2595. Two Other Important General Laws of the Church.—(a) The prohibition of wicked and dangerous writings (Canons 1384 sqq.) is based on the natural law, which requires one to avoid what is proximately dangerous to faith or morals. This subject is treated above in 1456, 849 sqq., 1529.
(b) The prohibition of the cremation of corpses (Canon 1203) is not based on natural law or on any dogma, as though the burning of dead bodies were intrinsically evil or repugnant to our faith in immortality and resurrection. On the contrary, in exceptional cases (e.g., in time of war or epidemic) cremation is permitted, if a real public necessity requires it. The reasons for the anti-cremation law are: the tradition of the Old and New Testaments (Gen., iii, 19; I Cor., xv. 42), and especially the example of Christ whose body was consigned to the tomb; the association of burial throughout the history of the Church with sacred rites and the doctrine of the future life, and the contrary association of cremation both in times past and today with paganism and despair; the sacred dignity of the human body (Gen., i. 25; I Cor., iii. 16, vi. 5), and the feeling of affection for parents, relatives, friends, which is outraged when their bodies are consigned to the furnace. The practical arguments offered for cremation are chiefly hygienic and economic; but it is certain that proper burial at sea or in the grave is no menace to public health, and is not more expensive or difficult than cremation. A most serious objection to cremation is that it makes exhumation impossible, and is therefore a means of concealing murder by poison. It is not lawful for a Catholic to cooperate (except materially in case of necessity) with cremation, or to belong to any society that promotes the incineration of corpses; it is not lawful for a priest to give the last Sacraments or funeral rites to those who ordered the cremation of their bodies.
2596. The Special Duties of Clerics.—From the duties of Catholics in general we pass now to the special duties of clerics; for the clergy, on account of their position as the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matt., v. 16), are bound to a greater internal and external holiness and edification than the laity. The word “cleric” is understood in a wide or in a strict sense. In the wide sense, a cleric is any Christian specially set apart for the service of God, whether by ordination or religious profession (e.g., lay brothers, nuns); in the strict sense, a cleric (clergyman) is one who has been admitted to Orders, or at least to their preparation through tonsure (Canon 108).
(a) Duties Before Entering the Clerical State.—The person who would enter the clerical state must have a vocation and a right intention. As to the latter, since the clerical state has for its ends the glory of God and the salvation of souls, it would be a serious sin to choose it principally for temporal ends, such as wealth, dignity or pleasure; but it is not a sin to desire secondarily and moderately the necessary support of the clerical state (I Cor., ix, 3).
(b) Duties After Entering the Clerical State.—The privileges of clerics are treated in canonical works. Here we speak only of duties. The obligations of a cleric are of two kinds—the positive, such as celibacy, and the negative, such as the avoidance of unbecoming amusements or occupations.
2597. Vocation to the Clerical State.—(a) Internal Vocation.—No one should enter the religious or clerical state unless called thereto by God (John, xv. 16; Acts, xiii. 2; Heb., v. 4, 5; I Cor., xii. 4 sqq.). The foundation of the entire religious, priestly and apostolic life, namely divine vocation, consists of two essential elements, the one divine, the other ecclesiastical. As to the first element, God’s call to embrace the priestly or religious life must be considered so necessary that in its absence the foundation upon which the whole structure is to rest is absent (Pius XII, _Sedes Sapientiae_). The signs of a divine call do not necessarily or even ordinarily include a feeling of inspiration or invitation from the Holy Spirit, but it suffices that one may have a liking, a right intention, and fitness (physical, mental, moral) for the life; for, where God gives a call, He gives the means to fulfill the duties. Thus, those who will not be able to say Mass, or who cannot master Latin or theology, or who cannot observe celibacy, or who are vicious (e.g., mischief-makers, drunkards) or unspiritual (e.g., the lazy, those who dislike exercises of piety), do not show the signs of a priestly vocation.
(b) External Vocation.—No one should be admitted to the religious life or to Orders unless he has given sufficient signs of a call from God. Thus, a Bishop would sin most gravely and be a sharer in the sins of others if he conferred Major Orders on anyone about whose unworthiness he was morally certain on positive grounds (Canon 973); nor may a Religious Superior receive to profession any novice about whom he is doubtful (Canon 571). Scarcity of vocations is no excuse for laxity, since it is better to have a few creditable clerics than a multitude of unworthy ones (Benedict XIV). What St. Paul said of deacons (“Let these first be proved, and so let them minister, having no crime,” I Tim., iii. 10), is therefore to be applied to all candidates for the clerical life. A vocation is tested by the years of probation which the church law provides for seminarians, novices and other aspirants to the ecclesiastical state. No cleric has a right to ordination before he receives the free call from a bishop, but on the other hand it is criminal to prevent a suitable candidate from embracing the clerical state (Canon 971). “By a divine vocation to the religious and clerical state a person undertakes publicly to lead a life of holiness in the Church, a visible and hierarchical society, and to exercise this hierarchical ministry. Such a person, therefore, ought to be authoritatively tested, approved and directed by the hierarchical rulers to whom God has entrusted the administration of the Church” (Pius XII, _Sedes Sapientiae_).
2598. Sinfulness of Disregarding Vocation.—(a) He who enters the clerical state, not knowing that he has a vocation, is guilty of sin, as is clear from the previous paragraph. According to some, anyone who receives Major Orders, even with serious doubt about his vocation, commits a mortal sin, since he inflicts a serious injury on the rights of God, the Church, himself and his neighbor. According to others, the sin is only venial when one enters the clerical state conscious of the absence of vocation, but determined with the help of God to live up to all the duties; for, though the act is rash, there is good will and good intention, and grace will not be wanting.
(b) He who refuses to enter the clerical state, though knowing for certain that he has a vocation, is also guilty of sin, for only negligence or improper motives such as laziness, sensuality, or too great love of liberty can produce such reluctance. The sin is grave or light according to the circumstances. There is grave sin, if the resistance to the call constitutes serious disobedience, pride or uncharitableness (e.g., if there were a great scarcity of priests and the bishop commanded a worthy layman to take Orders); there is venial sin in other cases when the rejection is only dissent to an invitation and exposes neither self nor other to grave peril of losing salvation. Finally, if the signs of vocation do not produce certainty, there may be no sin at all, but rather virtue, in refusal to ascend to the clerical state, for no one is bound to take up grave obligations when uncertain of his duties, and many holy persons from humility or fear of unworthiness have decided, against the advice or invitation of others, not to become clerics.
2599. The Positive Duties of Clerics.—(a) Duties to God.—All clerics are held to frequent reception of the Sacrament of Penance, to daily devotions (i.e., mental prayer, visit to the Blessed Sacrament, a third part of the Rosary, examen), and to triennial spiritual retreats (Canons 125, 126). Moreover, clerics in Sacred Orders, benefice holders, and solemnly professed religious bound to the choir are obliged to the daily recitation of the Canonical Hours, each one according to his own rite and calendar (Canons 135, 213 sqq., 1475, 610). This obligation is grave, because its purpose is the important one of consecrating each hour of the day by the public prayer of the Church according to the usage that goes back to the earliest centuries. But the choral obligation of simply professed religious is light, unless the choir is impossible without their presence.