INTRUSION. — Intrusion, in the strict sense, occurs when, in the provision of a benefice, at least in the act of collation, it is not the competent ecclesiastical authority that intervenes, but either the intruder himself, who takes its place, or the secular power, or the relatives or supporters of the person to be invested.
It is customary to distinguish another kind of intrusion, which occurs when the provision is invalid not for reasons of incompetence, but for other reasons (censure, simoniacal contamination, etc.).
Finally, intrusion in the broad sense occurs when the provision is merely illicit, either because of the incapacity of the passive subject or because of the absence of some requirement that makes the provision rescindable.
The intruder, in the proper sense, is one who usurps an ecclesiastical benefice without canonical provision (can. 1437): «Intrusus - thus in the sources - dicitur qui praeter
auctoritatem superioris ad quem pertinet collatio beneficium est ingressus ». Against intrusion, the Church waged the hardest struggles in order to free herself from the interference of princes who, at certain moments in history, claimed not only to impose their candidates, but also to confer canonries and bishoprics independently of the Holy See (v. INVESTITURE, struggle over); and the Council of Trent decrees: « Si quia 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).
Under the law currently in force, intrusion, according to the diversity of cases, results in the nullity, invalidity, or merely the unlawfulness of the provision, and the intruder is punished with penalties ranging from suspension, deprivation of the benefice, offices, and dignities, to incapacity and, should the case require it, deposition itself; by these penalties, the intruder will be compelled, immediately upon admonition, to withdraw from the usurped occupation, governance, or administration. Furthermore, Chapters, and all others who admit those elected, presented, or nominated before the necessary letters of confirmation or institution have been produced, remain suspended from their right at the pleasure of the Apostolic See (can. 2394, 3°).