Wednesday Liturgy: Follow-up: When a Priest Lives in Public Sin

ROME, AUG. 31, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.


After our response on a priest living in public sin (see Aug. 17), a priest asked: "Father, are you sure about your assertion that the sacraments of marriage and penance would be invalid if administered by a priest who had incurred automatic excommunication by procuring an abortion for someone?"

I think our reader is correct to doubt my reasoning and I need to nuance the reply a little. Canon 1331 deals with excommunication:

"Can. 1331 §1. An excommunicated person is forbidden:
"1/ to have any ministerial participation in celebrating the sacrifice of the Eucharist or any other ceremonies of worship whatsoever;
"2/ to celebrate the sacraments or sacramentals and to receive the sacraments;
"3/ to exercise any ecclesiastical offices, ministries, or functions whatsoever or to place acts of governance.
"§2. If the excommunication has been imposed or declared, the offender:
"1/ who wishes to act against the prescript of §1, n. 1 must be prevented from doing so, or the liturgical action must be stopped unless a grave cause precludes this;
"2/ invalidly places acts of governance which are illicit according to the norm of §1, n. 3;
"3/ is forbidden to benefit from privileges previously granted;
"4/ cannot acquire validly a dignity, office, or other function in the Church;
"5/ does not appropriate the benefits of a dignity, office, any function, or pension, which the offender has in the Church."

However, Canon 1336 §1.3, regarding expiatory penalties, specifies:

"Can. 1336 §1. In addition to other penalties which the law may have established, the following are expiatory penalties which can affect an offender either perpetually, for a prescribed time, or for an indeterminate time:
"2/ privation of a power, office, function, right, privilege, faculty, favor, title, or insignia, even merely honorary;
"3/ a prohibition against exercising those things listed under n. 2, or a prohibition against exercising them in a certain place or outside a certain place; these prohibitions are never under pain of nullity."

Therefore, according to the canons, especially 1336 §1.3 the priest's excommunication would not automatically render confessions and matrimonies he celebrated invalid. This would be especially true if they were received in good faith and in ignorance of the priest's situation.

However, if the excommunication is declared and public, then I would say that there is a real probability of invalidity. Canon 1331 §2.1 declares that the offender who wishes to act against the prohibitions in order to celebrate the sacraments should be prevented from doing so.

It should also be remembered that the validity of the sacraments of reconciliation and matrimony requires, besides priestly ordination, some other official authorization.

Thus no priest may validly hear confessions until he has received faculties from his bishop. If a priest performs a wedding without the delegation from the pastor, such a wedding is technically invalid. It is, however, relatively easy to canonically correct the error without having to go through the celebration again.

It is true that the ministers of matrimony are the couple themselves, but the Church links the validity of the celebration to the presence of an authorized official witness. In virtue of his office the pastor and associate pastors have habitual faculties to officiate at weddings. Other priests and deacons may validly do so only if delegated by the pastor. In special cases, due to a shortage of clergy, the bishop may delegate a layperson to act as official witness.

An exception to these limitations is the case of imminent danger of death of a penitent or of a person who desires to get married.

If anyone, except for the case of imminent danger of death, were to knowingly request these sacraments from an excommunicated priest (instead of impeding the celebration as required by the canon), they would be guilty of participating in a sacrilegious act.

For this reason, although the canon itself does not declare that these sacramental acts are invalid in virtue of the excommunication, I believe there is a high probability that they would be invalid because those who seek the sacraments know that the minister lacks the necessary authority and communion within the Church to act as a true minister of grace.

After all, a confession that entails committing a sin could hardly bring about reconciliation.