In the Catholic Church, imposing a life of prayer and penance is a type of penalty used to punish clergy for crimes and misconduct. It is typically imposed on elderly priests as opposed to younger priests, who may face harsher penalties.What does it actually mean for a priest to be ‘laicized’?
(Catholic News Agency)

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It is similar to

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and while implementation of the penalty may vary, it usually includes banning the person from public ministry and limiting his interactions with others. It may also involve restricting or removing access to telephones or televisions. For example, in the

Archdiocese of Philadelphia The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. It covers the City and County of Philadelphia as well a ...

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Justin Rigali established a program for clergy sentenced to lifetime of prayer and penance that prohibits them from celebrating Mass publicly, administering sacraments, wearing clerical garb, or presenting themselves as priests; and they are monitored full-time by a former

probation officer A probation and parole officer is an official appointed or sworn to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation or those released from incarceration to community supervision such as parole. Most probati ...

. Violations of the restrictions may result in a full dismissal from the clerical status. According to canonist Fr. Damián Astigueta, the majority of priests who agree to abide by the life of prayer and penance "want to be helped and recognize that this penalty is a table of salvation for them."

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Catholic penal canon law {{Catholic-Church-stub

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