Defect of Birth

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Defect of Birth was, under former Roman Catholic canon law, a canonical impediment to ordination as a result of illegitimacy.

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Current law

Under the current 1983 Code of Canon Law, illegitimacy has no canonical implications or consequences. Defect of birth was an impediment to the reception of orders, and inhibited the exercise of the functions of orders already received. The prohibition did not touch the validity of orders, but made the reception of them illicit.

The 1983 Code of Canon Law, also called the Johanno-Pauline Code, is the "fundamental body of ecclesiastical laws for the Latin Church". It is the second and current comprehensive codification of canonical legislation for the Latin Church sui iuris of the Catholic Church. It was promulgated on 25 January 1983 by John Paul II and took legal effect on the First Sunday of Advent 1983. It replaced the 1917 Code of Canon Law, promulgated by Benedict XV on 27 May 1917.

The defect of illegitimate birth could be remedied in four ways: (1) by the subsequent marriage of the parents, if they were capable of contracting a marriage at the time of birth; (2) by a rescript of the pope; (3) by religious profession; (4) by a dispensation.

In legal terminology, a rescript is a document that is issued not on the initiative of the author, but in response to a specific demand made by its addressee. It does not apply to more general legislation.

The term religious profession is used in many western-rite Christian denominations to refer to the solemn admission of men or women into a religious order by means of public vows.

See also

PD-icon.svg  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "article name needed". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton. 

The public domain consists of all the creative works to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable.

<i>Catholic Encyclopedia</i> English-language encyclopedia

The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States and designed to serve the Roman Catholic Church. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index volume in 1914 and later supplementary volumes. It was designed "to give its readers full and authoritative information on the entire cycle of Catholic interests, action and doctrine".


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