A: In “Marriage Between a Catholic and a Non-Catholic,” we examined the concept of dispensation from Church laws. As a rule, of course, the Church makes laws and expects us to obey them. But sometimes the circumstances are such that it may be possible to obtain an exemption from obeying a law, which means that it does not have to be respected. But who has the power to grant an exemption? And what laws can be enacted? In this sense, poverty became a blessing rather than a curse, or at least a dispensation that prescribed the just fate for man. Exemption is not a permanent power or a special right as in privilege. [1] If the reason for the exemption expires completely, then the exemption also ends completely. [3] [4] [5] If the direct basis of the right is removed, the right expires. [3] There are several levels of authority in the Church that are authorized to satisfy the various requirements of canon law. Local ordinaries, for example, are empowered to distribute the various canonical obstacles to the sacrament of marriage. Pastors can grant individuals an exemption from Sunday duty (attending Mass or the requirement to rest from ministry on Sundays) upon request for a good cause, while diocesan bishops can grant blanket exemptions to everyone in their area, as all bishops in the United States did in late March 2020 in response to a coronavirus pandemic. Some dispensations are reserved for the Holy See, for example because of the obstacle to the ordination of the faith of the faith. Finally, we have complete answers to both questions, as well as to the Church`s reasoning. The law on the abstract issue of exemption can become quite complicated; but this is usually because the Church tries to maintain a balance between observing the law and giving permission in certain circumstances not to obey it.
Nglish: Translation of the dispensation for Spanish speakers The papal dispensation is a reserved right of the pope that allows individuals to be exempted from a certain canon law. Exemptions are divided into two categories: general and conjugal. Matrimonial exemptions may consist of either authorizing a marriage in the first instance or dissolving one. The pope`s authority to exempt a person or situation from a law derives from his position as vicar of Christ, which implies divine authority and knowledge, as well as jurisdiction. [10] The same canon 87.1 just mentioned gives us the general rule about who can depart from ecclesiastical laws. He is the diocesan bishop, and he can exempt the faithful from disciplinary laws whenever he feels it contributes to their spiritual well-being. Canon 87.1 adds that the bishop may exempt universal laws (as contained in the Code) as well as certain laws that might govern the faithful in his territory – but not laws whose exemption is reserved to the Holy See. A good example of a law whose dispensation is reserved for Rome is found in canon 291, which deals with the dispensation of a cleric from the observance of celibacy (see “Can a priest ever return to the state of laity?” for more information on this subject). For the same reason, it is impossible to grant or obtain a dispensation that allows a Catholic who leads a scandalously sinful life and/or someone who has been excommunicated or suspended to serve as a godfather (c. 874.1 nn. 4-5).
The requirement that the godfather must live as a good Catholic is a constituent element of the role of a godfather, and to waive it would render the whole concept of godfather and godmother meaningless. (See “Can a Fallen Catholic Be a Godfather?” for more on this.) Second, the canon states that exemption may be granted for purely ecclesiastical laws. As we saw in “Are There Limits to the Pope`s Power?”, the Code of Canon Law contains some man-made laws, and others that the Church possesses have been given to us by God. The former are described as “purely ecclesiastical”, and the codex provides that, since they were written by Church officials – who are only human beings – they can logically be modified or deleted. On the other hand, the laws that are said to be of divine origin were established by God Himself, and therefore no man has the power to change them. For clarity, it is worth looking at some examples of these two types of laws. “Dispensation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dispensation. Retrieved 11 October 2022. A vicar capitular, or a lawful administrator in his place, shall enjoy all the powers of disposition which the bishop has by virtue of his ordinary jurisdiction or the delegation of the law; according to the actual discipline, he even enjoys the ordinary powers granted to the deceased bishop for a certain period of time or for a limited number of cases, even if the indult should have been issued in the name of the bishop of N. The same applies to some indults (see below). The vicar general, by virtue of his appointment, has all the ordinary powers of the bishop over the prohibition of obstacles, but needs a special warrant to give him common law powers over obstacles of leadership. As for the ordinary provisional faculties, since they are now addressed to the Ordinariate, they also belong ipso facto to the Vicar General, as long as he holds this office.
He may also use certain indults if they are addressed to the ordinary, and if they are not, the bishop may always subdelegate it, unless expressly stated otherwise in the indult. Since the first half of the twentieth century, the current practice of the Roman Catholic Church has been based on the decisions of the Council of Trent, which left medieval theory intact while trying to protect itself from its abuses. The proposal of the Gallican and Spanish bishops to subordinate the power of papal dispensation to the consent of the Church at the General Council was rejected, and even the canons of the Council of Trent itself, with regard to the Reform of morality or ecclesiastical discipline, were described as “salvation of the authority of the Holy See” (Sess. xxv. cap. 21, of ref.). At the same time, all dispensations, whether papal or not, were to be granted only for just and urgent reasons or for a decisive benefit to the Church (urgens justaque causa et major quandoque utilitas) and in any case free of charge. The payment of money for an exemption was made ipso facto in order to render the exemption null and void (Sess. xxv. cap. 18, de ref.). [2] I have had to look at thousands of expert opinions, and I have never seen one – except in cases of litigation or estate approval – where they had to go back in time to determine their value.
But divine laws are not the only laws that cannot be promulgated.