IRREMOVABILITY
173
IRREMOVABILITY
be made by the ordinary who allows a corpse to be dis-
iuterred from the cemetery with a view to proving that
some one had committed murder. Those who only
remotely concur in a death sentence, as legislators,
chaplains, and the like, are not included in this irregu-
larity. As to clerics who practice surgery there is di-
vided opinion among canonists, and while some hold
that they contract this irregularity, others deny it, un-
less they can be shown to have incurred the impedi-
ment of homicide or mutilation. Mere disobedience
of the Church's laws as to the practice of surgery by a
cleric may be a sin, without necessarily being an irreg-
ularity. Bodily Defects. — These constitute an im-
pediment to Sacred orders, either liecause they render
a person unfit for the ministry or because his deform-
ity would make him an object of horror and derision.
The following are, therefore, irregular: mutilated per-
sons, those having an artificial limb or who are unable
to use their hand or thumb or index finger; the blind
and those whose vision is too dim to allow them to
read the Missal. Some authors, e. g. Noldin, think
that, owing to the present ingenious construction of
artificial limbs, this defect is no longer an irregularity,
as it has ceased to be a deformity. The aljsence of an
eye, even the left eye, may not constitute an impedi-
rnent if the person can read the Mass without de-
formity. In case of doubt the bishop is judge, and,
when the defect exists, he makes his declaration to
Rome, but in practice the Sacred Congregation gener-
ally inclines to the severer view. Total deafness,
thmbness, and stammering to such an extent as to
make it impossible to pronounce complete words are
likewise impediments. Paralytics, the lame who can-
not properly perform the ceremonies, those who can-
not drink wine without vomiting, lepers, those afflicted
with the falling sickness, and in general all whose
deformity is very notable are irregular. Defect of
Reason. — This irregularity includes the insane, ener-
gumens, and simpletons. Defect of Knowledge. —
Those who have not acquired the knowledge pre-
scribed by the Council of Trent for the various grades
of Holy orders cannot be licitly promoted to them.
This defect is one that cannot be dispensed in, say
canonists, because it falls under the natural law.
When its cause, ignorance, disappears, however, the
irregularity disappears without any dispensation.
Defect of Confirmation in Faith. — This irregularity
embraces neophytes recently converted and those who
have not received the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Cessation of Irregul.\rities. — Many of the ir- regularities ex defcctu cease without dispensation when their cause is removed. Such are the defects of age, liberty, knowledge. The same is to be said of infamy if it is infamiafacli. If it be infamia juris, how-ever, there must be a formal restitution of fame. If the infamy was contracted owing to some civil law it ceases in the ecclesiastical forum at the same time as it does in the civil forum. If a person was accounted irregular on account of some occupation in life, the dismissal of such occupation or condition will remove the impediment without any dispensa- tion. All other irregularities need formal dispensa- tion. In this matter the pope has absolute juris- diction. .\ limited power of dispensation is conceded to bishops either by law or special faculties. By canon law a bishop can dispense from irregularities arising from siniilitudinary bigamy; likewise from illegitimacy, but only for minor orders. The Council of Trent declares that bishops may also dispense in all irregularities and suspensions arising from secret crimes, except voluntary homicide and those con- cerning which proceedings have been instituted before legal tribunals. The bishop can use his dis- pensing power, however, only for his owii diocesan subjects. In voluntary homicide which is public or notorious the pope himself rarely dispenses. In homicide committed for one's own defence as well as
secret accidental manslaughter, the bishop can dis-
pense. If the latter deed be nubhc the ordinary's
powers extend only to minor orders. Heresy,
schism, and apostasy are reserved to the pope, and
for them the bishops need special faculties. Bodily
defects are to be passed on by the local bishop, but
the dispensation must come from the pope. Illegit-
imacy as an impediment to Sacred orders is reserved
to the pope, but it is also removed by a solemn re-
ligious profession. Faults committed before bap-
tism do not produce any irregularity. From this
sketch it will be seen that Irregularities have been
constituted by the Church to preserve the dignity
and sanctity of the sacred ministry.
Taunton. The Law of the Church (London, 1006), s. v.; AlCHNER. Compendium Juris Ecdesiaslici (Brixen, 1S95); Fer- raris. Bibliolheca Prompla, IV (Rome, 1.S88), s. v.; Lauren- Tius. Inslilutiones Juris Ecclesiastiri (Freiburg im Br., 190S), 49-69; BoENNlNGaAUSEN, De IrreguUiritatibus (Miinster, 1863- 66) ■ RiCHERT, Die An/dnge der IrregulaTilalen (Freiburg im Br., 1901).
William H. W. Fanning.
Irremovability (Lat. in, not, and removcre, to re- move), a quality of certain ecclesiastical offices and dignities. It implies that the incumbent's appoint- ment is, under certain conditions, a perpetual one, or for the term of his natural life. This quality of irremovability, or perpetuity, is attached to the principal ecclesiastical offices, such as those of pope, cardinal, bishop, parish prie.st, etc. A pope can resign his dignity; cardinals, bishops, and parish priests can either resign or be removed only for cause. It is of the removability of the latter espe- cially that this article treats. According to the prin- cipal canonists the constitution of the canonical parish includes among its requisite conditions that its rector be irremovable. However, this does not mean that no exception is permitted, for occasionally the rectors of such canonical parishes may have only a vicarious charge for another who is the true parish priest. In some coimtries the bishop seems to lie the parish priest of all or most of the parishes in his diocese, and the actual incumbents are simply his vicars. Thus in France after the Revolution the custom obtained that some thirty thousand succur- sal parish priests (desservanls) were created vv-ithout canonical institution and without the right of per- petuity, so that they could be removed and trans- ferred by the bishops. The attitude of the Holy See towards this state of things has been one of passivity and toleration, not of approbation. In many mis- sionary countries, as in the United States and Eng- land, a similar condition of affairs has obtained. According to the general law of the Church, however, a canonical parish priest is appointed for life and he can be removed from his benefice or office only for grave crimes expressed in law and after a canonical trial, either formal and solemn or, at least, summary, in those countries to which the decree on that subject (1880) of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars has been extended.
Irremovable Rectors in the United States. — Up to a comparatively recent date all the rectors having cure of souls in this country were removable at the will of the bishop (ad niitutn cpiscopi). As we have said above, however, this was not in accord with the general law of the Church. Pope Innocent III, in the Fourth General Council of the Latcran (cap. "Extirpanda;", xxx, § "Vero de prseb.", iii, .5), and Pope Boniface VIII (cap. "Unic. de capell. mon." in VI", iii, IS) insist that rectors having cure of souls should be irremovable. This is also inculcated by the Council of Trent (Sess. XXIV, cap. xiii, "De ref."). .According to the secretary of the Sacred Congregation of the Council (1846), the latter tri- bunal, which is the legitimate interpreter of the Council of Trent, has always declared its wish that rectors having cure of souls be irremovable, and this
