Defrocking

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Defrocking, unfrocking, degradation, or laicization of

criminal convictions, disciplinary problems, or disagreements over doctrine or dogma, but may also be done at their request for personal reasons, such as running for civil office, taking over a family business, declining health or old age, desire to marry against the rules for clergy in a particular church, or an unresolved dispute. The form of the procedure varies according to the Christian denomination
concerned.

The words "defrocking" or "unfrocking" refers to the ritual removal of the frock-like

vestments of clergy and ministers. These rituals are generally no longer practiced and were sometimes separate from dismissals from ordained ministry, leading some to contend that modern use of "defrocking" is inaccurate.[1] However, others maintain "defrocking" as a common synonym for laicization, one particularly popular in English.[2][3]

History

In the

Medieval and Renaissance church, priests were publicly defrocked or "degraded" by having their vestments ceremonially removed. The procedure was intended to evoke shame and humiliation in the subject.[4] A description of the degradation of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer for heresy in 1556, based on eye-witness accounts, was recorded by John Foxe
:

...when they came to take off his pall, (which is a solemn vesture of an archbishop,) then said he, "Which of you hath a pall, to take off my pall;" which imported as much as they, being his inferiors, could not degrade him. Whereunto one of them said, in that they were but bishops, they were his inferiors, and not competent judges; but being the pope's delegates, they might take his pall. And so they did, and so proceeding took every thing in order from him, as it was put on. Then a barber clipped his hair round about, and the bishop scraped the tops of his fingers where he had been anointed... Last of all they stripped him out of his gown into his jacket, and put upon him a poor yeoman-beadle's gown, full bare and nearly worn, and as evil-favouredly made as one might lightly see, and a townsman's cap on his head; and so delivered him to the secular power".[5]

Catholicism

Members of the

Sacrament of Holy Orders
.

Eastern Orthodoxy

Certain

Eastern Orthodox theologians believe that ordination to the priesthood does not confer an indelible character on the person's soul and that laicization could remove the ordained status completely.[11]
From the time of laicization all actions of a former cleric that would have been considered sacred are normally considered invalid.

Laicization of a cleric may come as a result of a request for removal from sacred orders, or as an ecclesiastical punishment. In the first case, very often, the cleric may ask to be laicized in order to enter a second marriage after the divorce or the death of his spouse. In this case, the man remains in good standing with the Church but is no longer a cleric. Laicization of a bishop can only be done by the convening of a Holy Synod.

Forced laicization or removal from sacred orders is a form of ecclesiastical punishment, imposed by the ruling bishop of a cleric for certain transgressions. According to the canonical procedure, if the cleric is found guilty of an infringement of a sacred vow, unrepentant heresy, breaking of canon law or ecclesiastical discipline, he can be suspended from exercising all clerical functions. If, disregarding his suspension, he continues to liturgize or does not repent of his actions, he may be permanently deposed from the sacred orders (in common parlance, "laicized"). Strictly speaking, the deposition can be appealed at the ecclesiastical court, but, in modern practice, the bishop's decision is usually final.

Laicization as an ecclesiastical punishment may carry with it the

sacraments
, and being blessed by a priest.

Anglicanism

In Anglicanism, defrocking is extremely rare and often impossible. Different provinces in the Anglican Communion handle this differently; the canon law of the Church of England, for instance, states that "No person who has been admitted to the order of bishop, priest, or deacon can ever be divested of the character of his order..."[12] though the church has processes to allow any clergy (by own volition or otherwise) to cease to function in the role. Anglican clergy are generally licensed to preach and administer sacraments by the bishop of the diocese in question; however if a bishop suspends this licence, the deacon or priest may no longer exercise their respective ministerial functions lawfully in that diocese. Within the Church of England The Clergy Discipline Measure 2003 provides for a range of sanctions up to a lifelong ban from the exercise of ministry.

Similarly, in the Anglican Church of Canada "deposition from the exercise of ministry if the person is ordained"[13] does not amount to defrocking, but merely removes the right to the exercise of ministry by ordained persons. These powers are given to the diocesan bishop (in most cases) subject to appeal to a diocesan court, or the diocesan court may exercise primary jurisdiction when the bishop asks it to (for diocesan bishops the provincial metropolitan is given primary jurisdiction, for metropolitans the provincial House of Bishops is given jurisdiction, for the primate it is the national House of Bishops). All these powers are subject to appeal to courts of appeal and on matters of doctrine to the Supreme Court of the Anglican Church of Canada (Appendix 4, General Synod Canon XVIII - Discipline).[14] General Synod 2007 clarified deposition, including forbidding the practice of suspending the licence in cases where discipline proceedings could be commenced instead (Resolution A082).[15]

According to the constitutions and canons of the Episcopal Church in the United States, Title IV "Ecclesiastical Discipline", there are three modes of depriving a member of clergy from exercising ministerial rights: inhibition, suspension, or deposition. Inhibitions and suspensions are temporary. Clergy who are deposed are "deprived of the right to exercise the gifts and spiritual authority of God's word and sacraments conferred at ordination." (Title IV, Canon 15, Of Terminology Used in This Section, Deposition).[16]

In the Anglican Church of Australia, the relevant canon provides for a bishop, priest or deacon to relinquish or be deposed from, or prohibited from functioning in, Holy Orders. Upon relinquishing or being deposed from Holy Orders, the relinquished or deposed person ceases to have any right, privilege or advantage attached to the relevant order(s) (of bishop, priest or deacon), and, if wholly relinquished or deposed, is considered, except for any Church law relating to a Church Tribunal, to be a lay person for the purposes of the Church. Where a person in Holy Orders has been prohibited from functioning, the prohibition has effect according to its terms.[17]

Methodism

In the

United Methodist Book of Discipline outlines the specific rules for each option. Elders and deacons may not simply be defrocked by a bishop, but only through ecclesiastical due process.[20]

References

  1. ^ Stravinskas, Peter M.J. (1991). Our Sunday Visitor's Catholic Encyclopedia. p. 293.
  2. Macmillan Company
    . p. 140, 505.
  3. ^ Schmalz, Mathew (20 February 2019). "Theodore McCarrick will continue to be a Catholic priest". The Conversation. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  4. .
  5. ^ Berry, William Grinton, ed. (1907). Foxe's book of martyrs : an edition for the people. New York: Eaton & Mains. pp. 378–379.
  6. ^ "'Defrocking' priests: the media keep asking the wrong question". www.catholicculture.org.
  7. ^ Code of Canon Law, canon 1333 Archived March 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "An example of ad poenam laicization". Archived from the original on 2016-09-10. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  9. ^ "An example of pro gratia laicization" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-02-28.
  10. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-06-04. Retrieved 2009-10-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ Scouteris, Prof. Constantine. "Some Theological and Canonical Considerations (see sec. 8)". Orthodox Research Institute. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  12. ^ Church of England Canon C1.2
  13. ^ Handbook of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada (PDF) (15th ed.). 2007. p. 86.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ "Appendix 4, General Synod Canon XVIII - Discipline" (PDF). The Anglican Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland & Labrador. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  15. ^ The Anglican Church of Canada, General Synod 2007. "Resolution Number: A082, Subject: Canon XVII - The Licensing of Clergy".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Constitution & Canons, Together with the Rules of Order, For the government of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, Otherwise Known as The Episcopal Church (PDF). New York: Church Publishing Incorporated. 2006. p. 171. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-08-21.
  17. ^ "Holy Orders (Removal from Exercise of Ministry) Canon 2017" (PDF). Anglican Church of Australia. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 March 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  18. ^ a b "Creech found guilty; loses ministerial credentials". The United Methodist Church. Archived from the original on 2008-06-03. Retrieved 2007-07-12.
  19. ^ Banerjee, Neela (2004-12-03). "United Methodists Move to Defrock Lesbian". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-07-12.
  20. ^ The United Methodist Book of Discipline