DIMISSORY LETTERS. - Authorization that an Ordinary grants, normally in writing, to a bishop (even if unspecified, who as a rule should be of the same rite as the ordinand and in any case in communion with the Holy See) so that he may lawfully proceed to the ordination of a subject of the grantor. They are always necessary, in order that one may lawfully proceed to the ordination of someone who is not a subject of the ordaining bishop (can. 955).
They cannot lawfully be granted before the qualities of the ordinand have been ascertained and before he has the documents with the relevant testimonies prescribed by the CIC (can. 993).
The religious superior, in exempt religious orders, must in the dimissorial letters attest that the ordinand has already made his solemn profession, that he belongs to a religious house subject to him, that he has completed the necessary studies and that in general he possesses the requirements demanded by the CIC (can. 995); such dimissorial letters must be addressed to the bishop of the diocese in which the religious house of the ordinand is located (can. 965), except for certain strictly defined exceptions (can. 966).
Besides the bishop, after he has taken possession of the diocese, the vicar general may grant dimissorial letters, provided he has a special mandate from the bishop; the capitular vicar may also grant them, though always with the consent of the Chapter (and moreover, if a year has not elapsed since the vacancy of the episcopal see, a specific necessity of providing for a determined office or benefice must also concur); so too may the vicar and the apostolic prefect, as well as the abbot or prelate nullius, even when they are not bishops (can. 958). Once granted, they confer on the ordinand a right to ordination, which does not lapse should the grantor, for any reason, cease from his office before the conferral of the Order, but which can cease through revocation (can. 963).
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Enrico Zanetta