Last week’s post examined the more grave delict of attempted ordination of a woman. Today’s post focuses on the attempt at marriage by a cleric or a religious. This is not a more grave delict.
Canon 1394 states: “§1 A cleric who attempts marriage, even if only civilly, incurs a latae sententiae suspension, without prejudice to the provisions of can. 194 §1, n. 3, and 694 §1, n. 2. If, after warning, he has not reformed or continues to give scandal, he must be progressively punished by deprivations, or even by dismissal from the clerical state.
§2Without prejudice to the provisions of can. 694 §1, n. 2, a religious in perpetual vows who is not a cleric but who attempts marriage, even if only civilly, incurs a latae sententiae interdict.”
From the outset, it is important to state that this delict binds clerics, that is, men ordained as deacons, priests or bishops. It also binds only the religious men or women in perpetual vows (those who have finally professed) and not those who are temporally professed. The prohibition of clerics and perpetually professed religious from marrying is connected to the impediments to marriage, sacred orders, and consecrated life.
Canon 1087 states that “those who are in sacred orders invalidly attempt marriage.” On the other hand, among the impediments to ordination is “one who has attempted marriage, even a civil marriage, either while himself prevented from entering marriage whether by an existing marriage bond or by a sacred order or by a public and perpetual vow of chastity, or with a woman who is validly married or is obliged by the same vow” (canon 1041 n. 3°).
This means that once one becomes a cleric, the man can no longer validly marry unless he obtains a dispensation from the obligation of celibacy granted only by the pope (cf. Cann. 290-291). On the other hand, once one is married, he cannot be ordained.
However, the Second Vatican Council relaxed the law to allow married men to be ordained as permanent deacons (that is, they are not proceeding to the priesthood) (cf. Lumen Gentium, 29). In doing so, the Church restored a practice “in complete continuity with ancient Tradition and the specific decision of the Council of Trent.”Three reasons led to the restoration of the permanent diaconate: (a) the desire to enrich the Church with the functions of the diaconate, exercised with difficulty in some parts of the world, (b) strengthening with the grace of diaconal ordination those who already exercise the functions, (c) to provide sacred ministers to areas with a shortage of clergy.
In his apostolic letter restoring the permanent diaconate in the Latin Church, Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem, Pope Paul VI emphasised that “care must be taken that only those are promoted to the diaconate who while living many years in matrimony have shown that they are ruling well their own household and who have a wife and children leading a truly Christian life and noted for their good reputation.” He maintained that they “are not to be admitted unless there is certainty not only about the wife’s consent, but also about her blameless Christian life and those qualities which will neither impede nor bring dishonour on the husband’s ministry.”
If a married deacon loses the wife, the impediment of sacred order bars him from remarrying (cf. Can. 1087). However, the Apostolic See can dispense this impediment so the permanent deacon can remarry (cf. 1078 §2, 1°). The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments provides that one of the following conditions can be sufficient to grant a dispensation for the impediment: “the great and proven usefulness of the ministry of the deacon to the diocese to which he belongs; that he has children of such a tender age as to be in need of motherly care; that he has parents or parents in law who are elderly and in need of care.”
There are increasing cases of widowers ordained as priests in the Latin Church. Marriage is a lifelong bond between a man and a woman. Hence, at the death of a wife, the impediment of marriage to ordination ceases to bind the man because death has extinguished the marital bond. Hence, widowers are free to be admitted to the formation to the priesthood on the precondition that “they have already provided, or have shown that they are capable of providing adequately for, the human and Christian upbringing of their children.”
What about married clerics among Eastern Catholics? Regarding the impediment from receiving sacred orders, the Code of Canons of Eastern Churches (CCEO) repeats the provisions of the Latin Code of Canon Law (cf. (Canon 762 §1, 3°; 804 CCEO). Since ordination impedes marriage, clerics among Eastern Catholics marry before their ordination to the diaconate. Among the requirements for ordination is a certificate of marriage and a written consent of the wife if the candidate is married (cf. Can 769 §1, 2° CCEO). If, unfortunately, the wife dies after ordination, the cleric cannot remarry. However, the Apostolic See can grant dispensation to enable the cleric to remarry if the situation warrants it (cf. Can. 795 §2 CCEO).
The situation is largely the same regarding admission to religious life in the Latin and Eastern Churches. Canon 1088 of the Latin Code (CIC) states that “those who are bound by a public perpetual vow of chastity in a religious institute invalidly attempt marriage” (cf. Can 805 CCEO). On the other hand, a spouse is invalidly admitted to the novitiate while the marriage lasts (cf. Can. 643 §1, 2° CIC; Can. 450, 6° CCEO).
Canon 291 provides that the loss of the clerical state (laicisation) does not include the dispensation from the obligation of celibacy, which clerics promised at the diaconate ordination. Only the pope can grant this dispensation from the obligation of celibacy. The Dicastery for the Clergy is competent to process this. Therefore, the delict of attempted marriage occurs when a priest who has not been dismissed from the clerical state attempts any form of marriage. It is also present when a priest has been dismissed from the clerical state but has not obtained a dispensation from the obligation of celibacy.
Attempts at marriage can be made in any legal system—customary (traditional), civil, Islamic, or canonical. It is irrelevant if the marriage was merely attempted and, therefore, invalid because the cleric was prevented, because there was an existing marriage bond, or because of an impediment on the intending spouse.
However, one must note that the invalidity of the attempted marriage only occurs in the Church (Church/canonical marriage) because a priest or a finally professed religious who marries according to customary law (customary/traditional marriage) or statutory law (Marriage under the the Act/court marriage) contracts the marriage validly and licitly if he or she fulfils the conditions required for the validity and liceity of marriage in the customary or statutory law legal system. The reason is that these legal systems are autonomous and differ from the canonical legal system..
The punishment is partly due to the scandal caused by the attempted marriage. Hence, the punishment is also partly medicinal: latae sententiae suspension. The cleric also incurs an ipso iure removal from the occupied ecclesiastical office (can. 194 §1, 3°). If, after warning, the cleric does not change, he can be dismissed from the clerical state (expiatory penalty). Regarding the finally professed religious, one who attempts to contract marriage in any legal system incurs an interdict (a medicinal penalty, which is a less severe form of excommunication). Moreover, the religious is also ipso facto dismissed from the institute (cf. Can. 694 §1, 2°).
May God continue to help us🙏🏾
K’ọdị🙋🏾♂️
