Can one “renounce the priesthood”?

Can you no longer be a priest? The sacrament of ordination received by the candidate for the priesthood is a “character” sacrament, as are baptism and confirmation. This means that it is non-repeatable on the one hand, and that the soul of the person who receives it is marked with an indelible seal. “In this sense, ‘renouncing being a priest’ is sacramentally impossible. The character is marked forever,” explains Dominican canonist Joseph-Thomas Pini. “However, this character is there to dispose a man to exercise the presbyteral ministry; if the character cannot disappear, it is however possible to put an end to this ministry and the obligations attached to it, including the obligation to celibacy”.

Such a decision then comes either from the choice of the Church if it is a sanction, or from a request from the person concerned. In the case of a priest’s decision, canon law specifies that it must be motivated by “very serious reasons” (canon 290, §3). Canon law also decrees a notable gradation, specifying that if deacons can lose the clerical state for “serious” reasons, those put forward by priests must be “very serious”. “The fact of asking for more and more serious explanations is justified because during his training, the candidate expressed on several occasions, and publicly, his desire to go as far as priestly ordination. He did public promises. The degrees of ordination are in a way the mirror of the degrees of progressiveness of the will” adds Brother Joseph-Thomas.

If he therefore remains a priest forever and “can no longer become a layman in the strict sense” (catechism §1583), an ordained man can nevertheless be relieved of his obligations and marry. “The very fact of leaving the clerical state does not exempt from the obligation of celibacy, it is an additional decision granted by the Holy See,” specifies the Dominican.

A cumbersome procedure

In the case of a request made by a priest to withdraw from his ministry, the process is cumbersome and is done after a discussion with the bishop.

After discernment, priest and bishop together communicate to the Dicastery for the Clergy – the Vatican body in charge of the management of priests – a heavy file, bringing together in particular the opinions given by the trainers during training at the seminary. At the end of the procedure, the Holy See issues a rescript granting the priest’s release. In return, the priest must acknowledge receipt of the rescript, for it to come into force.

In the context of a dismissal from the clerical state due to the priest’s fault, the decision comes from the pontifical authority.

Nullity of ordination

Such decisions are to be distinguished from the recognition of nullity of ordination. In this case, the Vatican recognizes that the sacrament was in fact never conferred, that it is void and therefore has no character. This decision, very rare and rendered at the end of a trial, occurs when the ordination rite has not been respected, when the one who ordained the candidate did not have the competence to do so, when the candidate did not meet the conditions for receiving ordination (being a baptized man, can. 1024) or if he did not have the will or the intention to receive it. All the sacraments that he then celebrated are therefore also recognized as void.

Joseph-Thomas Pini op. is a Dominican priest, canonist and doctor of law.