Some considerations on the confirmation in the ecclesiastical office and the canon 1420, § 5

Abstract

Confirmation in the ecclesiastical office is a way of making the canonical provision of a vacant office with a singular decree. The peculiarity of this way is that the nomination of the candidate is carried out by an electoral college with a canonical election, which has to accept the chosen one and then has to request confirmation from the competent authority, which grants it, or denies, in accordance with the laws, but not according to the personal criteria. The Canon Law recognizes several offices that are provided with the above mentioned way. On the other hand, can. 1420, § 5, with a non-precise formulation, deals with confirmation without previous election of offices that are provided by free conferral, giving rise to incorrect interpretations. Therefore, it would seem more convenient to modify the formulation of that given canon.