Pope Leo reviewing ‘special faculties’ for laicization

 

Pope Leo reviewing ‘special faculties’ for laicization

VATICAN CITY (VATICAN CITY)
The Pillar [Washington DC]

January 16, 2026

By Edgar Beltrán

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Are changes coming at the Dicastery for Clergy?

Pope Leo XIV is reviewing the authority of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Clergy to use procedures introduced first by Benedict XVI for the laicization of clerics in special circumstances.

Pope Francis’ apostolic constitution Praedicate evangelium on the reform of the Roman curia gives the dicastery the authority to administratively dispense clergy from the clerical state, a normalization of special faculties created by Benedict in 2009, for priests who have abandoned ministry or engaged in “seriously scandalous behavior.”

But the use of special processes has come under scrutiny in and outside of Rome, with some expressing concern that the procedure has been applied too broadly and liberally, and others expressing concern that the Dicastery for Clergy, already understaffed, is stretched too thin to handle cases expeditiously.

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Several dicasteries of the Roman curia have special legal powers to handle certain kinds of cases under their…

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