INAMOVIBILITÀ. — It is a quality inherent in certain ecclesiastical benefices, whereby the holder is invested with them in perpetuity and may be removed only for causes established by law.
The Catholic Church, in its early period, had not established an i. for priests and in this followed the example of the Jewish laws. St. Paul himself states generically: et constitutus per civitates presbyteros (Tit. 1:5). The reasons subsequently adduced for i. were the indissoluble bond of spiritual marriage contracted between the Church and the holder (cf. Gregorio Nisseno, Oratio Iunbris: PG 46, 852; St. Girolamo, Epist. 69 ad Ocean., PL 92, 658); and the danger of ambition and avarice. In the East, the first provision in this matter is found in canon 15 of the Council of Nicaea: Propter multam turbationem et seditiones quae finet placuit consuetudinem omnimodis amputari quae praeter regulam in quibusdam partibus videtur admissa, ita ut de civitate ad civitatem non episcopus, non presbyter, non diaconus transferatur. This prohibition was repeated by canon 6 of the Council of Chalcedon. In the West, the first prohibition dates from the time of Pope Damasus, at the Synod of 380 (canon 9); it subsequently passed into the Council of Carthage of the year 397 (canon 38) and into the Statuta Ecclesiae antiqua (canon 27: PL 56, 870), and was repeated by Leo I: Si quis episcopus civitatis suae mediocritate despecta administrationem loci celebrioris ambierit et ad maiorem se plebem quaecumque ratione transdutit, a cathedra quidem pellatur aliena, sed carebit et propria: ut nec illis praesidam quos per avaritiam concupivit, nec illis quos per superbiam sprevit (Epist. 14: ibid. 54, 674; Nov. 3, c. 2). This law, moreover, was not absolute but dispensable, as is attested by the various transfers permitted in the East. St. Gregorio I, prompted by historical circumstances, made this institution more flexible, and his innovation was fully inherited by the succeeding centuries.
In contemporary canon law, i. is retained only for certain offices, particularly for benefices and parishes in which this attribute finds complete application; episcopal sees are not mentioned because today they are almost entirely reserved to the Holy See. The holder of these offices, having received canonical mission, possesses the benefice in perpetuity, and the Ordinary may not remove him except for clearly determined causes
(can. 192 § 2). The causes for removal must be contemplated by law, and the removal must take place by means of a criminal trial: the sentence, notwithstanding any contrary custom or privilege, must be pronounced by three judges (can. 1576 § 1, no. 1). An appeal with suspensive effect to the higher tribunal is permitted against this sentence; moreover, when the law establishes the penalty of deprivation of a benefice, judicial correction may not be used (can. 1948 no. 1). As a result of the sentence, the benefice becomes fully vacant. An irremovable parish priest must be removed by administrative process (can. 454 § 2, cann. 2147–2156). The CIC favors i., providing that parishes erected in the future are to be irremovable, unless particular circumstances of place and persons recommend otherwise (can. 456 § 3).