Dimissorial letters (in Latin, litterae dimissoriae) are testimonial letters given by a bishop or by a competent religious superior to his subjects in order that they may be ordained by another bishop. Such letters testify that the subject has all the qualities demanded by canon law for the reception of the order in question, and request the bishop to whom they are addressed to ordain him.
The plural term is often used of a single document because of the influence of the Latin term, since in that language litterae, which literally means letters (of the alphabet) can also mean a letter (in the sense of message).
Before the entry into force of the Code of Canon Law in 1917, the term had a wider sense (see the article in the Catholic Encyclopedia of that period). The conditions for issuing dimissorial letters were also different and were more complicated.
Read more about Dimissorial Letters: Authority To Grant Dimissorial Letters, Requirements For Granting Dimissorial Letters
Famous quotes containing the word letters:
“After the planet becomes theirs, many millions of years will have to pass before a beetle particularly loved by God, at the end of its calculations will find written on a sheet of paper in letters of fire that energy is equal to the mass multiplied by the square of the velocity of light. The new kings of the world will live tranquilly for a long time, confining themselves to devouring each other and being parasites among each other on a cottage industry scale.”
—Primo Levi (1919–1987)