Author(s) :

Pius Barinaadaa Kii, PhD.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

Abstract The canonical institute of incardination the juridical bond by which a cleric is permanently attached to a particular church for whose service he is ordained occupies a foundational position in Catholic canon law. It is not merely an administrative arrangement; it constitutes the ontological and legal framework within which the diocesan priest's rights and duties, including the right to adequate remuneration and sustenance, are grounded, exercised, and protected. This article examines the relationship between incardination and economic precarity among diocesan priests in Nigeria, arguing that the chronic gap between the canonical promise of incardination and the pastoral reality of under-remuneration represents both a juridical failure and a crisis of priestly identity. Drawing on Kii's comprehensive canonical and empirical study of clerical remuneration in Nigeria, alongside contextual data from the Nigerian church, the article argues that the solution to priestly economic precarity requires not only legislative reform but a theological re-appropriation of incardination as a bond that creates mutual obligations of care between the diocese and its clergy. Keywords: Incardination, Diocesan Priests, Nigeria, Canonical Rights, Economic Precarity, Priestly Identity, Canon 281§1, Excardination, Particular Church, Presbytery

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