Order and Ordination

ORDER AND ORDINATION. - Order is the Sacrament, instituted by Jesus Christ, by which the ministers of Christian worship are constituted.

I. THE SACRAMENT OF ORDER

I. INSTITUTION OF THE PRIESTHOOD OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

Jesus, by right of nature and by divine vocation High Priest of the New Covenant (Heb. 4:14), since he had to withdraw his sensible presence (John 16:6-7) and at the same time render the economy of salvation both perpetual and visible (Luke 24:45-48), from the very beginning of his public life chose certain disciples, whom he educated with every care. As the crowning of this doctrinal formation, at the moment in which he instituted the Sacrifice of the Mass (v.), with a supernatural investiture, which he expressed in the words: "Do this in memory of me" (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24), he transmitted to them the power to renew the unbloody offering, the perpetual memorial of the immolation of Calvary. On the day of the Resurrection and of the Ascension, conferring upon those same Apostles the power to forgive sins (John 20:21-23) and the threefold power to instruct, sanctify and govern all nations (Matt. 28:19-20), he established them as representatives of God among men (descending mediation), whereas at the Last Supper he had constituted them representatives of men before God (ascending mediation).

True priests of the New Testament, in whom the promises of the Prophets had been fulfilled (cf. Isa. 66:20-23; Mal. 1:10-11), the Apostles felt with pride the honor of the divine investiture: "Everyone should regard us as ministers of Christ and stewards (οἰκόνουσα) of the mysteries of God" (1 Cor. 4:1); God "has made us fit ministers of the New Covenant" (2 Cor. 3:6) "entrusting to us the ministry of reconciliation" (ibid. 5:18) "so that we are ambassadors for Christ" (ibid. 5:20).

II. THE THREE DEGREES OF THE PRIESTHOOD

The Apostles transmitted the priestly power, of which they possessed the fullness, to a threefold class of persons subordinate among themselves, in such a way as to form a hierarchy (hierarchia Ordinis). In fact, in the nascent Church bishops, presbyters and deacons appear always and everywhere.

In Jerusalem, on the morrow of the dispersion of the Apostles (ca. 44) caused by the persecution of Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:3), James, the brother of the Lord (Gal. 1:19), became the recognized head of the local Church (Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21:18-19; Gal. 2:9, 12; cf. Hegesippus, in Eusebius, Hist. eccl., II, 23; PG 20, 195), with all the prerogatives of a bishop (cf. J. Colson, L'évêque dans les communautés primitives, Paris 1951, pp. 21-26). He stands out not only as the president, but above all as the bond of unity of the college of presbyters, who gather around him (Acts 21:18-19), as previously around the Apostles (ibid. 15:6-29). In the same community, from the very beginnings, the seven ministers of the tables had been appointed (ibid. 6:1-7), commonly regarded as deacons (cf. S. Bihel, De septem diaconis, in Antonianum, 3 [1928], pp. 129-50). In the Churches founded by St. Paul, deacons are mentioned (Phil. 1:1; I Tim. 3:8), and presbyters (Acts 14:22; 20:17; I Tim. 5:17, 19; Tit. 1:5), to whom the title of bishops is indiscriminately given (Acts 20:28; Tit. 1:7). Even taking into account the heated controversy over whether or not true bishops existed in the Pauline Churches while the Apostle was still alive (cf. A. M. Vellico, De Ecclesia Christi, Rome 1940, pp. 329-42), it is undeniable that around Paul, supreme head and spiritual bond of all the communities founded by him, there gathered a college of presbyters, assisted by deacons: the three-membered hierarchy emerges here too. Likewise in the communities of Asia Minor, created at the end of the 1st century under the influence of the apostle St. John. Precise testimonies are offered by the letters of St. Ignatius for the churches of Ephesus (2, 2; 4, 1; 20, 2), of Magnesia (3, 1-2; 4; 6, 1; 13, 1-2), of Tralles (2, 1-3; 3, 1), of Philippi (4; 7, 1-2), of Smyrna (8, 1-2; 9, 1; cf. A. Casamassa, I Padri Apostolici, Rome 1938, pp. 185-89). This tripartite hierarchy, from the very origins, exercised in different degree and manner true priestly functions, concerning the Sacrifice (e.g., the bishop performs the eucharistic rite: a fact explicitly attested by St. Ignatius [Phil. 4, 1], by St. Irenaeus [in Eusebius, Hist. eccl., V, 24, 16-17; PG 20, 507]; St. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, celebrates the eucharistic Sacrifice in the presence of Pope Anicetus at Rome), by St. Justin [I Apol., 65 and 67; PG 6, 427, 430]) and the Sacraments (e.g., St. Peter and St. John impose hands on the baptized for Confirmation [Acts 8:17], St. Paul, as bishop, ordains with the imposition of hands [I Tim. 4:14; II Tim. 1:6], presbyters administer Extreme Unction [Jas. 5:12-15], deacons baptize [Acts 8:26-40]).

Such a hierarchy is held from the beginning to be of divine origin: « Omnes episcopum sequimini, ut Jesus Christi patrem, et presbyterium ut Apostolos, diaconos autem revereamini ut Dei mandatum: οὐ Θεοῦ ἐντολήν, (St. Ignatius M., Smirn., 8, 1; cf. id., Ad Eph., 6, 1; Magn. 6, 1; Ad Trall., 3, 1; Phil., 7, 1-2). Jesus therefore, before ascending to heaven, during the forty days in which he conversed with the Apostles about the constitution of the Church (Acts 1:3), must have imparted precise norms concerning the hierarchy of the O., which

The Apostles applied these scrupulously to the newly founded Christian communities, as St. Clement of Rome acknowledges (I Cor. 42, 2, 4). Later (3rd-5th centuries) the Church, by its own authority, added to the hierarchy of divine origin other lower grades: subdiaconate, acolytate, exorcistate, lectorate, ostiariate (v. these entries).

III. TRANSMISSION OF THE THREE DEGREES

From the very beginning the Apostles alone, in whom resided the fullness of priestly powers, conferred Ordination on deacons (Acts 6:6), on presbyters (Acts 14:23) and on bishops (I Tim. 4:14; II Tim. 1:6). Timothy and Titus were probably the first disciples of Paul, to whom the Apostle conferred the episcopate, giving them pre-eminence over a particular community (Timothy at Ephesus and Titus at Crete), even though he reserved to himself the high direction of the Churches founded by him.

This initial practice became explicit teaching in the most ancient liturgical documents, for example, in the Ἀποστολική παράδοσις of Hippolytus of Rome (beginning of the 3rd century). «Presbyter... non habet potestatem dandi clerum, ideo non poterit constituere clericos» (8, 7-8, ed. A. Casamassa, Rome 1947, p. 19 [for private use]) and in the Didascalia Syriaca (3rd century) (3,20). In the 4th century the Fathers gave a clearer formulation: «What does the bishop do that the presbyter does not also do, except Ordination (excepta Ordinatione)?» (St. Jerome, Ep., 146, 1: PL 22, 1194); «Bishops are superior to priests only in the power of ordaining» (St. John Chrysostom, Hom. II in Tim., n. 1: PG 62, 553); likewise St. Epiphanius (Haer., 75, 4: PG 42, 507), who did not hesitate to call Aerius mad, who was the first (can. 375) to attribute to priests the power of ordaining (ibid.). To this doctrine, confirmed by a constant and universal practice, two pontifical documents have recently been opposed, by which the faculty of ordaining priests and deacons would have been granted to simple priests, though invested with the title of abbots. In 1924 it was printed for the third time (the first ed. is from 1911 [F. Beck], the second from 1921 [F. Gilmann]) by F. Fofi (Un singolare privilegio riguardante il ministro dell'O. sacro, in La scuola cattolica 52 [1924], pp. 177-88), who transcribed it from the papal registers, the bull Sacrae religioni, with which Boniface IX in 1400 granted to the abbot of the Canons Regular of St. Osith (diocese of London) to «conferre libere et licite» to his subjects «omnes minores necnon subdiaconatus, diaconatus et presbyteratus ordines, statutis de iure temporibus». The discovery caused a stir, but a careful examination of the terminology and of the circumstances in which the bull was promulgated, and shortly afterwards (1403) revoked, allows us to conclude that the expression «libere et licite ordinare», according to the style of the time, is to be understood of the faculty of granting dimissorial letters for Ordination, which a bishop of the abbot's free choice could have done, independently of the Bishop of London (cf. J. Puig de la Bellacasa, La bulla «Sacrae religioni» de Bonifacio IX, in Estudios eclesiást., 4 [1925], pp. 3-19, 113-37; F. Cappello, De Sacra Ordinatione, Rome 1935, pp. 249-59; Ch. Journet, L'Eglise du Verbe Incarné, I, Paris 1941, p. 112, n. 2).

In 1489 Innocent VIII issued the bull Exposcit in favor of Giovanni de Cirey, abbot of Cîteaux, and of the abbots of La Ferté, Pontigny, Clairvaux, Morimond, granting them the privilege of conferring the subdiaconate and the diaconate on their own monks «ne extra claustrum hinc inde discurrere cogantur». The bull was printed in the Collectanea Cisterciensium privilegiorum (Dijon 1491, Paris 1713) and its value was widely discussed (cf. Pie de Langogne, De bulla innocentiana, Rome 1902). Today not a few doubt its authenticity, since after much research neither the authentic copy has been found among the Cistercians, nor the draft in the Vatican Archives; some therefore hold that the document was fabricated by the famous forgers of papal bulls, of whom one was hanged precisely in 1489, all the more so since it contains an unusual privilege, granted in so plain a form, as if it were a normal matter; de Cirey, a simple man, could have been deceived. Nor are defenders of its authenticity lacking, however (for example, C. Baisi, Il ministro straordinario degli O. sacramentali, Rome 1937, pp. 13-28; Y. Congar, Faits, problèmes et réflexions à propos du pouvoir d'Ordre et des rapports entre le presbyterat et l'épiscopat, in La Maison Dieu, 14 [1947], pp. 107-128). Since the question is still sub iudice, nothing certain can be deduced against the common teaching. Recent is the discussion on a bull of Martin V: La bulle «Gerentes ad vos» de Martin V, in Collect. Ord. Cist. Reformatorum, 1951, pp. 1-7, 197-205.

IV. MATTER AND FORM OF THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS

From all the documents of the Church it emerges that Ordination was constantly conferred with the imposition of hands accompanied by a prayer, which specifies and determines its meaning, according to the different grades of the hierarchy.

Scripture opens the series of testimonies: Acts 6:6: "Hos (septem) statuerunt ante conspectum Apostolorum et orantes imposuerunt eis manus" (Ordination of deacons); Acts 14:23: "Et cum (Paulus et Barnabas) constituissent (χειροτονήσαντες) illis per singulas Ecclesias presbyteros et orassent (προσευξάμενοι) cum ieiunationibus, commendaverunt eos Domino in quem crediderunt" (presbyteral Ordination). Much discussed, on the other hand, is the text of Acts 13:2-3, concerning the Ordination of Paul and Barnabas: "Tunc ieiunantes et orantes imponentesque eis manus (προσευξάμενοι καὶ ἐπιθέντες τὰς χεῖρας) dimiserunt illos"; Coppens (v. bibl., pp. 131-133) considers the ceremony a true episcopal Ordination, with the rite by then fixed of the imposition of hands and the concomitant prayer, made, in this case, by extraordinary ministers, chosen directly by God. Two texts of the pastoral letters seem to speak of a true episcopal Ordination: I Tim. 4:14 "Noli negligere Gratiam (χαρίσματος), quae in te est, quae data est tibi per prophetiam cum impositione manuum presbyterii". St. Paul alludes to the assumption of Timothy to the ministry, which took place through two successive acts: the designation of the person made by some prophet (per prophetiam) present in the community (a case analogous to the choice of Barnabas and Paul, in Acts 13:2), the imposition of hands, carried out by the Apostle and by the college of presbyters of the place (Ephesus, according to many Catholic exegetes, Lystra of Pisidia according to Protestant authors). The effect of this rite is a permanent gift (χάρισμα), on which Timothy can count in order to be faithful to his ministry. Another text: II Tim. 1:6: "Propter quam causam admoneo te ut resuscites Gratiam Dei quae est in te per impositionem manuum mearum". St. Paul no longer recalls the presence of the prophets and the intervention of the presbyters, circumstances preceding or concomitant with the Ordination, but alludes to the principal minister and to the essential rite (per impositionem manuum mearum), illustrating the nature of the Grace (χάρισμα) communicated to the disciple: a gift of the Spirit, "a gift of strength, of charity and of sobriety" (ibid., 1:7). That here there is question of a true episcopal Ordination was the opinion of St. Epiphanius, of Theodore of Mopsuestia and of Theodoret, today confirmed by distinguished Catholic scholars (Michiels, Bruders, Coppens) and by independent critics (Harnack, Knopf, Gore-Turner), moved by the fact that all the functions proper to the bishop are attributed by St. Paul to his disciple: the duty to preach (II Tim. 1:8), to preserve the deposit of Revelation (1:14 and I Tim. 6:20), to rule and govern the Church (ibid., 5:1-23), the power to impose hands (ibid., 5:22).

The rite of Ordination, fixed in clear outlines by the New Testament, spread invariably throughout the whole Church, as results from the unanimous testimony of the Fathers and of the Councils (particularly numerous are the texts, collected and illustrated by Cardinal Van Rossum [v. bibl.], pp. 74-111) and from the liturgical documents. The Eastern liturgies (Greek, Syrian, Coptic-Ethiopic, Armenian [which only around the 12th century underwent Latin influence]) for twenty centuries have repeated the same gesture used by the Apostles (cf. ibid., pp. 111-27). In the West, from the Ἀποστολικὴ παράδοσις of St. Hippolytus (ed. A. Casamassa, Rome 1947 [pro manuscript]), pp. 4-7, 16-20: where are the three splendid formulas of diaconal, presbyteral, episcopal Ordination) to the Roman rite from the 5th to the 8th century (Leonine and Gelasian Sacramentaries, Ordo S. Amandi, Ordines Romani VIII and IX) and to the Gallican one of the same period (Statuta Ecclesiae antiqua, De officiis ecclesiasticis of St. Isidore, Missale Francorum, Liber Ordinum of the Mozarabic rite), down to their fusion in the 9th century (Alcuin, Amalarius, etc.), Ordination preserved its original physiognomy (ample documentation in Tixeront [v. bibl.], pp. 106-43). Only around the 10th century was the ceremony of the traditio instrumentorum (the book of the Gospels to the deacon, the chalice with the wine and the paten with the host to the priest) sporadically introduced, which slowly became of universal use (cf. Cardinal Van Rossum

[v. bibl.], pp. 149-72). This ceremony, which was probably introduced to better explain the object of the power conferred on the priest (Eucharistic consecration) and also as a continuation of the Romano-Germanic custom of transmitting any juridical authority with an instrument or an emblem (cf. B. Bartmann, Manuale di teologia dogmatica, Ital. trans., III, Alba 1949, p. 334), was held by some theologians to be the essential matter of the sacrament of Holy Orders. St. Thomas, siding with this opinion (De articulis fidei et Ecclesiae Sacramentis; IV Sent. d. 24, q. 1, a. 2, sol. 2; Sum. Theol., Suppl. q. 35, a. 2), gave it great value and diffusion (R. of Mediavilla, Durandus of St. Porciano, Capreolus, St. Antoninus of Florence), until it obtained an official consecration from the Church in the Council of Florence. Indeed Eugene IV in the Decretum pro Armenis (22 Nov. 1439) inserted an Instructio de Sacramentis (substantially derived from the above-cited opuscule of the Aquinate) where it is explicitly affirmed: "Sextum Sacramentum est Ordinis cuius materia est illud, per cuius traditionem confertur Ordo, sicut presbyteratus traditur per calicis cum vino et patenae cum pane porrectionem... Forma sacerdotii talis est: Accipe potestatem offerendi sacrificium in Ecclesia pro vivis et mortuis, in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti" (Denz-U, 701).

To explain this change of course in the theology of Holy Orders, the idea was advanced that Christ could have instituted some Sacraments (e.g., Confirmation [v.] and Holy Orders) with a generic or specifically mutable determination of the rite (cf. F. Carpino, De Sacramentis in communi, Rome 1950, pp. 231-33, 242 [for private use]), leaving to the Church the faculty to better determine the elements, according to the circumstances and the needs of its centuries-long existence. Thus as regards Holy Orders the Apostles chose, under the influence of the rites of the Old Testament, the imposition of hands (v.); the Church of the East was faithful to this rite, while the Roman Church added to it (through intrinsic evolution [Billot, De Guibert, van Noort, Tymzak], or through extrinsic addition [Scotus, Toledo, Lessius, Frassen, Billuart], or through mixed addition [Lugo, Gotti, Amori]) or substituted for it (Biel, D. Soto, Gregory of Valencia, Hugon, Galtier) the traditio instrumentorum. The change, made slowly with tacit approval, had its solemn confirmation in the Council of Florence (1439).

This process of ideas, possible and perfectly orthodox, today acquires greater theoretical probability from a clause placed by Pius XII in the apostolic constitution Sacramentum Ordinis of 30 Nov. 1947: "If this (the handing over of the instruments) by the will and prescription of the Church was at one time necessary even for validity, everyone knows that the Church can also change and abolish what she has established" (AAS, 40 [1948], p. 6). With this theory everything is harmonized in the historical and ideological development of the sacramental rite of Ordination, and the Decretum pro Armenis acquires a particular significance. But this is not the only way to explain the facts and interpret the documents. One may hold that the Western Church too has remained constantly faithful to the initial rite without ever adding to it, not even as an extrinsic complement ad validitatem, any other rite (for example, the traditio instrumentorum). What varied instead, through a complex of circumstances, was the opinion of theologians, and this influenced directly the decree of Eugene IV, who, moreover, did not intend to give any definition in sacramental matters, but to present to the Armenians (who since the 12th century had introduced the rite of the handing over of the instruments) the most common doctrine of Latin theologians concerning the seven Sacraments and in particular on Ordination. Therefore Eugene IV in the Decretum pro Armenis, contrary to what Cardinal van Rossum held, did not err in any way, because he did not intend to pronounce definitively.

The apostolic constitution of Pius XII, Sacramentum Ordinis (a document to be venerated as the act of the supreme jurisdictional power of the Roman pontiff [cf. F. Hürth, La cost. Sacramentum Ordinis, in Civ. Catt., 1919, II, p. 627]), although it opportunely uses the hypothetical clause quatenus opus sit, out of respect for the other theological opinion and to cut off any doubt, brings the practice and doctrine of the Latin Church back into the channel of its most ancient tradition and shows to the Eastern Churches the common concord in the unity of the rites of Ordination: "The sole matter of the sacred Ordinations of the diaconate, of the priesthood and of the episcopate is the imposition of hands, and the form likewise is one: the words that determine (verbo determinatio) the application of such matter, which univocally signify the sacramental effects, that is, the power of Ordination and the Grace of the Holy Spirit, and as such are received and used by the Church. Consequently, to remove any doubt and anxiety, we declare and establish by our apostolic authority that, if ever it had been disposed otherwise, from now on (saltem in posterum) the handing over of the instruments shall no longer be necessary for the valid conferral of the Ordinations of the diaconate, of the priesthood and of the episcopate." The Supreme Pontiff further determines with precision in which concrete rite of the Roman Pontifical the matter and form of the threefold Ordination are contained: "In the Ordination of the deacon the matter is the single imposition of hands that takes place in the ceremony, the form is constituted by the words: Emitte in eum, quaesumus, Domine, Spiritum Sanctum, quo in opus ministerii tui fideliter exequendi septiformis Gratiae tuae munere roboretur." In the Ordination of the priest the matter is the first imposition of hands by the bishop, which is done in silence, the form is the words: "Da, quaesumus, omnipotens Pater, in hunc famulum tuum presbyterii dignitatem, innova in visceribus eius spiritum sanctitatis, ut acceptum a te, Deus, secundi meriti munus obtineat censuramque morum exemplo suae conversationis insinuet." In the episcopal consecration the matter is the imposition of hands made by the consecrating bishop, the form is given by the words: "Comple in sacerdote tuo ministerii tui summam et ornamentis totius glorificationis instructum coelestis unguenti rore sanctifica" (AAS, 40 [1948], pp. 6-7).

V. THE EFFECTS OF THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS

The sources of Revelation agree in attributing to the rite of Ordination a supernatural efficacy with regard to Grace: χάρισμα (I Tim. 4:14; II Tim. 1:6): "Spiritus plenitudo... maxime in Ordinatione operatur" (St. Innocent I, Ep., 24, 4: PL 20, 530; ample documentation in Michel [v. bibl.], cols. 1255-57).

As for the character (v.), a process of explicit development may be noted: the priestly powers conferred in Ordination are considered, from the very beginning, as immutable realities (cf. St. Clement of Rome, I Cor. 44-45: PG 1, 295-302), which go beyond the level of a merely extrinsic deputation: already in the 4th century it is held that the priestly offices are connected with a profound transformation of the priest's soul (cf. St. Gregory of Nyssa, In Bapt. Christi: PG 46, 582-83); in the 5th century this transformation is considered an indelible consecration of the spirit, distinct and separable from Grace (cf. St. Augustine, Contra ep. Parmeniani, 2, 28: PL 43, 70).

Since all the ancient documents, particularly the liturgical formulas, speak of infused Grace and of powers really conferred in each of the three Ordinations, it follows that the diaconate, the presbyterate and the episcopate, in different degrees, are truly sacramental Ordinations.

The theological exposition of the intimate nature of the character and of the Grace of Ordination, especially the presbyteral, is the foundation of what is today called "priestly spirituality."

1. The character

The character of Ordination is: the fullest participation in the priesthood of Christ, because while the characters of Baptism and Confirmation associate the faithful with the consecration and the indirect (and very limited) exercise of certain priestly powers of Christ, this one makes a Christian a priest in the full sense. In fact the character of Ordination is the most perfect ontological consecration of the faithful, which transforms his soul, almost as the eucharistic consecration transubstantiates the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ: the comparison is St. Gregory of Nyssa's (In Bapt. Christi: PG 46, 582-83). By such consecration the ordained man becomes in the full sense a "medium ontologicum" between the two extremes to be reconciled: God and men.

Moreover, by the character the priest obtains immediate power over the real Body of Christ, with the faculty of making it present on the altar by the words of Transubstantiation and of offering it in sacrifice acceptable to the Father (ascending mediation). This is the principal act of the priest; everything else refers to it as a preparation and a prolongation, whereby priestly activity is the center and the end of the whole hierarchy. He who acts upon the Head influences the whole body. As consecrator of the real Body of Christ, the priest acquires a direct power over the Mystical Body. Jesus clearly indicated how much was included in the sacrificial power conferred at the Last Supper, when, on the eve of the Ascension, he gave the Apostles the command to instruct, to sanctify and to govern all nations (Mt. 28:18-19). This threefold power is in function of the first: to make the faithful worthy worshippers of God in the supreme act of worship: the sacrifice of the Mass. By preaching, sanctifying and governing, the priest spreads the light, the virtue and the Grace that dispose souls for the Eucharist, the center of the Christian religion.

The greatest right to Grace, since in the present economy of salvation the office of priest and the state of victim coincide in the same person (for Christ was "sacerdos suae hostiae et hostia sui sacerdotii" [St. Paulinus of Nola, Ep. 9 ad Secerum]), the more one participates in the priestly office, the more perfectly must he reproduce in his spirit the sentiments of the Victim, immolating all the tendencies that conflict with the law of the spirit. It confers a place of pre-eminence in ecclesiastical society. The Church, which is "a people, a clergy within the people, a primacy within the clergy" (V. Fornari, Della vita di Gesù Cristo, book 3), in building itself up expands through the work of its hierarchy, which is like a sphere whose center is the Pope and whose radii are the bishops, who, even as they extend toward the surface, do not cease to converge upon the center of unity. But what gives impulse to the movement of expansion and to that of unification, the two movements of every living organism, is the priestly power that consecrates the Eucharist. According to the law of its institution the hierarchy, from top to bottom, from the Supreme Pontiff to the ostiarius, in all its ramifications and in all its degrees converges toward the building up of the Mystical Body through the Eucharist, the fruit of the priest's consecrating words.

2. Grace

The Grace of Ordination is like the final touch that assimilates the soul to Christ, communicating to it the divine lineaments of the Eternal Priest.

To sanctifying Grace is added sacramental Grace, which orients the whole supernatural organism toward the end of this Sacrament, perfecting the "professional" virtues and gifts (religion for worship, prudence for governance, wisdom for teaching), of which sanctifying Grace had deposited the seeds in the soul.

To this retinue of virtues corresponds a right to special helps from actual Grace, which sets them in activity at the right moment.

By such invigoration of the supernatural faculties the priest is made fit to perform meritorious acts, which increase the common treasury of supernatural goods and make their circulation easier (cf. St. Albert the Great, De Eucharistia, dist. 3, cap. 4).

VI. CONCLUSION

The positive documents of Scripture and Tradition demonstrate that ancient Protestantism (on the ideas of Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, cf. A. Michel [v. bibl.], coll. 1333-46 and L. Cristiani, Réforme, in DThC, XIII, II, coll. 2087-92) and modern Protestantism (on the theories of the liberals and rationalists cf. E. Ruffini [v. bibl.], pp. 1-5; J. Coppena [v. bibl.], pp. 110-20; Michel [v. bibl.], coll. 1193-98) is completely outside historical reality when it denies the divine origin of the sacrament of Order, the basis of the hierarchical structure of Christianity, and which the Church, with full right, defined at the Council of Trent (sess. XXIII: 15 July 1563). The essential points of the

The essential points of the doctrine set forth are: 1) the direct institution of a visible priesthood (cap. 1 and can. 1; Denz-U, 957 and 961); 2) by divine right arranged in hierarchical order: bishops, priests, ministers (cap. 2, can. 6: ibid., 958 and 966); 3) to be transmitted by the bishops, who are superior to priests, having the exclusive power to ordain (cap. 4; can. 7: ibid., 960 and 967); 4) with a truly sacramental rite (cap. 3, cann. 3-5: ibid., 959 and 963-65); 5) which imprints the character and produces Grace (cap. 3, can. 4: ibid., 959-64). On this dogmatic basis the pontifical documents on the priesthood are founded: Pius X, exhortation Haerent animo (1908); Pius XI, encyclical Ad catholici sacerdotii (1935); Pius XII, exhortation Menti nostrae (1951).

in Divus Thomas, 51 (Piacenza 1948), pp. 157-66; G. Lacchello, La cost. apost. Sacram. Ord., in La Scuola Catt., 77 (1949), pp. 121-30; F. Carpino, Il giubileo sacerdotale di Pio XII alla luce della sua dottrina sul sacerdozio, Rome 1949, pp. 17-22; E. D., A propos des Ordinations, in Les questions liturgiques et paroissiales, 30 (1949), pp. 32-35; V. Barbone, La cost. apost. Sacram. Or., in Palestra del Clero, 30 (1951), p. 612 ff. 3) On the effects of Ordination and priestly spirituality: S. Congr. de Seminaris, Euchir. Clericarum, Rome 1938; P. Pourras, Il sacerdozio secondo la dottr. della scuola francese, Italian trans., Florence 1932; J. Perinelle, Le sacerdoce, Paris 1935; O. Cohausz, La missione sacerdotale nella dottr. di s. Paolo, 2nd ed., Milan 1938; E. Masure, De l'eminente dignité du sacerdoce diocesan, Paris 1938; E. Guano, La teol. nella vita sacerdot., Brescia 1939; A. Peinador, Sacerdotium succulare et status religiosus, Rome 1940; G. Thils, Mission du clergé, Paris 1942; id., Il clero diocesano, Italian trans., Brescia 1943; G. Lemaître, Notre sacerdoce, Paris 1945; various authors, Il sacerdote e la spiritualità, Rome 1946; G. Thils, Nature et spiritualité du clergé diocesan, Paris 1946; R. Garrigou-Lagrange, De sanctificatione sacerdotum, Rome 1946; E. Boularand, Caractère sacramental et mystère du Christ, in Nouv. rev. theol., 82 (1950), pp. 252-74; A. Piolanti, De Sacramentis, 4th ed., Rome 1951, pp. 405-28.

Antonio Piolanti

II. SACRED ORDINATION.

It is the means by which the power of Order is conferred. This term, which applies properly only to the conferral of the major degrees of Order, sometimes refers (can. 950), besides to episcopal consecration, to all the degrees of Order and to the first tonsure itself, which brings one into the clerical state (can. 108 § 1) and causes one to acquire the privileges of the clergy (v. PRIVILEGI DEI CHIERICI), but confers no spiritual power.

I. MINISTER OF Ordination

He is the one who has the power validly to confer Ordination. The ordinary minister is only a consecrated bishop; the extraordinary minister is a priest, who may have from the Holy See the faculty to confer only the minor Orders, either by special personal indult or even by general provision of law (can. 951). The tonsure and the minor Orders can validly be conferred by cardinals (can. 239 § 1, n. 22), by vicars and apostolic prefects, by abbots and prelates nullius (can. 957 § 2), by regular abbots de regimine, who are priests and have received the abbatial blessing, provided that the ordinand is their own subject by virtue of religious profession (can. 96, n. 1).

For validity, the minister must first of all be himself validly consecrated (that is, it is not enough that he be merely elected); validity nevertheless holds if the bishop is a heretic, deposed, degraded, irregular or simoniacal (but not Lutheran and Anglican: v. ANGLICANE ORDINAZIONI), because the value of Ordination does not depend on the goodness or the faith of the minister, but solely on the power of Order. It is nevertheless forbidden, under penalty of suspension a divinis, to allow oneself to be consecrated by such bishops, and anyone who has done so in good faith must abstain from the exercise of Order until he is authorized to do so (can. 2372).

For a bishop to ordain licitly, it is required that the ordinands be his subjects (can. 955). Such are, among the secular clergy, those who have in the diocesan territory their place of origin and of actual domicile; if the ordinand does not have his origin in the territory and is not incardinated to the diocese at least by means of the tonsure, he must take the oath that he intends to remain always in the diocese. The Ordinary can nevertheless also ordain non-subjects who are already legitimately destined to another diocese (can. 956), when they have the authorization of their own bishop (v. DIMISSORIE, LETTERE). If the ordinands are religious: a) those who by right or privilege are exempt from episcopal jurisdiction must present the dimissorial letters of their own major Superior (general or provincial: can. 964, n. 2), addressed to the ordinary bishop in whose territory is located the convent in which the ordinand is enrolled as a member of the community (can. 965); only when this Ordinary does not hold an ordination in the legitimate time or is absent from the diocese, or is of a different rite, or because of the vacancy of the diocese, and provided that these cases are not sought or awaited deceitfully (can. 967), may the religious Superior address to any bishop of the same rite who is in communion with the Apostolic See the dimissorial letters, furnished with an authentic document of the competent episcopal Curia for the territory, from which there results the existence of one of the aforementioned conditions (can. 966). To act knowingly and voluntarily against the aforesaid norms constitutes a crime punished with suspension from Mass (can. 2410). Religious who are not exempt are equated for Ordinations with the secular clergy (can. 964). Clerics ordained by the Roman pontiff cannot be elevated to a higher Order without the authorization of the Holy See (can. 952).

II. SUBJECT OF ORDINATION

This is the person who can receive Ordination. For validity it is required that the ordinand be of the male sex (a woman, by divine law, is incapable of receiving sacred Orders; the offices entrusted to deaconesses [v.] carried with them no power of Order); and that he be baptized, since only Baptism (of water) opens the door to the other Sacraments (can. 968 § 1). In adults there is further required the intention, at least virtual, and a will that is entirely free, that is, not imposed by third parties. The Ordination of infants, absolutely speaking, is valid (in past times cases of this occurred); but with regard to the obligations of celibacy and the other burdens, those who had been ordained as infants, upon reaching the age of sixteen, had to declare before the authority whether or not they intended to remain in the Order received (constitution Ex quamvis of Benedict XIV, 4 March 1745). A cleric who had received a sacred Order, compelled by grave and unjust fear, once the cause of the fear has ceased may ratify the Ordination received, even only tacitly by the free exercise of the Order, intending to accept the obligations inherent in it; but if he does not wish to do so, he must legally prove the coercion suffered, so that the ecclesiastical judge may restore him to the lay state without any obligation of celibacy and other burdens (can. 214 and Regulae servandae, S. Congr. de Sacram., 9 June 1931: AAS, 23 [1931], p. 457 ff.). It is unlawful to compel a reluctant individual to receive a sacred Order, or to dissuade him from it, if he is suitable (cann. 971, 972 § 2, 976, 2352).

For the lawfulness of Ordination the ordinand, besides the absence of any irregularity and impediment ([v.] cf. also cann. 968 § 2 and 2374), must show that he has a divine and canonical vocation (v.) (cann. 968 § 1, 1353), in the judgment of the bishop (who must form a positive certainty of his suitability: can. 973 § 3), and the will to advance gradually to the successive Orders up to the priesthood (can. 973). In any case, once ordained, the candidate cannot be compelled to receive the other Orders nor can he be impeded in their exercise (can. 973 § 2). The candidate must further have a moral conduct that corresponds to the Order he intends to receive (can. 974 § 1, n. 2), in a special way as regards chastity, so that he could not be said to be suitable for the priesthood who was accustomed to commit sins contrary to this virtue, unless after a long and serious period of testing. He must have the canonical age: 21 years for the subdiaconate, 22 for the diaconate, 24 for the priesthood (can. 975; cf. also can. 2374); the requisite knowledge (can. 974 § 1, n. 4); the tonsure cannot be conferred before the beginning of the theological course, the subdiaconate before the end of the 3rd course, the diaconate not before the beginning of the 4th, the priesthood only after the first half of the 4th year. Theological studies are not valid if done privately, and if not preceded by a regular course of literary and philosophical studies (can. 976; cf. also can. 1565); the ordinand must undergo examinations (v.) before the diocesan bishop, or examiners chosen by him. The Orders are approached by degrees, so that no one can receive an Order who has not received the preceding ones (can. 977); and between the Orders themselves there must elapse the intervals or interstices (v.) established in can. 978. An Oriental who by apostolic indult has been authorized to receive the higher Orders in the Latin rite must first receive the Orders that according to the Oriental rite he has not received (can. 1004).

One must approach Ordination in the state of Grace; but under pain of grave sin and sacrilege only for the Orders that are certainly a Sacrament, that is, the diaconate, the priesthood, the episcopate. It is also required that the ordinand be confirmed (can. 974 § 1, n. 1), but it is not certain whether this is under grave obligation. The bishop, moreover, must not ordain anyone except those whom he considers necessary or useful for the diocese or destined for another diocese (can. 969 §§ 1-2). As regards the canonical title required for ordination, v. TITOLO DELL'ORDINAZIONE; for the particulars required for Ordination and the burdens assumed with it, v. DIACONO; PRESBITERATO; SUDDIACONATO; TONSURA; VESCOVO.

III. PREPARATION FOR ORDER AND ORDINATION

It is remote and proximate. a) The remote preparation consists in the right spiritual and intellectual formation to dispose the future minister of the sanctuary to acquire gradually the virtues and the knowledge necessary for the ecclesiastical state: for the secular clergy, residence in the seminary from a young age and at least for the entire theological course is required (can. 972 § 1). Exceptions and dispensations, although possible (can. 972), are in practice increasingly rare; for religious, the novitiate (v.) is required, residence in the houses of study and spiritual formation (cans. 542 ff.; 587-89) and, if they are to receive sacred Orders, perpetual profession (can. 964, no. 3). b) The proximate preparation consists in preceding it with a course of spiritual exercises (for religious, in their own house or another; for candidates of the secular clergy, in the seminary or in a religious house [can. 1001 § 3]) of at least three days for tonsure and minor Orders, of at least six days for the major Orders (can. 1001 § 1), a course that must be repeated if the Ordination is deferred more than six months (can. 1001 § 2). The candidates, whether secular or non-exempt religious, must present or make application for ordination (can. 992); they must then present certain certificates: for tonsure, the certificates of Baptism and Confirmation (can. 993 no. 1); for each Order, the certificate of the preceding ordination, of the studies completed, of good conduct issued by the rector of the seminary; the testimonial letters of the bishop of the place where the candidate had resided at least three months previously (can. 993, nos. 2-4; 994), those of the major superior, if he is a religious (can. 993, no. 5). Exempt religious cannot be ordained without the dimissorial letters issued by the major superior (can. 964, no. 2). In these, religious too must testify to their belonging to the religious family, the profession made, the studies completed and the other things required above (can. 995 § 1). The law in force ordains that Ordinations not proceed before the publication of the names of the secular clerics (not of the regulars) to be promoted to Orders has been made, reading them in the parish church of the place of birth, on feast days during the solemn Mass, or when there is a greater gathering of people, to give the possibility to anyone who might know of the existence of some canonical impediment to confide it to the bishop or the parish priest. The bishop may modify the manner of the publications, or even sometimes dispense with them in whole or in part (cans. 998-1000; see also INVESTIGAZIONI).

IV. RITE, TIME AND PLACE OF ORDINATION

The ordaining bishop is bound to observe the prescriptions of the rites and ceremonies imposed for each Ordination in the Roman Pontifical and in the other ritual books approved by the Church. The Mass of the Ordination and that of the episcopal consecration must always be celebrated by the minister or ordaining bishop (can. 1003). Those who are to receive the sacred Orders must approach holy Communion at the same Mass of the Ordination (can. 1005).

The sacred or major Orders may not be conferred except at the solemn Mass of the Saturdays of the Ember days, of that preceding Passion Sunday and of Holy Saturday: for a grave reason, however, the bishop may confer them on any day of Sunday or holy day of obligation (for the episcopate, see below). First tonsure may be conferred on any day and at any hour: the minor Orders only on Sundays and on feasts of double rite, always in the morning. Contrary customs are reprobated by the CIC (can. 1006 § 3) and therefore must be corrected, even if immemorial. The prescriptions relating to the time of Ordination must be observed even if by apostolic indult a Latin bishop ordains a cleric of the Oriental rite or vice versa (can. 1006 § 5). If it is necessary to supply some forgotten rite, whether absolutely or conditionally, the bishop may do so at any time and in secret (can. 1007 and declaration of the Commission for the Interpretation of the CIC, 15 May 1936). General Ordinations must be held in the cathedral church, in the presence of the canons: or, outside the episcopal city, in the most worthy church, in the presence of the local clergy (can. 1009 § 1): it is not, however, unlawful, for a just cause, to hold particular Ordinations in other churches, in the private chapel of the bishop, in that of the seminary or of a religious community (can. 1009 § 2).

First tonsure and the minor Orders may also be conferred in private oratories (can. 1009 § 3) or in the precincts of a church. It is not lawful for a bishop (it is lawful, however, for cardinals, with the Ordinary forewarned if the church is a cathedral: can. 239 § 1 n. 15) to ordain outside his own territory, when the rite of Ordination is carried out with the pontifical Mass (can. 1008). The names of the individual ordinands, of the ordaining minister, the place and the day of the Ordination must be recorded in a special register (Liber ordinandorum); the documents produced by the ordinands must also be carefully preserved (can. 1010 § 1). To each of these there must be given an authentic certificate of the Ordination, which, in the case of Ordination by a bishop who is a stranger, must be produced at the Ordination, precisely so that he may take note of it in the liber ordinandorum (can. 1010 § 2). The same annotation must be made in the Liber baptizatorum, if it is a question of subdeacons; and therefore the Ordination, if it is a question of members of the secular clergy, the major superior, if it is a question of religious ordained with his dimissorial letters, must give notice of the Ordination that has taken place to the parish priest of the Baptism of the ordinand (can. 1011).

V. CONSECRATION OF BISHOPS

In itself it is reserved to the supreme pontiff (can. 953), who, however, customarily grants the relevant permission to others. It can be legitimately performed only by that bishop who has received a special apostolic mandate (can. 953), and it is common doctrine that not even the pope can grant a simple priest the faculty to confer episcopal consecration. The consecrating bishop must be assisted by two other co-consecrating bishops, unless a pontifical dispensation is granted; without this, a single bishop would consecrate validly, but unlawfully. Episcopal consecration must be conferred on a Sunday or on the feasts of the Nativity of the Apostles (can. 1006 § 1).

VI. NULLITY OF ORDINATION

1. General concepts

When any of the objective or subjective conditions required for the validity of Ordination (v. above) is lacking, its value remains annulled: it is therefore invalid, and the burdens or obligations inherent in it are null. It must be borne in mind, however, that the validity of the Ordination can well coexist with the nullity of the burdens, but not vice versa, as in the case of grave fear (can. 214) suffered by the subject in being ordained.

The interest of the cleric or of the ecclesiastical authority in establishing the nullity of an Ordination may be twofold and divergent: namely, either to provide for its convalidation, and then proceed to further Ordinations, in order to avoid a hiatus in the chain of them; or to withdraw from the clerical state and return to the world with exemption from the burdens deriving from the Ordinations received, as well as from the privileges and prerogatives attached. While, however, in the first case, in order to proceed to a new Ordination, at least a conditional one, an apodictic proof of its nullity is not required, but even a positive and prudent doubt of the same suffices, as such established by the diocesan Ordinary; in the second case, on the other hand, the invalidity must appear with moral certainty, after a specific procedure.

2. Proof of the nullity of the Ordination and of the burdens

In current legislation the practical importance of the proof of the nullity of the Ordination remains circumscribed almost exclusively to the presbyterate. Thus, save for exceptional cases, no interest is recognized on anyone's part in proving the nullity of first tonsure or of the minor Ordinations, since, although the question of their validity or otherwise remains unprejudiced, the return of the minor cleric to the lay state presents no difficulty, this being among other things left to his simple will (can. 211 § 2): it is clear that he will thereby lose offices, benefices, rights and clerical privileges, with the prohibition of wearing the ecclesiastical habit and of bearing the tonsure. The same can be affirmed of subdeacons and deacons. Even before the CIC they could be reduced to the lay state by rescript of the Holy See with dispensation from all the relative burdens, celibacy included; and this all the more must be affirmed today, when a just and grave cause assists, after the issuance of two parallel Instructiones of 27 Dec. 1930 [AAS. 23 [1931], p. 120 ff.] and of 1 Dec. 1931 (ibid., 24 [1932], p. 74 ff.) by the Sacred Congregations of the Sacraments and of Religious, respectively for the subdeacons and deacons of their own competence: a specific clause, however, inserted in the rescript, prevents their readmission to their former state.

The secularization of the priest can be regulated by a twofold canonical provision according to whether it is incomplete or complete. When he should fail in the very high duties of his office without hope of amendment and the continuation in the exercise of the sacred ministry should turn more to the harm than to the edification and profit of the faithful; or through invincible repugnance he should have been found unsuitable for the fruitful practice of the ministry, he must or can be reduced to the lay state with dispensation from his obligations, celibacy remaining intact; besides the case of degradation, a penalty common to the priest and generally to clerics in sacris (can. 211 § 1) who have stained themselves with grave guilt (even in this case the obligation of celibacy always remains). To obtain, on the other hand, complete secularization with exemption from all obligations, celibacy included, it is necessary that the priest demonstrate either the nullity of the Ordination received or the nullity of the burdens inherent in it: and this by means of the institution of a specific cause against the validity of the former or of the latter. Ordinarily such a process is brought either for lack of intention (simulation) in the subject or for some defect of mind, which affects the consent given to the Ordination received. The value of the burdens, on the other hand, can be challenged only ex metu gravi ab extrinseco incusso (can. 214), which rendered the reception of the Ordinations coerced.

3. Canonical procedure for the declaration of nullity

Before the CIC the handling of these causes was regulated by the constitution of Benedict XIV Si datam of 4 March 1748: the CIC determines the procedure in can. 1993-98, which prescribe a twofold form, the strictly judicial one, with the double conforming sentence and the appeal regulated according to the norms of matrimonial nullity processes; and the economic form or ad disciplinae tramite. If only, to render the handling of the causes in question more expeditious and secure, the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments issued on 9 June 1931 (AAS, 23 [1931], p. 457 ff.) the Regulae servandae in processes of this kind, in which the economic procedural form is ordinarily established; without, however, the judicial form remaining entirely excluded, which can therefore in some case be prescribed by the Congregation.

The competent forum for these causes is established by can. 1993: that is, it belongs to the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments to judge those by which the obligations contracted with the Ordination or the very validity of the Ordination are challenged; those, on the other hand, in which the value of the Ordination is challenged for substantial defect of the rite are reserved to the Holy Office: any inferior judge is incompetent to instruct such processes unless he is furnished with apostolic faculty. There also fall within the competence of the Holy Office, by reason of the nature of the offense committed, even the causes pertaining to the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments, when the priest who promotes them had contracted the so-called civil marriage: although the Holy Office, having established its own competence, is then accustomed to commit their instruction and decision to the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments.

The procedural order of the causes within the competence of this dicastery is the following: the Sacred Ordination can be challenged for nullity indifferently by the priest concerned or by the Ordinary, of whom he is a subject, or in whose diocese he was ordained. The declaration of nullity of the burdens, on the other hand, can be invoked only by the priest, who considers that he did not validly contract them.

The introductory libellus of the suit, directed to the Holy Father, but transmitted to the competent Congregation, must contain a complete and accurate statement of the case and of the grounds that can lead to a conclusion of nullity, with indication of the date, the place of origin or residence of the petitioner, and must be signed by him. Normally the libellus is transmitted to the Holy See through the Ordinary, who will be that of the diocese in which the petitioner is incardinated, or, if it is a question of a dismissed religious, the Ordinary of the diocese of origin or of domicile: it can, however, be forwarded to the Holy See directly by the petitioner.

Having received the libellus, the Congregation charges the Ordinary to carry out a prior investigation, extrajudicial and secret, on what is set forth in it and, if the request proves not unfounded, sends to the Ordinary the letter of delegation to instruct the cause on the basis of the following doubts: 1) An constet de nullitate S. Ordinationis in casu; and, if the answer were negative, 2) An saltem constet de gravi metu et de ratibabitionis defectu ut, ad normam can. 214 CIC, actor redigendus sit ad statum laicalee sine ullis coelibatus et horarum canonicarum obligationibus.

Once the process is completed, the acts must be sent in copy to the Congregation with the vote pro rei veritate of the Ordinary, when the latter has not acted as judge; the decision is reserved to the Sacred Congregation.

As a first precaution (can. 1997), as soon as the judicial action has been instituted, even if it concerns only the nullity of the obligations, the plaintiff must, by way of caution, be barred from the exercise of the O. Another precaution that the Congregation is accustomed to take is to require that the plaintiff undertake, before the constitution of the process and by sworn declaration, in the event of an outcome favorable to him, no longer to reside, nor to go for any reason to the places where his condition as a priest is known, and especially to his native country, under penalty of excommunication: the execution of the apostolic rescript of dispensation or of declaration of freedom from the obligations is subject to the fulfillment of this condition.

The Regulae lay down the norms for the constitution of the tribunal, specify the office of the judge, regulate the examination of the plaintiff and of the witnesses, the collection of documents, indications and presumptions; the manner of proving the defect of ratification of the Orders on the part of the plaintiff; his physical examination, when necessary, and they end with the conclusion of the process and the order to forward the acts to the Congregation. It is especially emphasized that these causes are treated ex officio, both at the diocesan Curia and at the Congregation, which is accustomed to proceed by means of the votes of specially appointed consultors: the wording ex officio excludes the intervention of advocates and procurators in the case. In the event that from the acts received by the Congregation it appears that either the procedure was not observed, or the process is defective or presents difficulties that can be eliminated by means of a supplementary investigation, provision will be made to initiate it ex officio; if everything appears in order, the acts will have their further course and the consultors will write on them both in defense of the Holy Ordination or of the obligations, and pro rei veritate, and under both aspects according to the circumstances.

The bodies charged with the decision are: either the plenary Congregation of the cardinals who are members of the Holy Dicastery or a special Commission of consultors constituted for the purpose. As is obvious, the decision is contained in the answer that will be given to the two aforementioned doubts: if it is affirmative to the first, the Ordination will be considered null: the answer to the second therefore remains superfluous; if instead it is negative to the first and affirmative to the second, only the obligations must be considered null.

Since, moreover, the grave fear referred to in the second doubt is ordinarily difficult to prove in the external forum, Gasparri already warned that the S. Congregation of the Council, competent before the CIC in such causes, was accustomed, for greater safety, to answer esse locum adeundi Pontificem pro dispensatione; a procedure that is also followed at present. Affirmative decisions, whether on the first or on the second doubt, are always reported in audience to the Holy Father, and communication is made to the interested parties through their respective Ordinary with the apostolic rescript, which contains conditions and clauses that regulate its execution.

VII. ORDINATION AS AN IMPEDIMENT

1. General notions

It is laid down by can. 1072: "Clerics in Sacred Orders invalidly attempt marriage." Accordingly, the impediment of Ordination is a true incapacity to contract marriage which does not cease, of itself, even with the penalty of deposition, degradation, or reduction to the lay state, and it directly concerns the marriage to be contracted, and indirectly the lawful use of a marriage perhaps already contracted before Ordination.

For the aforesaid impediment to arise, it is required that someone have received the major Orders (minor clerics, by the provision of can. 132 § 2, in the case of marriage fall ipso iure from the clerical state); that the Ordination have been freely received (hence every incapacity ceases in cases of coercion or lack of ratihabition referred to in can. 214, if legitimately proven: can. 1998 § 1); that the Ordination itself have been received with knowledge of the most grave obligation of celibacy.

2. Juridical foundation of the impediment

Since marriage is not natura sua incompatible with the clerical state, the impediment of Ordination does not come from divine law, but only from ecclesiastical law, as is clearly proved by the tolerance of the Church of the first centuries, the practice of the Eastern Church, and the fact that the Church can dispense from it. It is still disputed, however, whether the obligation of celibacy comes immediately from ecclesiastical law or from a vow, or from both.

3. Historical notes. a) For the Western Church

Although at the time of the Gregorian reform many writers (cf. St. Peter Damian, De coelibatus sacerdotum: PL 145, 380; id., Secunda dissertatio contra clericos intemperantes: PL 145, 408 etc.) and, after the decrees of the Roman Council of 1049, also the popes and especially Gregory VII had considered the marriage of priests null (v. CELIBATO), celibacy in the Western Church appears officially and clearly as a diriment impediment at the beginning of the 12th century, in the Second Lateran Council (a. 1123), which in can. 21 thus establishes: "Praesbyteris, diaconibus, subdiaconibus... concubinas habere seu matrimonia contrahere penitus interdicimus: contracta quoque matrimonia ab huiusmodi personis disrupti... juxta sacrorum canonum diffinitio medicamus etc." (Mansi, XXI, col. 286). This is confirmed by the Third Lateran Council (a. 1139), which some authors hold to have been the first to legislate on the matter. In the aforesaid Council, while can. 6 punishes with deprivation of office and ecclesiastical benefice the subdeacon who has taken a wife or keeps a concubine with him, since this is unworthy of those who are "templum dei, vasa Domini, Sacrarium Spiritus Sancti" (Mansi, XXI, col. 528), in can. 7 it is forbidden to hear Mass celebrated by married or concubinous priests, and it is established: "Statuimus quatenus episcopi, presbyteri, diaconi, subdiaconi... uxores sibi copulare praesumperint separantur. Huiusmodi namque copulationem quam contra ecclesiasticam regulam constat esse contractam, matrimonium non esse censemus" (ibid.). And ever more clearly all value is denied to marriages of this kind in the Decretals of the Roman pontiffs from Alexander III (c. 4, III, 3) to Gregory IX.

From this it appears how justly proposition 72 of the Syllabus of Pius IX was condemned, as historically false, since it traced the origin of the impediment of Ordination only to Boniface VIII (Denz-U, 1772). Finally the Council of Trent defined dogmatically: "Si quis dixerit clericos in Sacris Ordinibus constitutus posse matrimonium contrahere contractumque validum esse non obstante lege ecclesiastica... anathema sit." (sess. XXIV, can. 9, Denz-U, 979).

b) For the Eastern Church. — It must first be observed that in the Eastern Church there is not in force a law that applies in the same way to all; one must indeed consider what the individual rites prescribe. Generally, however, it may be affirmed that even today the fundamental law of the Eastern Church is the Trullan Council (a. 692), which, while permitting married men to be promoted to the subdiaconate, diaconate, and priesthood, prescribes "ut subdiaconi qui sacra mysteria contractant et diaconi et presbyteri secundum proprios terminos a consortibus abstineant" (can. 13: Mansi, XI, 948; cf. also ibid., cann. 6, 12, 48: Mansi, XI, 944 ff., 965). After Ordination, however, it is no longer permitted to subdeacons, deacons, and priests, and, a fortiori, to bishops, to contract marriage (Benedict XIV, const. Anno vertente, 19 June 1750, § 13 and can. 6 of the Trullan Council: Mansi, XI, 944). The invalidity of such a marriage is not certain; indeed, contrary to what authors commonly think, Bobak (op. cit. in bibl., p. 147 ff.) has demonstrated that it is an error to adduce the Trullan Council and the Justinian legislation (Novella VI, 1) as laws invalidating the marriage of clerics in Sacred Orders of the Eastern Church. Moreover, even Benedict XIV, although he admits that such marriages are unlawful by force of the Trullan Council, asserts that the invalidity of them is sanctioned nullibi. On the other hand, the invalidity of the marriages of Italo-Greeks is explicitly sanctioned (Benedict XIV, const. Etsi pastoralis of 16 March 1742, § 8, n. 27).

4. Dispensation

That the impediment of Ordination is dispensable depends on the fact that it comes from ecclesiastical law. The power to dispense belongs — by ordinary power — only to the Supreme Pontiff; who has never availed himself of it with regard to bishops; exceptionally he has availed himself of it, for reasons of public order, in the case of priests; rarely does he avail himself of it in the case of deacons, with somewhat greater frequency when it is a question of subdeacons.

Historically two cases of general dispensations are certain: that which occurred for a cause of public order under Julius II in 1554 and concerned all the English priests who had attempted marriage before the restoration of Queen Mary, so that the English might be induced more easily to return to the Catholic Church; and that which took place for the religious pacification of France, under the pontificate of Pius VII, on 15 Aug. 1801, and of which two thousand priests availed themselves (the same Pontiff, however, did not wish to validate the marriage of the prince of Talleyrand, formerly bishop of Autun). In danger of death, Ordinaries, confessors, and parish priests may also dispense, but limited to the diaconate and subdiaconate, for the reasons provided by cann. 1043-45 of the CIC (v. CASO URGENTE; PERICOLO DI MORTE). Moreover, although the public cause is no longer required, as the ancient authors held, a cause is always required, even if private, but proportionate to the gravity of the law from which the dispensation is granted. Once the dispensation has been granted, the cleric reduced to the lay state can no longer exercise the Orders.

5. Penalties

Those who contravene the discipline of the Church in so grave a matter are subject to severe sanctions: 1) latae sententiae excommunication, simpliciter reserved to the Apostolic See, both for clerics in Sacris and for the person with whom they should presume to attempt marriage, even merely civil (can. 2388 § 1). Since, however, the canon cited requires the deliberate will to violate the law (praesumentes), can. 2229 § 2 applies, and therefore any diminution of imputability, through lack of advertence or consent, exempts from the latae sententiae penalty; 2) the ipso facto loss of all offices (can. 188 § 5); 3) irregularity ex delicto (can. 985 § 3); 4) degradation, if the guilty parties, once admonished, do not repent within a determined time; 5) moreover, clerics are also suspected of heresy, because in fact they show that they hold their marriage to be valid. Absolution from the above excommunication is reserved to the Sacred Penitentiary, which on 4 May 1937 published a declaration according to which the said excommunication does not fall among the urgent cases of can. 2254 § 1 (AAS, 29 [1937], p. 283); and this holds for every person, even a cardinal, save, of course, that a particular faculty has not been granted by the same Sacred Penitentiary. But if absolution was given in danger of death, recourse must be had to the same Sacred Tribunal, as is established for censures reserved in a most special manner to the Holy See, in accordance with can. 2252 (AAS, 28 [1936], p. 242).

6. The impediment of O. and civil legislation

Modern civil codes, with a few exceptions, completely ignore the impediment of O. (it is a diriment impediment in Austria and in Spain). In Italy too, after the Concordat of 1929, the Civil Code does not provide as an impediment to civil marriage either O. or the solemn vow of chastity. Nevertheless, some Italian jurists and some canonists hold that a man ordained in Sacris cannot, under the concordatory regime, contract civil marriage, except after having obtained from the Holy See a dispensation from the impediment.

Innocenzo Parisella

III. THE LITURGICAL RITES OF ORDINATION.

1. For the rites of Ordination in the Latin liturgy see the entries: ACCOLITATO; DIACONO; ESORCISTA; ESORCISTATO; LETTORATO; OSTIARIATO; PRESBITERATO; SUDDIACONATO; VESCOVO. See also the entries: ORDINES ROMANI; PONTIFICALE; SACRAMENTARIO; TONSURA.

2. IN THE ORIENTAL LITURGIES

Theologically a distinction is made between ecclesiastical promotion and dignity (e.g., archdeaconate, chorepiscopate) and sacred O., and, as regards the latter, between minor and major Orders. Liturgically these distinctions are not always indicated by a different ritual gesture, although in general the imposition of hands is excluded for the minor Orders (but in the Chaldean rite it takes place for the Ordination of the lector and the subdeacon; in the Armenian rite for that of the subdeacon; in the Syriac, Maronite and Coptic rites the bishop touches the temples in the minor Ordinations); the formulas, however, always indicate which O. is being conferred. The higher the hierarchical degree conferred, the more solemn the liturgical ceremony also becomes. Not rare is the proclamation by which it is indicated that such and such a deacon, priest, etc. is being ordained for such and such a church situated in such and such a place. In antiquity the only ritual gesture was the imposition of hands (cf. Acts 6:6, 1 Tim. 4:14 and 5:22, and 2 Tim. 1:6); in the Traditio Apostolica of St. Hippolytus the consent of those present comes first, and the imposition of hands is accompanied by a single prayer and followed by the kiss of peace, which is at the same time that of the Mass, which continues at once with the Offertory and the Preface (ed. B. Botte, Paris 1946, p. 27); in l. VIII, 4, 2 of the Constitutiones Apostolicae (ed. F. Funk, p. 475) the interrogations concerning the person of the bishop to be consecrated come first, besides the hands the Gospel is also imposed, the Mass follows, but the introduction and the embrace take place on the following day. Even today, in almost all Ordinations of every rite, a fundamental schema is found: a proclamation with the formula: Divina gratia quae semper supplet defectus nostris..., the imposition of hands (and, for the bishop, of the Gospel) with the prayer, the vesting with the sacred vestments proper to the new O. received, the fraternal embrace.

This simplicity has been better preserved in the Byzantine rite, but instead of one prayer with the imposition of hands, there are two; note that this gesture also accompanies the proclamation: Divina gratia... in such a way that not a few, but perhaps wrongly, have considered this proclamation as the essential rite of the O. conferred. The traditio instrumentorum was introduced by the Ruthenians. Hymns and sometimes a small office, with lessons and psalms, accompany the Armenian Ordinations; in these the imposition of hands is repeated and the traditio instrumentorum was accepted also by the dissidents. In the Syriac rite a first office comes first (hymn, sedro, incensations, lessons), followed by a prayer of thanksgiving, and before imposing hands the bishop passes his hands three times from the consecrated gifts placed on the altar (the O. is conferred at the Communion of the Holy Mass) to the head of the ordinand. The Maronites use various formularies, still in manuscript, and multiply prayers and impositions of hands. In the Chaldean rite several prayers come first, including poetic compositions, but the ancient use of a single prayer with a single imposition of hands has been preserved. Among the Malabarese the Roman Pontifical is used in the Latin language. In the Coptic rite, as also in the Syriac and Maronite rites, the bishop places his fingers on the temples of those receiving the minor Orders. In every rite the prayers and chants are rich in doctrine, especially regarding the relations between Christ and the Church; the fundamental idea is that of an infusion of the Grace of the Holy Spirit to render the ordained fit for his sacred ministry. - See plate XI.

Alfonso Raes