DISSACRAZIONE. – It is the act by which an object, a place of worship, or a cleric is deprived of the quality of sacredness acquired through consecration or ordination. An ecclesiastic who has rendered himself unworthy of the sacred ministry through offenses for which he has incurred particular penalties is deconsecrated by means of a formula prescribed in the Pontificale romano (Degradationis forma), by which, in addition to the individual insignia of the Sacred Orders, the faculties he has acquired are also removed; moreover, his hands, if they have been anointed, are lightly scraped in order to remove the holy anointing. In this d., the procedure begins with the last Order the offender has received and proceeds successively, one after another, to the first; for example, from the archiepiscopal pallium to the first tonsure.
A church loses its consecration when it is wholly destroyed or when most of the building has collapsed, or when the Ordinary of the place converts it to profane use according to the norm of can. 1187. Since the consecration or blessing of a church does not concern the floor but the entire building, especially the walls, and not merely their inner surface, the church is not deconsecrated when the high altar is deconsecrated (S. Congr. dei Riti, decr. 3651), when only the roof is restored, when all the plaster has fallen (decr. 3545, 2; 3062, 1), or when part of the walls has collapsed (decr. 3326, 1). The same is to be said if the entire building, but always in smaller sections and at different times, is renewed (decr. 3269, 2). A church or a public oratory, if deconsecrated, must be consecrated or blessed again (can. 1191 § 1). A fixed altar loses its consecration when the mensa is detached, even temporarily, from its base (can. 1200 § 1; S. Congregazione dei Riti, decr. 3605, 7). Such a mensa, separated from its support, cannot be used as a portable altar (decr. 3198), unless the sacred stone is placed upon II. The d. of a church does not extend also to the altars, and vice versa (can. 1200 § 4), because church and altar each have their own consecration, one distinct from the other. Sacred furnishings lose their consecration or blessing if they are so damaged or altered that they have lost their original form and are no longer suited to their use, or if they have been employed for an improper use or displayed for public sale (can. 1305 § 1; V. ALTARE; CALICE; CHIESA; PATENA; PIESIDE).