Dispensation

The concept of dispensation is applied most often to the legislated relaxation of canon law that governs an organized, hierarchical religion, most notably the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. When dispensation is accorded, the law itself remains intact and in effect for the rest of the church. These dispensations apply only to particular individuals under particular circumstances that are carefully investigated by the church before any action is taken. Dispensation, although an element of the legislative protocol of the church, is not done lightly. Rather, it is a prudent and measured response to extraordinary circumstances that, should those circumstances not be taken into account, either the integrity of the church itself would be damaged or the soul of the petitioning individual would be in peril.

Background

Dispensation involves the petition of appropriate authority within the church to excuse the petitioning church member (or sometimes groups of members) from the normative obligations of strict obedience to the church laws or practices. These laws most often involve the exercise of the sacraments and/or the taking of particular vows or oaths as part of those sacraments, most often and most notably in the matter of clergy and the rite of ordination and in cases of marriage and divorce. Because those vows and oaths are, by definition, promises made directly to God through the intercession of the church, the decision to abrogate that promise can only be sanctioned by appropriate authority within the church, acting in turn as God’s representative. For centuries that appropriate authority was the pope; in the Eastern Orthodox Church, however, that authority is concentrated in the synod, a council of bishops that govern church matters in large districts. In either case, dispensation is most often granted in cases where following church law would impart unnecessary and extreme hardship on the individual.

The concept of dispensation evolved during the first millennium of the Catholic Church. The church, early in its history, was conceived as a system of laws that were deemed fundamental guidelines to the appropriate expression of the faith. These guidelines came to be called canon law. In addition, the church developed an elaborate hierarchy. At the head of the church was the pope, regarded as the ultimate authority in the management of the church as the divinely appointed representative of Christ himself—Pope Innocent III (1195–1264) is known for first promulgating this principle. Included among these powers was the authority to exempt individuals from the obligation to abide by canon law. These dispensations (and the grace they brought) gave the pope, in theory, power far in excess of even a king in that the pope could influence the actual salvation of the petitioner’s soul. Controversy began to arise, however, when these dispensations would be granted in return for considerable sums of money. Indeed, abuses of dispensations led in large part to the original schism in the Catholic Church in the late fifteenth century and eventually to the Great Reformation.

Historically, the most notorious example of dispensation involved the British monarch Henry VIII and his attempts, across nearly twenty years, to secure a male heir. In an era when royalty routinely used marriage to create powerful alliances and to secure dynasties, the marriage vows often became an instrument of power and negotiation. In 1509, Henry VIII dutifully petitioned Pope Paul III for dispensation to marry Catherine of Aragon—who was the widow of his own brother—a relationship not permitted by canon law. The pope agreed to the dispensation—but when Catherine after more than twenty years was unable to provide Henry with a male heir, the king again petitioned to have this marriage annulled in order to marry the much younger Anne Boleyn, arguing the lack of a male heir was God’s punishment for violating his brother’s widow. When the pope refused, Henry led England to break with the church entirely and established himself as the head of the new separatist Church of England.

Impact

Given a church with more than a billion members, logic dictates that the church needs a protocol to show appropriate flexibility, to be able to dispense mercy and compassion when individuals are caught in circumstances brought about by following the guidelines of canon law. Canon Law 85, which outlines the concept of dispensation, states such exemptions are provided only for just, reasonable, and urgent cause. Even then, the petition must be forwarded in writing and could take months, even years. After the sweeping reforms of Vatican II in the mid-1960s, the church itself moved to relax the order of dispensation, establishing that priests and bishops, acting in accord with papal authorization, may exercise dispensation at the local level in the day-to-day operations of the parish community. For example, a priest might exempt a sick parishioner from abstinence requirements during Lent or exempt the entire community from the obligation to attend mass on a designated holy day in the event of extraordinary circumstances, such as a natural catastrophe or widespread emergency.

Although dispensations are frequently granted in matters of voiding the vows of ordination (such as when a priest or nun desires to leave the order to pursue opportunities in the secular world), the preponderance of dispensation cases involve marriage, both seeking to permit a marriage relationship not sanctioned by canon law (a Catholic, for instance, marrying someone who has never been baptized or a baptized Christian who is not a Catholic) or seeking to annul a marriage to avoid the church’s harsh sanctions levied against those who divorce. In matters of marriages with mixed religions, the church seeks to ensure that a family remains steadfast in the Catholic faith. Much broader, of course, are issues involving married couples who petition to have the marriage annulled. The justifications for such dispensation include:

• Mental incapacity at the time of the vows
• Failing to understand that marriage is intended to be lifelong
• Marriage to a person masquerading as someone else
• One partner never intending to have children
• A marriage that was never consummated
• A forced marriage

Annulment is difficult as a way to encourage couples to work within the marriage. In any case, dispensation is not a right but rather a way for church members to accept the fullest implications and responsibilities of the articles of their faith.

Bibliography

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Adam, Will. Legal Flexibility and the Mission of the Church. Ashgate, 2011.

Berand, G. W. The King’s Reformation: Henry VIII and the Remaking of the English Church. Yale UP, 2007.

Bianchi, Paolo. When Is Marriage Null? Guide to the Grounds of Matrimonial Nullity for Pastors, Counselors, and Lay Faithful. Ignatius, 2015.

Clarke P. D. “Canterbury as the New Rome: Dispensations and Henry VIII’s Reformation.” Journal of Ecclesiastical History, vol. 64, no. 1, 2013, pp. 20–44, doi.org/10.1017/S0022046912000759. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.

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Soule, W. Becket. “The Twenty-Second International Conference of the Society for the Law of the Eastern Churches: Oikonomia, Dispensation and Aequitas in the Life of the Church Thessaloniki, Greece, 10–15 September 2015.” Ecclesiastical Law Journal, vol. 18, no. 1, 2016, pp. 78–80, doi.org/10.1017/S0956618X15000873. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.