EXAMS (from Latin *examen*, Greek ἐξάγω, *exigo*). — In its most common meaning, it denotes the test to which a candidate is subjected in order to ascertain his learning or suitability for a particular purpose. It is the means employed by public authority to document the degree of general or specialized education of certain individuals, or to verify their fitness for an office, or to qualify them for the exercise of a profession.
The Church is the oldest institution that has, for centuries, maintained its own system of exams. The Council of Trent extended their scope and perfected the system. In the current discipline of the *Codex Iuris Canonici* (CIC), a substantial body of exams is envisaged through which the Church exercises rigorous control, especially over those destined to become its ministers, to occupy public offices, or to perform public functions. Various categories of exams may be distinguished.
II. SECONDARY AND ACADEMIC EXAMS
Relevant for admission to ecclesiastical status are the exams for classical maturity, philosophy, and theology. Foreseen in the CIC, in the canons concerning intellectual formation in seminaries (canons 1364–66), they are regulated by various laws, instructions, and decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Seminaries and Universities of Studies, as set forth in the Ordinances of the years 1920 (Ordinance of Seminaries) and by the norms of 25 March 1936, relating to regional seminaries.The higher exams for the attainment of academic degrees are governed by the apostolic constitution *Deus scientiarum Dominus*, 24 May 1931, by the ordinances of the Sacred Congregation of Seminaries and Universities of Studies, 12 June 1931, and by the particular statutes of individual faculties and universities.
III. EXAMS FOR HONORARY STATUS
Of preeminent importance are, first, the exams for sacred ordinations and for fitness for the clerical state. Every candidate, before being promoted to any order, must undergo a prior diligent examination regarding the order to which he aspires. For candidates to major orders, a specified number of theological treatises must also be examined according to programs fixed by the bishop, who also determines the method of examination and the examining board (canon 966). The exam for clerics, whether secular or religious, is received by the local Ordinary, who by right possesses the power of ordination. The bishop who ordains a cleric may, if he deems it necessary, require of him a new exam, even if he has already been examined and duly furnished with letters of dismissal, and may even reject him if he finds him unfit (canon 997). All this was already foreseen and imposed by the Council of Trent (session XXIII, canons 3, 7 *de ref.*).A peculiar feature of ecclesiastical discipline, and particularly expressive of the unremitting zeal with which the Church ensures the fitness of its ministers, are the triennial exams after ordination, designed to verify the theological, juridical, and pastoral culture of individuals already engaged in the first experiences of ministry. For at least three years, every newly ordained priest, even if already in possession of a parochial or canonical benefice, is obliged to undergo an exam on predetermined theological subjects according to the modalities prescribed by the Ordinary. The successful outcome of such an exam constitutes a title of qualification for the conferral of offices and benefices (canon 130). Sanctions at the discretion of the Ordinary are envisaged against the recalcitrant (canon 2176). The same exam is obligatory for religious priests for at least five years after completing their course of studies (canon 590).
Parallel to the exams for fitness for the clerical state, the legislator provides distinct exams for fitness for the married state, which the betrothed are obliged to undergo before the parish priest (canons 1020 § 2), and for the religious state, the latter being reserved to the religious institutes themselves and to be conducted by the local Ordinary or his delegate (canon 552). No exam is explicitly prescribed for religious, although it was required in the law prior to the CIC; it is, however, implied in the canons concerning the requirements for admission of the novice (canons 542–45) and is generally imposed in various particular legislations.
III. QUALIFYING EXAMS
Of great importance is the category of exams qualifying for ecclesiastical offices and various professions. Canon 149 establishes, as a general principle, that the Ordinary, to whom the provision of an office pertains, may always require a special exam whenever he deems it opportune, even for offices for which such an exam is not specifically prescribed by law, in order to ascertain the candidate’s fitness.Great importance is attached in ecclesiastical discipline to the exam of candidates for parochial benefices, that is, those called to be shepherds of souls. This exam, the grave responsibility of which devolves upon the bishops’ learning, is to be conducted before a board of syndicated examiners presided over by the bishop or his delegate, and shall concern the theological learning of the candidate, who may not be dispensed therefrom unless he be a priest whose theological competence is already known and documented by other titles (canon 459 § 2 nn. 3, 4).
Distinct and rigorous exams are also specifically prescribed for the offices of preacher and confessor (canons 1340, 877). Should there arise a founded doubt concerning the doctrine of those approved, the bishop may compel them to a new exam, under penalty of revocation of their faculties. Exams are likewise required of candidates for the offices of theological canon and penitentiary canon in cathedral chapters, in those regions where the law of competition for the respective prebends is in force (canon 399 § 2).
For habilitation to teach sacred disciplines, the exams for the respective academic degrees of licentiate and doctor are presupposed; these degrees are sometimes required or constitute a title of preference for admission to certain offices and professions (canons 331 § 1 n. 5, 367 § 1, 396 § 3, 399 § 1, 404 § 2, 437 § 4, 1598, etc.).
For the profession of advocate before the Sacred Roman Rota and the Sacred Congregation of Rites, as well as for admission to various offices of the Roman Curia and of secular courts, the obligation of a special exam obtains by virtue of particular law.
Zaccaria da Sant'Anna