PROCEDURA PROPUŠTĚNÍ Z DUCHOVNÍHO STAVU PODLE NEJNOVĚJŠÍCH PŘEDPISŮ APOŠTOLSKÉHO STOLCE

The article acquaints readers with the latest changes in legislation of the Catholic Church in the penal law. It describes the procedure of dismissal from the clerical state according to the Normae de gravioribus delictis and the current practice of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the prescription of such offenses as well. The paper also provides an analysis of the procedure of dismissal from the clerical state on the basis of three special faculties granted by the Pope to the Congregation for the Clergy in 2009. These faculties are presented as a response of the Holy See to specific experiences of the Church and the difficulties in the application of ordinary ways of dismissal from the clerical state in an effort to protect in a better manner both the good of the Church as a whole, as well as the good of the individual cleric according to the rule salus animarum suprema lex. The extraordinary nature of these faculties should be recalled, as their use is only possible when a solution it is not possible using ordinary ways and their application is strictly centralized.