Papal dispensation

Papal dispensation is a reserved right of the Pope that allows for individuals to be exempted from a specific Canon Law. Dispensations are divided into two categories: general, and matrimonial. Matrimonial dispensations can be either to allow a marriage in the first place, or to dissolve one. The authority for the Pope to exempt an individual or situation from a law stems from his position as the Vicar of Christ, which implies divine authority and knowledge as well as jurisdiction.^[1]

The first marriage of Henry VIII of England to Catherine of Aragon required a Papal dispensation as it breached canon law on Affinity because she was the widow of Henry's elder brother Arthur, Prince of Wales. This was obtained successfully, but when he later wished to divorce her, he was famously unable to get another one, causing his break with Rome. In the earlier Middle Ages, especially the 11th to 12th centuries, the church had developed canon law on affinity and consanguinity (the first denoting a connection by marriage only, the second a genetic one) to cover very remote relationships, so that a very high proportion of marriages between the small and inter-related European elites needed expensive dispensations from either the Pope or a bishop. This was recognised as an abuse, and later the relationships covered were reduced. In 1059, the eleventh canon of the Council of Rome recognized the impediment of affinity as well as of consanguinity to extend to the seventh degree, the high point of the restrictions. Innocent III in the Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215) limited both affinity and consanguinity needing dispensation to the fourth degree, and the Council of Trent (Sess. XXIV, c. iv, De Ref.) in the 16th century limited the juridical effect of extra-matrimonial intercourse to the second degree of affinity.

Notes

1. ^ CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Dispensation

This Catholic Canon Law-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v d e