Editing Defrocking (section)

==Catholicism==
{{main|Loss of clerical state}}
Members of the [[Catholic Church]] clergy may be dismissed from the clerical state, an action known as "laicization". The term "defrocking" is not normally used within the Catholic Church, although journalistic reports on laicization of Catholic clergy sometimes use it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otn.cfm?id=656|title='Defrocking' priests: the media keep asking the wrong question|website=www.catholicculture.org}}</ref> Laicization differs from [[Suspension (Catholic canonical penalty)|suspension]]. The latter is a censure prohibiting certain acts by a cleric, whether the acts are of a religious character deriving from his [[Holy Orders|ordination]] ("acts of the power of orders") or are exercises of his power of governance or of rights and functions attached to the office he holds.<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4X.HTM Code of Canon Law, canon 1333] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080329021837/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4X.HTM |date=March 29, 2008 }}</ref> As a censure, suspension is meant to cease when the censured person shows repentance. Laicization, on the contrary, is a permanent measure, whereby for a sufficient reason a cleric is from then on juridically treated as a layman. Laicization is sometimes imposed as a punishment ([[Latin]], ''ad poenam''),<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.archmil.org/reorg/bardate/ClergyOffenders/Hanser.htm |title=An example of ''ad poenam'' laicization |access-date=2014-01-18 |archive-date=2016-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160910073347/http://www.archmil.org/reorg/bardate/ClergyOffenders/Hanser.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> or it may be granted as a favour (Latin, ''pro gratia'') at the priest's own request.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://clergyfiles.la-archdiocese.org/files/Plesetz,%20Gerald.pdf |title=An example of ''pro gratia'' laicization |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130228135528/http://clergyfiles.la-archdiocese.org/files/Plesetz,%20Gerald.pdf |archive-date=2013-02-28 |url-status=dead}}</ref> New regulations issued in 2009 regarding priests who abandon their ministry for more than five years and whose behaviour is a cause of serious scandal have made it easier for bishops to secure laicization of such priests even against the priests' wishes.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0902539.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=2009-10-04 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20090604062753/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0902539.htm |archive-date=2009-06-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Once a priest or bishop is laicized, they do not lose what is conferred to them through the graces imparted to them that relate to the [[Holy Orders|Sacrament of Holy Orders]].