07/20/2004: "Question of the Day: Are Sacraments performed by clergy in mortal sin valid?"
NOTE: If you'd like to submit a question, either post it as a comment in this entry or e-mail me at questions at thecrawfordfamily dot net.
This question was submitted by John in the comment box of yesterday's Question of the Day. You can look at yesterdays comment box to see the full question (I have to abreviate for room).
This is another one I had to go do some research on to ensure what I thought was correct, was indeed correct.
One has to remember that the Priest is only acting as a channel for God's grace when he "performs" a Sacrament. It is reallly God who is granting the Grace to those who receive the Sacrament. So, while the a Priest or Bishop who was "performing" a Sacrament may be further damning themselves, the Sacrament remains valid for those who receive it in these cases.
It turns out this is not a new question. It dates back to at least the 4th century when Christians were persecuted by the Roman empire. Some Priests and Bishops would deny their faith to avoid being martyred and would then return to their ministry. Back in those days, one didn't receive absolution in an instant like today. The sin wasn't forgiven by the Church until a lengthy (often multi-year) penance was fulfilled. In the mean time, those clergy may or may not be continuing in their role as clergy and celebrating the Sacraments. The question arose, and was called the Donatist controversy, as to whether the Sacraments performed by those clergymen were valid. The Church decided that although not ideal, that the Sacrament was indeed valid by 'Ex Opere Operato' (it works by the very fact of the action being performed).
John (our question asker) specifically brought up the scenario of a Satanist who becomes Bishop by lying about his faith and whether the priests ordained by that Bishop are valid. Although the base principle stated above is correct, it is important to remember that the state of the person receiving is of issue as well. If I come to my wedding fully desiring to break my wedding vows, then my marriage is not valid. I would think that if the person who was receiving the sacrament from the Satanist were of sincere heart, the Church would honor that ordination. However, if the Satanist were to ordain another Satanist (because he was trying to get more Satanist "in" for example) then the Church would have easy cause to defrock (take away the ordination) of the Priest and the Bishop for that matter.
Similar to an Anullment in an invalid marriage, the Church does not take the process of defrocking lightly (as far as I can tell, the Catholic Church is the oldest institution in the world that promoted the idea of 'innocent until proven guilty' (or sacramental until proven otherwise perhaps?)). There is a trial and good cause must be shown. As far as the Church is concerned, until both the Annulment and defrocking "trials" have completed, both Sacraments are considered valid and as such, assuming the other half of the sacramental equation is complete, all Sacraments performed by that Bishop would still be valid.
I think the final thing to remember is that all Sacraments, received invalidly, are inherently invalid. The combination of Ex Opere Operato and valid reception seem to be God's one-two punch to ensure availability without abusability, something us fallen humans aren't very good at by nature.
Thanks for the great question John.
