Viri probati

Viri probati is a Latin term which in the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, refers to men who are married at the time they are ordained a deacon, priest or bishop. According to the ancient practice of the Early Church, married men who are ordained as deacons or priests in the Catholic Church (in the Eastern Rites of the Church and by exception in the Latin Rite) must renounce future remarriage in the event of the death of their spouse.

The ancient law of the Church allowed married men to be ordained as long as they and their wives were committed to continence, that is, renounced freely and completely sexual contact between them.