Ebook: Incardination and Excardination of Seculars

EARLY in the life of the Church it became apparent that a confinement of effort within territorial bounds would best pro- mote the realization of world evangelization by the successors of the Apostles and their co-workers in the sacred ministry. A diocesan clergy was the result, subject in each territory to the jurisdiction of the ruling Bishop. Once thus organized, honorable reasons were not lacking from time to time for ex- changes between dioceses of their clerical personnel. _Canonical transfers of clerics and priests from one territory or diocese to another were allowed under regulation even from the early Christian centuries, as is witnessed by the canons of the pro- vincial and general councils of the period.
Since attachment to a diocese in perpetuity was secured in the first instance through the medium of ordination, the dis- engagement of a cleric and his reattachment elsewhere was like- wise considered achieved by the authorization of another Bishop to ordain the same cleric to a higher order in the new locality. Thus, sacred ordination had a close connection with canonical transfers, or with excardination and incardination as this process has since become known, and the close relationship of the two has never been severed. Legislation adopted by the Church for the latter process always involved the former. In fact, through most of the Church's history, the subject of in- cardination and excardination as such is not found at all in Church legislation, but must be sought out and gathered from various official pronouncements De Online.
It is true that much'was written in centuries past on holy orders, and in particular about the proper Bishop for ordina- tion and the ordination title, but very little was ever done in the way of abstracting from these two subjects the implicit legislation of the Church concerning excardination and incardi- nation. "Scant consideration was given to the matter by the canonists, and whatever few pertinent articles appeared in ec- clesiastical periodicals were only phase treatments.
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viii Foreword
Meanwhile the basic law itself became more complicated with the passage of centuries. Five distinct periods may be dis- cerned, in each of which a different discipline with reference to holy orders was enforced, and the greater part of these enact- ments were cumulative. Furthermore, every change in legis- lation potentially had four different effects according to the class of subjects to whom it was applicable, namely, to lay candidates for the clerical state, minor clerics, major clerics, and priests. Special laws, too, were enacted governing the canonical trans- fers of certain groups, such as clerics from foreign lands. A lack of uniform terminology throughout caused much con- fusion and added to the difficulty of a correct understanding of the common law. Various interpretations of the law when applied to particular cases gave rise to frequent contests in ec- clesiastical courts to determine the diocese to which a cleric owed his allegiance, and these the Holy See was called upon again and again, even in the same particular instance, to adjudicate.
The Code of Canon Law clarified the situation very definitely by giving to the Church for the first time a clear-cut division of legislation on the two subjects, incardination and ordination, dealing with each under its own proper title, even though they
still remained related subjects. This, however, did not settle all difficulties. The Code itself required interpretation in the light of a preceding legislation already ill understood, thus accentuating the long felt need for a general detailed study, both historical and canonical, of the whole field of legislation with regard to the excardination and incardination of clerics.
It is that need which the present work aims, however humbly and inadequately, to satisfy. To the writer's best knowledge it is a pioneer publication on the subject. The original purpose was to include in its scope the law concerning canonical transfers to and from Religious Institutes, but that was found in- feasible. Accordingly, as its title indicates, it is restricted to the study of the incardination and excardination of seculars only, although it may be remarked that a separate study of the same question with respect to Religious is in process of prepara- tion by another writer who himself is a member of a Religious Congregation.

Foreword ix
Because of the fact that this is the first general treatise on the subject, it was thought advisable to incorporate in the foot- notes much of the source material to invite a better criticism and evaluation of the conclusions herein reached in the more specialized and scientific studies that may follow.
The extensive treatment given to the subjects of the proper Bishop for ordination and the ordination title was made neces- sary because of the close nexus between ordination and incardi- nation, and also because at the time this work was begun, in 1927, no treatise existed in the English language on those two fundamental related subjects. Since then, in the year 1935, a doctoral dissertation in Eng it on the subject of the "Proper Bishop for Ordination" was published at the Catholic Univer- sity of America, Washington, D. C., by the Reverend John M. Moeder, J.C.D., to whom, therefore, the humble apologies of the author are tendered for seemingly having transgressed on his canonical field.
More space, too, than may seem warranted has been given to the commentary on canon 114. The reason is that virtual incardination and excardination of clerics through the reception of a residential benefice, of which this canon treats, has been the source of more litigation in ecclesiastical courts than any other phase of the excardinatory process. It is the canon which is styled by one author "dangerous for unwary Bishops," be- cause of the automatic way in which it secures its effect inde- pendently of their expressed will. It was felt, therefore, that a detailed examination of all the possible consequences of the application of canon 114 would serve to eliminate much of the previous misunderstanding about the virtual process of incardi-
'nation upon which the aforesaid conflicts were based.
Tfie research and assembly of source material for this work was accomplished during the years 1927-1929. In the long interval that elapsed between that and its final publication, dur- ing which time the writer was functioning as an assistant pastor in a busy city parish, it was inevitable that newer editions of many of the works consulted should emanate from the press. 'While some of these were proctired and incorporated, it was found impossible to do so for all, but a comparison of a few

Foreword
of them and a scrutiny of the most recent Juridical Periodical Articles leads to the conclusion that the use of the older editions has not substantially affected the argument.
It is well recognized that incardination and excardination is a very practical subject, and in this study an effort has been made to provide the reader with a practical guide in the execu- tion of these processes as well as with a basis of theoretical
-knowledge for such action. The formulae of letters and docu- ments contained herein have been drawn up according to the latest prescriptions of ecclesiastical law; they are not obligatory, but merely indicative of safe practice. The various charts provided are intended to summarize and simplify the text so as to enable the reader to ascertain at a glance the law governing the more complicated phases of the entire problem. It is sin- cerely hoped that as a result of this work the history of incardi- nation and excardination will be clarified and its present procedure simplified.
The writer is especially indebted to Rev. Clement V. Bast- nagel, J.U.D., of the Faculty of the School of Canon Law, for his painstaking care and invaluable suggestions in correcting the lengthy manuscript of this work, and to all the Faculty members of the same School for their extreme kindness and sympathetic direction. He wishes to express his appreciation likewise to the personal staffs of the John K. Mullen of Denver Memorial Library at the Catholic University of America and of the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary Library at Overbrook, Pa., for the many willing and generous courtesies extended to him, and to the Reverends William D. Bruckmann, S.T.L., and Peter J. Klekotka, J.C.D., for the special assistance they rendered. Finally, he acknowledges his sincere gratitude to the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the priests at- tached to the parish of St. John the Baptist, Manayunk, Pa., , including his former and present pastors, Rt. Rev. Msgr. Eugene Murphy, dec'd., and Rev. John J. McKenna, and his fellow Assistants, Revs. Connell Clinton, J.C.D., Ignatius C. Reynolds, James F. Connor, and Robert J. McVeigh, for the many sacri-, fices they made in his behalf, and also to all those who in any way helped to bring this work to a successful conclusion.