Postulation

Postulation (Lat. i.e. an asking) is a term in ecclesiastical law designating a presentation or recommendation addressed to the superior to whom the right of appointment to any dignity belongs, in favor of one who has not a strict title to the appointment. Thus, if a chapter elect for bishop a person who wants one of the canonical requirements, or if there is a canonical impediment, the act of the chapter is not properly an election, but a request to the pope for dispensation and admission. It can only take place when the wanted requirements are of a trifling description. It is also used in the case of the presentation of candidates for the episcopacy as it exists in the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. See Neller, De postulatione prelatorum, in Schmidt, Thes jur. can. 2, 733.