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General Remarks
In March 1995, the Bishop's Committee on the Permanent Diaconate published specific protocols to be used for incardination and excardination.  What follows are excerpts taken directly from that document.
Incardination specifies the relationships of clerics to the Church and the service which they render in it.  Incardination is traditionally used to refer to the attachment of the priest or deacon to a particular local church headed by the diocesan bishop.  Theologically it underscores the close, permanent association of bishops, presbyters and deacons in the church's ordained ministry and hierarchical structure.
From the time of the Council of Trent, incardination was understood ecclesiologically as referring to the bond between a priest and the local church for which he is ordained and as an expression of the bishop's solicitude for the local diocese.  Canonically the term referred both to one's diocese of ordination as well as the practice of transferring one's allegiance from one local church to another, and hence from one bishop to another.  The ordained priest or deacon may thus be excardinated from one diocese and incardinated into another, but only at the judgment of the local ordinaries.
In light of the teaching of Vatican II on the ordained ministry, the restoration of the diaconate as a permanent order in the and the revised rites of ordination, the notion of incardination is grounded theologically in the call to ordination in and for a local church and the way priests and deacons function for the service of a local church.  Deacons and priests are ministers of the community and as such are representative of the bishop.
One of the effects of ordination to the diaconate (either transitional or permanent) is first incardination.  It is lost only by death, loss of the clerical state, or a process of excardination and incardination.
Permanent deacons are bound by the obligations and enjoy the rights that come with incardination, the same as any clergy.  They are exempted from some of the obligations (see c288), but they are obliged to reverence and obey their ordinary of incardination (c. 273), to accept a duty entrusted to them by their ordinary unless excused by a legitimate impediment (c. 274.2), not to be absent from their diocese of incardination for a notable period of time without at least the presumed permission of their ordinary (c. 283.1), etc.
 
Protocols for Incardination
A transfer of a permanent deacon from his own diocese to the Diocese of Pueblo will follow these protocols:
1.  When the decision has been made to move to the Diocese of Pueblo, the deacon will inform the diocesan director of (or vicar for) the permanent diaconate, or the diocesan bishop in his home diocese of the impending move.  In like manner, the deacon will write to the Bishop of Pueblo to inform the bishop of his pending arrival, stating his intention to call on the bishop or his delegate in person after his arrival.
2.  The deacon will request that the director of (or vicar for) the permanent diaconate of his home diocese forward to the Bishop of the Diocese of Pueblo a letter from his bishop providing information regarding the new move, together with appropriate letters of recommendation and evaluation.
3.  The diocesan bishop will send (or cause to have sent) to the Bishop of Pueblo the following:
  • A letter informing the Bishop of Pueblo of the impending move with a statement of the just cause of the deacon's move (e.g. employment, retirement, and health conditions) together with letters of recommendation and evaluation.
  • A résumé of the deacon's personal history, which will be the basis for a character reference together with the recently adopted protocol between bishops and religious superiors testifying to the deacon's record of conduct and moral integrity.
  • A written record of the deacon's academic, spiritual and pastoral formation to include notation of academic degrees awarded or citations earned. 
  • An evaluation of the deacon's ministry
4.  Upon arrival in the Diocese of Pueblo, the deacon will call upon the Bishop to make his presence known, as well as his desire for diaconal faculties and a diaconal assignment.
5.  The Bishop of Pueblo (or Deacon Director) will evaluate the deacon's résumé and examine the needs of the diocese.  After favorable review, the Bishop will give the deacon faculties and an assignment.  The Bishop will appoint a pastoral supervisor and indicate that evaluations will take place at six and twelve month intervals.
6.  After due and prayerful consideration, the deacon will write to the bishop of his previous diocese and advise him of his intent to seek incardination in the Diocese of Pueblo, and excardination from his diocese of incardination.
7.  After the deacon has served in the Diocese of Pueblo for three years, and after suitable evaluation, the deacon may petition the Bishop for incardination assuming it is his intent to remain permanently within the diocese.
8. After receiving letters of suitable evaluation and the recommendation of the Deacon Director, and having weighed the relative merits of the deacons' petition and the needs of the Diocese of Pueblo, the Bishop will respond to the petition and indicate his willingness regarding incardination.
9.  If the Bishop indicates a willingness to incardinate the deacon, the deacon will write to his bishop of incardination for a letter of excardination which will include an explanation of the just cause(s) for the request.
10.  The excardinating bishop executes a document to the effect that the deacon is granted a permanent and unconditional excardination.  In accord with Canon 267, the letter must be signed by the diocesan bishop, and in view of Canon 270, included the declaration that the excardination is being given for a just cause.
11.  After receiving the legitimately executed document of excardination, the Bishop of Pueblo will issue a decree of incardination within one month and will notify the diocese of excardination of the incardination of the deacon.  Incardination to the Diocese of Pueblo is not completed until both documents have been executed and the bishops (a quo and ad quem) have been duly notified.
Deacons of the Diocese of Pueblo who wish to transfer to another diocese will follow much the same procedures.  They should, however, contact the diocese they are moving to for specific information and policies.
Sample letters for all these maneuvers are available from the Diaconate Office at the Catholic Pastoral Center.
 
 

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