Violation of the Obligation of Residence According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law

Abstract

The obligation of residence is the obligation to reside in a specific territory on a permanent basis in connection with holding an ecclesiastical office. The delict of violation of the obligation of residence is penalized under can. 1396 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law and is strictly linked to the entrusted ecclesiastical office such as: cardinals holding specific offices in the Roman Curia, diocesan bishop, coadjutor bishop, auxiliary bishop, diocesan administrator, pastor, parochial administrator and a group of clerics administering the parish in solidum, parochial vicar. Violation of the obligation of residence is subject to a mandatory penalty. The gravest penalty provided for by the ecclesiastical legislator is the privation of ecclesiastical office.