German bishop in Peru reveals resignation for love, enters civil marriage. Canon law deems it invalid. Church faces dilemma: punish or risk rogue ordinations?
Newsroom (22/10/2025, Gaudium Press ) A German-born bishop who resigned last year citing health reasons has revealed he left his post to pursue a romantic relationship and has since entered a civil marriage, raising questions about canonical consequences in the Catholic Church.
Bishop Reinhold Nann, 63, who led the Territorial Prelature of Caravelí in southern Peru until his resignation in July 2024, told the German Catholic news agency KNA in an interview published Sunday that “depression was the reason [for the resignation]; love was the cause.”
Nann said he informed Church superiors of his plans to leave the priesthood for a relationship with a Peruvian woman, with whom he now lives. He described developing the relationship amid the “loneliness” of episcopal ministry, confronting “abysses, tragedies, abuse, mediocrity, and lies” higher up in the Church hierarchy.
The bishop criticized the Church’s discipline of clerical celibacy as something the institution is “desperately clinging” to, arguing it “did more harm than good.”
The Vatican press office announced Nann’s early retirement — more than a decade before the mandatory age of 75 — without specifying a reason beyond publicly cited health issues. Nann has not sought formal laicization, the process by which a cleric is released from the clerical state, nor requested a dispensation from celibacy.
Canonical Barriers to Marriage
Under canon law, all ordained clerics — priests, deacons, and bishops — must observe “perfect and perpetual continence for the kingdom of heaven” and remain celibate (Canon 277).
More fundamentally, clerics who “attempt marriage, even only civilly” do so invalidly (Canon 1087). The Church views ordination as an indelible sacrament; a bishop remains a bishop forever, regardless of subsequent actions.
Nann’s civil union, valid under Peruvian law for tax and benefits purposes, holds no weight in canon law. The Church recognizes marriage as divinely instituted, not a civil construct. Without laicization and a celibacy dispensation — granted separately by the pope — Nann’s union is invalid and constitutes “concubinage,” a grave canonical delict.
Automatic Penalties, Uncertain Enforcement
Canon 1394 imposes an automatic latae sententiae suspension on clerics who attempt marriage. Persistent scandal triggers progressive penalties: deprivations, or ultimately dismissal from the clerical state.
Nann remains a bishop in good standing until a formal penal process, typically initiated by his successor in Caravelí and approved by the Dicastery for Bishops, declares otherwise. If imposed as punishment, laicization often withholds celibacy dispensation to avoid “rewarding” misconduct.
Yet enforcement is rare. Bishops who exit amid scandal seldom face post-retirement sanctions. One unspoken risk of pursuing formal laicization or penalties: retaliation through illicit but valid ordinations. Bishops retain the power to ordain priests and even bishops validly — though illicitly — for life. Church authorities may calculate that ignoring such cases prevents a cascade of rogue ordinations, multiplying the problem.
Precedent: The Case of Albany’s Hubbard
Consider Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, New York, who in 2022 petitioned Pope Francis for laicization amid abuse cover-up allegations. The Vatican denied it, but Hubbard announced a civil marriage in 2023.
His successor, Bishop Edward Scharfenberger, acknowledged the attempt as invalid but pursued no canonical action. After Hubbard’s death later that year, Scharfenberger presided over his ecclesiastical funeral — despite canon law barring rites for “manifest sinners” risking public scandal (Canon 1184).
Scharfenberger lauded Hubbard’s life as one “much to be celebrated,” calling him “not an uncontroversial figure.”
What Lies Ahead for Nann?
Nann’s public admission invites scandal, but history suggests inaction. His successor in Caravelí, Bishop Daniel Thomas Turley, declined immediate comment. The Dicastery for Bishops did not respond to requests.
Without laicization, Nann retains priestly faculties unless suspended. He cannot validly celebrate Mass or administer sacraments, though no public bar has been announced.
Critics argue such cases erode clerical discipline; defenders cite pastoral mercy — and pragmatic risk avoidance. For now, Nann lives as a “married” bishop in Peru — married by the state, unmarried by the Church.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Pillar Catholic
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