Abandoned Altars

The word “privilege” basically means a “private law”, that is, a law not enacted for the good of the general public, but for the benefit of some interested group.

Case in point: the clergy. Historically, the Church has claimed many privileges for its clergy. Here’s what the old Catholic Encyclopedia lists:

“The privileges in favour of the clergy are: personal inviolability, a special court, immunity from certain burdens and the right to a proper maintenance (privilegium canonis, fori, immunitatis, competentiœ). In addition, the clergy have precedence of the laity in religious assemblies and processions, a special place in the church, viz., the presbytery, and titles of honour.”

What this means is that–

1) Clergy (including nuns) are personally inviolate. That is, to strike one invites automatic excommunication that is reserved to the pope to forgive, unless only a very minor injury results. Note, this does not apply in self-defense, or in revenge for “insult or assault on wife, mother, sister, or daughter”, or if it’s an accident or in jest.

2) Clergy accused of wrongdoing should be tried by an ecclesiastical judge, not a secular court. It was felt “unseemly” to have lay people sit in judgment upon their betters. This privilege has been asserted since the Roman Empire. Though it has been whittled down by governments to almost nothing, the Church has never renounced it, and claims to this day the power of ecclesiastic judgment over all baptized persons.

In fact, clergy are required by Church law to uphold the principle wherever possible for the good of all members, whether they personally want to or not.

3) The clergy – and church property – should not be taxed. Now this is sweet! This principle has also had a history of ups and downs, but it applies to this day even in the US. Non-profit organizations are tax exempt, and individual religious who claim vows of poverty can opt out of the income tax system, too. Oh, and the conscientious objector status gets them out of military service if it’s required, too.

4) Clergy have a right to a living. Yes, even if they’re suspended, in disgrace, or just plain useless, as long as they haven’t been defrocked by their superiors or abandon the clerical life themselves, they deserve to be supported comfortably. Isn’t that special…

Plus, in medieval times, there was the right of sanctuary, whereby someone accused of certain non-violent crimes could make it to Church property, they would not be arrested by the state until they fulfilled their penance. This applied, of course, to clergy, too.

So, if you think the clergy behave as if they are above the law, it’s because they believe they are for they have two thousand years of legal expertise pushing that very claim.