Editing Loss of clerical state (section)

==Notable historical examples==
At [[Napoleon|Napoléon Bonaparte]]'s insistence, [[Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord]] requested laicization in 1802, in order to marry his long-time lover [[Catherine Grand]] (née Worlée). Talleyrand was already [[Excommunication in the Catholic Church|excommunicated]] for his part in the [[Civil Constitution of the Clergy]]. Pope [[Pius VII]] reluctantly lifted the excommunication and gave him ''permission to wear secular clothing'', which permission the French [[Conseil d'État (France)|Conseil d'État]] interpreted as a laicization. Talleyrand married Worlée, then divorced in 1815,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.loc.gov/international-collections/2019/03/talleyrand-a-diplomat-par-excellence/|title=Talleyrand: A Diplomat Par Excellence {{!}} 4 Corners of the World: International Collections and Studies at the Library of Congress|last=Spiegel|first=Taru|date=2019-03-02|website=blogs.loc.gov|access-date=2019-12-17}}</ref> and lived on as a layman, but on his deathbed in 1838 he signed a document of reconciliation with the Church, prepared by future bishop [[Félix Dupanloup]]. Dupanloup then administered the [[last rites]] to Talleyrand.

[[Camilo Torres Restrepo]] requested laicization in order to focus on his [[radical politics]], although he never abandoned his faith and he remained a [[Catholic devotions|devout]] catholic.

[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pedro|Bishop of San Pedro]] [[Fernando Lugo]] requested laicization in [[Paraguay]] in 2005 to allow him to run for [[President of Paraguay]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-183859012.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102202849/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-183859012.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 2, 2012|title=Vatican laicizes bishop who was elected president|publisher= National Catholic Reporter|author=Fernando Lugo|date=November 2, 2012|access-date=February 18, 2019}}</ref> The Church at first refused, going so far as to suspend him as bishop when he ran for office anyway, but eventually granted lay status in 2008 after he was elected.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=59958|title=Paraguay's president, ex-bishop, granted lay status|work=[[Catholic World News]]|publisher=Trinity Communications|location=[[Nokesville, Virginia]]|date=2008-07-30|access-date=2008-07-31|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120525193309/http://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=59958|archive-date=2012-05-25|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In September 2018, [[Pope Francis]] ordered the laicization of a [[Chile]]an priest convicted in 2011 of the sexual abuse of minors. He had previously been sentenced to a [[life of prayer and penance (penalty)|life of prayer and penance]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/39510/pope-francis-laicizes-convicted-chilean-abuser|title=Pope Francis laicizes convicted Chilean abuser|website=Catholic News Agency|access-date=February 18, 2019}}</ref>

===Cases of bishops===
The laicization of [[Bishops in the Catholic Church|bishops]] is unusual. In 2009, the church laicized [[Emmanuel Milingo]], a former exorcist, faith healer, and [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lusaka|archbishop of Lusaka]], [[Zambia]], who had already been [[Excommunication in the Catholic Church|excommunicated]] from the church three years earlier.<ref name="Pullella">{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-milingo/vatican-defrocks-exorcist-archbishop-who-married-idUSTRE5BG24T20091217|work=Reuters|title=Vatican defrocks exorcist archbishop who married|date=December 17, 2019|author=Philip Pullella}}</ref> Milingo had threatened to form a breakaway church without a rule of [[priestly celibacy]], and had himself married.<ref name=Pullella/> [[Raymond Lahey]], the former [[bishop of Antigonish]], [[Nova Scotia]], [[Canada]], was laicized in 2012, a year after he pleaded guilty in Canadian civil court to importing child pornography.<ref name="Lahey">{{Cite news|title=Vatican laicizes Canadian bishop convicted of importing child porn|url=https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/vatican-laicizes-canadian-bishop-convicted-importing-child-porn|agency=[[Catholic News Service]]|via=National Catholic Reporter|date=May 16, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.cccb.ca/site/eng/media-room/statements-a-letters/3338-cccb-statement-on-raymond-lahey|publisher=Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops|title=Statement on Raymond Lahey|date=May 16, 2011}}</ref> [[Józef Wesołowski]], a [[Poland|Polish]] archbishop who had been a [[nuncio]] (papal ambassador), was dismissed from the clerical state in 2014 on grounds of [[Catholic Church sexual abuse cases|sexual abuse of minors]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1402692.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=2017-10-29 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20150109064529/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1402692.htm |archive-date=2015-01-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Vatican City|Vatican]] had made criminal charges against Wesołowski related to his abuse of minors and planned to [[Ecclesiastical court|try him]], but Wesołowski died in 2015 before a trial could be held.<ref>{{Citation | author = Payne, Ed | author2 = Messia, Hada | others = Greene, Richard|date = 2015-08-28|title=Vatican official accused of child porn, pedophilia dies|publisher=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/28/europe/vatican-sex-abuse-trial-death/index.html}}</ref>

[[Theodore Edgar McCarrick]], a former [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]] and the former [[Archbishop of Washington|Archbishop of Washington, D.C.]], was dismissed from the clerical state in February 2019.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chico|first=Harlan|date=16 February 2019|title=Ex-cardinal McCarrick defrocked by Vatican for sexual abuse|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/ex-cardinal-mccarrick-defrocked-by-vatican-for-sexual-abuse/2019/02/16/0aa365d4-2e2c-11e9-8ad3-9a5b113ecd3c_story.html|access-date=|newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref> McCarrick is the highest-ranked church official to date to be dismissed over the ongoing sexual abuse scandals in the Church.<ref>{{Citation | author  = D'Emilio, Frances | author2 = Winfield, Nicole| date     = 2019-02-16 | title    = Vatican defrocks former US cardinal McCarrick over sex abuse| work = KCRG | url = https://www.kcrg.com/content/news/Vatican-defrocks-former-US-cardinal-McCarrick-over-sex-abuse-505938151.html | access-date  = 2019-02-16}}</ref>

[[Roger Vangheluwe]], who served as the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bruges|Bishop of Bruges]] until 2010, was laicized on March 11, 2024, after new elements regarding the prolonged abuse of his nephew came to light.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2024/03/21/pope-strips-child-abuse-bishop-roger-vangheluwe-of-his-titles/|work=VRTNWS|title=Pope strips child abuse bishop Roger Vangheluwe of his titles|date=March 21, 2024|author=Colin Clapson}}</ref> Vangheluwe abused his nephew from the age of 5, at least for a period of 13 years. The statute of limitations in Belgium meant he could not be prosecuted anymore when the case came to light in 2010.