony concerning the completed spiritual exercises from the superior of the house in which they were carried out; or from the major superior, if it is a question of religious.

II. Religious who are ruled by their own law, namely, professed with perpetual vows, must bring dimissorial letters of the religious superior, by which he must testify not only that the one to be promoted has emitted religious profession and is of the family of the religious house subject to him, but also concerning completed studies and concerning the other things required by law, as has just been said; after these letters have been received, the bishop does not need other testimonial letters (can. 995).

Let it be noted from can. 994: a) The bishop ordaining, according to his prudence, can require testimonial letters even because of a shorter time of residence, and because of time which preceded puberty.

b) If the Ordinary does not know the one to be promoted sufficiently to be able to testify that he has contracted no impediment in his territory, or if the one to be promoted has wandered through so many dioceses that it becomes impossible or too difficult to seek all testimonial letters, let the Ordinary provide at least through a supplementary oath to be furnished by the one to be promoted.

c) If, after the letters have been obtained and before ordination, the one to be promoted again has stayed in the same territory for the aforesaid space of time (three or six months), new testimonial letters of the Ordinary of the place are necessary.

G. Special instructions were most recently given by the S. C. of the Sacraments and by the S. Congregation of Religious.

I. For clerics. In order that, with greater prudence and certainty, those who seem truly called, tend to orders with full liberty, and are worthy, may be selected, while the others are left aside, the S. C. of the Sacraments, Dec. 27, 1930, gave an instruction concerning the scrutiny of those to be ordained to be instituted. It hands down general norms concerning inquiries, all of which nevertheless are not to be made in individual cases, provided those things concerning morals have been investigated which are required so that one may proceed safely to order.

1. Before first tonsure and minor orders a scrutiny must be made:

a) The candidate, at least two months before, must hand to the moderator of the seminary an autograph and signed petition, by which he signifies that he freely and of spontaneous will requests first tonsure and minor orders.

b) The declaration of the candidate, with attestation concerning Baptism and Confirmation received, is to be transmitted by the moderator of the seminary, together with his own personal information concerning the suitability of the candidate, to the bishop; the bishop remits it to the said moderator or to another, with the mandate of inquiring.

c) He is to inquire most diligently from the prefects, from the teachers, both separately and gathered together, or also from the deputies for the discipline of the seminary if they are informed about the person, concerning the qualities and morals of the candidate, and he is to remit to the bishop the information collected together with his own judgment.

d) The bishop also will command the pastor of the students to inquire concerning the morals of the candidate, concerning the reputation of the parents and the condition of the family property, concerning an abnormal inclination which perhaps the candidate has drawn from his parents, and especially whether the parents are impelling him to the priesthood or fear loss in case ordination is postponed. But if this is prudently suspected, let the bishop admonish them concerning the excommunication of can. 2352.

Titius pronounced simple vows in a certain diocesan Congregation and was ordained a priest under the title of the Mission. After a certain period of time, he obtained dismissal from the Congregation and found a benevolent receiver in the bishop of a neighboring diocese, who entrusted him with the care of souls in a certain Mission. When the bishop of the diocese in which the Congregation had been established heard this, he asked a theologian whether he could recall Titius to his own diocese and assign work to him. Hence it is asked:

1. By virtue of ordination, is a priest bound to a particular diocese?

2. To what are those bound by the oath of the Mission specially obliged?

3. Can a priest be transferred from one diocese to another, and how?

4. What is to be said of the case?

1. Is a priest attached to a particular diocese by his ordination?

Yes, the Council of Trent (XXIII, c. 16, De Ref.) prescribed that in future no one was to be ordained without being ascribed to that church or pious foundation for whose necessity and service he was accepted, and where

60- he was to exercise his functions, and not wander about without fixed abode. And if he abandons his post without leave of the bishop, he is to be forbidden the exercise of his sacred ministry.

2. To what are those specially obliged who are ordained on the title of the mission?

By the terms of the missionary oath they are bound to work in the diocese for which they were ordained under the direction of the bishop, and they can not enter into any Religious Order or Congregation without the leave of the Holy See.

3. Can a priest be transferred from one diocese to another, and how?

Yes, by the mutual consent of the respective bishops, for just cause, a priest may be excardinated from one diocese and incardinated in another. It should be done in writing. If a priest has been ordained on the title of the mission he requires the leave of the Holy See to pass to another diocese and he should take the missionary oath afresh. The Bishops of the Province of Westminster were empowered by a decree (S.C. de P. F., 18 Aug. 1885), by mutual consent to effect the transference of such a priest from one diocese to another without a renewal of the oath.¹

1 Collectanea S. C. de P. F. n. 1641 ed. 2da. The Bishops of the United States have a similar faculty.

4. The case. Titius had been ordained priest in a certain diocesan Congregation on the title of the mission. If the Congregation was restricted to a particular diocese, he was ordained for that diocese, and when he leaves his Congregation he becomes merely the subject of the bishop of that diocese, and he can not leave it without the bishop’s permission. If he does so, he can be recalled under threat of censure. If the Congregation was spread in several dioceses, Titius on leaving his Congregation became subject to the bishop of his origin, and if he wants to join another diocese he should arrange with the bishop of his origin.¹

1 Vermeersch, De Religiosis Institutis, vol. i, nn. 335, 484.