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July 30, 2018 – Revisited: “Comforting Words” August 12, 2002

https://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=21242

THE RITE OF DEGRADATION

If the degradandus be an archbishop, the degrading prelate removes his pallium, saying:

We deprive thee of the rights and privileges of the episcopal dignity, symbolized in this pallium, since thou hast abused them.

Then, even if the degradandus be a mere bishop, the degrading prelate removes his mitre, saying:

We strip thy head of this miter, emblem of the episcopal dignity, since thou hast befouled it by thy ill government.

Then one of the ministers brings the Book of the Gospel to the degradandus, which the degrading prelate takes from his hands, saying;

Give us back the Gospel! Since thou hast spurned the grace of God and made thyself unworthy of the office of preaching, we rightly deprive you of this office.

Then the degrading prelate removes the ring from the finger of the degradandus, saying:

Rightly do we pull off thy ring, the sign of fidelity, since thou hast made bold to rape God’s own bride, the Church.

At this time one of the ministers brings the degradandus a crosier, which the degrading prelate takes from his hands, saying;

Thy shepherd’s staff we take from thee, that thou shalt be powerless henceforward to exercise that office of correction, which thou hast brought to disarray.

Then the ministers take off the gloves of the degradandus, and the degrading prelate lightly scrapes thumbs and hands with a knife blade or a shard of glass, saying:

We hereby deprive thee, to the extent of our powers, of the grace of spiritual blessing and of sacramental anointing, that thou shouldst forfeit the office of sanctifying and of blessing, and their effects.

With the same knife blade or shard the degrading prelate lightly scrapes the head of the degradandus, saying:

We utterly erase and eradicate the consecration, blessing and anointing bestowed upon thee, and we put thee out of the episcopal order, whence thou returnest unclothed.

The ministers remove the shoes from the degradandus Thus ends the ceremony.

The wording of the ritual assumes that only one bishops will be shorn of office. But have no fear; the language could easily be adapted to accommodate several degradandi at one time. The US bishops have shown their willingness (one might even say, their unseemly eagerness) to defrock any priest who has been guilty of sexual abuse. But the new American policy does not apply to bishops. The old ritual offers a remedy for this omission. Back in 1862, I wonder what a bishop would have had to do, to find himself called to Rome for degradation? More to the point, what would it take today?