Who Can Be Ordained Validly

To be able to receive Orders validly, the subject must be of the male sex and baptized (Can. 968). It has always been understood in the Church that women cannot receive Christian Orders. Moreover, an adult must have at least an habitual and express intention to receive ordination (unless indeed he is an imbecile and has never had the use of reason).

The subject capable of receiving ordination is every baptized male who has not yet received it (canon 968, § 1).

It is said every, even infants and those perpetually without use of reason. "By the concordant judgment of theologians and canonists," says Benedict XIV, "it has been determined that this ordination is to be considered valid but illicit, provided it labors under no substantial defect of matter, form, and intention in the ordaining Bishop; the contrary opinion, which has rare followers and which has never pleased the supreme tribunals and Congregations of the City, not being heeded."¹ It was disputed only to some extent whether the Episcopate can validly be received before the use of reason has been acquired. Today, however, this is commonly admitted (cf. St. Thomas, Supplement, q. 39, a. 2).

Nevertheless, an infant ordained in this way without his own will is bound by no obligations of clerics unless, fully master of his mind after completing the sixteenth year, he has ratified the ordination.²

Nor, in order that someone be capable of receiving a higher Order, is it required that he have received a lower Order. An exception, however, according to the much more common opinion, is the Episcopate, which cannot validly be conferred if the priesthood has not already been received (St. Alphonsus, VI, 793).

¹ Instruction Eo quamvis tempore, § 20, May 4, 1745.

² Benedict XIV, cited Instruction, § 28 sq.; Constitution Anno vertente, § 7 sq., May 19, 1750.

I. In infants and those perpetually without use of reason, no intention is required; this follows from the fact that they are incapable of eliciting an intention and yet, if they are ordained, they receive ordination validly (n. 604).

II. In adults intention or consent is required; habitual intention suffices. But it is disputed to some extent whether consent to the very Order to be received is required, or whether it suffices that the ordinand consent to the application of the external rite, although he does not wish to receive the Order (n. 40).

One who consents through grave fear, for example compelled by threats or terror, is indeed validly ordained; but as canon 214 has it: "A cleric who, compelled by grave fear, receives a sacred Order and afterward, once the fear has been removed, has not ratified the same ordination at least tacitly by the exercise of the Order, while nevertheless intending by such an act to subject himself to clerical obligations, is to be reduced to the lay state by sentence of a judge, after the coercion and the lack of ratification have been legitimately proved, without any obligations of celibacy and of the canonical hours. But coercion and lack of ratification must be proved according to the norm of canons 1993-1998."¹ These things, as is clear, do not pertain to him whom fear impressed from within, for example fear that, if the lay state is chosen, he will lead a miserable life, has led to Orders.

¹ Cf. A.A.S. 1931, p. 120 and p. 457 sq., where there are: 1° the remedy for preventing ordinations from fear; 2° the rules to be observed in processes concerning the nullity of sacred ordination or of the burdens inhering in sacred Orders.

— Incapable of orders, by divine law, is a man not baptized or of the feminine sex. And he who doubtfully is male cannot licitly aspire to orders, since he exposes all actions which demand sacred character to perpetual danger of nullity. The constant tradition and practice of the Church demonstrate that the masculine sex is required.

In an adult there is also required intention, or the will, at least habitual, that is, which was actual and has not been revoked, of receiving orders.

But what will? Since the sacrament works ex opere operato, consent to the application of the sacred rite seems to suffice. But he necessarily furnishes this who voluntarily permits the ordaining minister to exercise the sacred rite upon him, although internally he dissents. For this will is elicited by the prevailing will which moves the candidate to approach. So C. Gasparri, I, 644, appealing, n. 643, to Innocent III, in c. 3, § Item, De baptismo eiusque effectus (III, 42), which place others must interpret violently. Nevertheless the common opinion thinks that the ordination of him who approaches fictitiously is null. And according to this opinion the Holy Office responded on March 2, 1842 (Collectanea P. F., I, 946), and the response of the Holy Office, November 28, 1900 (Collectanea P. F., II, n. 2069), also favors it, although there it merely commands conditional repetition (cf. Wernz, II, 82, who has the nullity as indubitable).

— Corollaries. 1. Therefore the perpetually insane, infants in cradles, and those who consent coerced by grave fear are validly ordained. But a coerced cleric, unless, after the fear has been removed, he has ratified the ordination at least tacitly through the exercise of the order, willing nevertheless by such an act to subject himself to clerical obligations, after the coercion and defect of ratification have been legitimately proved, will be reduced to the lay state by sentence of a judge, without any obligations of celibacy or of canonical hours (c. 214).

But he is not coerced who by no external force, by no threats or terror induced, has been led to ordination, but persuaded by his own want of things or fear of a humble and laborious condition, or even of divine chastisement, has chosen the sacerdotal state.

But an ordained infant is bound by no obligation, unless he has ratified his ordination, fully possessed of himself and pubescent, indeed of full age.

For, resolving the case concerning Copts, who were accustomed to confer the diaconate even on infants, Benedict XIV, Instruction Eo quamvis, May 4, 1745, §28, ordered that those ordained thus, after completing sixteen years, be asked by the local Ordinary concerning their intention. He declares that this age was defined by him because at that age irrevocable religious Profession could be made. But since today the Code has assigned the age of completed twenty-one years to perpetual profession, consequently it seems that the option concerning the clerical state must be deferred to that age.

2. Invalidly ordained is one sleeping; a drunken adult who before had not had the intention of receiving the order; one who by external force is dragged to ordination; one who jokingly or by reciting a play presents himself to the one ordaining.

601. Preliminary note. Here we treat of those conditions which are required on the part of the subject for valid and licit ordination. For valid ordination three things are required, namely, that the ordinand: 1. be male; 2. be baptized; 3. have at least the habitual intention of receiving the order, if he is an adult. Of itself nothing prevents even infants from validly receiving orders, but such an ordination is subject to many inconveniences and is therefore obsolete today. The conditions required for valid ordination do not need a special explanation, and therefore we treat only of the qualities required for a worthy and licit ordination. All these qualities can be distributed into two categories, namely: 1. those qualities which regard rather the soul of the ordinand and are already prescribed by divine law; 2. those qualities which are rather extrinsic and are established by ecclesiastical law. Among these qualities established by ecclesiastical law, immunity from irregularities and impediments is preeminent; these must be treated specially. Hence we divide this chapter into three articles: 1. on the qualities required by divine law; 2. on the qualities required by ecclesiastical law; 3. on irregularities and impediments.

By divine law and by the very nature of the sacrament of Order, there are required in the ordinand: 1. divine vocation; 2. right intention; 3. the state of grace and probity of life.

602. 1. Divine vocation⁷⁴ is altogether necessary for receiving orders.

Therefore St. Paul says of the priesthood: "Neither does anyone take the honor to himself, but he who is called by God, as Aaron was. So Christ also did not glorify Himself that He might become a high priest, but He who spoke to Him: You are My Son."⁷⁵ Therefore the Apostles, considering the substitution of someone into the place of Judas Iscariot, prayed to God thus: "You, Lord, ... show whom You have chosen."⁷⁶ Christ said to the Apostles: "You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you,"⁷⁷ and elsewhere: "He who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold ... is a thief and a robber; but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep."⁷⁸ Even reason itself manifestly shows the necessity of divine vocation. For the priest is a) a mediator between God and men,⁷⁹ b) a dispenser of the mysteries of God.⁸⁰ Now, no one can arrogate to himself the office of mediator between two unless he is called or at least admitted by the parties whose interest is involved. Likewise, no one can licitly dispense the things of another unless he is legitimately deputed. From what has been said it follows that a greater and more special vocation is necessary for the clerical state than for the religious state. For in the religious state no greater power is conferred, but only the best means are provided for exercising the virtues and obtaining Christian perfection, to which all are called.

The signs of a clerical vocation are: a) right intention, by which one does not seek leisure or his own temporal advantage, but the honor of God and the spiritual salvation both of himself and of his neighbor;⁸¹ b) fitness for undertaking the offices of the clerical state, for example, sufficient learning and health; c) proven virtue and constancy of soul; hence all teach that it does not suffice for the ordinand to be absolved after sincere contrition from grave sins committed, but also that by a long exercise of the virtues he have provided moral certainty concerning a constant virtuous life;⁸² d) vocation by a legitimate ecclesiastical superior; therefore the Roman Catechism⁸³ says concisely: "Those are said to be called by God who are called by the legitimate ministers of the Church." Therefore a certain special internal attraction is by no means required for a priestly vocation. Three propositions approved and promulgated by a special commission of Cardinals by order of Pius X are to be noted: 1. "No one ever has any right to ordination antecedently to the free election of the bishop.⁸⁴ 2. The condition which must be attended to on the part of the ordinand, and which is called the priestly vocation, by no means consists (at least necessarily and by ordinary law) in a certain internal aspiration of the subject, or invitations of the Holy Spirit to enter the priesthood. 3. But, on the contrary, nothing more is required in the ordinand, in order that he be duly called by the bishop, than a right intention together with fitness placed in those gifts of grace and nature and proved by that probity of life and sufficiency of learning which provide a founded hope that he will be able rightly to discharge the offices of the priesthood and holily to observe its obligations."⁸⁵

⁷⁴ Divine vocation is rightly defined: a disposition of divine providence by which, according to His good pleasure, He chooses and sets apart certain men for the work of His ministry and grants them the qualities and graces necessary for it. Thus Abelly, Sacerdos christianus, p. 9.

⁷⁵ Heb. 5:4.

⁷⁶ Acts 1:24.

⁷⁷ John 15:16.

⁷⁸ John 10:1.

⁷⁹ Cf. St. Thomas, S. theol. 3, q. 22, a. 1.

⁸⁰ Cf. 1 Cor. 4:1.

⁸¹ Cf. St. Alphonsus, Theol. mor., l. 6, n. 802.

⁸² Cf. Council of Trent, sess. 23, c. 14.

⁸³ P. 2, c. 7, q. 3.

⁸⁴ Nevertheless, it by no means follows from this that a bishop can at will turn away a suitable person from receiving orders, since the Code of Canon Law, c. 971, establishes: "It is unlawful to turn away anyone ... canonically suitable [from the clerical state]."

⁸⁵ Acta Apost. Sed. IV (1912), 485. Lahitton wrote excellently on the priestly vocation, La vocation sacerdotale, 4th ed., Paris, 1914, which work is called by Cardinal Merry del Val "a masterly study" (Acta Apost. Sed. V [1913], 290).

603. 2. Right intention is likewise necessary in the ordinand, since it is a grave disorder to intend most holy things (such as orders) as instruments for obtaining vile things, such as all earthly things are.

Therefore the ordinand must intend before other things the glory of God, the salvation of souls, and other spiritual goods. But if as his principal end he intends leisure, temporal goods, honors, and so forth, he sins gravely; hence Cajetan deservedly says:⁸⁶ "If a layman were to direct the clerical state toward temporal goods as toward the end of the clerical state, without doubt he would sin mortally." Nothing prevents the ordinand who primarily intends spiritual goods from secondarily seeking temporal goods, at least insofar as they are necessary for sustaining life honestly and fittingly: "For those who serve the altar partake with the altar."⁸⁷

⁸⁶ Comm. in 2, 2, q. 185, a. 1.

⁸⁷ 1 Cor. 9:13.

604. 3. The state of grace and probity of life are required under grave obligation in the ordinand.

For the sacrament of Order is a sacrament of the living and therefore presupposes the state of grace in the recipient; this is further necessary because ordinands must receive the Eucharist on the day of their ordination. Concerning probity of life the Council of Trent admonishes: "Let bishops know that not all ... are to be assumed to these orders, but only the worthy, and those for whom a proven life may stand in place of old age."⁸⁸ The Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments issued on December 27, 1930, to local Ordinaries a new Instruction of the greatest importance in this matter concerning the scrutiny of students to be carried out before they are promoted to orders. Likewise, the Sacred Congregation of Religious issued on December 1, 1931, a similar Instruction to the supreme Moderators of religious institutes and clerical societies.⁸⁹

Besides the state of grace and probity of life, the Council of Trent⁹⁰ further requires that ordinands have received the sacrament of Confirmation before the first tonsure. The reason for this statute is easily evident; for the sacrament of Confirmation is of great service in obtaining constancy in the exercise of the virtues.

⁸⁸ Sess. 23, c. 12, De reform.

⁸⁹ Acta Apost. Sed. XXIII, 120 ff., and XXIV, 74 ff.

⁹⁰ Sess. 23, c. 4, De reform. The Code of Canon Law, c. 974, § 1, n. 1, establishes the same.

S. Th., Suppl., q. 39, aa. 1-2, and q. 36.

737. The capable subject of the sacrament of Order is only a baptized male (can. 968), and, if he is an adult, one having at least the habitual intention of receiving Order.

Therefore the following is incapable:

1. A woman, as is clear both from the Apostle teaching (I Cor. XIV, 34-35; I Tim. II, 11-13; Eph. V, 22, 24) that it is not permitted to a woman to speak in church, nor to teach, nor to have dominion over the man, but that she ought to learn in silence with all subjection; and from the practice and tradition of the Church. The reason is that in a woman the signification of the sacrament is lacking, as St. Thomas says, q. 39, a. 1: "since in the female sex no eminence of grade can be signified, because the woman has a state of subjection, therefore she cannot receive the sacrament of Order." St. Bonaventure adds, in IV, d. 25, that the mediator, Christ, whose embassy priests discharge, is a man, not a woman.

2. One not baptized, because Baptism is the gate and foundation of the other sacraments, since with the baptismal character a man becomes capable of validly receiving those other sacred things.

3. An adult who lacks an intention at least habitual, i.e., once had and not retracted, of receiving Order, as is clear from the general principles of sacramental theology (nn. 92-93).

Hence: a) Infants and the perpetually insane are validly ordained, but illicitly; nor are they held thereby by any obligation, unless, after sufficient use of reason has been attained, they make an option for the order received and thus ratify the order, as Benedict XIV says, instr. Eo quamvis, May 4, 1745, § 23.

b) The intoxicated and the sleeping are validly ordained, if they previously had an intention not retracted.

c) Those are invalidly ordained who, coerced by physical force, are altogether resisting.

d) Likewise one is invalidly ordained who approaches fictitiously, or who permits the rite to be done upon himself in the manner of one joking and playing.

e) One who, coerced by grave fear, consents, is validly ordained; but afterward, once the fear has been removed, he can either ratify the ordination at least by the exercise of Order, thus wishing to subject himself to the obligations, or, after obtaining the sentence of a judge, be reduced to the lay state without any obligations (can. 214, § 1).

f) Episcopae, presbyterae, deaconesses, of whom there is mention in the history of the primitive Church, did not receive sacramental ordination, but sometimes a merely ceremonial one.

g) A hermaphrodite, if there is such, is validly ordained provided the masculine sex predominates in him.

I say 1°. Only a baptized male validly receives sacred ordination ... (Can. 968, § 1, as below).

For women by divine institution are altogether incapable of any Order, both from Sacred Letters, especially I Timothy ii, 11 and 12; and I Corinthians xiv, 34; and from the perpetual practice of the Church and the unanimous consent of the Fathers and of all Doctors. It is required besides that the one to be ordained be baptized, because since Baptism is the gate of the Church, no sacrament can be validly received when it has not been received. Cf. St. Alphonsus, n. 781 and following.

I say 2°. § 1. Only a baptized male validly receives sacred ordination; but licitly, one who, according to the norm of the sacred canons, is endowed with the due qualities in the judgment of his proper Ordinary, and is held by no irregularity or other impediment.

§ 2. Those who are held by an irregularity or other impediment, although arising after ordination even without their own fault, are prohibited from exercising the orders received (Can. 968).

§ 1. That someone may licitly be ordained, there are required:

1°. Sacred confirmation received;

2°. Morals congruent with the order to be received;

3°. Canonical age;

4°. Due knowledge;

5°. Reception of the inferior orders;

6°. Observance of interstices;

7°. A canonical title, if there is question of major orders.

§ 2. As regards episcopal consecration, let the prescription of can. 331 be observed (Can. 974).

"A twofold vocation is customarily distinguished: one ordinary, which is made by God, or by God's institution, through the consent and cooperation of those men whom it concerns; in this way a Pastor is called from the consent of the Bishop, a Bishop from the consent of the Pontiff; the other extraordinary, which is made immediately by God; in this way Moses, the Prophets, and the Apostles were called." - Becanus, Controv. l. 1, c. 12, n. 4. "As regards their ordinary vocation (he is speaking about priests and bishops), almost the same things must be considered in it which are considered in the vocation of the Ministers of the Mosaic law: 1. Election or designation of a certain person. 2. Purification. 3. Consecration or Ordination. 4. Application to the use of the Ministry. Election is not made through natural propagation ... but through the vote and consent of the clergy, whose part it is to choose suitable persons for the Ecclesiastical Ministry. In this way ... the Bishop or his Vicar chooses Priests and Pastors for his diocese. Purification, if we precisely consider the divine law of the New Testament, is not necessarily external and ceremonial, as it was in the Mosaic law, but internal and spiritual; it consists especially in purity of soul, in probity of life, in doctrine of faith, and in other virtues which are required in the Ministers of the Church ... If we consider Ecclesiastical law, certain external purifications are required ... tonsure, etc. Consecration or Ordination must be made by a Bishop through imposition of hands. Mission is also made by the Ministers of the Church ... for example, subjects are assigned." Ibid., nn. 24 and following.

Who, therefore, are those whom the Ministers of the Church choose? "The things which you have heard from me through many witnesses, commend these to faithful men who will be suitable also to teach others." II Timothy ii, 2. Therefore suitability must especially be considered in candidates. This natural and supernatural suitability is always necessary; it surely includes right intention in the subject himself concerning the choosing of his state. God could make known to anyone by revelation the state to be chosen by him. But since he has not done this, it is incumbent upon each one, according to the rules approved by reason itself and by the Church, freely to choose a state. The ordinary manner has already been described in the election of the state of religious life. The one about to choose wishes to increase the glory of God in the better manner in which he can; he knows that of himself he can do nothing; he wishes to gain souls for Christ; God will give grace; no natural impediments are present, or at least none difficult to overcome; he has a good, pious, strong character, sufficient knowledge; meanwhile he prays to God, whom reason dictates to him he will please if he becomes a priest: "I shall become one," he says: "I shall choose this life." He chooses securely as far as is from himself; but the whole matter does not depend upon himself. He does not have a right to ordination, although he has every suitability: "Since no one ought to be ordained who, in the judgment of his Bishop, is not useful or necessary to his churches, the holy synod, adhering to the footsteps of the sixth canon of the Council of Chalcedon, has established that no one in the future be ordained who is not assigned to that Church or pious place for whose necessity or utility he is taken up, where he may perform his duties, nor wander with uncertain seats." Council of Trent, sess. 23, c. 16. The priesthood pertains to the Ministry of the New Law; vocation to it pertains to those whom it concerns, that is, Bishops. It is theirs to choose suitable men, namely those who possess all the gifts of nature and grace by which they give hope that they will work with fruit in the vineyard of the Lord. These, when fitting studies have been finished, hear these words in ordination: "Until now you are free; it is lawful for you, according to your judgment, to pass over to secular vows. If it pleases you to persevere in the holy purpose, in the name of the Lord approach hither." Therefore vocation to the priesthood is election by God, through the Bishop, to priestly work. Thus the Catechism of Pius X: "Can each one enter Orders according to his own judgment? No one can enter Orders according to his own judgment, but he must be called by God through his own Bishop, that is, he must have the vocation with the virtues and with the aptitudes for the sacred ministry required by them." Catechismo, P. III, n. 403.

Behold the letter of Cardinal Merry del Val handing down the judgment of the Commission of Cardinals given 20 June 1912: "That the work of the distinguished man, Canon Joseph Lahitton, whose title is La Vocation Sacerdotale, is in no way to be reproved; indeed, insofar as it asserts: 1°. That no one ever has a right to ordination antecedently to the free election of the Bishop; 2°. That the condition which must be attended to on the part of the one to be ordained, and which is called priestly vocation, by no means consists, at least necessarily and by ordinary law, in some internal aspiration of the subject, or invitations of the Holy Spirit toward entering the priesthood; 3°. But on the contrary, that nothing more is required in the one to be ordained, so that he may rightly be called by the Bishop, than a right intention together with suitability placed in those gifts of grace and nature, and proved through probity of life and sufficiency of doctrine, which make founded hope that he will be able rightly to fulfill the duties of the priesthood and holy to observe its obligations: is to be excellently praised." Acta Apost. Sedis: v. 4, p. 485. 2 July 1912.

This is the notion of priestly vocation properly so called; and it must altogether be distinguished from the rather usual notion of vocation accepted in a broader sense, of which a brilliant example is had in the same fascicle of the same Commentary, A. A. S. v. 4, p. 493, in the Circular Letters of the S. C. Consistorial concerning the Seminaries of Italy; various ordinances are given, among which is found also this one, n. 2: "Besides, the promiscuous mixing of students who are not called and of others who are called to the Ecclesiastical state always turns out fatal to these latter, and according to what experience has already demonstrated, causes the ruin of many vocations." Again by the S. Congregation of Bishops and Regulars concerning the same Seminaries, it is commended to the Rector at art. 30 that he watch over the sincerity and evolution of the priestly vocation of the students (18 January 1908), and at art. 86. - Cf. Leo XIII, 8 Sept. 1899. Pius IX, Cum Romani, 28 June 1853. Gregory XIII, Quoniam divinae, speaks about young men from England "who, led by the divine Spirit, will offer themselves," etc. 9 January 1580, and very many other places. - Cf. Lahitton, La Vocation Sacerdotale.

I say 3°. For licitly receiving the Subdiaconate there is required besides a title of honest support. But if after the Subdiaconate has been received the title perishes, one cannot ascend to a superior Order without a new title. It is established from the Council of Trent, sess. 21, ch. 2, on Reform. - Cf. Second Plenary Council of Baltimore, n. 323.

I say 4°. § 1. Let no one from among seculars be ordained who in the judgment of his proper Bishop is not necessary or useful to the churches of the diocese.

§ 2. Nevertheless a Bishop is not prohibited from promoting his own subject, who in the future, after previous legitimate excardination and incardination, is destined for the service of another diocese (Can. 969).

The clear reason of the prohibition is in this, lest those enrolled in the divine ministry beg, to the disgrace of the Order, or exercise some sordid gain: Council of Trent, sess. 21, c. 2; or lest being idle they entangle themselves in a secular manner of living and in worldly affairs. S. C. de Propaganda Fide, August 1827.