Loss of clerical state

Uncommon card · No. 125525

In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the loss of clerical state (commonly referred to as laicization, dismissal, defrocking, deposition, and degradation) is the removal of a bishop, priest, or deacon from holy orders and the status of being a member of the clergy. The term defrocking originated in the ritual removal of vestments as a penalty against clergy that was eventually codified within the Roman Pontifical. Contemporary Latin Catholic canon law does not contain such a ritual, leading some to consider it an inaccurate description of laicization. However, others consider "defrocking" a synonym to laicization that is especially popular in English. While the ritual removal of the vestments no longer exists, canon law still prohibits the wearing of a clerical collar by laicized priests. In the Catholic Church, a bishop, priest, or deacon may be dismissed from the clerical state as a penalty for certain grave offences, or by a papal decree granted for grave reasons. This may be because...

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