papal dispensation
Vatican-granted religious exception
A papal dispensation is official permission from the Pope to be exempt from a church law or requirement.
Historically, these allowed Catholics to do things otherwise forbidden—marry a close relative, eat meat during Lent, or hold multiple church offices.
He sought a papal dispensation to annul his marriage.
The term sometimes appears figuratively for any special exemption from rules: She acts like she has a papal dispensation to skip meetings.
- Holy SeePapal governing authority
- marriage annulmentLegal undoing of matrimony
- mixed marriageUnion between different groups
- church weddingMarriage ceremony in religious building
- canon lawReligious institutional regulations
Council of Trent · College of Cardinals · pastoral care · benefice · impediment · prior commitment · clerical hierarchy · church history · Catholic Church · Vatican City · exemption · spiritual discernment · rescript · Henry VIII · ethical dilemma · dissolution · breaking vows · privilege
papal dispensationcourt order
Binding judicial directive
state license · secular law · royal decree · constitutional right · judicial ruling
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