Catholic priests in public office

Jurisprudence of Canon Law

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Canon Law Task Force

A number of Catholic priests have served in civil office. In keeping with the principle of separation of church and state,^[1] the Catholic Church discourages this practice.

In canon law

Canon law is internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of churches. In the Roman Catholic Church, it is promulgated by the pope. The Codex Iuris Canonici governs the Latin Church, which comprises the larger part of the Roman Catholic Church.^[2]

Canon 285 of the 1983 Codex Iuris Canonici is a provision of Roman Catholic canon law that prohibits members of the Catholic clergy from doing things that are “unbecoming” or “foreign to the clerical state.”^[3] In addition, it prohibits diocesan priests and bishops from serving in “public offices which entail a participation in the exercise of civil power.”^[3]

Law in particular countries

Paraguay

Article 235 of the constitution prohibits any minister of any religion from serving as the president.

Examples

Priests in the U.S. Congress

Two Catholic priests, Robert Drinan and Robert John Cornell, have served in Congress. In 1980, when Pope John Paul II insisted that priests not serve in elective office,”^[4] Representative Drinan withdrew from his re-election campaign, and Cornell withdrew from his bid to re-gain the seat he had lost in the 1978 Congressional election. In 1983, the prohibition on serving in governmental office was codified as section 3 of canon 285 of the Codex Iuris Canonici.

President of Paraguay

Main article: Fernando Lugo

In 2005, Bishop Fernando Lugo requested laicization to run for office. His request was denied. In 2008, he was elected president of Paraguay, in spite of article 235 of the Constitution of Paraguay, which prohibits any minister of any religion from serving as President. After his election, he was laicized. In 2012 he was removed from the presidency for unrelated reasons.

Canada

In 2008, Father Raymond Gravel was forced by the Vatican to leave the House of Commons of Canada because, among other things, he supported abortion rights and same-sex marriage.^[5]