Undoing the Priesthood: Ritual Degradation and Ecclesiastical Authority in the Holy Roman Empire

This article examines formal degradation as a ritual and juridical mechanism for removing criminal priests from the clerical estate in the post-Tridentine Holy Roman Empire. Standardized in the Pontificale Romanum of 1595, degradation inverted the choreography of ordination: vestments, instruments, tonsure, offices, and privileges were publicly stripped away before the offender was surrendered to secular justice. Yet the rite exposed a theological paradox. It could deprive a priest of office, dignity, and lawful ministry, but not erase the indelible sacramental character conferred at ordination. Drawing on liturgical texts, canon law, and surviving cases, the article argues that the ceremony became increasingly exceptional, used chiefly when public scandal demanded ecclesiastical scandal management and cooperation with secular authority.