the act of converting a regular person, place, or benefice, into a secular one. Almost all the cathedral churches were anciently regular, that is, the canons were to be religious; but they have been since secularized. For the secularization of a regular church, there is required the authority of the pope, that of the prince, the bishop of the place, the patron, and even the consent of the people. Religious that want to be released from their vow, obtain briefs of secularization from the pope.