| Yep. And, indeed, sinning itself is not a reason to defrock someone. One of the important points about the doctrine concerning the sacrament of ordination and the exercise of one's priestly office is that whether the priest is steeped in sin or not, absolution, the eucharist, extreme unction, and so forth are still valid, since he is merely acting on behalf of Christ. However, an unwillingness to be corrected and strive to make amends, or, to put it another way, a persistent rebellion against church discipline, is grounds for losing one's license as a priest. Even then, one retains one's sacramental office, only one is forbidden to exercise it..... |
