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Can a priest who resigns return to active ministry?
- Written by: Catholics Online
✝️CAN A PRIEST WHO LEFT THE PRIESTHOOD RETURN TO ACTIVE MINISTRY? 😲🤔
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This is a question many of you asked after our recent post on how “a priest is a priest forever.”
Let’s answer it clearly, with Church teaching, canon law, and love for the mystery of Holy Orders.
✝️ First, the Theology:
Even if a man leaves active ministry… Even if he is dispensed from priestly duties… Even if he is no longer called “Father”…
👉 He is still a priest forever.
Why?
Because the Sacrament of Holy Orders leaves an indelible spiritual character, a mark on the soul that can never be erased. Just like Baptism and Confirmation, Holy Orders configures the soul forever to Christ.
✝️ The Bible says it:
“You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 7:17)
✝️ The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms:
“Holy Orders confers an indelible spiritual character and cannot be repeated or conferred temporarily.” (CCC 1582)
Even a laicized priest, one who has been returned to the lay state, remains a priest ontologically.
He may no longer wear the collar or preach publicly, but in danger of death, he can still validly absolve sins (Canon 976). The mark of Christ’s priesthood remains forever.
✝️ But Can He Return to Ministry?
Yes. Canon Law allows for it.
Let’s break it down.
Canon 293 of the Code of Canon Law says:
“A cleric who has lost the clerical state… may not be readmitted to the clerical state except through the decision of the Apostolic See.”
In other words, a priest can return to ministry, but only with permission from the Vatican, usually through the Dicastery for the Clergy (formerly the Congregation for the Clergy).
This requires:
1. A formal petition to the Holy See
2. The bishop’s or religious superior’s recommendation
3. Careful discernment about the circumstances that led to his departure
4. A prudent evaluation of the pastoral good of the Church and the priest’s readiness 🙏
So while it's not automatic, it is very possible. The Church, like the merciful Father in the story of the Prodigal Son, always leaves the door open, but with wisdom and spiritual responsibility.
✝️ Also Worth Knowing:
Canon 290: “Sacred ordination, once validly received, never becomes invalid.”
Canon 291: Laicization typically includes dispensation from celibacy. If the priest returns, that dispensation is revoked.
Canon 976: In danger of death, any priest, even laicized or suspended, can absolve sins.
✝️ So:
Yes, a priest who has left can come back. But it must be through Rome.
Because even after stepping aside from ministry, he still carries the sacred mark of priesthood, an alter Christus, a living sign of Christ the High Priest.
Let us pray for all priests:
🙏 Those in ministry,
🙏 Those who have stepped aside,
🙏 And those discerning whether to return.
They carry a mystery the world does not see, a mystery that never fades.
God bless you 🙏
#CatholicsOnlineClass
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Letter to the Irish Times on Compulsory Celibacy
- Written by: Alex Walker
Letter to the Editor
The Irish Times
28 December 2025
Celibacy and Catholic Church
Sir, – I fully support William Reville’s letter (December 23rd) calling for the abolition of compulsory celibacy as a condition for priestly ministry in the Catholic Church.
It wouldn’t solve all the problems facing this beleaguered institution, but it would inject some badly needed new life and energy into it.
In the absence of any hope of a move towards women’s equality, this step would, albeit indirectly, introduce some female presence and influence into ministry.
There is little sign of the Vatican making a move on this, or indeed on anything else to do with ministry. They seem to be incapable of moving on anything that does not get support from the whole Church, and that means that all decisions are made by the most traditional and reactionary units in the Church.
The only way forward that I can see is for individual units to begin to take independent action.
It would be wonderful if the leadership of the Irish Church began to move on this, by first inviting those men who left the priesthood due to the celibacy rule, and who are willing, to come back into ministry.
There is no doubt that would be widely welcomed in the Irish Church as a whole. Then it would need to be followed by the ordination of married men.
It would be important for the Irish Church not to ask permission from the Vatican for this action, but to politely inform them.
What exactly could they do to us? And it would set a great headline for other units within the Church. – Yours, etc,
TONY FLANNERY,
Newport,
Co Tipperary.
New report on Anglican Ordinations
- Written by: Ruth Gledhill
More than one in three Catholic ordinations are former Anglican clergy, says new report
More than one third of priestly ordinations in the Catholic Church in England and Wales from 1992 to 2024 were former Anglican clergy, according to a report published today.
Around 700 former clergy and religious of the Church of England, Church in Wales or Scottish Episcopal Church have been received into the Catholic Church since 1992, including 16 former Anglican bishops and two “continuing” Anglican bishops. From 1992 to 2025, five Anglican permanent deacons and 486 Anglican priests were ordained in the Catholic Church.
Welsh priest admits sending neo-Nazi messages as part of ‘sexual fetish’
- Written by: Alex Walker
October 31, 2025
Welsh priest admits sending neo-Nazi messages as part of ‘sexual fetish’
The Catholic Herald
A Catholic priest from Cardiff has been sentenced to a year-long community order after admitting to sending racist and violent messages in an online neo-Nazi chatroom.
Father Mark Rowles, 57, of St John Lloyd Catholic Church, appeared before magistrates after investigators from counter-terrorism police traced his posts on the encrypted messaging app Telegram.
Read more: Welsh priest admits sending neo-Nazi messages as part of ‘sexual fetish’
Alabama priest takes leave of absence
- Written by: Alex Walker
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/13/alabama-priest-robert-sullivan?CMP=share_btn_url
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