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Introduction
According to the Code of Canon Law, more specifically, the canons on "The Enrollment, or Incardination of Clerics" (cc. 265-272), incardination occurs through reception of diaconate; the individual ordained is thereby incardinated into a particular church, personal prelature, institute of consecrated life or society endowed with the faculty to incardinate. After this initial incardination, the law presumes that excardination - the removal of the bond between an individual and a specific canonical entity (diocese, prelature, institute or society) - only occurs when an individual has found another canonical entity to incardinate him and his proper superior a quo agrees to excardinate him.
Therefore, theoretically at least, excardination may not occur without concurrent incardination and, as a corollary, the legal bond of incardination perdures throughout the cleric's life. Canon 265 expresses this theory through the requirement that incardination is mandated for every cleric; as one consequence, "[...] unattached [acephali] or transient clerics are not allowed at all."(1)
Despite the apparent clarity of this statement, questions continue to arise concerning specific issues. One question in particular affects those priests who have been incardinated into a religious institute.(2) If they are legitimately dismissed from their institute, into which canonical entity - if any at all - are they incardinated? In 1993, Thomas GREEN offered his canonical opinion concerning the status of a dismissed religious priest and the possible granting of faculties to that individual.(3) Despite the limitations of the format, GREEN's clear and concise assessment highlights the specific difficulties concerning the status of such priests. He argues that such an individual is in fact a transient or unattached cleric. While his argumentation still pertains, it is important to revisit the topic. Three specific reasons suggest such a study.
First, the sexual abuse crisis in the United States has re-emphasized the importance of standards for priestly ministry and for means to insure such standards are not only fair and equitable but also implemented.(4) Integrally related to these standards is the canonical institute of incardination. Such concern for standards, however, is not limited to the United States. Second, the law itself - canon 265 as cited above - appears to be unequivocal - every cleric must be incardinated and therefore the issue of incardination is separate from membership...