Law—Church and Civil:

. . . about DIVORCED CATHOLICS WHO SEEK TO MARRY

On January 13th, 2017, the Vatican made it clear that Pope Francis supports the guidelines of the Malta bishops allowing divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive Communion under certain conditions. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/vatican-newspaper-communion-guide-remarried-catholics-article-1.2946142?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NydnRss+%28Top+Stories+-+NY+Daily+News%29&utm_content=Yahoo+Search+Results

The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, published the guidelines in full. After research, a translation to English of the guidelines was not found. However, in the guidelines formulated by the Malta bishops their concludion is that if “a separated or divorced person who is living in a new relationship manages, with an informed and enlightened conscience, to acknowledge and believe that he or she is at peace with God, he or she cannot be precluded from participating in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.”

Just three years ago, the Vatican’s highest doctrinal official reaffirmed church teaching barred such persons from Communion without an annulment of their first, sacramental marriage. In Pope Francis's encyclical Amoris Laetitiae, “The Joy of Love,” he wrote that pastors should help individual Catholics ascertain what God is asking of them. Using vague language and footnotes, he linked such discussions of conscience with access to the sacraments.

Now these new guidelines make more specific the recommendation of that encyclical and may be of interest to those Catholics who were married, divorced and now married before a resigned/married priest. These couples often question me about their marriage in relation to Catholic communion. Often couples ask about this in reference to their role in the sacramental life of their eventual children. The question usually is in words similar to these: "Will our marriage be recognized by the Church?" That question is addressed generally in the article below titled ". . . about LAW, CHURCH TEACHING, RESIGNED/MARRIED PRIESTS" and more specifically in the section of that article "CHURCH LAW REGARDING RESIGNED/MARRIED PRIESTS AND SOLEMNIZING MARRIAGES".

For divorced Catholic who have remarried, there are other important resources:

1. Many may find worthwhile the description of what is called the internal forum.

2. There are a number of resources referenced at the website of the Diocese of Cleveland for Divorced and Separated Catholics.

3. A resource list of Resource Material For Divorced and Remarried Ministry offers a short description of each resource listed. One of the resources of particular value is With Open Arms: Catholic, Divorce and Remarriage.

4. Clear and complete information about annulment in the Catholic Church can be found at Catholic Annulment: Another Chance.

. . . about LAW, CHURCH TEACHING, RESIGNED/MARRIED PRIESTS

CIVIL AND CHURCH LAW

and the

MARRIAGE MINISTRY OF RESIGNED/MARRIED PRIESTS

Both State statute and Church Law testify to the legality of the ministry of marriage by resigned/married priests:

1. STATUTES OF NEW ENGLAND STATES

A. Excerpt from the Connecticut State Statutes [emphasis in red mine]

Sec. 46b-22. (Formerly Sec. 46-3). Who may join persons in marriage. (a) All judges and retired judges, either elected or appointed and including federal judges and judges of other states who may legally join persons in marriage in their jurisdictions, family support magistrates, state referees and justices of the peace may join persons in marriage in any town in the state and all ordained or licensed clergymen, belonging to this state or any other state, as long as they continue in the work of the ministry may join persons in marriage. All marriages solemnized according to the forms and usages of any religious denomination in this state, including marriages witnessed by a duly constituted Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is, are valid. All marriages attempted to be celebrated by any other person are void.

B. Excerpt from the statutes of other states

i. of the State of New York [Domestic Relations Law]

No marriage shall be valid unless solemnized by either:

A clergyman or minister of any religion, or by the senior leader, or any of the other leaders, of The Society for Ethical Culture in the city of New York, having its principal office in the borough of Manhattan, or by the leader of The Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, having its principal office in the borough of Brooklyn of the city of New York, or of the Westchester Ethical Society, having its principal office in Westchester county, or of the Ethical Culture Society of Long Island, having its principal office in Nassau county, or of the Riverdale-Yonkers Ethical Society having its principal office in Bronx county, or by the leader of any other Ethical Culture Society affiliated with the American Ethical Union.

http://codes.findlaw.com/ny/domestic-relations-law/dom-sect-11.html#sthash.JUHQjTwA.dpuf

ii. The Boroughs of New York City

• New York State Law requires any person who performs a Marriage Ceremony within the City of New York to register with the City Clerk. Registration is done in our Manhattan office located at 141 Worth Street, New York, NY 10013.

• If you are planning to wed anywhere within the five boroughs of New York City, you should ask the person who is performing your Marriage Ceremony if they have registered.

• The registration requirement does not apply to Marriage Ceremonies performed anywhere else in the State of New York.

iii. Massachusetts State Law. TO ALL NONRESIDENT, OUT-OF-STATE CLERGY MEMBERS WISHING TO SOLEMNIZE A MARRIAGE: Pursuant to the provisions of M.G.L. Chapter 207, Section 39 states in part that,The state secretary may authorize, subject to the approval of the Governor, the solemnization of any specified marriage anywhere in the Commonwealth by the following nonresident clergy members: a minister of the gospel, a commissioned cantor or duly ordained rabbi, authorized representative of a Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is, the Imam of the Orthodox Islamic religion, a duly ordained priest or minister of the Buddhist Religion, a minister in fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association, a leader of an Ethical Cultural Union, a justice of the court or a justice of the peace, … in a regular and special meeting … of a Friends or Quaker monthly meeting.A nonresident clergy member may also solemnize a marriage according to the usage of any church or religious organization which shall have complied with the provisions of the second paragraph of section 38. (C. § 38 …Churches and other religious organizations shall file in the office of the state secretary information relating to persons recognized or licensed as aforesaid, and relating to usages of such organizations, in such form and at such times as the secretary may require.) A certificate of such authorization shall be issued by the state secretary and shall be attached to the certificate issued under section twenty-eight and filed with the appropriate city or town clerk. Please complete the application and return it to this office promptly. The application may be mailed or sent by facsimile transmission to 617-727-5914. Upon receipt of a completed application, a Certificate of Solemnization will be mailed to the Nonresident Clergy member shown on the application. The Clergy member is responsible for filing said Certificate with the appropriate town or city clerk pursuant to G.L. ch. 207.

iv. Rhode Island

WHO can perform the ceremony? General Laws of Rhode Island § 15-3-5: Officials empowered to join persons in marriage.

Every ordained clergy or elder in good standing,...may join persons in marriage in any city or town in this state;

More information regarding the RI statue is available by clicking here.

2. CHURCH LAW REGARDING RESIGNED/MARRIED PRIESTS SOLEMNIZING MARRIAGE

Church law—the Code of Canon Law—states clearly in Canon 290 that ordination to the priesthood is permanent: "Once validly received, sacred ordination never becomes invalid."

Can. 292: A cleric who loses the clerical state according to the norm of law loses with it the rights proper to the clerical state and is no longer bound by any obligations of the clerical state, without prejudice to the prescript of can. 291.* He is prohibited from exercising the power of orders, without prejudice to the prescript of can. 976+. By the loss of the clerical state, he is deprived of all offices, functions, and any delegated power.

COMMENTARY BY John P. WENTLAND: This law describes the effects of "laicization." The petition I made for this administrative action was never submitted to Rome by the diocesan tribunal. While, at the time, I submitted it in good faith, I was not told about the non-transmission until, after over eleven years of silence from the chancery on the subject. I finally made an appointment to determine the status of my petition. Apologetically, the bishop wrote that he regretted that this "fell through the cracks" and offered to have his staff facilitate the update of the petition and submission to Cardinal Hoyos in Rome to take care of "this administrative detail." Considering the lack of attention to what the tribunal had presented to me eleven years earlier as a matter of conscience, I declined the bishop's offer. While I am no longer attached to the diocese, I am fully recognized by Canon Law as ". . .a priest forever. . ."

*Can. 291 Apart from the case mentioned in can. 290, n. 1, loss of the clerical state does not entail a dispensation from the obligation of celibacy, which only the Roman Pontiff grants.

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PZ.HTM

+Can. 976: Even though a priest lacks the faculty to hear confessions, he absolves validly and licitly any penitents whatsoever in danger of death from any censures and sins, even if an approved priest is present.

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3G.HTM

Can.1037: An unmarried candidate for the permanent diaconate and a candidate for the presbyterate are not to be admitted to the order of diaconate unless they have assumed the obligation of celibacy in the prescribed rite publicly before God and the Church or have made perpetual vows in a religious institute.

This canon, requiring the obligation of celibacy for priests, is likewise a disciplinary church regulation, not a tenet of faith. This, like many other laws, is of human origin, able to be altered or eliminated by human initiative when the pastoral circumstances and the needs of Christ's faithful require.

Can. 213: The Christian faithful have the right to receive assistance from the sacred pastors out of the spiritual goods of the Church, especially the word of God and the sacraments.

This canon prescribes what is already a Gospel injunction of Jesus implicit in Mt. 28, 19-20:

Then Jesus approached and said to them, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."

It follows that all those baptized in Jesus, then, are to receive the benefit of this constitutive (essential) law. This cannot be altered or eliminated by human initiative. It likewise is correct to say that fulfillment of such a law must not be neglected by those who serve as Pastors in the Church.

Further Frequently Asked Questions about married/resigned priests—including "If we choose you to witness our wedding, will it be recognized by the Roman Catholic Church?"—can be found at the website of CITI Ministries, Inc.

CHURCH TEACHING

Vatican II

In one of its documents, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (§37), Vatican Council II says that “The laity have the right … to receive in abundance from their spiritual shepherds the spiritual goods of the Church, especially the assistance of the word of God and of the sacraments.” Without enough priests we cannot guarantee that all people will have access to these “spiritual goods.” So far we have not felt the pinch as much as other places have. (A friend of mine, who has spent much time in a remote part of Mexico, ministered to an area that contained fifty or sixty different churches served by only two priests. Many of them have Mass only once a year, if that.) Nevertheless, by continuing to insist on mandatory celibacy for priests, the Church is denying, or severely limiting that access. That is wrong; that is a sin.

The harvest is indeed abundant and the laborers are indeed few. So let us by all means pray for vocations. But let us not blame God; it’s not God’s fault.

Source: excerpt from the homily titled The Elephant in the Room preached by Rev. Jerry McCloskey, Senior Priest of the Archdiocese of Seattle, Washington, the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time—July 3-4, 2010, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.” (Luke 10:2)

3. CONCLUSION

Among other ministries, I have been involved in ministry even after leaving the diocese where I was ordained. Since I “continue in the work of the ministry” and Canon 290 states that ordination is permanent: Canon 290: Once it is validly received, sacred ordination never becomes invalid. More background on Church law and the solemnizing of marriage by resigned/married priests may be found in the section below. Thus by state law of the peripheral states of Connecticut and Church Law, resigned/married priests may “join persons in marriage” or “solemnize marriages." I continue in the work of ministry through my membership in various associations of resigned/married priests as well as my continued work of ministry as a member of CORPUS, Federation of Christian Ministries and of CITI Ministries, Inc. through which I am duly certified as clergy of the International Council of Community Churches.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY ON CHURCH LAW AND THE MINISTRY OF RESIGNED/MARRIED PRIESTS

Bolstering the points above is this article giving background about Church Law and the ministry of resigned and married priests in a response by a Canon Lawyer to a question from a reader. For brevity the response is summarized below.