INTRUSION. - Intrusion, in the strict sense, occurs when the provision of a benefice is made, at least at the act of collation, not by the competent ecclesiastical authority but either by the intruder himself who substitutes himself for it, or by the lay power or by the relatives or supporters of the person to be invested.
It is customary to distinguish another kind of intrusion, which takes place when the provision is invalid not for reasons of incompetence but for other reasons (censure, simoniacal contamination, etc.).
Finally there is intrusion in the broad sense, when the provision is merely unlawful, either because of the incapacity of the passive subject or because of the lack of some requirement that renders the provision rescindable.
The intruder, in the proper sense, is one who seizes the ecclesiastical benefice without canonical provision (can. 1437) "Intrusus - as it stands in the sources - dicitur qui praeter auctoritatem superioris ad quem pertinet collatio beneficium est ingressus." Against intrusion, the Church waged the harshest struggles to free herself from the interference of princes who, at certain moments of history, claimed not only to impose their candidates but also to confer canonries and bishoprics independently of the Holy See (v. INVESTITURES, struggle of); and the Council of Trent decrees: "Si quis dixerit... eos qui nec ab ecclesiastica et canonica potestate rite ordinati nec missi sunt, sed aliunde veniunt, legitimos esse Verbi et Sacramentorum ministros, anathema sit" (sess. 25, can. 7; Denz-U, 967).
In current law, intrusion, according to the diversity of cases, has the effect of nullity, invalidity, or merely unlawfulness of the provision, and the intruder is punished with penalties ranging from suspension, deprivation of the benefice, offices, and dignity, to incapacity and, if the case requires it, even deposition; by which penalties the intruder will be compelled to withdraw immediately, upon admonition, from the occupation, governance, or administration he has seized. Moreover, Chapters, and all others who admit those elected, presented, or nominated before the exhibition of the necessary letters of confirmation or institution, remain suspended from their right, at the good pleasure of the Apostolic See (can. 2394, 3°).
Bibliography3 works
Innocenzo Parisella