THE LIBRARY
BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY
PROVO, UTAH
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A MANUAL OF MORAL THEOLOGY
A MANUAL OF
MORAL THEOLOGY
FOR
ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES
BY
REV. THOMAS SLATER, S.J.
- ST. BEUNO'S COLLEGE, ST. ASAPH
WITH NOTES ON AMERICAN LEGISLATION BY
REV. MICHAEL MARTIN, S.J.
PROFESSOR OF MORAL THEOLOGY, ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY
VOLUME II
THIRD EDITION
NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO
BENZIGER BROTHERS
PRINTERS TO THB j PUBLISHERS OF
HOLY APOSTOLIC SEE I BENZIGEk's MAGAZINE
Permts&u Supertoriutu
R. SYKES, S.J.,
Praep. Prov. Anglicae.
^txrnmu SupertoruttL
R. J. MEYER, S.J.,
Praep. Prov. Missourianae.
Nifjtl ©tatat
REMY LAFORT,
Censor Librorum.
Imprimatur.
►J< JOHN M. FARLEY,
Archbishop of New York.
New York, September 19, 1908.
Copyright, 1908, by Benzigkr Brothers,
NOTICE TO THE READER
Rev. Michael Martin, S.J., the writer of the
" Notes " incorporated in the text of this volume, was
asked by the Publishers to add some references and
notes on American legislation, which might render it
more adapted to the United States. In doing so, he
has confined himself to those points in which the eccle-
siastical or civil laws of the United States differ from
those of England. The reader need not expect to find
an allusion to any other topic.
CONTENTS
BOOK I
THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
PAGXB
Chapter I. The Nature of a Sacrament .... 15
Chapter II. The Matter and Form of the Sacraments . 21
Chapter III. The Minister of the Sacraments . . 27
Section I. The Attention and Intention of the Minister 27
Section II. The Faith and Holiness of the Minister . 32
Section III. The Duty of Administering the Sacra-
ments ......... 35
Section IV. The Duty of Refusing the Sacraments to
the Unworthy 37
Chapter IV. The Recipient of the Sacraments . . 41
BOOK II
BAPTISM
Chapter I. The Nature of Baptism
Chapter II. The Matter and Form of Baptism
Chapter III. The Minister of Baptism .
Chapter IV. The Sponsors ....
Chapter V. Who May Be Baptized
4-7
50
52
59
62
BOOK III
CONFIRMATION
Chapter I. The Matter of Confirmation .... 67
Chapter II. The Minister of Confirmation ... 70
Chapter III. The Subject of Confirmation . . .72
9
10
CONTENTS
BOOK IV
THE HOLY EUCHARIST
Part I. The Sacrament of the Eucharist
Chapter I. The Nature and Effects of the Eucharist
Chapter II. The Matter and Form of the Eucharist
Chapter III. The Minister of the Eucharist .
Chapter IV. The Reservation of the Eucharist
Chapter V. The Subject of the Eucharist
Article I. The Necessity of the Eucharist .
Article II. The Dispositions Requisite for the Re
ception of the Eucharist ....
Section I. The Dispositions of the Soul .
Section II. The Dispositions of the Body
79
82
86
94
101
101
106
106
109
Part II. The Eucharist as a Sacrifice
Chapter I. The Nature of the Sacrifice of the Mass
Chapter II. The Application of Mass
Chapter III. The Obligation of Applying Mass
Chapter IV. The Time for Saying Mass
Chapter V. Where Mass May Be Said .
Chapter VI. Requisites for Saying Mass
Chapter VII. The Rubrics of the Missal
113
119
121
126
130
136
140
BOOK V
THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
Chapter I. The Nature of Penance
Chapter II. The Matter of Penance
Chapter III. On Contrition .
Section I. The Nature of Contrition .
Section II. The Purpose of Amendment
Chapter IV. Confession ....
Chapter V. Satisfaction ....
Chapter VI. The Form of Penance
143
148
154
154
161
163
171
175
CONTENTS
11
Chapter VII. Approbation of the Minister of Penance . 178
Chapter VIII. Jurisdiction of the Minister of Penance . 182
Chapter IX. The Confessors of Religious . . . 188
Chapter X. Reserved Cases .... . 192
Chapter XI. De Abusu Sacramenti Pcenitentise . . 210
Chapter XII. The Duties of Confessors in Confessional 216
Section I. The Confessor as Spiritual Father . . 216
Section II. The Confessor as Physician of Souls . 217
Section III. The Confessor as Counselor . . . 221
Section IV. The Confessor as Judge .... 223
Chapter XIII. Mistakes Made in Hearing Confessions . 226
Chapter XIV. The Seal of Confession .... 228
BOOK VI
EXTREME UNCTION
Chapter I. The Nature of Extreme Unction .
Chapter II. The Minister of Extreme Unction
Chapter III. The Recipient of Extreme Unction
233
236
238
BOOK VII
THE SACRAMENT OF ORDERS
Chapter I. The Nature of Orders .
Chapter II. The Minister of Orders
Chapter III. The Subject of Orders
241
244
246
BOOK VIII
MARRIAGE
Chapter I. Betrothal
Chapter II. The Effects of Betrothal
Chapter III. Dissolution of Betrothal
Chapter IV. Banns of Marriage
Chapter V. The Marriage Contract
251
256
260
264
268
Chapter VI. Minister, Matter, and Form of Matrimony 273
12
CONTENTS
Chapter VII. The Properties of Marriage . . .278
Chapter VIII. The Impediments of Marriage in General 285
Chapter IX. The Prohibitory Impediments . . . 288
Chapter X. The Diriment Impediments . . . 293
Article I. Impotence 293
Article II. Age .... ... 295
Article III. Previous Marriage 296
Article IV. Consanguinity 298
Article V. Affinity 301
Article VI. Spiritual Relationship .... 303
Article VII. Adoption ... ... 304
Article VIII. Public Propriety 306
Article IX. Solemn Vows and Sacred Orders . . 307
Article X. Difference of Religion .... 308
Section I. Mixed Marriages 309
Difference of Religion .... 312
Crime ....... 313
Adultery with Promise of Marriage . 314
Murder of a Consort .... 315
Section III. Adultery and Murder .... 316
Article XII. Error, Slavery, Imbecility . . . 318
Article XIII. Violence and Fear .... 320
Article XIV. Abduction . .... 322
Article XV. Cla.ndestinity 323
Chapter XI. Doubtful Impediments .... 336
Chapter XII. Dispensations from Diriment Impedi-
ments 339
Chapter XIII. Revalidation of Marriage . . . 349
Chapter XIV. De Debito Conjugali . .361
Section II.
Article XI.
Section I.
Section II.
BOOK IX
CENSURES
-Part I. Censures in General
Chapter I. The Nature of an Ecclesiastical Censure
Chapter II. Absolution of Censures
361
373
CONTENTS 13
Part II. Different Kinds of Censures
PAGE
Chapter I. Excommunication 376
Chapter II. Suspension ....... 380
Chapter III. Interdict 382
Chapter IV. Ecclesiastical Penalties .... 384
Part III. Special Censures
Chapter I. The Bull Apostolicaz Seclis with Commentary 387
BOOK X
IRREGULARITIES
Chapter I. Irregularity in General .... 429
Chapter II. Irregularity from Defect .... 432
Chapter III. Irregularity Arising from Crime . . 437
Chapter IV. Removal of Irregularities • 439
BOOK XI
INDULGENCES
Chapter I. The Nature of an Indulgence . . . 443
Chapter II. Conditions Required to Gain Indulgences . 448
Chapter III. The Jubilee 455
APPENDIX
A. The Constitution of Leo XIII on Prohibited Books . 459
B. Decree S.C.C. 2 Aug. 1907 on Betrothal and Mar-
riage 478
C. The Roman Curia 488
D. Decree to Rt. Rev. Bishop of Liverpool . . . 507
E. Eirst Confession and Communion . . . .510
A Short History of Moral Theology . . . .511
Bibliography .... .... 559
INDEX
Alphabetical Index of Volumes I and II 5G3
BOOK I
THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
CHAPTER I
THE NATURE OF A SACRAMENT
1. Merely external religion, without devotion of mind
and heart to the service of God, is hypocrisy, but though
we should serve God in spirit and in truth external rites
and ceremonies are not excluded from religion. On the
contrary, they form an essential part of it. Man is com-
posed of body and soul; both come from God, and both
should share in the worship due to their Creator. Besides,
internal religion will be faint and likely to evaporate alto-
gether, unless it sometimes finds expression in outward
acts. God has provided for these wants of human nature
by instituting the sacred rites which we call sacraments, as
essential parts of true religion. They serve also as signs
by which the faithful are known to and united among
themselves and distinguished from those outside the fold.
They serve, too, as an external profession of faith, and as a
means of practising the very salutary virtue of humility,
inasmuch as we are compelled to seek in external rites the
spiritual help of which we stand in need, whereby intel-
lectual pride is humbled.
There were sacraments under the Old Law as there are
under the New, although the latter are far more efficacious
10
16 THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
than the former. As expressing what is common to the
sacraments of Judaism and Christianity, a sacrament may
be defined to be an outward sign of inward grace. A sac-
rament, then, is some outward rite or ceremony instituted
by God, to show forth and make known the grace which
He thereby bestows on the soul of the recipient. Thus
circumcision signified separation from the idolatrous
world, incorporation among the people of God, and the
infusion of grace into the soul for the remission of original
sin. The sacraments of the Old Law produced their effect
by exciting the faith of the ministers and recipients of
them and by the profession of faith in the coming Re-
deemer which their use contained.
The sacraments of the New Law were instituted by
Christ our Lord, and they confer the grace which they
signify, not on account of the meritorious dispositions
with which they are ministered or received, but on account
of their dignity and intrinsic excellence. They were in-
stituted by Christ, they are administered in His name and
by His authority, and thus they are in a true sense the
actions of Christ our Lord executed by His ministers.
Divines express this by saying that the sacraments of the
Christian Church confer grace ex opere operato, while those
of the Old Law produced it ex opere operantis. A sacra-
ment, then, of the New Law may be defined to be an out-
ward sign of invisible grace instituted by Christ to confer
the grace which it signifies.
There are certain rites and ceremonies in use in the
Church which are called sacramentals. Of these we may
mention the consecration of abbots, the first tonsure of
clerics, the sacring of kings, the blessing of chalices and
bells, holy water, agnus Dei, scapulars, and many more.
THE NATURE OF A SACRAMENT 17
They are called sacramentals because they are sacred rites
which, if properly used according to the mind of the
Church, confer spiritual graces on the soul of him who uses
them. They do this through the approbation and blessing
of the Church, the Spouse of Christ, whose prayers and
desires Christ always listens to, and through the good dis-
positions of those who use them. They thus differ from
sacraments, as also in the grace which they produce.
They confer actual graces, special helps to do good and
avoid evil, given by God in answer to the prayers of the
Church and the pious desires of those who use them
properly.
2. The Council of Trent defined as of faith that there
are seven sacraments instituted by Christ our Lord : Bap-
tism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme
Unction, Orders, and Matrimony; that these sacraments
contain the grace which they signify, and that they always
confer grace on all those who receive them and put no
obstacle to their effect. The sacraments, then, require
certain dispositions on the part of the recipient in order
that they may produce their effect. They will be validly
received if nothing that is essential be wanting to them, but
in order to produce their effect when they are received the
recipient must have the required dispositions. I may
apply a match to a fagot of wood but this will not take
fire if it is sodden with water. Similarly, if an adult asks
for Baptism and is rightly baptized the sacrament will be
validly received, but if the recipient has no faith or no
sorrow for his sins the Baptism will indeed imprint a char-
acter, but it will not infuse sanctifying grace in the soul. In
such a case as this the sacrament is validly but not licitly
received; it is said by divines to be unformed, not formed.
18 THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
3. The Council of Trent also defined it to be of faith that
the three sacraments, Baptism, Confirmation, and Orders,
whenever they are validly received, imprint on the soul a
certain spiritual mark which is called a character. This
character serves to distinguish in the eyes of God and of
His saints those who have received the sacrament in ques-
tion; it is indelible, and prevents the sacrament from
being received a second time. It is, however, compatible
with the presence of mortal sin in the soul, so that, as was
said above, a valid sacrament imprints its proper character
even when on account of some obstacle in the recipient it
is unformed and does not convey sanctifying grace to the
soul.
The question here occurs whether a valid but unformed
sacrament will afterward produce grace in the soul, if and
when the obstacle be removed. The common opinion of
Doctors and divines is that it will do so in the case of the
three sacraments which impress a character on the soul.
This opinion is founded on the tradition of the Church and
on what is to be expected from the goodness of God and
the nature of the sacraments. A cause which is in exist-
ence, but which was hitherto prevented from producing its
full effect on account of some obstacle in the way, will
produce that effect when the obstacle is removed. Many
divines hold the same doctrine of reviviscence concerning
the sacraments of Matrimony and Extreme Unction,
which may not be repeated at the will of the recipient.
Whether it is also applicable to Penance is a much dis-
puted point, while it is commonly denied that the sacra-
ment of the. Holy Eucharist can afterward produce its
effect if it was unformed when received.
4. The sacramental grace which is conferred by the
THE NATURE OF A SACRAMENT 19
sacraments is habitual or sanctifying grace as directed
toward the particular end for which the sacrament from
which it flows has been instituted. Together, then, with
the grace which justifies the sinner, or which increases the
sanctifying grace of the soul in friendship with God, a
sacrament gives a title to receive from God special help or
actual graces when they are required by the recipient of
the sacrament. Thus, the sacrament of Penance if worthily
received infuses sanctifying grace into the soul by which
the sins confessed are blotted out, and, moreover, it gives
the sinner a title to receive actual graces in time of tempta-
tion, so as to enable him not to yield. In the same way the
Holy Eucharist increases sanctifying grace within the soul,
making it more holy and more pleasing in the sight of
God, and fresh help is given to enable it to remain stead-
fast in the friendship of God.
The sacraments of Baptism and Penance, which remit
sin and give sanctifying grace to souls that were deprived
of it, are called sacraments which give the first grace, or
sacraments of the dead, inasmuch as they give spiritual
life to those who were spiritually dead; while the sacra-
ments which should only be received by such as are already
in the state of grace are said to confer the second grace,
and are called sacraments of the living. If the soul is
already justified and in the state of grace, sacraments of
the dead confer second grace ; while Extreme Unction may,
as we shall see, confer the first grace although it is pri-
marily a sacrament of the living; and it is a probable
opinion that the other sacraments may per accidens confer
the first grace when received in good faith by the sinner.
Inasmuch as a sacrament confers grace in virtue of the
worth and dignity of the sacred rite itself, the quantity of
20 THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
grace given will per se be the same for all who receive it.
However, per accidens, since a cause acts with greater or less
efficacy in proportion to the dispositions of the subject on
which it works, so a sacrament will give more grace to such
as receive it in better dispositions. It may, then, very
well be that more grace will be obtained from holy com-
munion received two or three times a week with better
dispositions than from daily communion made without
fervor.
5. The Council of Trent anathematizes any one who
shall say that the sacraments of the New Law are not
necessary for salvation, though it also teaches that not all
the sacraments are necessary for every individual. Under
each sacrament it will be explained how far it is necessary
and in what sense.
CHAPTER II
THE MATTER AND FORM OF THE SACRAMENTS
1. The decree of Eugenius IV, for the instruction of the
Armenians, lays down that all the sacraments consist
essentially of three things: the matter, the form, and the
minister who makes the sacrament with the intention of
doing what the Church does. And, it adds, if any one of
these elements be wanting the sacrament is not made.
The sacraments, then, are not simple but composite signs
which consist of two distinct elements. One of these in
technical language is called the matter, because it is that
portion of the sacramental sign which is the most inde-
terminate with respect to conveying the meaning which
the sacrament signifies. This matter is called remote when
considered by itself ; it is called proximate when it is taken
and applied by the minister to the making of the sacrament.
The second element consists of words, and this part is
called the form of the sacrament, because the words de-
termine the matter to the more complete signification
expressed by the whole sacramental sign. Thus in Bap-
tism the water considered by itself is the remote matter
of the sacrament and does not necessarily signify washing;
water may be used to slake the thirst, and for many other
purposes. The application of the water to the person to
be baptized is the proximate matter, and when this is done
21
22 THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
with the form of words, "I baptize thee in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," the
whole composite rite assumes a religious aspect, and sig-
nifies according to the intention of the minister the washing
away of sin from the soul.
2. The minister of a sacrament must necessarily use the
matter and form which were instituted by Christ, for He
alone as God-Man has the power to cause grace to be con-
veyed to the soul by means of sacred rites.
There must be no change made in the matter and form
of the sacraments ; not even the Church's authority suffices
for that. If a substantial change be made either in the
matter or in the form, the sacrament is destroyed. The
matter will be substantially changed if in the estimation of
ordinary men it is no longer the same, but something else.
Thus if the wine has become vinegar, it can not be used as
the matter of the Eucharist. The form will be substantially
changed if the sense is no longer the same, but different.
Thus, "I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" is the divinely instituted
form for Baptism, and if the minister baptize with the
words, "I baptize thee in the name of the Trinity" it is
no sacrament, because of the substantial change. It is
not lawful to make any change in the matter and form of
the sacraments, but if an accidental and not a substantial
change be made, so that the matter and the sense of the
form remain the same, the sacrament will not be rendered
invalid, as a general rule. However, a change which in
itself is slight and accidental may be made substantial
by the perverse intention of the minister. For the sense
may then be quite different, and that different sense is
expressed in the form. Thus Pope Zacharias wrote to St.
MATTER AND FORM OF THE SACRAMENTS 23
Boniface that Baptism administered with the form, Bap-
tizo te in nomine P atria, et Filia, et Spiritus Sancta, is valid
when the mistakes are made through ignorance of Latin,
and not through heresy or a perverse intention.1 If, then,
such changes were introduced to give expression to heresy,
the sense- would be substantially changed and the form
would be invalidated. Similarly, if Baptism were given
with the form, "I baptize thee in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and of the Blessed
Virgin Mary," the sacrament would be invalid if the
minister intended to baptize in the name of the Blessed
Virgin as of one of the Persons in the Godhead; if the
addition was made through mistaken devotion to the
Mother of God the sacrament would not be invalid. On
the principles just stated Leo XIII decided that Anglican
ordinations are invalid.
3. Except in case of necessity it is not lawful in the
administration of the sacraments to use only probable
matter or a probably valid form. An opinion contrary to
this doctrine was condemned by Innocent XI, March 2,
1679. Justice and charity, which demand that the min-
ister confer a sacrament validly, and do nothing to imperil
its validity, require that he should use only certain matter
and the certainly valid form as far as possible. Reverence
also for the sacrament and for Christ, who instituted it,
makes it necessary to take all due care that when a sacra-
ment is administered, it should be properly and validly
administered. If, however, in a particular case only
doubtful matter is at hand, and unless the sacrament is
at once administered the subject may be altogether de-
prived of it, then such doubtful matter may be used, since
1 C. 86, d. iv, de consec.
24 THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
the reasons to the contrary then cease to be valid, because
the sacraments were made for the benefit of man, not man
for the sacraments.
4. As the matter and the form of a sacrament constitute
together one composite sign of grace, there must not be
such an interval between them as to destroy tlreir unity.
In the Holy Eucharist the form requires that the matter
should be physically present at the time when the words
of consecration are uttered. In the other sacraments it
is not necessary that the matter and form should be put
at the same time in order that the sacrament may be valid ;
it is sufficient for the validity if there be a moral union
between them so that according to a moral estimate they
form one whole. Thus in Baptism, although the rubrics
prescribe that the words should be said while the water is
poured on the head, yet if a brief interval, say the space
of a Pater or of an Ave, separate the matter and the form,
the sacrament will still be valid.
The matter and the form should be applied by one and
the same minister. Baptism would not be valid if one
poured the water while another pronounced the words.
In the Eucharist, however, and in Extreme Unction there
are more than one form, each with its separate matter,
and the sacrament would be valid if one minister conse-
crated one species or anointed one sense and another
finished the rite. This, however, is only lawful in case of
necessity, nor is it lawful for many ministers to make one
sacrament at the same time, except when newly ordained
priests celebrate Mass with the bishop who has ordained
them.
5. The sacraments should ordinarily be administered
absolutely according to the manner in which they were
MATTER AND FORM OF THE SACRAMENTS 25
instituted by Christ. If, however, in any particular case
it is doubtful whether a sacrament was validly administered
and there will be danger of grave spiritual loss to the sub-
ject unless it is repeated, it may and should be repeated
conditionally. The condition should be expressed when
the rubrics require it, as in the case of Baptism and Extreme
Unction. Otherwise the condition may be implicit, and it
will be sufficient if the minister intend to do his duty
according to the institution of Christ and the laws of Holy
Mother Church.
The Ritual expressly warns the minister that the con-
ditional form for administering Baptism is not to be used
at random or lightly, but with prudence, when after dili-
gent inquiry there is a probable doubt whether the sacra-
ment was validly conferred before. The same principle
is to be applied to the conditional administration of the
other sacraments.
Except in the case of Matrimony, which is a contract
and follows in this the rules affecting other contracts, a
sacrament can not validly be administered under a con-
dition which regards a future and uncertain event. The
reason is because such a condition would of its nature
suspend the effect of the sacrament, and when the con-
dition is verified the matter and form no longer exist and
can not now produce their effect. Thus Baptism conferred
on a child under the condition, "If you attain the age of
reason," would be null and void. On the other hand, a
sacrament conferred under a past or present condition will
be valid if the condition be verified; it will be invalid if
the condition be not verified. We have already seen
when it is lawful to administer a sacrament conditionally.
There will be an obligation to do so whenever justice and
26 THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
charity due to our neighbor require it in order to prevent
his spiritual loss, or when reverence for the sacraments
and for Christ, who instituted them, makes it necessary in
order to avoid their invalid administration.
CHAPTER III
THE MINISTER OF THE SACRAMENTS
The sacraments were instituted by Christ as so many
channels or conduits by which he might convey to the souls
of men the fruits of His passion and death. They are
administered in His name and by His authority, and so
Christ Himself is the principal minister of the sacraments.
However, He deigns to make use of men as His instruments
for administering them, and it is of these secondary min-
isters who make the sacraments in the name of Christ that
we have here to treat. In Matrimony, as we shall see, the
parties to the contract themselves are the ministers to
each other of the sacrament, and any one who has the use
of reason may confer Baptism validly. The minister of
the other sacraments, at least for their lawful administra-
tion, must have the twofold spiritual power of order and
jurisdiction which was given by Christ to His Church.
We shall see when treating of the several sacraments how
far order and jurisdiction are also required for their valid
ministration. In the following sections we will lay down
the conditions and dispositions which a minister of the
sacraments should have to perform his office worthily.
Section I
The Attention and Intention of the Minister
1. While administering a sacrament the minister should
attend to what he is doing and remember that he is engaged
27
28 THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
in a religious function. If he voluntarily allows his mind
to wander on other and profane matters, he is guilty of
irreverence toward God for whose worship the sacraments
were instituted and should be administered. This irrev-
erence, however, is not grave in itself, probably not even
if a priest is voluntarily distracted during the consecration
in Mass, so that voluntary distractions while administering
the sacraments are only venial sins. Attention, then, or
advertence of the mind to what is being done, is not neces-
sary for the validity of a sacrament ; only three things are
necessary for its validity, as we saw above, the matter,
the form, and the intention of the minister to do what
the Church does.
2. Intention is an act of the will directing an action to a
certain end. Divines distinguish between an actual, a
virtual, an habitual, and an interpretative intention.
When a minister wishes here and now to administer a
sacrament, he has an actual intention to perform the rite.
If he had such a wish and in consequence set about his task;
but became distracted while administering the sacrament,
he has a virtual intention. An habitual intention is a
wish, to do something, which wish has not been retracted
but which does not issue in action. An interpretative in-
tention is a wish which would be conceived if one thought
of it, but for want of thinking of it it is not elicited.
An intention of some sort in the minister is necessary for
the validity of a sacrament; the Council of Trent anathe-
matized any one who should say that there is not required
in ministers while they make and confer the sacraments
at least an intention to do what the Church does.1 Now
the Church by her ministers and through the sacraments
1 Sess. vii, c. 11.
THE MINISTER OF THE SACRAMENTS 29
baptizes, confirms, absolves from sin, and so forth; so
that the minister while making a sacrament must intend
to baptize, confirm, absolve. However, it is not neces-
sary to have an actual intention of doing this ; distractions
can not always be avoided, and always to have an actual
intention while engaged in conferring the sacraments would
be an impossible requirement. Nor would an habitual
intention suffice, for it does not exist while the action is
put, nor has it any effect upon the action. Much less
would an interpretative intention be sufficient. It remains,
then, that a virtual intention is necessary and sufficient
in the minister while he makes a sacrament.
3. Ambrosius Catharinus, Salmeron, Contenson, and
other theologians thought that an intention to perform
the external rite of a sacrament, even if the minister in-
ternally expressly withheld his intention to do what the
Church does, would be sufficient for the validity of a sacra-
ment. Such an intention to perform the merely external
rite while internally withholding the intention to baptize,
absolve, and so forth, is called an external intention.
The common opinion is that such a merely external inten-
tion is not sufficient, but that an internal intention or a
positive wish to baptize, absolve, and so forth, is necessary
for the validity of the sacrament. On December 7, 1690,
Alexander VIII condemned the proposition that Baptism
is valid when it is conferred by a minister who observes all
the external rite and form of Baptism but inwardly in his
heart makes this resolution, "I do not intend to do what
the Church does.'' This decree would seem to settle the
matter, for it seems to have been directed against Fr.
Farvacques, O.S.A., who in a little book published ten
years earlier had defended the opinion of Catharinus and
30 THE SACRAMENTS IN GENEEAL
Salmeron. A few theologians even subsequently to the
decree of Alexander VIII have defended the same view,
on the ground that the decree was aimed at the Lutheran
error which asserted the validity of the sacraments even
when administered in joke. No Catholic, however, defended
the Lutheran doctrine at the time, and it had already been
condemned by the Council of Trent. We must, then, at
least say with Benedict XIV that the condemnation of the
above proposition inflicted a serious blow on the opinion
of Catharinus, and no theologian of note now defends it.
The Church does not merely apply the matter and form
when ministering the sacraments, but by means of those
external rites she intends to do what Christ instituted the
sacraments to effect, that is, to baptize, to absolve, and
so forth. An intention then to do this, to baptize, to
absolve, or an internal intention, is necessary for the
validity of a sacrament.
4. It is not sufficient for the minister while making a
sacrament to have a vague intention of conferring it on
somebody or other, or of taking and applying some matter
in general for the making of the sacrament. The intention
must be definite in its scope and object, otherwise there is
no reason why this matter should be taken rather than
that, or why one person should be benefited rather than
another. An intention, therefore, to absolve any one in
a crowd who may need it, or to consecrate five hosts
out of a larger number on the altar would not be effec-
tive.
Neither ignorance nor mistake on the part of the minister
about the nature or effect of a sacrament makes it invalid.
Baptism conferred by one who knows nothing of its nature,
or by one who denies baptismal regeneration, is valid,
THE MINISTER OF THE SACRAMENTS 31
provided that the three essential elements of the sacra-
ment are not wanting.
Difficulties may arise from the fact that a minister while
making a sacrament 'had mutually contradictory inten-
tions. Thus an heretical priest while saying Mass may
have the intention to do what Christ instituted but not to
offer sacrifice, as he denies that Mass is a sacrifice. In
this and in similar cases divines give the following rules
for discovering whether the sacrament is effected or not.
When the contradictory intentions are present in the mind
at the time of making the sacrament, that will prevail
which is the stronger, and that is the stronger which would
be chosen by the minister if he realized the contradiction.
So that, in the example given, the heretical minister will
actually say Mass if the intention to do what Christ insti-
tuted be the prevailing and stronger one; he will not say
Mass if his intention not to offer sacrifice is the stronger.
When the contradictory intentions follow one another,
the last will ordinarily prevail, unless the former revoked
all subsequent intentions.
5. Except in case of necessity the minister of a sacra-
ment may not use probable opinions with reference to
what belongs to the validity of the sacrament. As we saw
when treating of the matter and form, it would be against
the reverence due to the sacraments, against justice, and
against charity, if the minister exposed the sacraments to
the danger of nullity through following a merely probable
opinion. He is bound to follow the safer opinion when he
can do so in what relates to the validity of the sacraments.
In questions, however, which only touch the lawfulness or
the integrity of the sacraments, and when the Church sup-
plies what is wanting in order that the sacrament may be
>^
32 THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
valid, which she sometimes does, as we shall see later, there
is no reason why the minister should not use probable
opinions. The same doctrine applies also to the recipient
of the sacraments.
Section II
The Faith and Holiness of the Minister
1. Neither faith nor the state of holiness and friendship
with God is necessary in the minister for the validity of
the sacraments which he confers. This is of faith and it
was defined by the Council of Trent. The sacraments do
not depend for their effect on the good or bad dispositions
of the minister, as they derive their efficacy from the insti-
tution and the merits of Christ. They produce their effect
ex opere operato, not ex opere operantis. However, one who
has been consecrated and deputed to be a dispenser of the
mysteries of God is bound to fulfil his office in a worthy
manner. Holy things must be treated holily. The min-
ister acts in the name of Christ ; he becomes the instrument
of Christ for the sanctification of the souls of others by
means of the sacraments; he would be greatly wanting in
reverence and decency if while engaged in so holy a task
his own conscience were stained with grievous sin. An
enemy of God himself, he is guilty of great presumption
in undertaking such holy functions. A consecrated min-
ister who solemnly administers a sacrament while conscious
of being in a state of mortal sin certainly sins grievously.
The question whether a lay person who in case of necessity
baptizes another or contracts marriage in the state of sin
himself sins grievously, as being an unworthy minister of
the sacrament, is much disputed among divines. Many
THE MINISTER OF THE SACRAMENTS 33
weighty authorities excuse such a minister from grave sin
because he is not under so strict an obligation to put himself
in the state of grace before administering a sacrament as
is one who has been set aside and consecrated to that
office. All citizens are bound to defend their country
when threatened, but there is a special obligation to do
so incumbent on those who, like soldiers, have undertaken
that duty. Similarly, all should indeed treat the sacra-
ments with proper respect, but consecrated ministers are
specially bound to do so while fulfilling their office. So
that it is a probable opinion that a lay person who bap-
tizes in sin in a case of necessity, or one who marries and
so ministers the sacrament in sin to the other party, does
not thereby sin grievously. For the same reasons it is
also probable that even a consecrated minister who while
in sin administers Baptism privately in case of necessity
does not sin mortally, for he then acts as a private person,
not as a consecrated minister.
2. A priest who says Mass in the state of mortal sin
is thereby guilty of several grievous sins. He celebrates
Mass unworthily, he receives holy communion unworthily,
and he gives himself the sacrament though he knows that
he is unworthy to receive it. Some add a fourth sin, which
is committed precisely by handling and administering the
Blessed Sacrament in a state of sin. It is probable, how-
ever, that this last act, though wanting in due reverence,
does not amount to a grievous sin. All the more is it a
safe opinion that deacons and subdeacons who exercise
their functions in a state of sin do not sin grievously by
so doing, nor do bishops and priests who in sin con-
secrate or bless pious objects, or preach the word of
God.
34 THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
Divines are not agreed whether a priest would commit
one sin or as many sins as he administered sacraments
unworthily who in a state of sin should hear many con-
fessions or administer many Baptisms or other sacraments
at the same time. If there were moral interruptions be-
tween the several sacraments, there would at least be as
many sins as interruptions. But if there were no such
moral interruption, it is a probable opinion that a priest
who at one time administers a sacrament to many only
commits one big mortal sin. The sin takes its unity from
the fact that he exercises his office on one occasion un-
worthily, an office which he was consecrated to perform
in a worthy manner. It is not, then, necessary for a priest
who has sinned by hearing confessions in sin to say how
many persons he has absolved; it will be sufficient if he
states how often he has heard confessions in mortal
sin.
It will be sufficient for a priest who is in sin to make an
act of contrition before administering any of the other
sacraments, but before saying Mass and receiving holy
communion it is necessary for such a one to go to con-
fession. The Council of Trent, commenting on the precept
of St. Paul, " Let a man prove himself, and so let him eat
of that bread/' says that the custom of the Church has
always interpreted these words as implying that no one
who is conscious of mortal sin ought to approach holy
communion without sacramental confession, however con-
trite he may feel. It is, of course, advisable that this
should be done before a minister who is in sin admin-
isters any of the sacraments, though it is only of strict
obligation before saying Mass and receiving holy com-
munion.
THE MINISTER OF THE SACRAMENTS 35
Section III
The Duty of Administering the Sacraments
1. All who have the cure of souls are bound in justice
and in charity to administer the sacraments to the members
of their flock when these need them or ask for them reason-
ably. The obligation is principally one of justice, and it
arises from the implicit contract which those who have
the cure of souls enter into on assumption of office. The
obligation is a grave one if the subject is in extreme or
grave necessity, and even when there is no grave necessity
one who has the cure of souls would commit serious sin
if he frequently refused the sacraments ^ uhose who ask
for them reasonably. An occasional refusal in such cases
would not be a grievous sin, as although the spiritual good
of which they are unjustly deprived is considerable, yet
the loss can without much inconvenience be made good
at another time.
The obligation of justice is so strict that those who have
the cure of souls are bound even at the risk of life to ad-
minister the sacraments to their flock in extreme or in
grave necessity. This obligation, however, only extends to
those sacraments which are necessary for salvation, such
as Baptism and Penance; it does not extend to those
which are not necessary, not even to the Holy Eucharist,
according to a very probable opinion. Mortal sin will be
committed not only by frequent refusal of the sacraments
to those who ask for them in a reasonable manner, but also
by making one's self difficult to approach and by an un-
gracious manner of yielding to reasonable requests, inas-
36 THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
much as such methods deter the faithful from exercising
their just rights.
2. Ministers of the sacraments who have not the cure of
souls are bound in charity to administer the sacraments to
such as are in extreme or grave spiritual necessity. This
obligation is less strict than that which lies on those who
have the cure of souls, so that those who have no such
cure will only be bound at the risk of life to administer the
sacraments which are necessary for salvation to those who
are in extreme necessity. But in order that this grave
obligation of charity may exist there must be moral cer-
tainty that the person in question is in extreme spiritual
necessity, or in other words, that he is in proximate dan-
ger of damnation unless the sacraments be administered.
There must also be a reasonable certainty that the attempt
to administer the sacraments will be successful; it would
be hard if a minister of the sacraments were bound to im-
peril his life for a mere probability of being able to help
another in spiritual distress. Furthermore, before so grave
an obligation can be imposed on any one it must be morally
certain that he who is in spiritual necessity is unable to
help himself by making an act of contrition for his sins or
of perfect love of God, and that there is no one else who is
able and willing to succor him in his necessity. As all
these conditions are seldom verified in any concrete case,
it is apparent that those who have not the cure of souls
will seldom be under a grave obligation of administering
the sacraments to those who are in extreme necessity at
the risk of life.
THE MINISTER OF THE SACRAMENTS 37
Section IV
The Duty of Refusing the Sacraments to the Unworthy
1. "Let a man so account of us," says St. Paul, "as of
the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries
of God. Here now it is required among the dispensers,
that a man be found faithful." l As, then, the administra-
tion of the sacraments is entrusted to the ministers of the
Church, they must be faithful to their charge and adminis-
ter them according to the intention of Christ and the rules
of the Church. These rules are chiefly contained in the
Ritual and in other liturgical books. The prescribed rites
are of grave obligation in serious matters, for the Council
of Trent anathematized those who should assert, "That
the received and approved rites of the Catholic Church,
wont to be used in the solemn administration of the sacra-
ments, may be contemned, or without sin be omitted at
pleasure by the ministers, or be changed by every pastor
of the churches into other new ones." 2
Ministers are specially required to refuse the sacraments
to such as are unworthy: "Give not that which is holy
to dogs," said our blessed Lord.3 The minister should
have positive reasons for judging that those who ask for
the sacraments of Penance and Orders are worthy to receive
them. For the dispositions of the subject enter into the
substance and validity of Penance, and the duty of seeing
that everything is present which is required for the validity
of the sacraments belongs to the minister of them. Pub-
lic officials of the Church are constituted by Orders, and
1 1 Cor. iv. 1,2. 2 S:ss. vii, c. 13, 3 Matt, yy\ 6.
38 THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
the public good requires that only those who are worthy
should be chosen. All lawful subjects who ask for the
other sacraments are presumed to be worthy unless it is
certain that they are unworthy.
With special reference to the Holy Eucharist the Ritual
lays down that, "All the faithful are to be admitted to
holy communion except those who are forbidden for just
cause. Those who are notoriously unworthy are to be
refused, such as the excommunicated, interdicted, and
openly infamous, as are strumpets, those living in concu-
binage, usurers, wizards, sorcerers, blasphemers, and other
public sinners of that kind, unless it is certain that they
have repented and amended, and have made satisfaction
for the public scandal which they have given." However,
in the judgment of theologians, it will be sufficient if such
public sinners openly go to confession ; in this way accord-
ing to modern discipline they will show their amendment
and make satisfaction for the scandal which they have
caused, unless more is required in special cases by the
bishop or b}^ other competent authority.
The Ritual proceeds: "Let the minister also repel
secret sinners when they ask in secret unless he knows
that they have amended ; but not when they ask publicly,
and can not be passed by without scandal." In the latter
case public injury would be done to the secret sinner,
scandal would be given to others, and other inconven-
iences would follow, if the sacraments were refused; and
these reasons justify the minister in co-operating materially
with the sin of unworthily receiving the sacraments. Of
course, if the minister only knows of the bad dispositions
of the subject from sacramental confession, he can make
no use of his knowledge out of confession.
THE MINISTER OF THE SACRAMENTS 39
2. It is specially laid down in the synods l that the
priest should strive to induce all who are going to marry
to approach beforehand the sacraments of Penance and
the Holy Eucharist. If he does not succeed in this, he
may nevertheless assist at the marriage even though he
knows that one or both parties are not properly disposed
to receive the sacrament, for he is not the minister of
Matrimony, but only the witness authorized by the Church
to assist at it and to bless the parties; to refuse to assist
would commonly do more harm than good. Even if one
of the contracting parties knows that the other is not in a
fit state to receive a sacrament of the living like Matrimony,
still he will as a rule be excused from sin in ministering
the sacrament to him, because he is not a consecrated
minister of the sacrament, and the advantages connected
with marriage are a sufficient justification for co-operating
materially with the sin committed by the other party by
receiving the sacrament in a state of sin.
3. If one who is unworthy were to demand the ad-
ministration of a sacrament out of contempt for the Faith
or to show his hatred for religion, the minister would be
bound to refuse it even at the risk of his life. He must
protect the sacraments which have been committed to his
care" from so great an indignity — which indeed would
redound on God Himself — even at the risk of life.
Whether a minister at the risk of his life would be bound
to refuse a sacrament to one who was unworthy and who
demanded its administration with threats of death in case
of refusal, not indeed out of contempt or hatred of the
Faith, but for some other reason, is a disputed point among
theologians. It is at any rate a probable opinion that
1 1 West. d. 22.
40 TIIE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
the minister would not be bound to expose his life to dan-
ger, but that he might administer the sacrament to save
himself, as we saw above that he might administer it to
a secret sinner to avoid scandal.
4. Innocent XI condemned the proposition that instant
and grave fear is a just cause for simulating the adminis-
tration of the sacraments.1 From this it follows that not
only formal simulation with the intention of deceiving
others is wrong, as being a lie in action, but even material
simulation of administering a sacrament, whereby the
matter or the form of a sacrament is used without the
making of the sacrament, is not justified by grave fear.
The minister may not give an unconsecrated host to a
sinner as communion, or fictitiously absolve a penitent
even to avoid death. The reason is because by so doing
he would abuse a holy rite, instituted by Christ, and thus
be guilty of gross irreverence toward God. It is a less sin
for a priest to celebrate unworthily than to pretend to
say Mass and not consecrate. However, a priest who
instead of absolving a penitent who is not worthy of ab-
solution dismisses him with a blessing so as not to betray
him to people who are looking on, does not simulate
the administration of the sacrament in the technical sense,
and he does nothing reprehensible. He does not make
an irreverent use of the sacramental sign or of part of it
without completing the sacrament, in which the essence
of the simulation of the administration of a sacrament
consists in so far as it is wrong and has been condemned
by the Church.
1 Prop. 29.
CHAPTER IV
THE RECIPIENT OF THE SACRAMENTS
1. The sacraments were instituted to sanctify the
souls of men and thus to prepare them for heaven. Only
living men then can validly receive the sacraments; dead
men or other beings can not receive them validly. Death
takes place when the soul is separated from the body,
but we do not know the precise moment when that sep-
aration takes place. Except putrefaction, there are no
absolutely certain signs of death, and it is quite probable
that the soul remains united to the body for some time
after all apparent signs of life have disappeared. Under
these circumstances recent medical men and divines hold
that it is lawful to administer the last sacraments to one
who has to all appearances been dead for an hour or two.
This is especially the case when death is the result of some
sudden accident. Men only, not women, are capable
of receiving the sacrament of Orders, and only those who
have committed actual sins after Baptism can validly
receive the sacrament of Penance. As the sacraments
were instituted for the Church of Christ, of which men
become members by Baptism, this sacrament is a necessary
condition for the valid reception of the others.
2. No special disposition or intention is required on
the part of infants who have not come to the use of reason
and of imbeciles for the validity of the sacraments which
41
42 THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
they are capable of receiving. As they have not the use of
reason they are incapable of disposing themselves for the
.reception of the sacraments, and yet the Church has been
accustomed to give them the sacraments. The practice
of the Church in such matters has the very greatest au-
thority, as the Angelic Doctor says: "The custom of
the Church has the greatest authority, and it should
always be followed in all things, because even the teach-
ing of Catholic Doctors receives its authority from the
Church. So- that we must rather stand by the authority
of the Church than by the authority of Augustine or
Jerome or of any Doctor soever." * With reference to
infant Baptism, the Council of Trent passed the following
decree: "If any one saith that little children, for that
they have not actual faith, are not, after having received
Baptism, to be reckoned amongst the faithful; and that
for this cause they are to be rebaptized when they have
attained to years of discretion; or that it is better that
the Baptism of such be omitted than that while not be-
lieving by their own act they should be baptized in the
faith alone of the Church; let him be anathema." 2
3. On the other hand, God does not sanctify adults
who have the use of reason without some co-operation on
their side; justification, says the Council of Trent,3 is
the sanctification and renewal of the interior man by the
voluntary reception of grace and the gifts of the Holy
Spirit. Some wish, desire, or intention to receive a sacra-
ment is, then, necessary on the part of adults for its validity.
A positive refusal to receive a sacrament, or a neutral
state of mind neither willing nor refusing it, would make
1 Summa, 2-2, q. 10, a. 12. 2 Sess. vii, c. 13, de Bapt.
3 Sess. vi, c. 7.
THE RECIPIENT OF THE SACRAMENTS 43
the reception of a sacrament null and void. The kind of
intention which is necessary and sufficient for the validity
of a sacrament varies according to its nature. In Penance
and Matrimony a virtual intention is required in the
subject, as it is required in the minister. For in Penance
the acts of the penitent enter into the substance of the
sacrament, and so they must be directed by him to its
confection. Matrimony is constituted by the mutual con-
sent of the parties, and for this at least a virtual inten-
tion is necessary. In Baptism and Orders, which imply
the undertaking of serious obligations by those who re-
ceive them, an habitual intention is required in order to
be baptized validly; in other words, the person baptized
must have at some time intended to receive the sacrament
and not revoked his intention afterward. It is a disputed
point among divines whether an habitual and express
intention is necessary or whether an implicit intention
contained in a desire to do all that God has ordained, or
in an act of perfect charity or contrition, is sufficient.
The latter opinion is probable, and it may be used in case
of necessity when one is in danger of death, and then only.
For the other sacraments, which confer benefits without
imposing any great burden, a general or implicit inten-
tion, such as is contained in a desire to die like a Catholic
with all the rites of the Church, is sufficient for their
validity.
Those, therefore, who are asleep, or are unconscious,
can receive the sacraments validly, for they may have
all the dispositions which are necessary. The only diffi-
culty is about Penance, but, as we shall see, it is at least
a probable opinion that absolution is valid when given
to one who is unconscious, but otherwise disposed for
44 THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
the sacrament. However, it is not lawful to administer
the sacraments to those who are asleep, unconscious, or
out of their mind, except when in danger of death. For
the subject should be in a fit state to dispose himself for
the reception of the sacraments so that he may receive
them with due reverence and fruit.
4. Except in Penance, neither faith nor good disposi-
tions are required for the validity of the sacraments, as
is clear from the practice of the Church, which is not ac-
customed to repeat sacraments received in heresy or in
bad dispositions. However, the state of grace is neces-
sary for the lawful reception of the sacraments of the
living, as we have seen; and for those of the dead, faith,
hope, and sorrow for sin are necessary, as the Council
of Trent teaches that they are for the justification of the
sinner.1 Furthermore, for the lawful reception of the
sacraments the subject must be free from all censures
which deprive him of the right to receive them.
It follows from this that heretics and schismatics even
when baptized may not lawfully receive the sacraments
at the hands of Catholic ministers, as a general rule. The
sacraments are intended for those who are visibly mem-
bers of the Catholic Church, and they alone have the right
to receive them. If any one else wishes to receive them,
let him enter the visible Church of God. However, it
is a disputed point whether the sacraments may be law-
fully administered to a schismatic or heretic who is in
good faith, and who is in danger of death. Although
St. Alphonsus and others deny that it is lawful to absolve
such a person, yet the opposite opinion has its supporters,
and it is in keeping with several decrees of the Roman
1 Sess. vi, c. 6.
THE RECIPIENT OF THE SACRAMENTS 45
Congregations, as for example that of the Holy Office, July
20, 1898.1
The faithful are not prohibited from asking for the
sacraments from ministers who they know lead bad lives,
if they have good reason for so doing. Sin, indeed, is com-
mitted by the minister if he administers a sacrament
while in sin, but if he does so his malice must be imputed
to himself, not to those who for good reason exercise their
right to receive the sacraments. Moreover, the malice
of the minister can not affect the sacraments.
Although in extreme necessity a Catholic may receive
the sacraments from schismatical ministers, yet scandal
to be avoided rarely permits of its being done, as Bene-
dict XIV teaches.2
In the East the faithful may confess to any Catholic
priest of any rite who has faculties for confession; and
if there be only one Church in the place they may receive
holy communion according to the rite in use therein
Otherwise, all should receive the sacraments according
to the rite to which they belong.
1 Analecta Ecclesiastica, 1898, p. 387,
2 De syn. vi, c. 5, n. 2.
BOOK II
BAPTISM
CHAPTER I
THE NATURE OF BAPTISM
1. The first of the sacraments, the door by which men
enter into the Church of God, by which they are made
her children and the sons of God, is Baptism. The Cate-
chism of the Council of Trent defines Baptism as the
sacrament of regeneration by water in the word. This
is but expressing in other words what Our Lord said to
Nicodemus, " Unless a man be born again of water and
the Holy Ghost he can not enter into the kingdom of God." 1
The new birth which takes place in Baptism is the new
life of grace which is given to the soul by the sacrament,
and by this vivifying grace the soul which was dead to
God lives to Him with a supernatural life.
Baptism then is a total washing of the soul from the
stains of sin, both original and actual, if any have been
committed, and a complete canceling of all the debt of
punishment which may be due to sin. This is brought
about by the infusion of sanctifying grace into the soul,
together with the habits of the theological virtues of faith,
hope, and charity. Moreover, by Baptism a character
is imprinted on the soul by which it is known to God and
1 John iii. 5.
47
48 BAPTISM
His angels as that of a baptized Christian ; and the person
baptized becomes a member of the Church, a child of God,
and heir to the kingdom of heaven.
2. By the positive will of Jesus Christ Baptism is neces-
sary for salvation, as may be gathered from the words
quoted above. This truth was defined by the Council
of Trent,1 "If any one saith that Baptism is optional,
that is, notmecessary unto salvation : let him be anathema."
Without Baptism, then, it is impossible to be saved, not
merely because Christ commanded all to receive this sac-
rament, but because it infuses sanctifying grace into r,he
soul, that nuptial garment without which no one can be
admitted to the beatific vision. If, however, for one
cause or another it is not possible to receive the Baptism
of water, its place may be supplied by an act of perfect
contrition or of the pure love of God, and by martyrdom.
On this account Baptism is said by theologians to be
threefold: the Baptism of water, the Baptism of desire,
and the Baptism of blood.
Perfect conversion to God by contrition for sin or by
charity certainly infuses sanctifying grace into the soul
and forgives sin, as Holy Scripture frequently declares,
and as the Council of Trent teaches.2 In this, therefore,
its effect is similar to the primary effect of Baptism and
it is rightly called the Baptism of desire. Still, after the
promulgation of the New Law the Baptism of desire only
produces its effect because explicitly or implicitly it con-
tains a desire and a purpose to receive the Baptism of
water, should occasion offer. Although the Baptism of
desire reconciles the sinner to God, yet it does not imprint
any character on the soul, nor does it necessarily remit
1 Sess. vii, c 5, de Bapt. 2 Sess. xiv, c. 4.
THE NATURE OF BAPTISM 49
all the temporal punishment due to sin. The extent to
which it does this will depend on the intensity of the act.
Martyrdom also, or death patiently endured for the
sake of Christ or for some Christian virtue, has the same
effect as the Baptism of desire. " Greater love than this,"
said our blessed Lord, "no man hath, that a man lay down
his life for his friends." * Still martyrdom does not produce
its effect simply as an act of love, but in a mannor ex opere
operato, by a special privilege, as being an imitation of
the passion and death of Christ. Thus the Church honors
as saints in heaven the Holy Innocents and other children
who have been put to death for the sake of Christ. In
the case of adults who have committed sin there must at
least be attrition for sin in order that martyrdom may
produce its effect as a kind of Baptism.
1 John xv. 13.
CHAPTER II
THE MATTER AND FORM OF BAPTISM
1. The remote and valid matter of Baptism is natural
water in a suitable state for washing one's self. It is quite
immaterial whether the water be spring water, rain water,
sea water, or water from a river or pond ; but frozen water
is doubtful matter until it is melted, because it is not
suitable for washing one's self; while mud is invalid matter.
For solemn Baptism the Church prescribes the use of
water specially consecrated for the purpose, and the same
may be used for private Baptism, as also may holy water
and common water. For the private Baptism of adults
who have been converted from heresy and require to be
baptized conditionally, the First Synod of Westminster
prescribes the use of holy water.
Note. — What is here prescribed by the First Synod
of Westminster, viz., the use of holy water in the private
Baptism (conditional) of adult converts from heresy, does
not apply to the United States. — End of Note.
The proximate matter of the sacrament is its use or
application in the act of baptizing. This may validly
be done either by infusion, or immersion, or sprinkling,
proyided that the water touches the head of the person
to be baptized and flows so as to express the action of
washing. In the Western Church, however, a triple pour-
50
THE MATTER AND FORM OF BAPTISM 51
ing of water on the head of the person to be baptized,
or a triple immersion, if such be the custom, is prescribed
by the rubrics of the Ritual. Care should be taken that
the water touch the skin, as the Baptism would be of doubt-
ful validity if it merely touched the hair. Merely to lay
the wet hand or finger on the skin would not be valid
Baptism, and even if the wet finger were moved over the
skin the validity would still be doubtful.
2. The form of Baptism is : " I baptize thee in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
Any change in this form which altered the sense would
also invalidate the Baptism, as if one should say, " I baptize
thee in the name of Christ," or, "of the Blessed Trinity."
The form should be pronounced by the minister while he
pours the water, and it is clear that if one pronounced the
words while another poured the water, or if one baptized
one's self, the Baptism would be invalid.
CHAPTER III
THE MINISTER OF BAPTISM
1. The ordinary minister of solemn Baptism is a priest,
but as it is a parochial sacrament, its lawful administration
belongs exclusively to the parish priest or to the priest
who has the cure of souls in the district in which the parents
of the child have their domicil. Such priest may of course
delegate authority to any other priest to baptize in his
name; if there is reasonable cause, as in case of illness
or constant occupation in hearing confessions, he may
commission a deacon to give solemn Baptism. The chil-
dren of strangers or of those who are without fixed home
may be baptized in the church which they elect for the
purpose.
In case of necessity, when there is danger of some one
dying without Baptism, any one who has the use of reason
ma}^ baptize without the ceremonies. In such cases of
necessity the Ritual prescribes that a priest should be
preferred to a deacon, a deacon to a subdeacon, a cleric
to a lay person, a man to a woman, unless the latter be
preferred for the sake of decency or because she is better
acquainted with the method of valid Baptism. Those
who have the cure of souls should take care that the faith-
ful, especially midwives, are instructed in the right method
of administering Baptism. The Ritual also prescribes
that a father or mother should not baptize their own child
52
THE MINISTER OF BAPTISM 53
except when it is in clanger of death and no one else can
do so, and then the parent who baptizes does not con-
tract spiritual relationship with the other parent of the
child.
2. The ceremonies prescribed for solemn Baptism are
of grave obligation, so that it would be a mortal sin to
omit without necessity a notable part of them, as, for ex-
ample, the anointings, or the use of consecrated water.
The child is anointed with the oil of catechumens before
the actual baptizing, and afterward with the chrism.
The holy oils should be kept carefully separated and they
should be renewed every year when the oils are conse-
crated by the bishop on Maundy Thursday. The bap-
tismal font, too, should be blessed on Holy Saturday with
the oils consecrated on the previous Thursday. If they
have not arrived in time the font should be blessed without
them and the}' should be added afterward, unless in the
meantime some one has to be baptized, and then the old
oils may be used in blessing the font. If the oils threaten
to be exhausted, fresh, unblessed olive oil may be added
always in smaller quantity. The same rule may be fol-
lowed with regard to the consecrated water in the font.
The Ritual admonishes the parish priest to take care that as
far as possible names of saints should be given in Baptism,
so that by their example the baptized person ma}' be
moved to live holily, and that he may hope to enjoy their
patronage. In solemn Baptism the Latin language should
be used, but certain portions may also be rendered in the
vernacular, according to the Ritual approved for use in
the country.
3. Baptism should ordinarily be administered in the
church to which is attached the cure of souls and in which
54 BAPTISM
there should be a baptismal font. It is not lawful to
baptize outside the church except in case of necessity,
and then if the child survive, the ceremonies should after-
ward be supplied in the church. With the bishop's leave
Baptism may also be given to royal children and to the
children of great nobles in their private chapels, and also
in remote stations when the church is too distant for
tender children to be taken thither. In places where
there are not ' even such stations, as sometimes in the
missions, Baptism may be given in private houses but
with all the ceremonies.
Note. — The law still prevailing in the United States
regarding the administration of Baptism outside the church
is found in the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore
(N. 237) as follows: " Prcecipimus ne wnquam sacerdotes
extra ecclesiam hoc sacramentum conferre audeant, prceter
mortis imminentem casum, in urbibus unam aut plures
ecclesias habentibus. Qui ruri degunt, aut in pagis et op-
pidulis, ubi nulla est ecclesia, infantes ad ecclesiam pro-
pinquiorem vel stationem, in qua Sacrum fieri solet, bapti-
zandos adducant. Quod si ob aeris intemperiem, itineris
difflcultatem, parentum inopiam, vel alias graves causas hoc
fieri nequeat, tunc missionarii prudential et conscientice
relinquimus, ut eos domi cum omnibus Ecclesice cceremoniis
baptizety — End of Note.
Adults should be baptized according to the longer form
in the Ritual unless a special indult has been granted to
use the shorter form, as is sometimes done.
Note. — Among the petitions presented to the Holy
See by the Fathers of the Second Plenary Council of
THE MINISTER OF BAPTISM 55
Baltimore (1866), one was that in the Baptism of adults
the shorter form prescribed for infant Baptism might
be employed for ten or twenty years. The answer was:
"S. Cong, censuit Episcopos recurrere debere, expleto tem-
pore postremce concessionis." In 1830 the bishops of the
United States had procured for twenty years the faculty
of using the formula for infant Baptism in the Baptism of
adults. This faculty was renewed for five years on the
occasion of the confirmation of the First Plenary Council
of Baltimore in 1852. In 1859 the bishops of the ecclesi-
astical province of St. Louis in their Second Provincial
Council asked for the faculty "usque dum S. Sedes aliter
statuerit," and the petition was granted "juxta precesp
though it would seem with some reluctance, for the bishops
were told " Interim curent de inducenda formula pro adultis
a Rituali Romano prwscripta." It may be remarked
that the province of St. Louis at that time (1859) com-
prised Missouri, Illinois, Indian Territory, Iowa, Kansas,
Minnesota, New Mexico, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee,
and Wisconsin, so that the privilege exists to-day in all
the dioceses included within the boundaries of those States,
since the Holy See has never withdrawn it. At present
quite a large number of dioceses besides those belonging
to the province of St. Louis as constituted in 1859 possess
the same faculty. Still it does not exist in every diocese
of this country. Thus in the statutes of the archdiocese
of New Orleans the following enactment is found: " Sta-
tuimus ut pastores proescripta formula (baptizandi adultos)
utantur, nisi obstet grave incommodum;" and the arch-
bishop of New Orleans recently stated that he possesses
no indult regarding the formula for the Baptism of adults.
— End of Note.
56 BAPTISM
Those who have attained the use of reason are their own
masters in the things of God, and are considered adults
with reference to Baptism.
Note. — The S. Cong, of Propaganda issued the follow-
ing decree (March 3, 1703): " Possunt baptizari, etiam
invitis parentibus, pueri adulti qui Baptismum desiderant:
adultus autem censetur qui septennium complevit, regulariter
loquendo." It does not follow, however, that such children
(seven years old) while considered adults for receiving
Baptism without the consent of their parents should be
baptized according to the form of Baptism for adults until
they reach the age of puberty. Holy Office, May 10,
1879. Cf. Anal. Eccles., vol. 5, p. 482. — End of
Note.
Adults who have been converted from heresy and re-
quire conditional Baptism are to be baptized privately
with holy water and without the ceremonies, according
to the First Synod of Westminster.
Note. — There is no permission in the United States
to follow the practice here mentioned for England. On
the occasion of the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore,
the Fathers petitioned the Holy See that, when admitting
into the Church adult heretics whose Baptism was doubt-
ful, the ceremonies of solemn Baptism might be omitted
and holy water be used for conditional Baptism. The
petition, however, was not granted, as appears from the
Instruction of the Prefect of the Propaganda sent to the
Bishops of the United States, January 24, 1868: "Sup-
plicarunt n. 264, ejusdem capitis, uti apud eos morem
inducere liceat qui apud Anglos viget, baptizandi sub con-
THE MINISTER OF BAPTISM 57
ditione privatim, cum aqua tantum lustrali, et absque ccere-
moniis, adultos ab hceresi ad Ecclesiam conversos, de quo-
rum baptismate prudenter dubitatur. Quoad hoc postulatum,
S. C. censuit respondendum, pro nunc non expedire." —
End of Note.
Infants, however, who require conditional Baptism should
be baptized secretly but with the ceremonies according to
a decree of the Holy Office, April 2, 1879.
Note. — The decree to which the author refers was
an answer to a question proposed by the Bishop of Not-
tingham in England regarding infants doubtfully baptized
in Protestantism: "An liceat sub conditione baptizare
publice, et cum suis co?remoniis parvtdos rationis expertos,
qui in protestantismo dubie et sine cceremoniis jam baptizati,
sub conditione baptizari debent9" Resp. — u Baptismum
sub conditione parvulis, de quibus in precibus, in casu ad-
ministrandum esse secreto, et cum cceremoniis in Rituali
Romano pmscriptis." It does not follow from this reply
that secrecy is to be observed when infants of Catholic
parents have been doubtfully baptized for some cause or
other, for example, those baptized in utero, and after-
ward receive conditional Baptism. Even in regard to
infants doubtfully baptized in Protestantism, it seems
probable that this decree was not intended to express any
universal law of the Church, but rather a particular ordi-
nation obligatory in the diocese of Nottingham and perhaps
throughout England, but not in a country like the United
States where, speaking generally, there would be no special
reason demanding secrecy in the administration of con-
ditional Baptism to infants doubtfully baptized in some
Protestant sect. It is well known that the Roman Con-
^
58 BAPTISM
gregations, including the Holy Office, not unfrequently
issue decrees binding upon those to whom they are di-
rected, but not of universal obligation. Cf. Wernz, Jus
Decretalium, vol. 2, n. 659. — End of Note.
CHAPTER IV
THE SPONSORS
1. Sponsors according to ecclesiastical law are used in
solemn Baptism to answer for the child baptized, to hold
him during Baptism, or to receive him immediately after
Baptism from the hands of the minister, and to act as his
instructors in the Faith which he received and professed in
Baptism. With regard to those who have Catholic parents,
the sponsors may ordinarily presume that the Catholic
education of the child will be sufficiently provided for by
them; but otherwise the sponsors will be bound as far as
possible to provide for it. Sponsors may be employed in
private Baptism, but there is no obligation of doing so.
2. The Council of Trent ordained, " that in accordance
with the appointments of the sacred canons, one person
only, whether male or female, or at most one male and
one female, shall receive in Baptism the individual bap-
tized; between whom and the baptized, and the father
and mother thereof, as also between the person baptizing
and the baptized, and the father and mother of the bap-
tized, and these only, shall spiritual relationship be con-
tracted. The parish priest, before he proceeds to confer
Baptism, shall carefully inquire of those whom it may
concern, what person or persons they have chosen to receive
from the sacred font the individual baptized ; and he shall
allow him or them only to receive the baptized; he shall
59
60 BAPTISM
register their names in the book, and teach them what
relationship they have contracted, that they may have no
excuse on the score of ignorance. And if any others
besides those designated should touch the baptized, they
shall not in any way contract a spiritual relationship, any
constitutions that tend to the contrary notwithstanding." *
The formal inquiry as to who have been chosen for the
office of sponsors which the council here prescribes is
probably not necessary for the validity of the assumption
of the office ; it will be sufficient for the validity if the spon-
sors have the use of reason and intend to assume the office,
if they are themselves baptized, and if during Baptism or
immediately afterward they physically touch the person
baptized. One usually holds the child over the font on
his or her right arm, while the other lays his right hand on
the shoulder of the child.
3. The following are prohibited by the Church from being
admitted as sponsors : the parents of the person baptized,
if both are living, heretics, those who are excommunicated
or interdicted, public criminals or people without reputa-
tion, those who are ignorant of the rudiments of the Faith,
and members of Religious Orders. Others are sometimes
prohibited by provincial law, as the following in England :
those who have not reached the age of puberty, those who
have not been confirmed or who have not made their
Easter duties, and ecclesiastics.
Note. — ■ In the United States there is no general pro-
hibition against admitting as sponsors those who belong
to any of the four classes here mentioned. The Second
Plenary Council of Baltimore (n. 231), referring to the
1 Sess. xxiv, c. 2, de Ref.
THE SPONSORS 61
qualifications of sponsors, quotes the Roman Ritual:
" Patrinos saltern in eetate pubertatis, ac sacramento Con-
ftrmationis consignatos esse maxime convenit. Sciant prce-
terea parochi (quod et de sacerdotibus omnibus qui bap-
tismum administrant intelligendum est), ad hoc munus
non esse admittendos infideles, aut hcereticos: non publice
excommunicatos , aut interdictos: non publice criminosos,
aut infames: nee prceterea, qui sana mente non sunt: nee
qui ignorant rudimenta fidei : ho:c enim patrini spirituales
filios suos quos de baptismi fonte susceperint, ubi opus
fuerit, opportune docere tenentur." While it is highly be-
coming according to these words that sponsors should have
reached the age of puberty and have received the sacra-
ment of Confirmation, it is not strictly obligatory. Those
who have neglected their Easter duties are not necessarily
to be excluded from the office of sponsor ; but may some-
times belong to the class of Infames, and, if so, can not be
admitted. — End of Note.
One may be sponsor by proxy, and then the principal,
not the proxy, contracts spiritual relationship with* the
persons mentioned in the above extract from the Council
of Trent. If sponsors are used in private Baptism, it is
a disputed point whether they contract spiritual relation-
ship, and both the affirmative and negative opinions are
probable.
CHAPTER V
WHO MAY BE BAPTIZED?
1. Any living human being who has not yet been bap-
tized is capable of receiving this sacrament. If he has the
use of reason, an habitual intention at least to receive
Baptism is necessary for its validity, though, as we saw
above, it is probably sufficient if it be implicitly contained
in a wish to do all that God requires, or any similar act of
the will. In children who have not attained the use of
reason and in imbeciles no intention is required for the
reception of Baptism ; the intention of the Church supplies
for it.
For the lawful reception of this sacrament by adults
who have the use of reason all those dispositions are neces-
sary which, as the Council of Trent teaches,1 are required
for the justification of the sinner. They must, then, have
faith, and believe all those truths which God has revealed
and which the Church proposes to our belief. In particular
they must know and believe explicitly the being of God,
that He rewards and punishes men according to their
deserts, the Blessed Trinity, the Incarnation, the Apostles'
Creed, the Decalogue, and the Lord's Prayer. In other
words, they should be properly instructed in the catechism.
They should also approach the sacrament with hope, and
at least with that kind of sorrow for sin which is called
attrition.
1 Sess. vi, c. 6.
62
WHO MAY BE BAPTIZED? 63
2. Catholic parents are bound to see that their children
are baptized, and that as soon as can conveniently be done.
According to approved theologians it would be a serious
sin if the Baptism of a child were put off for a month
without good reason. As Catholic parents are subjects of
the Church, and they are bound to obey her laws, no in-
justice would be done if a child of such parents were bap-
tized without or against their wish. Non-baptized parents
are not subject to the Church, and, as St. Thomas teaches,
it would be against natural justice if an infant of theirs
who is in no danger of death were to be baptized without
their consent. When a non-baptized child is in danger of
death the necessity of providing for its eternal salvation
overrides all other private considerations.
When a child comes to the use of reason he becomes his
own master in the things of God and absolutely he may
ask for and receive Baptism without the consent of his
parents. Still in practice great caution is needed in such
a matter. Of course, if the parents agree to allow the
child to be brought up a Catholic, and rt has Catholic
sponsors, the difficulty will cease. But if it is baptized
against their will, and remains subject to their control in
other respects, the faith of the child will be in constant
danger, especially as it can hardly be very firmly estab-
lished before mature age. Ordinarily, then, children should
not be baptized without their parents' consent until they
reach an age when their convictions are firmly rooted and
there is every prospect of their perseverance.
3. It would be a grave sin knowingly to baptize again
one who has already been validly baptized. So that when
a child has been baptized by a nurse or midwife by reason
of apparent danger of death, inquiry should indeed be
64 BAPTISM
made as to the manner of the Baptism, but if the matter
and form were rightly applied the Baptism must not
be repeated; only the ceremonies must be supplied in
the Church. In case of doubt concerning the validity
of the former Baptism, it should be repeated condition-
ally.
When heretics are converted to the Faith, inquiry should
be made in every case concerning their Baptism. If it is
found either that they were never baptized, or that the
Baptism was invalid, they must be baptized again abso-
lutely. If after inquiry a prudent doubt remains as to
whether they were ever baptized, or as to whether their
Baptism was valid, they should be baptized again con-
ditionally, and in secret so as to avoid scandal.
Note. — As stated before regarding the United States,
when adult heretics, whose Baptism is doubtful, are re-
ceived into the Church, the ceremonies prescribed by the
Roman Ritual are to be observed. Hence the formula
for adults is to be employed, unless there be an indult for
the use of the form for infants. In this country, there
appears, speaking generally, no reason requiring secrecy
in giving conditional Baptism, as there would be no danger
of scandal, since it is well known that there is no attempt at
re-Baptism, properly so called, but a well-grounded doubt
regarding the validity of the former Baptism. — End of
Note.
If it is found that their Baptism was valid, they should
only abjure their errors, and make a profession of the
Catholic faith.
4. An aborted fetus, if it is still living, should be bap-
tized, rupturing the membranes if necessary, and pouring
WHO MAY BE BAPTIZED? 65
water over it while at the same time pronouncing the form
of Baptism.
The Ritual admonishes ministers of the sacrament to
be cautious about baptizing monsters. If a monster has
not a human shape, but is a mere mass of fleshy growth,
it should not be baptized at all. If there are two heads
and two bodies, there are two persons, and both should be
baptized, separately if there is time, otherwise under a
common form. If it is doubtful whether there are two
persons or only one, Baptism should be given absolutely to
one, and again conditionally to the other, under the form,
"If thou art not baptized, I baptize thee," and so forth.
The Ritual also prescribes that if a woman dies in preg-
nancy the fetus should be extracted, and if still living should
be baptized. This, of course, supposes that there is a skilled
person present who judges that the fetus is still alive, and
who is capable of performing the necessary operation.
Note. — A priest, however skilled he may be in surgery,
is not bound to perform the operation of extracting the
fetus ; the better opinion is that it is not lawful under any
circumstances for him to perform it. The Holy Office,
February 15, 1780, published the following decree: "Hcec
autem fetus extractio de prcegnantis defunctceque alvo matris,
quamvis patefacienda, ut dicimus, ac persuadenda sit,
expresse tamen cavet, prohibetque Sanctitas Sua, ne mis-
sionarii in casibus particularibus se ingerant in demandanda
sectione, multoque minus in ea per agenda. Sat proinde
missionariis fuerit illius notitiam edidisse, curasseque ut
ejus perficiendce rationem perdiscant qui chirurgis intendunt,
laici homines, turn vero, cum casus tulerit, ejusdem praxim
ipsorum oneri ac muneri reliquisse" When some questions
were proposed more recently on this subject, the Holy Office
66 BAPTISM
replied, December 13, 1899, by only citing the decree
given above. See Anal. Eccles. vol. 8, p. 54, 55. While
the response of the Sacred Congregation on both occasions
(in 1780 and 1899) was given for particular places under
somewhat special circumstances, one may infer without
much hesitation that a priest should never perform this
operation. It may be added that the civil law usually
imposes a penalty upon any one, except a licensed prac-
titioner, attempting the operation. Scandal, too, would
generally occur, and much detriment to religion would
follow if a priest were to perform it. — End of Note.
The question also occurs whether a mother, who is still
living but who can not bring forth her child ali-ve, is bound
to undergo a serious operation like Cesarian section in
order to insure the eternal welfare of her child by Baptism.
Of course she may not undergo the operation if it would
be the immediate cause of her own death. The mother
must not be killed even for the salvation of the child. Even
if her health and condition are such that in all probability
she could stand the operation, yet it is probable that she
is under no obligation to submit to it. The child can with
sufficient certainty be baptized in the womb, and even if
the operation were performed, greater certainty that the
child would still be alive and capable of Baptism can seldom
be obtained. In such circumstances no strict obligation
to undergo a serious operation can be imposed on the
mother.
BOOK III
CONFIRMATION
CHAPTER I
THE MATTER OF CONFIRMATION
1. Confirmation is a sacrament by which a baptized
person receives grace boldly to profess and defend the Faith
which he received in Baptism. It is, then, complementary
to Baptism ; as Baptism makes a man a follower of Christ,
Confirmation makes him a soldier of Christ. It is a sacra-
ment of the living, and gives an increase of sanctifying
grace to the soul together with the right to receive those
actual graces which will be needed to resist temptation
and to lead a good Christian life. It is also one of the
three sacraments that imprint a character on the soul.
2. Divines are not agreed as to what constitutes the
matter of Confirmation. Some hold that the general
imposition of hands by the bishop who confirms at the
beginning of the rite is the essential matter; while the
subsequent anointing of each person to be confirmed
belongs to the matter accidentally. Others maintain that
this general imposition of hands and the anointing form
the essential matter of the sacrament. The common
opinion is that the anointing with chrism, together with
the simultaneous imposition of the hand of the bishop
on the forehead of the confirmed person while he makes
67
68 CONFIRMATION
on it the sign of the cross with the chrism, is the adequate
and essential matter of the sacrament.
Chrism, which is thus the remote matter of Confirmation,
is made of olive oil and balsam. It is a disputed point
whether the mixture of balsam is only of precept or whether
it is necessary for the validity of the sacrament. How-
ever, balsam of any country will suffice. The chrism thus
made "must be blessed by a bishop, and this according to
the common opinion is necessary for the validity of the
sacrament.
Three kinds of holy oils are blessed by the bishop on
Maundy Thursday : the oil of the sick, with which Extreme
Unction is given ; the oil of catechumens, with which those
about to be baptized are anointed in administering Bap-
tism; and chrism. It is probable that any one of these
holy oils will serve for the others, so that Confirmation
given with oil of the sick would be probably valid. Still
it is not lawful to follow this opinion except in case of
necessity.
A fresh supply of holy oils should be procured every
year after they have been blessed by the bishop on Maundy
Thursday, and the old ones burned. However, if the new
oils can not be obtained at the proper time, especially
in the missions where vicars-apostolic without episcopal
consecration often have faculties to give Confirmation, the
old oils may be used as long as the difficulty of obtaining
new ones lasts.
3. The form of Confirmation is, "I sign thee with the
sign of the cross, and I confirm thee with the chrism of
salvation, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost." There is some doubt as to whether
the invocation of the Blessed Trinity is an essential part
THE MATTER OF CONFIRMATION 69
of the form, chiefly because it does not appear along with
the other part in the form used in the Eastern Church.
The question belongs to dogmatic theology, but briefly
we may say that if it is an essential part of the form, the
invocation is elsewhere in the Oriental rite.
CHAPTER II
THE MINISTER OF CONFIRMATION
The ordinary minister of Confirmation is a bishop, but
the Pope may, and in the missions frequently does, dele-
gate faculties to a priest to administer the sacrament with
chrism blessed by a bishop. In other words, a bishop is
the ordinary official in the hierarchy who has the power to
admit Christians into the army of Our Lord by confirming
them, but the General of the army in special cases em-
powers a simple priest to do this. It is a disputed point
whether the Pope could empower a simple priest to bless
the chrism.
A bishop may not give Confirmation outside his diocese
without the leave of the bishop of the place; but within
his diocese he may by custom confirm all who come to
him, whether they are his subjects or not. A bishop is
bound to give his subjects who have not been confirmed
the opportunity of receiving the sacrament, and according
to divines he would sin grievously if without good reason
he neglected to do so for eight or ten years.
Note. — The Third Plenary Council of Baltimore (n. 14)
has the following enactment: " Unusquisque igitur Episco-
pus saltern unoquoque triennio totam dicecesim perlustrare
teneatur, non solum ut gregem suum cognoscat eaque omnia
quce ad spirituale eorum bonum necessaria sunt suis ipse oculis
perspiciat, sed etiam ut fideles tot amittendce fidei in hac
70
THE MINISTER OF CONFIRMATION 71
regione periculis expositos Sacramento Confirmationis munire
possit. Quod si per se ipse facere nequeat, id per alios
idoneos viros pnvstet, adhibito etiam pro Sacramento Con-
firmationis alicujus inter viciniores Episcopos ministerio."
— End of Note.
He must also be prepared to administer Confirmation
when a reasonable request is made for it by any of the
faithful subject to his charge.
CHAPTER III
THE SUBJECT OF CONFIRMATION
1. Any one is capable of being confirmed who has not
yet received this sacrament and who has been baptized.
For the validity of the sacrament the use of reason is not
necessary, but adults who have the use of reason must
have at least an habitual intention of receiving the sacra-
ment. No one may lawfully receive this sacrament who
is not in the state of grace. Moreover, according to
modern discipline, Confirmation is only given to those who
have been well instructed in Christian doctrine and know
well what is required of a good Catholic. Before Confirma-
tion is administered, the opportunity is usually taken to
give special instructions in Catholic faith and practice to
those who are about to receive the sacrament.
Note. — Regarding the instructions to be given to
children in the United States the Third Plenary Council
of Baltimore (n. 218) decreed as follows: "Jubemus ergout
parvulorum curam assiduam habeant animarum rectores, prce-
sertim quo tempore parantur ad Sacram Synaxim prima
vice recipiendam, et quidem ut ipsimet rectores vel eorum
vicarii prcedictos parvulos saltern per sex hebdomadas et ter
in unaquaque (saltern in loco ubi resident vel ad quern facilius
accedere possunt), Catechismum doceant. Nemo ad Con-
72
THE SUBJECT OF CONFIRMATION 73
firmaHonis susceptionem admittatur, quin diligenter instrua-
tur de its, quce ad naturam effectumque hujus Sacramenti
spectant." — End of Note.
One sponsor of the same sex as the person to be con-
firmed, who has himself received this sacrament, is required
in Confirmation. He should not be the same as the
sponsor of the party in Baptism ; . he must lay his right
hand on the right shoulder of the person who is being con-
firmed, with whom and with whose parents he contracts
spiritual relationship.
Note. — According to the instruction of the S.C. of
Propaganda given to the bishops of the United States on
the occasion of the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore,
the following decree (n. 253) was inserted: " Quamquam de
necessitate hujus Sacramenti non sit, ut in eo recipiendo
Patrinus vel Matrina adhibeatur, cum tamen id laudabilis
Ecclesice consuetudo suadeat, sacrique Canones prcescribant,
Episcopi nullum non movebunt lapidem, ut disciplina
hujusmodi, jam in nonnullis harum Provinciarum Diocesibus
invecta, ubique introducatur. Confirmati vero habebunt
Patrinos singuli singulos, nee tamen fozminis mares nee mari-
bus foemince Patrini ojficium prcestabunt. Quod si hoc fieri
omnino nequeat, saltern duo pro pueris Patrini, et duce pro
puellis Matrinw adhibeantur" — End of Note.
2. The First Synod of Westminster l prescribes that
priests who have the cure of souls should do all in their
power to have children confirmed, especially if they be
of the humbler sort, so that they may be able to resist
the temptations to which their Faith will afterward be
1 d. 17.
74 CONFIRMATION
exposed. Many divines hold that it would be a grave sin
to neglect to receive this sacrament. The opinion, how-,
ever, of St. Thomas, that it is not strictly necessary, is still
probable. Although, of course, it should not be neglected,
and sin would certainly be committed if this were done
through contempt, yet there is no clear law, divine or
ecclesiastical', which obliges all to receive confirmation
under penalty of sin. 'Against this view the Constitution
of Benedict XIV, Etsi Pastoralis, and the Instruction
S. C. de P. F., May 4, 1774, are sometimes quoted. The
former document, however, was not issued for the universal
Church, but only for certain Greco-Italians of southern
Italy, nor does an instruction of Propaganda constitute
a law in the strict sense, especially for the universal
Church.
Note. — A question arises, whether the opinion con-
sidered by the author as probable, viz., that there is no
strict precept of receiving the sacrament of Confirmation,
may be held for the United States. There is a special
difficulty here on account of a decree of the Second Plenary
Council of Baltimore (n. 250), where the necessity of
receiving this sacrament appears to be distinctly set forth.
"Licet vero hoc sacramentum non sit necessariwn de neces-
sitate medii ad salutem, nihilominus est necessarium de
necessitate prcecepti Us omnibus, qui jubentis Dei et Ecclesice
prcecepta intelligere et adimplere possunt." Some think
that these words may be taken as indicating an obligation
sub veniali only, or, if they indicate a grave obligation,
one that is only per accidens grave. This interpretation
does not seem easily admissible. When the Fathers of the
council refer to Confirmation as necessary, necessitate prw-
cepti, they appear to convev that it is obligatory under
THE SUBJECT OF CONFIRMATION 75
penalty of mortal sin, and indeed per se thus obligatory.
Whenever theologians use the distinction, necessitas medii
and necessitas prcecepti, they always mean by the latter
something binding sub gravi; and binding per se in this
manner, unless they employ the term, per accidens, or
some equivalent expression. It is to be presumed that
the bishops attached the same signification to the term.
If we hold that in the decree there is question of a grave
obligation per se to receive Confirmation, a further point
may be raised ; namely, whether the bishops in formulating
the decree intended to exercise their legislative authority,
so as to make it obligatory sub gravi for the faithful in
the United States to receive this sacrament, or were
expressing their opinion regarding the divine and ecclesi-
astical precept of receiving Confirmation without imposing
any new obligation. It was competent for the bishops
assembled in plenary council to legislate upon this matter,
so that after the necessary approval of its acts would have
been given by the Holy See the faithful in this country
would be bound sub gravi to receive Confirmation. How-
ever, it is by no means clear that the bishops proposed to
make any new legislation on this subject; more probably
they were content to declare what they considered as the
true opinion to be held concerning the necessity of Con-
firmation throughout the Church. The words of the
decree, "jubentis Dei et Ecclesice prcecepta," lend some
weight to this view, as if the bishops were referring to \
a law already in existence, divine and ecclesiastical,
requiring the faithful to receive Confirmation. That there
was and is such a law has been held by many eminent
theologians along with St. Alphonsus ; and the opinion has
received much support from the Constitution of Benedict
76 CONFIRMATION
XIV, " Etsi pastoralis," as also from an Instruction of
S. C. de P. F., April 23, 1774, wherein the following words
are given : " Etsi enim hoc sacramentum non sit de necessitate
medii ad salutem, tamen sine gravis peccati reatu respui non
potest, ac negligi, cum Mud suscipiendi opportuna adest
occasion On the other hand, there have not been wanting
many writers of note, ancient and modern, holding that
there is no divine law, natural or positive, which can be
adduced to prove the grave obligation of receiving Con-
firmation. St. Thomas (3. q. 72, a. 1, ad 3) says: " Omnia
sacramenta sunt aliqualiter necessaria ad salutem; sed
qucedam sunt, sine quibus non est salus; qucedam vero sunt
quce cooperantur ad perfectionem salutis; et hoc modo
confirmatio est de necessitate salutis, quamvis sine ea possit
esse salus, dum tamen non prcetermittitur ex contemptu
sacramenti."
In answer to the argument taken from the words of
the S. C. de P. F., it may be said that it was not the
intention of that Congregation to settle the controversy
among theologians regarding the necessity of Confirmation.
It is interesting to note that the same year (1866) in which
the decrees of the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore
were presented to the Holy See for approval, the Holy
Office published an Instruction containing a positive
statement in favor of the opinion of St. Thomas that
there is no grave obligation per se of receiving Confirma-
tion. "Ut docet Sanctus Thomas (3. q. 72, a. 8, ad 4),
omnino periculosum esset si ab hac vita sine confirmatione
migrare contingeret, non quia damnaretur, nisi forte propter
contemptum, sed quia detrimentum perfectionis pater elm."
(S. 0. June 20, 1866.) From these words it may be in-
ferred that there is no divine law or any general ecclesias-
THE SUBJECT OF CONFIRMATION 77
tical law per se obliging the faithful under pain of mortal
sin to receive this sacrament. It may also be held with
probability that in the United States there is no special
ecclesiastical legislation requiring its reception. — E&d of
Note.
BOOK IV
THE HOLY EUCHARIST
Part I
THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST
CHAPTER I
THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF THE EUCHARIST
1. The Council of Trent teaches "that in the august
sacrament of the Holy Eucharist after the consecration
of the bread and wine Our Lord Jesus Christ, true God
and man, is truly, really, and substantially contained
under the species of those sensible things. For neither
are these things mutually repugnant, — that Our Saviour
Himself always sitteth at the right hand of the Father in
heaven, according to the natural mode of existing, and
that nevertheless He be in many other places sacramentally
present to us, in His own substance, by a manner of exist-
ing which, though we can scarcely express it in words, yet
can we by the understanding, illuminated by faith, conceive,
and we ought most firmly to believe, to be possible unto
God ; for thus all our forefathers, as many as were in the
true Church of Christ, who have treated of this most holy
sacrament, have most openly professed, that Our Redeemer
instituted this so admirable a sacrament at the Last Supper,
when after the blessing of the bread and wine, He testified
7.)
80 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
in express and clear words that He gave them His own
very body and His own blood. And this faith has ever
been in the Church of God, that immediately after the
consecration the veritable body of Our Lord and His
veritable blood together with His soul and divinity are
under the species of bread and wine." * It does not belong
to the province of moral theology to prove or to defend
this dogma of our Faith. We accept the teaching of the
Church that the Holy Eucharist is a sacrament in which
under the species of bread and wine we receive Jesus
Christ, the spiritual food of our souls. It is not merely a
sacrament while it is received by the communicant, or
while it is consecrated by the priest in Mass. It is a per-
manent sacrament, under which Our Lord remains present
as long as the sacred species remain unchanged. It gives
sacramental grace to the soul while it is being swallowed
as food, and the divine presence remains in the communi-
cant until the species of bread and wine are corrupted.
Although in the consecration there is a twofold matter
and form, yet these constitute only one sacrament, for the
species of bread and wine together signify a complete
spiritual repast, just as food and drink go to make one
meal for the body.
2. The effects which the Holy Eucharist produces in
the soul are set forth by the Council of Trent: "Our
Saviour wished that this sacrament should be received as
the spiritual food of souls, whereby may be fed and strength-
ened those who live with His life who said, 'He that
eateth Me, the same also shall live by me'; and as an
antidota, whereby we may be freed from daily faults, and
be preserved from mortal sins. He would, furthermore,
1 Sess. xiii, c. 1,3.
NATURE AND EFFECTS OF TUE EUCHARIST 81
have it be a pledge of our glory to come, and everlasting
happiness, and thus be a symbol of that one body whereof
He is the head, and to which he would fain have us as mem-
bers be united by the closest bond of faith, hope, and
charity, that we might all speak the same things, and
there might be no schisms amongst us." * Besides being
an antidote by which we are preserved from mortal sin, it
is a very probable opinion that if the Eucharist is received
by one in a state of mortal sin, of which he is not con-
scious and to which he is not attached, that sin will be
forgiven. For the sacraments give grace to all who put
no obstacle in their way, and such a communicant can not
be said to put an obstacle to the grace of the sacrament.
But the entrance of grace expels all mortal sin from the
soul. This is the teaching of St. Thomas 2 and many other
theologians.
1 Sess. xiii, c. 2. 2 Summa, 3, q. 79, a. 3.
CHAPTER II
THE MATTER AND FORM OF THE EUCHARIST
1. The remote matter of the Eucharist is twofold,
wheaten bread and wine of the grape. Barley bread, or
bread made from oats or rye, or any other kind of grain or
vegetables or fruits, is invalid matter. The wheaten bread
must be baked with water, not boiled, or mere dough. If
baked with oil or milk or butter, it will be doubtful matter.
The wine must be genuine juice of the grape, not made
artificially; wine made from any other kind of fruit will
be invalid matter. If the wine has become vinegar, it is
changed substantially, and will not serve for Mass; if it
has only begun to get sour, it will be consecrated validly,
but the priest who uses it sins grievously. There is some
controversy as to whether frozen wine could be consecrated.
The rubrics prescribe that if the precious blood is frozen
after the consecration it should be liquefied again by put-
ting warm cloths about the chalice and then consumed.
It is clear, then, that freezing does not change the species
substantially so as to render Our Lord no longer present
under them; it follows from this that freezing does not
prevent the wine being consecrated.
Unfermented bread is used for the Eucharist in the
Western Church, and fermented in the Oriental rites.
Members of the two Churches are bound under grave
precept to follow their respective rites, even if a Western
priest were for a time in the East ; but if there be only one
82
MATTER AND FORM OF THE EUCHARIST 83
church in a place and of a different rite from one's own,
the priest may say Mass according to either rite, and a lay
person may in the ?ame way receive holy communion.
Because water came forth from the opened side of Our
Redeemer with His blood, the Church has commanded
that in saying Mass a little water, not more than a fifth
or at most a third part of the wine, should be mixed with
the wine in the chalice. If the wine of a country is of a
poor quality and difficult to keep, a little alcohol may be
added to it to preserve it, but not so as to make more than
12 or 18 per cent, of the whole. No other matter may be
added either to the flour or to the wine which are used for
the Blessed Eucharist, and the greatest care should be
taken both by bishops and priests to insure the use of
only genuine matter in the confection of this sacrament.
2. The form of consecration for the bread is, "For this
is My body," and for the chalice, "For this is the chalice
of My blood of the New Testament, the mystery of faith,
which shall be shed for you and for many unto the re-
mission of sins." Any change in these forms which would
make the sense different would also make them invalid.
There is a controversy among theologians as to whether
the whole of the above form for the consecration of the
chalice is essential, or whether it would be sufficient for
the validity of the consecration to say only, "This is the
chalice of My blood." It is very probable that these words
alone constitute the essential form for the consecration of
the chalice, though of course the fuller form must always
be used. For these words alone signify the real presence
of Our Lord ; the rest are merely a further declaration or
explanation of them. Besides, "This is My body," con-
stitutes the valid form for the consecration of the bread,
84 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
and so by analogy, "This is the chalice of My blood/'
should constitute the valid form for the consecration of
the wine.
3. For the valid consecration of the Eucharist the priest
must not only use the proper matter according to the
institution of Christ, but that matter must be physically
present, not far distant from him, when he pronounces the
form of consecration. This essential condition is required
by the sense of the form, "This is My body," which indi-
cates that the matter to be consecrated is near the priest,
so that it can be indicated by the demonstrative pronoun.
Hence a priest in one room could not consecrate bread and
wine in another, or behind his back, or, as it would seem,
locked up in the tabernacle. Moreover, the matter must
be determined by the intention of the priest; he would
not consecrate a host which had been left on the altar for
him to consecrate, but about which he knew nothing, and
which he had no intention to consecrate. A difficulty
sometimes arises when a priest has been asked to con-
secrate the ciborium which is placed on the altar by the
sacristan, but which the priest afterward forgets to take
and place on the corporal for consecration. What is in-
tended for consecration should be placed on the corporal
and on the altar-stone of sacrifice. Inasmuch as this was
not done, and it would be wrong to intend to consecrate
a ciborium which had not been placed on the corporal, it
would seem at first sight that such a ciborium is not con-
secrated. It is, however, better to make a distinction.
If the priest had intended to consecrate the ciborium and
during Mass had noticed its presence, though he did not
advert to its being off the corporal, it would certainly be
consecrated. If, on the contrary, after being notified in
MATTER AND FORM OF THE EUCHARIST 85
the sacristy about consecrating the ciborium, he forgot all
about it, and never adverted to its presence on the altar,
the consecration will be doubtful; and hosts thus doubt-
fully consecrated should on no account be given as com-
munion to the faithful, but should be consecrated con-
ditionally in another Mass, or if they are few in number
they might be consumed by the priest before taking the
ablutions.
Furthermore, for the lawful consecration of the matter,
the hosts must be whole, clean, and of the usual size and
shape; the chalice and ciborium must be uncovered, and
the consecration must be in Mass as it is prescribed to be
said and under both kinds. If the ciborium or chalice are
by mistake left covered, the consecration will be valid,
for all the conditions required for validity are fulfilled.
Hosts to be consecrated should be on the corporal at the
offertory when the victim is set aside for the sacrifice, but
if this has not been done, they may be received up to the
canon, or for grave reason even up to the consecration, but
the oblation should be mentally supplied.
CHAPTER III
THE MINISTER OF THE EUCHARIST
1. Only a priest can say Mass and consecrate the
Eucharist, and a priest is also the ordinary minister who
distributes holy communion to others. If, however, the
priest is occupied and is unable to give holy communion
himself, he may delegate faculties to a deacon who is
the extraordinary minister of the Eucharist. In case of
necessity, especially when there is danger of dying without
receiving the Viaticum, and there is no priest or deacon
to give it, a simple cleric, or even a lay person, may ad-
minister holy communion to himself, or to another. It
was not very unusual in the primitive Church for laymen
to do this, but nowadays the occasion would seldom arise.
2. Ordinary or delegated jurisdiction is required for the
lawful administration of the Eucharist, and by the com-
mon law of the Church the right belongs exclusively to the
parish priest whenever holy communion is of strict pre-
cept, as it is at the time of death and at Easter. By cus-
tom a priest may administer holy communion in any
church where he has been allowed to say Mass to any of
the faithful who ask for it.
Regulars have the privilege of being able at all times to
give holy communion to their own members and de-
86
THE MINISTER OF THE EUCHARIST 87
pendents who live under their roof. They may also give
it to externs in their own churches at all times except
Easter. By the common law of the Church, Regulars who,
except in case of necessity, presume to administer Extreme
Unction or the Eucharist as Viaticum to clerics or lay
people without the leave of the parish priest, incur the
penalty of excommunication reserved to the Holy See by
the constitution of Pius IX, Apostolicce Sedis. In Great
Britain, and generally in the United States, parishes in
the strict sense have not yet been erected, and the faithful
in these countries may receive their Easter communion
in any public church; and although the missionary rights
of priests should be respected, still the above censure does
not seem to affect transgressors of them.
3. All who have the cure of souls are bound to administer
the Eucharist to their flock, not only when these are under
an obligation to receive it, but whenever they reasonably
ask for it. This obligation is grave, but it does not bind
with proximate danger of death from catching disease or
from some other cause, nor is a single refusal of the sacra-
ment necessarily a grave sin, for the loss of it may easily
be made up on another occasion. Priests who have not
the cure of souls may sometimes be bound to administer
holy communion, not out of justice but out of charity.
4. For the lawful administration of holy communion
the minister must be free from all censures which deprive
him of the right to administer it; he must be in the state
of grace, and he must follow the rubrics laid down by the
Church in the Missal and Ritual.
The proper time for those who wish to communicate to
receive holy communion is in Mass after the communion
of the priest. However, if there be a reasonable cause,
88 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
which need not be a grave one, communion may be given
out of Mass, either before or after, and even in black
vestments, either before or during or after a Requiem
Mass, but in this case the blessing otherwise given to the
communicants before or after Mass is omitted.
Pius X, by a decree dated May 8, 1907, declared that
the faculty of giving holy communion to all the faithful
present at Mass was to be understood as included in the
faculty of saying Mass in a private oratory, saving the
rights of parish priests. It may be given to the sick in
danger of death at all times, but to the faithful generally
it is forbidden to give communion on Good Friday, and
on Holy Saturday before Mass. It should not be given at
the Mass which is said at midnight on Christmas Day un-
less leave for it has been obtained, nor in the evening, nor
at night.
The Blessed Sacrament should not be taken from the
church except when it is carried to the sick, and then with
all the marks of honor prescribed by the rubrics of the
Ritual. However, in English-speaking countries the Holy
Eucharist can not be taken to the sick publicly, so it is
carried in a small pyx enclosed in a bag specially made
for the purpose, and suspended by a cord or chain from
the priest's neck. The priest should have on a stole under-
neath his coat.
Note. — Our author does not state any reason for hold-
ing that the priest should wear a stole underneath his
coat when privately carrying the Holy Eucharist to the
sick. It is certain that many priests, conscientious and
well informed, do not observe this practice; and the
existence of the obligation for the United States may be
called in question. There is no rubric which can be ad-
THE MINISTER OF THE EUCHARIST 89
duced to prove the obligation of wearing the stole during
the journey to the house of the sick person; nor is
there any general decree of the S. Cong, of Rites re-
quiring it. In the Plenary Councils of Baltimore there is
no word to suggest the existence of this obligation. The
Second Plenary Council has a decree relating to the manner
of bringing the Holy Eucharist to the sick (n. 263), as
follows: " Dolendum sane est rerum adjuncta, quce apud
nos obtinent, impedire quominus ea cum pompa, quam vult
Ecclesia, ad infirmos deferatur Sanctissimum Sacramentum.
Studeant itaque sacerdotes, ut interna animi devotione hujus
pompce defectum suppleant, simulque haud negligant, quan-
tum in ipsis est, reverential external, quce Christo revera
proesenti debetur, prospicere. Dum Sanctissimum deferant,
vana et inutilia evitent colloquia: pice potius contemplati-
oni vel precibus dent operam. ( Delatio Sanctissimi Sacra-
menti ad urgentes tantum causas, atque ad actuate ministerii
sacerdotalis exercitium coarctetur.' Qucenam vero sit urgens
causa, ex loci, temporis, aliisque adjunctis erit dijudicandum.
Injungimus ' presbyteris strictam obligationem semper in
hisce casibus Sanctam Hostiam super pectus deferendi.
Numquam nisi in extrema necessitate vel ipsam Hostiam
vel vas sacrum in quo servetur, stola saltern non induti attrec-
tent. Cum in ecclesia Sanctissimum e tabernaculo extrahunt,
semper superpelliceo et stola sint induti. Infirmis Sacram
Eucharistiam ministrantes , prcescripta Ritualis Romani, in
quantum rerum circumstantial sinunt,diligenlissime servent."
We see from this decree that the bishops prohibit priests
from handling the Blessed Sacrament or even the sacred
vessel containing it, unless they wear a stole; and they
prescribe that the priest, when taking the Blessed Sacra-
ment from the tabernacle, should wear a stole and surplice.
90 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
Now, if the Fathers of the council thought that there was
an obligation of wearing a stole not only when touching
the Blessed Sacrament immediately on taking it out of
the tabernacle, but also when carrying it to the sick-room,
it should loe expected that they would refer to the latter
obligation as well as the former.
O'Kane, in his well-known work, " Notes on the Rubrics
of the Roman Ritual," treats with minute detail of the
manner of administering holy communion to the sick;
yet he says nothing to show that a priest should wear a
stole under his coat on his way to the house of the sick
person. On the contrary, it is clear from this author that
it need not be worn then. In n. 797 (second edition)
it is said: "With us, the priest goes to the house of the
sick person in his ordinary dress; but he should bring
with him, or contrive to send before him, the vestments
which the rubric requires him to wear." In the sentence
immediately preceding he mentions what these vestments
are, viz., the surplice and stole. Hence, this writer sup-
poses the priest to go to the sick person's house not wear-
ing a stole, but bringing it with him or sending it before
him. Again, in n. 838, discussing the case in which the
priest has brought more than one consecrated particle in
his pyx, whether he should, after administering holy
communion to the sick person, give benediction of the
Blessed Sacrament with the pyx containing another
consecrated particle, O'Kane says: "In these circum-
stances, we think the priest should put the pyx into its
case or covering, and give the benediction with it thus
covered. He should then fasten it around his neck, as
before directed; and after this, but not sooner, he may
lay aside the stole and surplice." If the priest may lay
THE MINISTER OF THE EUCHARIST 91
•
aside the stole after fastening the pyx, he need not wear
the stole when carrying the Blessed Sacrament to another
sick person or back to the church. The opinion of this
author is of much weight, because his work on the rubrics
received the special approbation of the S.C. of Rites and
was declared to be "vere commendabile et accuratissimum.''
Since the date of that approbation (February 14, 1868),
there has been no decree of the S.C. of Rites condemning
the opinion; nor has there been any prohibition issued
against following it, at least for the United States. Atten-
tion may be also drawn to the excellent work written by
Dr. Heuser, of Overbrook Seminary, "The Parish Priest
on Duty." In this manual, which was prepared for the
pastors, assistants, and theological students in the United
States, the author has a section on the private admin-
istration of the Viaticum, and sets down the requisites
therefor. At the conclusion there is a note to the effect
that if the pyx be already in the tabernacle and contain
the Blessed Sacrament, the priest "may take the pyx
case from the tabernacle without being vested with sur-
plice and stole and without lights.' ' If the priest do not
need a stole to take out the pyx and duly fasten it upon
his breast, he does not need it afterward when carrying
the pyx to the house of the sick person.
Perhaps so much might not be said upon this question,
were it not that an esteemed writer on the sacred liturgy,
Wapelhorst, holds the stricter opinion. In n. 284 of
his work (sixth edition) he says: " Deinde assumit, quce
requiruntur pro Viatico administrando ; nempe Rituale,
superpelliceum revolution, stolam albam, quam imponit sub-
tus vestem exteriorem, si fieri possit." In a note the author
in order to confirm this opinion, quotes a constitution of
92 THE HOLY EUCHAUIST
Benedict XIV, wherein the following words are found:
" Ubi Turcarum vis prcevalet et iniquitas, Sacerdos stola?n
semper habeat propriis coopertam vestibus: in sacculo sen
bursa pyxidem recondat, quam per funiculos collo appensam
in sinu reponat." It should be observed that this consti-
tution, "Inter Omnigenas" published February 2, 1744,
was not for the entire Church, but only for Servia and the
adjoining countries then suffering religious persecution
from the Turks. It may be added that if this constitution
be obligatory for the whole Church, it would follow that a
priest can never carry holy communion privately, unless
he be accompanied by one of the faithful in the absence
of a cleric. The reason is that, immediately after the words
of Benedict XIV, quoted by Wapelhorst, we find the follow-
ing in the constitution: u Et nunquam solus procedat, sed
uno saltern jideli, in defectu clerici, associetur." No one, I
suppose, holds that this latter regulation is obligatory in
the United States. It may perhaps be urged that the
extract from that constitution, including the portion
quoted by Wapelhorst and the other portion regarding
the necessity of a companion, is found in the appendix to
the Roman Ritual, so that its insertion therein indicates its
obligatory force everywhere. To answer this difficulty
much could be said ; let it suffice to notice that the appen-
dix referred to is, as appears from its title-page, nothing
more than a collection of blessings and instructions ap-
proved or permitted by the Holy See. It may be readily
granted that a priest is permitted out of devotion to wear
a stole under his coat when privately carrying the Blessed
Sacrament to the sick; but that there is any precept or
direction applicable to the United States does not appear.
— End of Note.
THE MINISTER OF THE EUCHARIST 93
5. If a consecrated host falls on the ground or on the
communion cloth, the place should be marked and after-
ward washed, and the water poured into the piscina. If
the precious blood is spilled, the priest should suck it up
as far as possible, and afterward the place should be well
washed, scraped, and the water and scrapings poured into
the piscina. If a consecrated host fall on the beard or
clothes of a communicant, the place on which it fell need
not be washed. If it falls on the breast or dress of a
woman, she should take it reverently in her fingers and
give it to the priest, who will then administer it to her as
communion.
If, while he is still vested, a priest discovers what seem
to be particles consecrated in his Mass, the rubrics direct
that he should consume them, even though no longer fast-
ing; if he has put off the sacred vestments, or if the par-
ticles do not belong to his Mass, they should be reserved
for another priest to consume after his own communion,
or placed in the tabernacle.
If the Blessed Sacrament is vomited by a sick man, the
sacred species should be carefully separated and placed in
a vessel in the tabernacle until they corrupt, when they
should be thrown into the piscina. Corruption will more
quickly take place, and any disagreeable odor will be
avoided, if a little water be put into the vessel.
CHAPTER IV
THE RESERVATION OF THE EUCHARIST
1. The Ritual prescribes that the parish priest, or one
who has the cure of souls, should take care that some
consecrated particles, in sufficient number for the use of
the sick and for the communion of the rest of the faithful,
should be always reserved in a clean pyx of solid and
decent material, well closed with its own lid, covered with
a white veil, and as far as possible in an ornamented
tabernacle kept locked with a key. This key should be
in the keeping of the priest, not in that of the sacristan or
other person. As a rule the pyx or ciborium is of silver,
and gilded inside. There seems to be no strict law pre-
scribing that it should be consecrated or even blessed,
though there is a form for blessing it in the Ritual.
The Blessed Sacrament, then, must be thus reserved for
the use of the faithful in all cathedrals, parish churches,
and chapels of ease attached to parochial churches. Re-
ligious Orders of men and women who take solemn vows
have the privilege of reserving the Holy Eucharist in their
churches. It can only be reserved in other churches or
oratories by special indult from the bishop, or from the
Holy See in the case of strictly private oratories.
Note. — Regarding the reservation of the Blessed Sac-
rament, the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore (n. 265)
THE RESERVATION OF THE EUCHARIST 95
has the following : " Conservari debet in ecclesia Cathedrali,
et in quavis ecclesia parochali ut ad infirmos, data occasione,
deferri possit. In aliis vero pluribus vel ecclesiis vel sacellis
conservari potest vel ex lege, vel ex Pontificis indulto. Qua
in re Ordinarios hortamur ut curent, uti nonnisi debita prce-
liabita licentia hoc maximo privilegio qucevis cedes sacra
utatur." Bishops are restricted in their powers to grant
leave for reserving the Blessed Sacrament, as appears from
a decree of the S. C. of Rites (March 8, 1879). " Potestne
Episcopus jure proprio concedere facultatem asservandi
SSmum Sacramentum : 1. In Ecclesiis seu Capellis publicis
qua tamen titulo parochiali non gaudent, etsi utilitatibus
Paroecice inserviant; 2. In Capellis piarum Communitatum
publicis, id est quarum porta pateat in via publica vel in
area cum via publica communicante et quce Jiabitantibus
omnibus aperiuntur ; 3. In Capellis seu Oratoriis interiori-
bus piarum Communitatum, quando non habent Capellam
seu Oratorium publicum in sensu exposito, ut evenit, e.g.,
in Seminariis?" The response to these questions was:
" Implorandum est indultum a Sancta Sede quoad omnia
postulate" See Deer. Auth., n. 3484. From an examina-
tion of the acts of various provincial councils in the United
States it is clear that many provinces received an indult
of this kind more or less extensively. Thus, on July 25,
1858, on the occasion of holding the Ninth Provincial
Council of Baltimore, the faculty was granted to this eccle-
siastical province in virtue of which the bishops could
grant permission for the Blessed Sacrament to be kept
in the chapels of Religious communities of women. See
Coll. Lacensis, vol. 3, p. 180. In the same year (Novem-
ber 10), on the occasion of holding the Second Provincial
Council of Cincinnati, the bishops of that province received
96 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
the faculty of permitting the Blessed Sacrament to be
kept in Religious communities without enclosure: " Potes-
tatem tribuit Episcopis permittendi communitatibus Religiosis
absque clausura viventibus conservationem SSmce Eucharis-
tice." See Coll. Lacensis, vol. 3, p. 212. On April 17, 1859,
the privilege was given to the archbishop of St. Louis
and his suffragans that the Blessed Sacrament might be
kept in Religious houses although they were not canonically
erected. In the archdiocese of St. Louis it is permitted
that in the oratories of Sisters having a Religious house
the Blessed Sacrament may be kept, provided that four
persons live in the house. See Diocesan Statutes of St.
Louis, n. 68. As regards other dioceses of this country it
may be safely said that there is hardly one that does not
possess an indult with less or more limitation for reserving
the Blessed Sacrament. — End of Note.
2. The Ritual further prescribes that the tabernacle
should be decently covered with a veil, that nothing else
besides the Blessed Sacrament should be put in it, and
that it should be placed on the high altar, or on another
if this would conduce to greater reverence toward the
Holy Eucharist, so that it would be no obstacle to sacred
functions or ecclesiastical offices. Several lamps or at
least one should always be kept burning before it night
and day. The lamps should be fed with olive oil, but if
the church is very poor the bishop may allow vegetable
or mineral oil to be used. Gas or electric lamps should
not be tolerated. One lamp must be kept burning under
pain of grievous sin.
The veil of the tabernacle should be white or in keeping
with the color of the day, but never black.
THE RESERVATION OF THE EUCHARIST 97
3. The particles taken for consecration should be fresh,
not more than fifteen days or at most a month old, and
they should be renewed every eight or at most fifteen
days, though in this matter regard should be had to the
dampness or dryness of the place and season.
Note. — It may be well to consider this question more
in detail so far as the United States is concerned. The
Roman Ritual requires the consecrated particles to be
renewed frequently, " Sanctissimce Eucharistice particulas
frequenter renovabit" (Tit. 4, cap. 1, n. 7). The Ccere-
moniale Episcoporum prescribes this renovation to be made
once a week (Lib. 1, cap. 6, n. 2). Benedict XIV, in his
constitution, " Etsi Pastoralis" (May 16, 1752), ordered
for the Greeks in Italy that the sacred species should be
renewed every eight, or at least every fifteen days. Gas-
parri in his treatise, De SS. Eucharistia (vol. 2, n. 1013),
concludes that in the Western Church the species should
be renewed "Singulis octo diebus juxta norma Cceremonialis:
Grcecis autem aliisque Orientalibus permissum esse hanc
renovationem protrahere ad singulos quindecim dies.91 He
then adds that many excuse from all sin, even in the
Western Church, if the renewal takes place within fifteen
days, provided that the condition of place and time ex-
clude all danger of initial corruption.
It was evidently the intention of the Fathers of the
Second Plenary Council of Baltimore to urge the observance
of the Cceremoniale Episcoporum regarding the weekly
renewal of the sacred species, for they say (n. 268) : " Rituale
Romanum jubet particulas Sanctissimce Eucharistice fre-
quenter renovari: et Caremoniale Episcoporum id semel
saltern in hebdomada faciendum prcecipit. Hanc regulam,
98 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
quam S. Rituum Congregatio nedum scepius conjirmavit,
verum stride et rigor ose obligare declaravit, sacerdotibus
omnibus fideliter servandum serio inculcamus" The decrees
of the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore were declared
by the Fathers of the Third Plenary Council in 1884 to be
still in force, except those which were changed or abrogated
in the latter council. (Cf. p. 3, Deer. Cone. Bait. Tertii.)
But regarding the law of renewing the species the Third
Plenary Council made no change or abrogation; nor since
that time in this country has there been any sign of altera-
tion in the Church's discipline on the question. Hence it
does not appear that in the United States we are at liberty
to follow the opinion of those theologians who hold that
the renewal of the sacred species may be deferred for two
weeks. (Cf. Lehmkuhl, vol. 2, n. 132.) Still less is it
permissible in this country to follow the opinion of those
who allow a month to elapse before it becomes necessary
to renew the sacred species. (Noldin, De Sacramentis,
n. 129.) Whether some provincial councils elsewhere
were content to require that the renewal should not be
deferred beyond two weeks or a month, or whether the
Holy See directly granted for a particular locality per-
mission to defer the renewal for two weeks, neither of these
ordinances would seem to be applicable to the United
States, where the regulation of the Cceremoniale Episco-
porum is required to be observed. The Second Plenary
Council of Baltimore (n. 268) says that the S. Cong, of
Rites has not only confirmed the rule of the Cceremoniale
Episcoporum, and for this purpose it refers to three decrees
of that Congregation, but also declares that another decree
of this Congregation pronounces the rule to be strictly
obligatory, "stride et rigorose cbligare" Nothing then
THE RESERVATION OF THE EUCHARIST 99
remains, it would seem, but to admit the obligation so
clearly set forth by this council. Even since its celebra-
tion the S. Cong, of Rites has repeated the decision. A
question was proposed whether the custom existing of
renewing the species once or twice in the month could
be continued : "In ecclesiis hujus dueceseos servari ne
potest consuetudo renovandi SSmam Eucharistiam semel
vel bis in mense; licet qualibet hebdomada juxta Ccere-
moniale Episcoporum eadem SSma Eucharistia foret reno-
vandaV The answer was (September 12, 1884), " Ser-
vetur dispositio Cceremonialis Episcoporum (lib. 1, cap. 6,
n. 2)."
Assuming, therefore, that there is in the United States a
precept which requires the weekly renewal of the sacred
species, the question arises, what sin is committed if a
priest defer this duty. It is certain that while this pre-
cept of renewing the species binds sub gravi, it admits of
parvitas materia?, so that a short delay beyond a week
would not constitute a mortal sin, unless some serious
danger of the corruption of the species would arise. Pre-
scinding from this danger, it may be held that the delay
of a week would not be a mortal sin, and probably even
the delay of a month. Gasparri (n. 1013) says that the
particles to be consecrated should be fresh, i.e., recently
made, and that the time for necessary renewal depends to
some extent upon the degree of freshness, so that if the
hosts at the time of consecration had been made twenty-
five days the renewal could not be protracted for eight
days. (See also Wernz, Jus Decretalium, vol. 3, n. 551 in
nota 219.) It seems safe to hold that a reasonable cause
of deferring the renewal for a day or even for a few days
would excuse from venial sin. Thus during a novena the
100 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
host for Benediction might be kept for nine days; and a
number of small hosts which would be distributed to the
faithful within a few days might be kept before the puri-
fication of the ciborium. (See O'Kane, n. 620.) — End of
Note.
CHAPTER V
THE SUBJECT OF THE EUCHARIST
Article I
The Necessity of the Eucharist
1. The Holy Eucharist can be received only materially
by one who is not baptized and who consequently is in-
capable of receiving the other sacraments; it is received
spiritually by one who ardently desires to receive it with
the proper dispositions; it is received sacramentally when
it is really received by one who has been baptized. The
sacramental reception of the Eucharist is not a necessary
means of salvation, for it is a sacrament of the living and
supposes the grace of God in the soul, and a soul in the
state of grace has everything which is necessary for salva-
tion. Divines dispute whether the Eucharist is a neces-
sary means for preserving the life of grace in the soul. It
is, indeed, the ordinary food of the Christian soul, as bread
is the ordinary food of the body, but as there is other
spiritual food which may be taken, and notably prayer,
and this may supply for the want of the ordinary food,
the better opinion holds that the Eucharist is not strictly
necessary even for the preservation of the life of grace in
the soul. However, it is certainly necessary by divine
and ecclesiastical precept. The divine precept is manifest
from the words of Our Lord: " Unless you eat the flesh
of the Son of man and drink His blood you shall not have
101
102 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
life in you." x Not that these words imply that com-
munion under both kinds is of divine law, for he who
receives the sacrament under one species receives the
body and blood of Christ with His soul and divinity.
Moreover, as the Council of Trent explains,2 He who
made use of those words also said, "He that eateth this
bread shall live forever." 3 The Church, therefore, for just
and weighty reasons has forbidden communion under
both kinds, using the power given to her by Christ with
reference to the dispensation of the sacraments, though
she has no authority to change their substance.4
This divine precept must be fulfilled at least at the
time of death, when it is of the greatest importance, and
also sometimes during life. How often it must be received
to satisfy the divine precept is uncertain, but the Church
has determined the divine law by ordering all the faithful
who have come to years of discretion to receive holy
communion at least once a year, at Easter.5 Those, how-
ever, who desire to lead a good Catholic life are by no
means content with yearly communion; they receive it
once a month or still more frequently.
2. According to the general rule, children become sub-
ject to and bound to obey the positive laws of the Church
when they reach the age of seven. The Ritual, however,
says of the Eucharist that it should not be administered
to those who, on account of their tender years, have not
as yet sufficient knowledge and relish for this sacrament.
According to the common practice, children make their
first communion between the ages of nine and twelve, but
if a child over seven is in danger of death, Viaticum should
1 John vi. 54. 2 Sess. xxi, c. 1. 3 John vi. 55,
4 Trent, sess, xxi, c, 2. * 4 Lat. c. 21,
THE SUBJECT OF THE EUCHARIST 103
be given to it, even though it has not yet made its first
communion. (See Appendix E, page 510.)
Note. — Regarding the age for first communion, the
Second Plenary Council of Baltimore (n. 261) gives the
following regulation: " Hcec vero regula generalis, quce
tamen suas admittat exceptiones, statui videtur tuto posse,
neminem scilicet, ordinarie loquendo, ante decimum annum
Angelorum Panis participem fieri debere, nee post annum
decimum quartum cuivis cceteroquin digno eum esse negandum.
Meminerint vero sacerdotes, tantam non desiderari cetatem, ut
quis in articulo mortis Sanctissimo Viatico possit et debeat
muniri. E contra male se gererent, nee leviter derelinquerent,
si pueros perspicacis ingenii sine Viatico e vivis excedere
sinerent, ea inepta moti ratione, quod numquam antea ad
Eucharisticam mensam fuerint admissi." Whether accord-
ing to this decree the tenth year should be merely begun
or completed is not quite clear; similarly with regard to
the fourteenth year. It might happen that a child could
and should be admitted to first communion earlier than
the tenth year, because the use of reason has been suffi-
ciently reached, or the years of discretion required by the
Fourth Council of Lateran and by the Council of Trent;
or it might occur that a child of fourteen years of age
has not received the necessary amount of instruction for
receiving holy communion. The general rule given above
does not apply to such persons, and indeed this is implied
in the words, "quw suas admittit exceptiones." The bishops
did not propose to legislate for those special cases, since
there is a general law of the Church determining the divine
law laid down by the councils of Lateran and Trent that
all should receive holy communion as soon as they have
arrived at the years of discretion, that is, have sufficient
104 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
knowledge of the sacrament of the Eucharist. Hence, if
a pastor have in his parish a child under ten years of age,
well instructed regarding this sacrament, there would be
an obligation of admitting him to first communion. This
admission would not interfere with the public first com-
munion, which could be afterward made along with the
other children of the parish. A bishop, while he could
not prevent a child under ten years, if properly instructed,
from being privately admitted to holy communion, may
very well make a regulation for public first communion
that a child could not make it before that age. This is
manifest from a response of the S. C. of the Council given
to the bishop of Annecy on July 21, 1888. This bishop
had made for his diocese the following statutes : " 1. Nullus
puer masculus aut foemina admittetur ad primam com-
munionem peragendam nisi, (a) expleverit duodecimum
annum, (b) exacte secutiis fuerit catechismum per duos ulti-
mos annos . . . ; 2. Ab exordio anni 1885 prima puerorum
communio locum habere nequibit in qualibet parochia diocesis
hujus ante diem vigesimum mensis Maii." A question was
then proposed to the Holy See, "An decreta episcopi An-
neciensis sint confirmanda vel infirmanda in casu?" The
answer was: " Attends locorum ac temporis circumstaMiis,
affirmative ad primam partem juxta modum" The S.C.C.,
explaining this modus, added: " Ne episcopus parochos pro-
hibeat ab admittendis ad primam communionem Us pueris
de quibus certo constat eos ad discretionis cetatem juxta Con-
ciliorum Lateranensis Quarti et Tridentini decreta pervenisse."
Gasparri (n. 1169, De SS. Eucharistia) mentions that the
Sovereign Pontiff declared in an audience, July 23, 1888,
that the words, "Ad primam communionem," "esse in-
telligenda ad exclusionem primce communionis in forma
THE SUBJECT OF THE EUCHARIST 105
solemni." This author then adds: "Ex his igitur apparet
parvulos qui ante indicatam cetatem apti inveniuntur,
posse et debere admitti ad primam communionem in forma
privata, non autem ad primam communionem in forma
publica et solemni in diocesi recepta: pro quo decreto
episcopali standum est. Hanc fuisse mentem S. C. re-
spondents et Pontificis responsionem approbantis patet per
se et Prcefectus ejusdem S.C. expresse etiam declaravit.,} —
End of Note.
It is a disputed point whether one who is now in danger
of death and who has within the last few days received
holy communion is bound by divine precept to receive
Viaticum. Although any good Catholic would certainly
receive it again, yet the obligation to do so is not clear,
because the previous communion in all probability satisfies
the divine law. If one becomes dangerously ill on the
day on which he has received holy communion out of
devotion, it is similarly a disputed point whether he may,
or is bound to, receive it again as Viaticum. Ordinarily,
indeed, no one should receive holy communion twice on
the same day, but in this case he may do so, though he
is not bound to do so, on account of the variety of
opinions.
3. Holy communion should not be given to those who
have lost the use of reason, but if they have lucid intervals
it may then be given if there be no danger of irreverence.
To those who are in danger of death, and have lost the
use of their senses, it may be given if they can swallow,
and there is no danger of irreverence; and it should be
given as Viaticum to criminals condemned to death if they
are in the proper dispositions. Reverence forbids it to be
106 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
given to those who are suffering from constant coughing,
and to those who can not retain any food on the stomach,
unless they have been free from vomiting for six hours or
so.
Article II
The Dispositions Requisite for the Reception of the
Eucharist
Section I
The Dispositions of the Soul
1. Besides having sufficient knowledge of what the
Eucharist is, he who receives it should be in the state of
grace and free from mortal sin. The presence in the soul
of venial sin unrepented of is indeed a defect and an
obstacle to the fullest outpouring of God's grace, but it is
not a new sin to receive holy communion with only
venial sins on the soul. But it is a grievous sacrilege to
receive the Eucharist while conscious of being in mortal
sin, "For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth
and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body
of the Lord." It is not sufficient for one who is conscious
of mortal sin to recover the state of grace by making an
act of perfect contrition before communion; he is bound
to go to confession. This is taught us by the Council of
Trent: ' " Wherefore he who would communicate ought to
recall to mind the precept of the Apostle, Let a man prove
himself. Now ecclesiastical usage declares that necessary
proof to be, that no one conscious to himself of mortal
sin, how contrite soever he may seem to himself, ought to
1 Sess. xiii, c. 7.
THE SUBJECT OF THE EUCHARIST 107
approach to the sacred Eucharist without previous sacra-
mental confession. This, the holy synod hath decreed, is
to be invariably observed by all Christians, even by those
priests on whom it may be incumbent by their office to
celebrate, provided the opportunity of a confessor do not
fail them; but if in an urgent necessity a priest should
celebrate without previous confession, let him confess as
soon as possible." No one, then, who is conscious of mor-
tal sin may go to holy communion without sacramental
confession, unless he is under some necessity of receiving
the Eucharist, and there is no opportunity of going to
confession. There will be such necessity as is here con-
templated if a priest has to say Mass for his people on a
day of obligation, or to consecrate the Viaticum for a
dying person, or if communion must be received to avoid
scandal, or to satisfy the Easter precept. There is no
opportunity of going to confession if there is no priest
present who can give absolution, and it would be a serious
inconvenience to go to one at a distance. Even when in
these circumstances a priest who is in sin has said Mass
with contrition indeed, but without confession, he is com-
manded by the Council of Trent to go to confession as
soon as possible afterward. This is a strict ecclesiastical
law, but according to the mind of the council it only binds
priests, not laymen.
2. When one has been to confession with a view to
going to holy communion, but forgot to mention some
grievous sin which he afterward remembers, he is not
obliged to repeat his confession before communion; it
will be sufficient if he mentions it in his next confession.
The reason is because the forgotten sin was indirectly for-
given by the absolution which he received, and he has
108 THE HOLY EUCHABIST
proved himself sufficiently according to the words of the
Apostle.
Even if there be not sufficient time to make a full con-
fession before communion, still confession is obligatory, as
it is also when the penitent has cases reserved to the
Pope, for now in case of necessity any confessor may
absolve directly from papal cases. If the only serious sins
which the penitent has are reserved to the bishop, he is
not bound to go to confession unless there is a priest
present who has faculties for reserved cases, and it is a
probable opinion that this holds even if with reserved sins
he has grave sins which are not reserved.
3. The old controversy about frequent communion was
finally settled by the decree of Pius X, December 20, 1905.
The mind of the Church on the question is therein clearly
expressed. The decree says in effect: Let frequent and
daily communion, a practice which is very much desired
by Christ our Lord and by the Catholic Church, be open
to all the faithful of whatever rank and condition they
be, so that it may not be refused to any one who is in the
state of grace, and who approaches the Holy Table with a
good and upright intention. This good intention consists
in a desire to fulfil the divine will, to be more closely
united with God, and by that divine remedy to fight against
one's weaknesses and defects, and not to approach out of
routine, or vanity, or worldly motives. Venial sin is not
an obstacle to daily communion, although it is in the
highest degree becoming that daily communicants should
be free from all fully deliberate venial sin. The sacra-
ments, it is true, produce their effect ex opere operato, and
yet because they produce greater effect in those who are
better disposed, therefore care must be taken to make
THE SUBJECT OF THE EUCHARIST 109
proper preparation for holy communion and due thanks-
giving afterward. The confessor's advice should be asked
in order that daily communion may be practised with
more prudence and with greater fruit, but the confessor
should not prohibit daily communion to any one who is in
the state of grace and who approaches with an upright
intention. Parish priests, confessors, and preachers should
frequently exhort the faithful to the practice of daily
communion, according to the approved teaching of the
Roman Catechism, or the Catechism of the Council of
Trent.1
Section II
The Dispositions of the Body
1. Although God looks to the soul and its dispositions
rather than to externals, yet, as the Ritual says, those
who communicate should approach the altar with humble
deportment, and their dress and everything about them
should show forth the reverence which they feel for the
Blessed Sacrament. Reverence taught the first Christians
that the Holy Eucharist should be the first food taken in
the day, so that fasting communion very soon came to be
a universal practice in the Church. St. Augustine says
that it was the custom throughout the whole world in his
time, and he traces it back to the times of the Apostles.2
The Council of Constance says: "This present council
declares, decrees, and defines, that although Christ insti-
tuted and gave this venerable sacrament to His disciples
under both species of bread and wine after supper, yet
notwithstanding, the laudable authority of the sacred
1 Pt. ii, c. 4, q. 58. 2 Deeretum Gratiani, c. 54, D. 2, de consec.
110 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
canons and the approved custom of the Church has and
keeps this observance that this sacrament ought not to
be consecrated after supper nor received by the faithful
unless they be fasting, except in case of sickness or of
some other necessity allowed and admitted by law and by
the Church." *
The rubrics of the Missal 2 contain the following : " If
any one has not kept fast after midnight, though he has
taken only water or other drink or food, even as medicine,
and in however small a quantity, he can not communicate
or celebrate. If remnants of food remaining in the mouth
are swallowed, they do not hinder communion, since they
are not taken as food but with the saliva. The same
holds good if in washing the mouth a drop of water is
swallowed inadvertently."
The law of the Church, then, with reference to fasting
communion is that the Eucharist may not be received by
one who has not kept strict fast from all food and drink,
even in the smallest quantity, since midnight. If holy
communion is received shortly after midnight, there is no
obligation to fast for some time before midnight, although
reverence would dictate the advisability of such a course.
The law of fasting has been made out of reverence for the
Blessed Sacrament, so that violations of it are against the
virtue of religion, and sacrilegious.
To constitute a violation of the fast, what is taken must
be of the nature of food or drink. Pebbles, wood, paper,
hairs, are not food, and if swallowed do not hinder com-
munion. The same is probably to be said of bits of the
nails of the fingers, which some people have a habit of
biting. The food or drink must also be taken as food or
1 Sess. xiii. 2 De def. ix.
THE SUBJECT OF THE EUCHARIST 111
drink, not per modum respirationis, as is said, and must be
from without, not from within the mouth. Taking snuff,
or smoking, or inhaling a flake of snow with the breath,
do not, then, hinder communion, nor the swallowing of
blood from the gums or from inside the lips.
Midnight may be reckoned according to the time pub-
licly observed in the place, or by the true time according
to the sun, or by the mean time.
2. The law which prescribes fasting communion is a
positive ecclesiastical law and admits of exception and
excuse. Thus, when in danger of death from whatever
cause, one may receive holy communion not fasting. This
may also be done if it is not possible to abstain from com-
munion without grave scandal or serious loss of reputa-
tion ; or when the Blessed Sacrament is in danger of being
profaned ; or in order to complete the sacrifice of the Mass
left unfinished by another priest from sudden illness; or
probably in order to consecrate the Viaticum for a dying
person who otherwise would be deprived of it. The com-
mon opinion is that Mass may not be said by a priest not
fasting merely in order that his people may hear Mass on
a Sunday ; but this reason, taken together with some other,
might justify the action.
There used to be a controversy among divines as to
whether one who is sick but not in danger of death, and
yet can not observe the fast before communion, may be
allowed sometimes to communicate not fasting. This con-
troversy has to a great extent been set at rest by the
decree of Pius X, December 7, 1906. This decree "kindly
allowed those who have been sick in bed for a month,
without a well-grounded hope of their speedy recovery,
although they may have taken something by way of
112 THE HOLY EUCBARIST
drink, to receive with the advice of their confessor holy
communion once or twice in the week, if they live in
houses where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved, or where
Mass can be said by indult, and in other cases once or
twice a month; with the obligation of observing the
rubrics of the Ritual on the point."
After receiving Viaticum a sick person who continues to
live for some time afterward may receive holy communion
again, practically as often as his devotion urges him
thereto and the priest's occupations will allow of its
being brought to him. As long as he remains in danger of
death, holy communion should be given as Viaticum, with
the form, Accipe frater. No merely material uncleanness
without moral fault, or mere bodily unsightliness, is a bar
to holy communion. Married people are advised to
abstain from marital intercourse before going to holy
communion, but there is no strict obligation to do so.
Part II
THE EUCHARIST AS A SACRIFICE
CHAPTER I
THE NATURE OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS
1. The Council of Trent teaches that the Eucharist is
not only a sacrament but is also a sacrifice, instituted by
Our Lord at the Last Supper to represent and perpetuate
the memory of the sacrifice which He was about to offer
on the cross, and to apply its fruits to the souls of men.
"He therefore, Our God and Lord, though He was about
to offer Himself once on the altar of the cross unto God
the Father by means of His death, there to operate an
eternal redemption; nevertheless, because that His priest-
hood was not to be extinguished by His death, in the last
supper, on the night in which He was betrayed — that He
might leave to His own beloved Spouse the Church a visible
sacrifice, such as the nature of man requires, whereby that
bloody sacrifice, once to be accomplished on the cross,
might be represented, and the memory thereof remain
even unto the end of the world, and its salutary virtue be
applied to the remission of those sins which we daily
commit — declaring Himself constituted a priest for ever
according to the order of Melchisedec, He offered up to
God the Father, His own body and blood under the species
of bread and wine; and under the symbols of those same
things He delivered (His own body and blood) to be
113
114 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
received by His apostles, whom He then constituted priests
of the New Testament; and by those words, Do this in
commemoration of Me, He commanded them and their
successors in the priesthood to offer (them) ; even as the
Catholic Church has always understood and taught." l
A sacrifice is defined to be an offering of some visible
object made to God by the performance of a sacred action
on the part of a priest, or publicly deputed minister, by
which we confess the supreme lordship of God. A sacrifice,
therefore, differs from an ordinary offering in that it is an
act of public worship paid to God alone by a duly author-
ized minister, who by slaying the victim or in some way
changing it, proclaims the supreme dominion of God over
all things.
The sacrifice of the Eucharist is called the Mass, and
it may be offered for all the ends for which the various
sacrifices of the Old Law were instituted by God. It is
the supreme act of worship which we pay to God, and
under this respect it is called latreutic ; it is eucharistic,
inasmuch as through it we render thanks to God for His
graces and benefits; it is impetratory, inasmuch as it pla-
cates the anger of God which has been roused against sin
and the sinner; and it satisfies the justice of God and thus
remits the punishment due to sin.
The introductory portion, up to the offertory, is called
the Mass of Catechumens, the principal parts of the Mass
being the offertory, the consecration, and the communion.
There is much difference of opinion among divines as to,
what constitutes the essence of the sacrifice of the Mass.
Some place its essence in the communion, others in the
consecration, others in the consecration together with the
1 Trent, sess. xxii, c. 1.
NATURE OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS 115
communion. More probably the consecration of both
species, by which the death of Christ is mystically repre-
sented by the separate consecration of the bread and wine,
contains the whole essence of the sacrifice. The question
belongs rather to dogmatic than to moral theology.
2. The Mass is a representation and a reproduction in
an unbloody manner of the sacrifice of Our Lord on the
cross. The principal minister, Jesus Christ, is the same;
the victim is the same; the only difference is the manner
of offering, as the Council of Trent teaches. A rightly
ordained priest is the secondary minister, who in the name
of Christ and of the Church offers the sacrifice to God.
In so far as it is the action of Christ, the Mass produces its
effect like the sacraments ex opere operato, and does not
depend for its efficacy on the holiness or other disposi-
tions of the priest. But it is also the action of the priest,
and of the faithful in whose name he acts; and under
this respect it produces its effect ex opere operands.
All the faithful, by virtue of the communion of saints,
but especially those who assist at Mass, partake of its
fruits and benefits. Those fruits are, as we have seen,
latreutic, eucharistic, impetratory, propitiatory, and satis-
factory; so that in the Mass we have a most excellent
means of fulfilling all the ends of religion. By it and
through it we offer to God the highest act of worship which
it is in our power to offer; we give Him thanks for His
continual benefits to us, we ask in the most efficacious
manner for what we and others stand in need of, we pro-
pitiate His just anger, and make satisfaction for our sins.
The priest who celebrates performs an action in the
highest degree pleasing to Almighty God, and meritorious
for himself. Moreover, just as prayer may be offered for
116 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
a special intention, and as the sacrifices of the Old Law
,were offered for the needs of those who presented the
victim, so the Mass also may be celebrated by the priest
for some definite intention. The special or ministerial
fruit of the Mass is thus applied by the priest according
to the intention with which he offers it.
3. Apart from special prohibitions, the Mass may be
offered for all those for whom the sacrifice of the cross
was offered, and whom it can benefit. It may be offered
for all the faithful, living and dead. The Council of Trent
defined that the souls in purgatory are helped by the
sacrifices of the faithful, and it is at least theologically
certain that the fruits of the Mass are to some extent
which is known to God applied to them ex opere operato,
when Mass is said for that intention. It may also be
offered for the conversion of infidels, and in thanksgiving
for all the graces and glory which God has bestowed on
the blessed in heaven. The damned in hell can receive
no benefit from our prayers or sacrifices. The Church,
indeed, by her sentence deprives excommunicated persons
of the common suffrages of the faithful, but theologians
dispute about the effect of this law with reference to the
application of the Mass to excommunicates. Some hold
that it affects only such as are to be avoided on account
of being excommunicated, such, namely, as have been
excommunicated and denounced by name, or notorious
strikers of clerics whose crime can not be kept secret.
Others hold that the prohibition to say Mass for excom-
municated persons extends even to such as do not come
under the two heads just mentioned, and who are tolerated
according to the decree of the Council of Constance, Ad
vitanda. Others again maintain that the prohibition does
NATURE OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS 117
extend to all excommunicated persons, but that it is a
law which affects only the public offering, not the private
offering of Mass for such people. The latter opinion seems
certainly probable.
4. Infinite is the worth and dignity of the sacrifice of
the Mass, for it is the same as the sacrifice on Calvary,
which was capable of redeeming innumerable worlds.
This is acknowledged by all theologians, but they are
not agreed as to whether the actual fruit derived from a
Mass is also infinite. Those fruits are, indeed, greater or
less in proportion to the dispositions of the person to whom
they are applied. But while St. Alphonsus and others
are of opinion that a Mass offered for any number of in-
tentions will benefit each one as much as if it were offered
for him alone, others hold that the fruit of a Mass is de-
terminate in quantity, and that if it is offered for many
each one receives less than he would do if it were offered
for him alone. The latter seems the preferable opinion,
as it explains better the practice of the Church according
to which Mass is offered for individuals, living and dead.
If the first opinion were correct, charity would require
that every Mass should be offered for all who are in need,
for no individual would be the loser; every one would
derive all the benefit from the Mass of which he was capable.
This opinion, 'too, is more in keeping with the nature of the
sacraments, of which the fruits seem to be limited in
quantity. Otherwise there would be no use in adminis-
tering several sacraments to a dying person when out of
his senses, as is the practice of the Church. Whichever
opinion be true, it is against justice to offer only one Mass
in satisfaction of the obligation of saying several, when
several stipends have been received. Alexander VII
118 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
condemned the following proposition: "It is not against
justice to receive stipends for many Masses and to say
only one. Neither is it against fidelity, even if I promise
on oath to him who gives a stipend that I will not offer
the Mass for any one else."
Nothing, however, prevents the priest from having
a second intention, as it is called, even when he says Mass
for a stipend. By this second intention the priest intends
that if for any reason the Mass can not benefit him for
whom the first intention offers it, then the fruit may go
to the second. Or, if in fact it be true that the fruit of
a Mass is infinite, and capable of equally benefiting any
number of persons, then the priest by his second intention
desires that others should benefit by his Mass.
CHAPTER II
THE APPLICATION OF MASS
1. The application of a Mass is the intention with which
the priest who says it wishes that it should accrue to the
benefit of a certain person or persons. Such a special
act is only required for the application of the ministerial
or special fruit, as it is called; for the priest himself de-
rives fruit from his Mass, as likewise do those who assist
at it, and the faithful in general, without any special ap-
plication.
As it belongs to one who prays to choose the intention
for which he offers up his prayer, so the application of
his Mass belongs to the priest. A superior may indeed
prescribe the intention for which a Mass is to be offered,
but he who celebrates the Mass must make the actual
application. This should be done before the consecration
is finished, for according to the common opinion the essence
of the Mass consists in the consecration, and an action
can not receive its direction from an intention which is
only formed after the action is accomplished. Probably,
however, it will be sufficient if the intention is formed
between the two consecrations.
2. It is not necessary that the intention by which Mass
is applied should be actual, or even virtual ; it is sufficient
if it be habitual, or made once for all and not afterward
revoked.
119
120 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
When Mass is said for a stipend it is not necessary for
the priest to know precisely what the intention is for which
he is desired to say Mass ; it is sufficient if he say Mass for
the intention of the giver of the stipend. Clement VIII
forbade priests to offer Mass for the first who should give
a stipend for that purpose, and if no one actually intended
to ask for a Mass when a priest celebrated with such an
intention the Mass would not be applied.
A priest does not sin if he celebrates without any special
intention, but it is always better to have one, as then
the Mass will be more fruitful. When a priest celebrates
for a stipend he may not divide the fruits of the Mass,
applying the satisfactory or other fruit to the intention
of the giver, and another fruit to some other intention.
The whole fruit of the sacrifice must go to the giver of the
stipend. When, however, a Mass is ordered by a superior
in thanksgiving for some blessing, it will not be wrong
to apply the other fruits for other intentions which in no
way interfere with that prescribed by authority.
CHAPTER III
THE OBLIGATION OF APPLYING MASS
1. Priests may be bound to say Mass for a definite
intention on various grounds. Those who hold a benefice
are frequently obliged to say Mass, either every day or
on certain fixed days, for the intentions prescribed by
the founder of the benefice. The conventual Mass, which
should be said every day in cathedral, collegiate, and
conventual churches, ought to be applied for the benefit
of the souls of benefactors. In English-speaking countries,
however, there are few beneficed clergy, and so questions
concerning their obligations are hardly practical.
The Council of Trent ! declares that by divine precept
it is enjoined on all who have the cure of souls to offer
sacrifice for their flock. Bishops, therefore, and regular
prelates, who have the full cure of souls, are bound by
divine law to say Mass for those committed to their charge.
Parish priests are of ecclesiastical institution, and they
have not the full cure of souls committed to them. How
far their duties extend depends on ecclesiastical law.
That law obliges them as well as bishops to say Mass for
their flock every Sunday and holyday of obligation, even
on those feast-days of obligation which have been sup-
pressed. This obligation is at the same time real and
personal. It is real in the sense that if for any reason
1 Sess. xxiii, c. 1, de Ref.
121
122 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
a bishop or parish priest can not fulfil it on any particular
day, they are under the obligation of providing that it
should be fulfilled by some other priest. It is personal
in the sense that they must as far as possible fulfil it in
person; it will not be sufficient to substitute another
priest in their place.
As missionary priests in Great Britain and in the United
States are not parish priests, though they have the cure
of souls, the question whether they are bound to offer
Mass for their flock like parish priests depends on whether
the Church has annexed this obligation to their office.
The Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide declared,
December 3, 1866, that they are not strictly bound to
say Mass for their flock, although it is becoming in charity
that they do so.
2. The ecclesiastical superiors of priests may issue
a command that Mass be applied for some special inten-
tion. When this is done the command must of course
be obeyed by all whom it concerns. The matter of such
a precept is certainly grave, and so there will be a serious
obligation of complying with it, if the superior intended
to issue a strict precept. This, however, is not always
or necessarily the case; and in particular instances, if
there is question of determining the gravity of an obliga-
tion arising from such a precept, the intention of the
superior who gave it will have to be examined according
to the ordinary rules of interpretation.
3. A priest may bind himself by promise to say Mass
for a particular intention, and then he will be bound to
say it either in justice or at least out of fidelity, just as
he is bound to fulfil his other promises.
4. Finally, priests are bound in justice to say Mass for
THE OBLIGATION OF APPLYING MASS 123
the intention of those from whom they have received
a stipend for the purpose. The stipend is not the price
of the Mass, for this can not be bought and sold without
committing the grave sin of simony. The stipend is
given to provide for the support of the priest, who in
return undertakes to say Mass for the giver of the stipend.
In the early Church the faithful used to bring bread and
wine to the priests, who selected from what was offered
enough for the sacrifice, and reserved the rest for their
support. This was found to be inconvenient, and in course
of time the faithful who wished Mass to be offered for their
intention contributed a sum of money for the support of
the priest. This method, after all, is in substance what
St. Paul alludes to: "Know you not that they who work
in the holy place, eat the things that are of the holy place ;
and they that serve the altar, partake with the altar." 1
Simony may indeed be committed in transactions concerned
with the Mass and stipends, but such sordid practices
should not be presumed to be of ordinary occurrence.
Although a priest who accepts a stipend for a Mass does
not sell the Mass, yet he enters into a strict contract with
the giver of the stipend, and binds himself in justice to
apply the Mass for his intention. He will, therefore, commit
a grave sin against justice if he fail to fulfil his obligation,
and he must restore the stipend which he received, but
which he has no title to keep. Not only is the priest
who has accepted a stipend bound in justice to say a Mass,
but justice also requires that he should observe all the
conditions of the contract into which he entered concern-
ing the quality of the Mass, the place, and the time of
celebration. If the time is not fixed by the terms of the
1 1 Cor. ix. 13.
124 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
contract, the decree of the Sacred Congregation of the
Council, May 11, 1904, assigned one month from the time
of receiving the stipend as the limit within which one Mass
must be said, six months for one hundred Masses, and a
longer or shorter period for a greater or less number. No
priest may accept more stipends than he can satisfy within
a year, except with the explicit or implicit consent of the
donor. If he has not said the Masses stipulated for within
the year, he is required to hand over the stipends to his
ordinary. If founded Masses have not been said during
the year within which they fell due, the stipend for them is
also to be handed over to the ordinary. Priests may hand
over stipends which they have not been able to satisfy
within the time prescribed to their ordinary, to the Holy
See, or to other conscientious priests on whom they can
rely. In the latter case they have the duty of seeing that
the obligation has been fulfilled; in the former they are
released from all such burden. The Church wishes to
prevent anything that has even the appearance of trading
in stipends for Mass, and so it is prescribed that the whole
stipend which was offered must be given to the priest who
says the Mass, and nothing subtracted from it, nor may
anything else be given in its place. It is specially forbidden
to give stipends for Masses to booksellers, merchants,
and managers of magazines, who sometimes collected
them, and sent their wares instead of the money to priests
who said the Masses. Buying books, or Church furniture,
or anything else, by saying Masses is forbidden.
Any one who is guilty of violating these prohibitions,
if a priest, incurs ipso facto suspension reserved to the Holy
See; if an inferior cleric, he is suspended from the exercise
of his orders and made incapable of ascending higher;
THE OBLIGATION OF APPLYING MASS 125
if a layman, he incurs excommunication reserved to the
ordinary.
Only the bishop can accept founded Masses for secular
churches, and generals or provincials for those of regulars.
When the income from founded Masses is reduced in value
from any cause, the Holy See alone is competent to reduce
the number of Masses to be said according to the rules of
equity.
The amount of the stipend for Masses, whether founded
or manual, is different in different countries. It belongs
to the ordinary to fix the amount, and when fixed by
him it must be adhered to by both the secular and regular
clergy. A priest who exacted more than the fixed amount
for a Mass would commit a sin against justice, and be bound
to make restitution of what he had charged in excess.
CHAPTER IV
THE TIME FOR SAYING MASS
1. By the common law of the Church Mass may only
be said once in the clay except on Christmas Day, when
a priest may say three Masses. Mass may be said on every
day in the year, but on the three last days in Holy Week
Low Mass is forbidden. On those days in cathedral, col-
legiate, and parish churches, High Mass should be sung
as far as possible. In parish churches where High Mass
can not be sung, but three or four clerics can be got to serve,
the ceremonies should be carried out according to the
memorial of rites drawn up by command of Benedict XIII.
In parish churches where not even this can be done, the
bishop may give leave for a Low Mass on Holy Thursday,
and he may also, for the convenience of the sick, allow
a Low Mass to be said in other churches before the High
Mass.
2. Mass may be said twice by a priest on the same
day if the necessity of the people requires it. The bishop
is the judge as to when it is necessary, as it will be if the
people can not all get to one Mass on account of the distance
at which they live from the church, or because the church
is too small to contain them all at once. Moreover, in
missionary countries it is quite common for priests to
have a special faculty of celebrating twice in the day on
126
THE TIME FOR SAYING MASS 127
Sundays and holydays of obligation. The only cause rec-
ognized for the lawful use of this faculty is the necessity
of the people, of which again the bishop is the judge, and
it is expressly forbidden to take a stipend for the second
Mass. The use of the faculty is not lawful when another
priest can be got to say the Mass required by the necessity
of the people.
3. According to the present discipline of the Church,
Mass may be said at any time between daybreak and mid-
day. The law will be kept if Mass is not finished before
daybreak or begun after midday. The necessity of the
people or of the priest is a sufficient reason for celebrating
somewhat earlier and later than the ordinary times, and
regulars have privileges by which they may for just cause
begin Mass much earlier and much later than the legal
time.
Note. — In the United States the bishops have from
the Holy See a faculty, which they can communicate to
all the priests in their respective dioceses laboring in the
sacred ministry, by which they can celebrate Mass one
hour before daybreak and one hour after midday, "per
unam horam ante auroram et aliam post meridiem" This
privilege is understood to mean that a priest may begin
Mass one hour before the time at which he could begin
according to the general law of the Church, and similarly
that he may begin one hour later than would be permitted
by the general law. Clement XI issued a prohibition
regarding the time for the celebration of Mass: "Manda-
mus ne Missarum sacrificia ante auroram celebrentur et
usque ad meridiem solum protrahantur." Afterward, in
1724, Benedict XIII permitted that Mass be celebrated
128 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
one-third part of an hour (twenty minutes) before the
aurora, and one-third part of an hour after midday. This
signified, as Benedict XIII himself declared, that Mass
could begin not earlier than twenty minutes before the
aurora, and should be finished not later than twenty
minutes after midday. A privilege was granted to the
Benedictine Order of celebrating in their own churches
for a just reason two hours after midnight, which privilege
is extended to all regulars. Pius VI granted to the Con-
gregation of the Purity a faculty that the priests of the
Congregation could in perpetuum celebrate two hours before
the aurora and two hours after midday. Without any
privilege a bishop may permit in a particular case for just
cause that Mass be celebrated an hour before daybreak
or an hour after midday, and even annually for a special
solemnity; but he could not give permission for all the
priests of his diocese to anticipate the celebration or defer
it beyond the time fixed by common law. Superiors of
Religious Orders having solemn vows may also dispense
their subjects in particular cases, so that, for example,
a priest not reaching the end of his journey before two or
three o'clock p.m. might be permitted to say Mass, provided,
of course, that he had kept his fast. The dawn of day-
break, it may be remarked, is considered as beginning
when the sun enters the eighteenth degree below the
horizon. The hour at which it begins varies according
to the latitude of the place, and in places of the same
latitude it is different at different times of the year. There
are places in the United States where in summer the aurora
begins at midnight, so that there a priest might commence
his Mass immediately after without any privilege. — End
of Note.
THE TIME FOR SAYING MASS 129
His Holiness Pius X by a decree of the Holy Office dated
August 1, 1907, graciously permitted in future three Masses
or only one to be said according to the rubrics on the night
of the Nativity in all convents of nuns who have enclosure,
and in other Religious institutions, pious houses, and
clerical seminaries, in which the Blessed Sacrament is
habitually reserved. Holy communion may be adminis-
tered to all who ask for it at these Masses and any one
who hears one or more of them satisfies the precept of
hearing Mass on that day.1
1 Acta Sanctae Sedis, xl, p. 478.
CHAPTER V
WHERE MASS MAY BE SAID
1. By ecclesiastical law Mass may regularly be said
only in churches and oratories dedicated solely to the
service of God, and therein on duly consecrated altars.1
If, however, there be no church in the place, or if it be in
ruins, or if it be too small to hold the number of worshipers,
Mass may be said in a tent or in the open air on a portable
altar with the leave of the bishop, if time permits of this
being asked.
A bishop can erect public oratories in which Mass may
be said in Religious institutions, in monasteries and con-
vents, in seminaries, hospitals, prisons, and in the bishop's
own residence. Bishops also enjoy a personal privilege
of saying Mass on a portable altar even in private houses
where they happen to be staying.
The Council of Trent2 forbade bishops to allow priests
to say Mass in private houses, and in consequence of this
law and of repeated answers of the Roman Congregations,
it is now settled that bishops have no power to grant
leave for purely domestic oratories in private houses.
Note. — Although the faculty of granting the privilege
of a private oratory is reserved to the Holy See, the bishops
of the United States retain the faculty of celebrating
Mass " sub dio et sub terra, in loco tamen decenti" and of
1 Trent, sess. xxii, Decree on things to be observed in Mass. 2 1. c.
130
WHERE MASS MAY BE SAID 131
communicating it to priests engaged in the ministry
within their dioceses. (See Form I, Arts. 23, 28.) It
is to be noted, however, that the S. C. of Propaganda
declared that the condition, "si aliter celebrari non
possit," occurring in Article 23, is to be applied to the
faculty of saying Mass sub dio et sub terra, and, besides,
that under that faculty a bishop could not permit each
priest to say Mass in a private house. "Prceterea non
ea est earundem facultatum extensio, qua Amplitudo Tua
quibusvis sacerdotibus etiamsi cegrotis valeat permittere ut
in privatis cedibus super altari portatili Sacrum faciant."
What may be done practically in the United States, as
regards the place of celebration, can be gathered from
the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore (n. 362) : " Sta-
tuimus saecrdoti nulli, vi facultatum gcneralium sibi con-
cessarum celebrandi in quocumque loco decenti, licere Missam
celebrare in cedibus privatis, nisi in stationibus, et in cedibus
quas Ordinarius designaverit : aut dum actu missionis
exercitiis, procul ab aliqua ecclesia, dat operam. Quod si
Ordinarii alias concedant licentiam celebrandi in privatis
cedibus ob speciales circumstantias, Us commendamus pro
una tantum vel altera vice concedere" Hence a priest b}'
the general faculty of celebrating in any becoming place
can not say Mass in private houses except in the circum-
stances here stated. On the other hand, a bishop in this
country may gtill give leave under special circumstances
to say Mass in a private house, but he is recommended
not to grant such leave for a notable time, "pro una
tantum vel altera vice." — End of Note.
The power to do this is now reserved to the Holy See.
If there is an oratory duly erected on board ship. Mass
132 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
may be said there when circumstances permit. The
Holy See also grants leave for Mass to be said on board
ship on a portable altar even when there is no permanently
erected oratory on board. A priest who has obtained
and desires to use this privilege is bound to observe the
conditions under which it is granted. Those conditions
are that the ship is safe and at a distance from shore, that
the sea is tranquil, and that another priest or a deacon
is at hand to hold the chalice in case of danger when the
ship rolls. Mass should not be said in the passengers'
berths unless everything has been arranged so as to show
due reverence to the Blessed Sacrament.
2. If a church or public oratory has been polluted by
the perpetration therein of certain crimes, it is forbidden
to say Mass there until it has been reconciled. The crimes
which pollute a church are homicide, the shedding of
human blood, consummated sin against chastity, and
burial in the church of a non-baptized person, or of one
who is to be avoided as excommunicate. In order that
these crimes may pollute a church they must be mortally
sinful, committed in the church itself, not merely in its
neighborhood, and they must be publicly known.
Note. — The general law regarding the reconciliation
of churches, which after being consecrated or only blessed
become polluted, is thus expressed by Wernz (Jus Decre-
talium, vol. 3, n. 444). " Reconciliatio ecclesice consecratce
ab Episcopo loci aut de ejus vel Prelati nullius vel Vicarii
Capitularis vel Vicarii Generalis ex mandato speciali licentia
ab alio Episcopo servatis ritibus prcescriptis licite et valide
est facienda : at valida est, si fiat ab Episcopo non habente
jurisdictionem in loco. (Cf. S. R. C. August 19, 1634, ad 3.)
WHERE MASS MAY BE SAID 133
Simplici vero sacerdoti etiam aqua lustrali per episcopum
benedicta ab Ordinario loci concedi nequit, sed privilegium
vel indultum apostolicum requiritur. Quodsi ecclesia polluta
fuerit tantummodo benedicta, reconciliaiio fieri potest a quo-
libet sacerdote, quern Ordinarius loci, i.e., Episcopus vel
Prcelatus nullius vel Vicarius Capitularis vel Vicarius
Generalis ex mandato speciali delegavit" According to
the opinion here set forth, when a consecrated church
has been polluted, it can not be licitly reconciled except
by the bishop of the place or by another bishop specially
appointed by the bishop of the place or by his vicar-
general or vicar-capitular or by a prcelatus nidlius; however,
it is a valid reconciliation when the prescribed rite has been
performed by any bishop, though he have no jurisdiction
in the place. Apart from a privilege or apostolic indult
a bishop can not delegate a priest to reconcile a church
which was consecrated and is polluted, this authority
being reserved to the Sovereign Pontiff. If the church
was blessed, not consecrated, a priest should be specially
delegated by the ordinary of the place to reconcile it.
The reader will find this whole question treated at length
by Gasparri. (De SS?na Eucharistia, vol. 1, n. 256, etc.)
In the United States the bishops have the following
faculty (Art. 13, Form I.): " Delegandi simplicibus sacer-
dotibus potestatem benedicendi paramenia et alia utensilia
ad sacrificium Missce necetsaria, ubi non intervenit sacra
unctio; et reconciliandi ecclesias polhdas aqua ab Episcopo
benedicta, et in casu necessitatis, etiam aqua non benedicta
ab Episcopo" Hence a bishop in this country can au-
thorize a priest to reconcile polluted churches, whether
consecrated or only blessed. Water blessed by the bishop
should be used when the church has been consecrated,
134 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
unless in the case of necessity, when the priest himself
can bless water for the purpose. In the rite of reconciling
a consecrated church the priest should follow the Roman
Pontifical. When there is question of reconciling a church
which has been only blessed, the priest uses ordinary holy
water blessed by himself or by any priest, and follows
the rite prescribed by the Roman Ritual. (See Putzer,
n. 135; Gasparri, n. 257.) — End of Note.
A consecrated church which has been polluted should
be reconciled by a bishop according to the form prescribed
in the Pontifical; but if the bishop is engaged, he may
authorize a priest to do it in his place with water blessed
by the bishop. If the bishop live at a distance, regulars
have a privilege of reconciling their churches with water
blessed by themselves. If the church was blessed and
not consecrated, it may be reconciled by a priest according
to the form given in the Ritual.
Private oratories are not polluted, even if any of the
above crimes be committed in them, and so they do not
need reconciliation.
Mass may not be said in a church or oratory which has
lost its consecration. This happens when the greater
part of it is destroyed at one and the same time, or when
a new portion is added to it and what is added is greater
than the old part. A church does not lose its consecration
if the roof falls in or if the plastering of the walls is re-
newed. When a church loses its consecration it must
be reconsecrated, or at least blessed, before Mass be again
said in it.
When a church is polluted the altars in it are also
polluted, but altars do not lose their consecration merely
WHERE MASS MAY BE SAID 135
because the churches in which they are placed are dese-
crated. A fixed altar loses its consecration if the altar-
stone is loosed from its foundation, and both fixed and
portable altars lose their consecration if the tomb where
the relics are placed is violated, or in consequence of a
large fracture.
3. The sacred vessels and vestments lose their con-
secration when they are broken or torn so as to lose their
shape. A chalice also loses its consecration when it is
regilded. When the sacred vessels or vestments have
lost their consecration, they must be mended and be re-
consecrated before use.
CHAPTER VI
REQUISITES FOR SAYING MASS
Besides what we have seen in the last chapter, the
Missal prescribes various other requisites for the due
celebration of Mass. The following especially call for
mention here: three altar-cloths, two wax candles, the
ordinary priestly vestments, a server, a chalice and paten,
clean corporal and purificator of linen, and a Missal. The
altar linen and the vestments should be blessed by a bishop
or by a priest with specially delegated faculties for the
purpose.
Note. — Under Article 13, Form I, the bishops of the
United States have power, "Delegandi simplicibus sacer-
dotibus potestatem benedicendi paramenta et alia utensilia
ad sacrificium Missce necessaria, ubi non intervenit sacra
unctio." Hence a priest to whom this power is com-
municated can bless the sacerdotal vestments, chasuble,
stole, etc.; also corporals, palls, altar-cloths, ciborium,
pyxis, and lunula, since holy oil is not used in blessing
them. But they can not under this article consecrate
chalices, patenas, altar-stones, or bells, for each of which
the use of holy oil is required. However, by Article 7,
Form C, a bishop in this country can depute a priest to
consecrate chalices, patenas, and altar-stones, in which
case the priest deputed must use holy oil consecrated by
the bishop and follow the rite prescribed in the Roman
136
REQUISITES FOR SAYING MASS 137
Pontifical. The bishop may also, according to Article 12
of the same Form C, delegate a priest to bless bells
when he can not himself without grave inconvenience per-
form the function, provided that the rite of the Roman
Pontifical be followed, along with the use of oil and water
blessed by the bishop, or, when a grave cause exists,
without water blessed by the bishop. In blessing vest-
ments and other requisites for Mass which do not admit
of the use . of holy oil, the priest having the faculty of
blessing such articles should follow the rite prescribed
in the Roman Ritual, and not that of the Pontifical,
according to a decree of the S. C. R. (March 16, 1876).
A difference is therefore to be observed between those
objects in whose blessing or consecration the use of holy
oil is prescribed and those in which holy oil is not used;
the Roman Pontifical is to be followed in the former,
while in the latter the Roman Ritual should be observed.
— End of Note.
The chalice and paten should be of silver, and gilded
at least on the inside. They should also be consecrated
by a bishop. The difficulty of procuring wholly wax
candles was reported to the S. R. C, which answered,
December 14, 1904, that bishops should as far as possible
see that the two candles for Mass should at least have a
greater proportion of beeswax than of other material, and
that private priests need not anxiously inquire about the
quality of the wax.
Of the vestments, at least the alb, chasuble, stole, and
maniple are required under grave precept ; the amice and
the girdle, as also a pall, _purincator, and crucifix, are
required under a less serious obligation.
138 THE HOLY EUCHARIST
The server should be a Catholic and of the male sex,
but if one can not be procured, a woman may make re-
sponses from outside the altar rails.
Note. — By the common law of the Church it is pro-
hibited sub gravi to say Mass without a server; it is held,
however, that a grave cause or necessity excuses from this
prohibition, e.g., that the faithful may not be without
Mass on a day of obligation, or, according to many, that
the priest himself may fulfil the obligation of hearing
Mass. In the United States the bishops are empowered
by the Holy See under Article 23, Form I, to celebrate
Mass sine ministro, and may communicate the faculty to
priests laboring in their respective dioceses. There is,
however, a condition attached to the exercise of this
faculty on the part of a bishop or priest, viz., "Si aliter
celebrari non possit." This impossibility should be inter-
preted so that the faculty herein conferred would mean
something more than what, according to theologians, would
be permissible without such faculty; otherwise the faculty
would be useless. Hence it would appear that a priest
having this faculty might, even on days which are not of
obligation, say Mass without a server, when he can not
procure one. For example, if a priest having to leave
very early on a journey wishes to say Mass out of devotion
before leaving, he would seem to keep within the limits
of this faculty by celebrating sine ministro. It may be
useful to note that, when this faculty is made use of, the
priest himself should make the responses prescribed to
be made by the server; but he should omit the second
recital of the Confiteor (S. C. R. September 4, 1875), and
in the prayer Miser eatur vestri, etc., substitute nostri for
REQUISITES FOR SAYING MASS 139
vestri, as also in the response, Suscipiat, etc., instead of
manibus tuis, he should say manibus meis. See rubrics
of the Missal, Ritus servandus in celebratione Missce, VII, 7.
It is not at all clear that, when a priest having the fore-
going faculty would say Mass without a Catholic server
of the male sex, he should procure or lawfully could pro-
cure a female to give the responses outside the communion
railing. It would seem better not to permit her to make
the responses, since, if she did make them it might excite
the admiratio populi. In convents, however, where Mass
is often celebrated without a male server, there is a widely
extended practice of having a Sister outside the sanctuary
make the responses. So long as the Holy See does not
pronounce against this practice, it may be held that it
is not unlawful even in the United States, where priests,
"si aliter celebrari non possit," may say Mass without
a server to permit a Sister outside the sanctuary to give
the responses. — End of Note.
It is a disputed point among theologians whether the
proper color of the sacred vestments is of strict precept;
and they deny that there is a strict precept with regard
to the use of a veil for the chalice, a burse, and a stand for
the Missal.
CHAPTER VII
THE RUBRICS OF THE MISSAL
1. In the rubrics of the Missal the Church has laid down
a series of minute rules for the celebration of Mass. Their
number and minuteness show her solicitude concerning the
proper performance of this divine sacrifice. Those which
have reference to the Mass itself are in general preceptive,
and bind under pain of sin. Grave sin, then, is committed
by violating the rubrics of the Mass in serious matters;
venial sin is committed by their violation in smaller mat-
ters. If a notable or important portion of the rite is
omitted, or if notable additions are made to it by private
authority, or any considerable change be made in it, there
is a serious violation of the law. The rubrics which ordain
that certain portions of the Mass be said in a loud or low
or middle tone of voice only bind under venial sin, and so,
if their observance would cause annoyance to other priests
who are saying Mass, they cease to bind. Similarly, if
through infirmity a priest is unable to observe some smaller
rubrics, it .is not the mind of the Church that he should be
obliged to abstain from celebrating the holy mysteries.
It is a probable opinion that those rubrics in the Missal
which have reference to what should be done out of Mass
are only directive, not strictly preceptive so as to bind
under pain of sin.
140
THE RUBRICS OF THE MISSAL 141
2. The general rule is that the Mass must agree with the
Office which the calendar prescribes to be said. However,
by the decree S.R.C., December 9, 1895, when Mass is said
in a church or public oratory which is not one's own, which
uses a different calendar, and celebrates a feast of double
or higher rite, the Mass must always agree with the calendar
of the church- or public oratory, and not with the Office of
the celebrant.
3. When Mass has been once begun it may not be broken
off without grave reason, even before the consecration.
After the consecration a still graver cause is required, as,
for example, the sudden breaking out of fire in the church,
when the sacred species might be at once consumed and the
Mass brought to an end. Moreover, even temporary inter-
ruptions of Mass are forbidden except after the Gospel, ac-
cording to custom. The prohibition is stricter according
to the greater solemnity of the part of the Mass where there
is question of interruption. However, for good cause, an
interruption may be permitted before the offertory; to
justify an interruption between the offertory and the con-
secration a graver cause is required, and a very grave cause
after the consecration.
BOOK V
THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
CHAPTER I
THE NATURE OF PENANCE
1. Penance is both a virtue and a sacrament of the
New Law. For as the Council of Trent teaches : " Penitence
was indeed at all times necessary in order to attain to
grace and justice for all men who had defiled themselves
by any mortal sin, even for those who begged to be
washed by the sacrament of Baptism ; that so their per-
verseness renounced and amended, they might with a
hatred of sin and a godly sorrow of mind detest so great
an offence of God. Wherefore the prophet says, 'Be con-
verted and do penance for all your iniquities, and iniquity
shall not be your ruin.' The Lord also said, 'Except
you do penance, you shall also likewise perish'; and Peter,
the prince of the apostles, recommending penitence to
sinners who were about to be initiated by Baptism, said,
'Do penance and be baptized every one of you.'" * God,
therefore, has always required repentance or penance on
the part of the sinner as a necessary condition for forgive-
ness. The virtue of penance may be defined as a habit
inclining the sinner to hatred and detestation of his sin.
He may be moved to this hatred and detestation by
various motives, as, for example, by the thought of the,
^ess. xiv, c. 1.
143
144 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
goodness of God, who deserves better treatment than to
be offended by the sinner, by the feeling of gratitude
toward God for His benefits and mercies, by the senti-
ment of justice which induces the sinner to make repara-
tion for the wrong which by sin he has inflicted on the
majesty of God. Penance may thus be a general virtue
with various motives, but theologians agree that it is also
a special virtue with a particular motive of its own. More
commonly they assign as this motive the hatred of sin as
being an offence against God, something at which God is
rightly and justly angered and displeased, and for which
satisfaction must be made to God before peace and
harmony can be again established between Him and the
sinner.
Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the sacrament of Pen-
ance, by which the sins committed after Baptism might be
forgiven on the sinner's repentance. As the Council of
Trent teaches: " Nevertheless, neither before the coming
of Christ was penitence a sacrament, nor is it such since
His coming for any one previously to Baptism. But the
Lord then principally instituted the sacrament of Penance
when being raised from the dead He breathed upon His dis-
ciples, saying, 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose sins you
shall forgive they are forgiven, and whose sins you shall
retain they are retained.' By which action so signal, and
words so clear, the consent of all the Fathers has ever
understood that the power of forgiving and retaining sins
was communicated to the apostles and their lawful succes-
sors for the reconciling of the faithful who have fallen after
Baptism." *
Penance may be defined as a sacrament of the New Law
1 Sess. xiv, c. 1.
THE NATURE OF PENANCE 145
instituted by Christ after the manner of a judicial process
for the remission of sins committed after Baptism by a
priest's absolution given to the contrite sinner who has
confessed his sin to him.
This sacrament is instituted after the manner of a judicial
process, as may be gathered from the very words of instr-
tution : " Whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven,
and whose sins you shall retain they are retained," said
our blessed Lord ; not of course that the apostles were em-
powered to forgive or not to forgive sins according to their
own pleasure. They were bound to exercise the power en-
trusted to them according to the intention of Him who had
given it, so that as faithful dispensers of the mysteries of
God they were to forgive the sins of those who were worthy
of forgiveness, and to dismiss without forgiveness those
who were unworthy. But how could they know who was
worthy and who was unworthy, and what sins they could
forgive and what they could not? Evidently only by the
sinner acknowledging his sins and showing that he re-
pented of them, or on the contrary by his showing the want
of the necessary dispositions. And so we gather from the
words of institution of this sacrament what the tradition
of the Church teaches, that for the forgiveness of sin in
the sacrament of Penance the sinner must in sorrow confess
his sin, and then it will be forgiven by the absolution of the
priest. In this we have the substance of a judicial process,
inasmuch as the sinner is the criminal who is witness against
himself, and the priest is the judge who according to the
merits of the case absolves the sinner and remits the sin
in the name of God, or by not absolving the unworthy sin-
ner retains his sin and condemns him to go unpardoned.
2. The effects of a fruitful reception of this sacrament
146 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
are the forgiveness of all mortal sins and of all venial sins
which are confessed with due sorrow, the consequent re-
mission of the eternal punishment due to mortal sin, and a
partial remission according to the dispositions of the penitent
of the temporal punishment which his sins have deserved.
Sins which are confessed to a priest who has the requisite
jurisdiction to absolve them are forgiven directly by virtue
of the power of the keys. On the other hand, if without
fault on the part of the penitent some sin is not confessed
and the penitent has the requisite sorrow, the sin will be
forgiven indirectly, inasmuch as the absolution will take
its effect and infuse sanctifying grace into the soul, and this
sanctifying grace expels all grievous sin from the soul.
The absolution will also be indirect when the priest has not
faculties for some sin or sins confessed, but for some special
reason he is justified in giving the penitent absolution.
3. The Council of Trent1 teaches that "This sacrament
of Penance is for those who have fallen after Baptism nec-
essary unto salvation, as Baptism itself is for those who
have not as yet been regenerated." This sacrament, then,
like Baptism, is a necessary means for salvation for all who
have committed grave sin after Baptism. There is, con-
sequently, for all such a divine precept which obliges them
to go to confession. They must fulfil this precept at any
rate before death, and the Church, using the power given
her by her divine Founder, has obliged all who are con-
scious of being in mortal sin to go to confession at least
once a year. If there is no opportunity of going to confes-
sion, one who has fallen into grievous sin can through the
mercy of God obtain pardon for it by making an act of per-
fect contrition or of pure love of God. These acts implicitly
1 Sess. xiv, c. 2.
THE NATURE OF PENANCE 147
contain a desire to receive the sacrament of Penance and
to fulfil all other obligations imposed by God and by lawful
authority. Even after sin has been forgiven by an act of
perfect contrition or of pure love of God, there will always
remain the obligation of confessing it, if it be mortal, when
the time for the annual confession arrives or the opportunity
occurs. Those who do not fall into grievous sin are under
no obligation of going to confession, though, of course,
they are the last to neglect the use of so powerful a means as
frequent confession to attain purity of soul and to obtain
great graces from God.
CHAPTER II
THE MATTER OF PENANCE
1. The remote matter of the sacrament of Penance is
the sins which have been committed after Baptism, for sins
committed before Baptism, when this is received in adult
age, are forgiven by Baptism. The matter of Penance is
necessary, or free but sufficient. Mortal sins which have
never been directly absolved are the necessary matter of
confession, for as the Council of Trent teaches * every mortal
sin committed after Baptism must be submitted to the keys.
The same council teaches that venial sins may be confessed,
but that there is no necessity to do so, and so they are
sufficient but free or optional matter of the sacrament.
The same is true also of mortal sins which have been
already absolved directly, for the penitent may with fruit
renew his sorrow for them, and nothing prevents the sen-
tence of absolution being repeatedly pronounced over
them. The previous sentence of absolution is, as it were,
confirmed anew, and thereby fresh grace is infused into
the soul.
2. A doubt may sometimes arise as to whether a person
has ever been baptized, or as to whether his Baptism was
valid, and after Baptism has been conditionally administered
in such a case so as to make so important a matter secure
1 Sess. xiv, c. 5.
148
TUE MATTER OF PENANCE 149
the question remains whether this person must make a
general confession of past sins or not. If a Catholic has been
in the habit of going to confession and making good ones
as far as he knows, there will be no necessity to repeat those
confessions after conditional Baptism. For if he was bap-
tized before, his confessions would be valid, and if he was
not baptized, his past sins are not matter for confession.
A non-Catholic, however, who receives conditional Bap-
tism is in a different position. His past sins have not
been confessed ; if he was baptized before, he is bound to
confess them; if he was not baptized before, they are not
matter for the sacrament of Penance. What is he bound
to do when the fact of Baptism is uncertain, and at most
it can be said that there are probabilities on either side ?
The first Synod of Westminster ' prescribes that a non-
Catholic already probably baptized who is received into the
Catholic Church must, after conditional Baptism, make a
full confession of the sins of his past life. This decree was
confirmed by the Holy Office December 17, 1868, and
several other decrees and instructions in the same sense
have been issued. In practice, then, and in countries which
are bound by these decrees and instructions, as are England
and the United States, the question is settled by positive
law. With regard to other countries which are not directly
subject to the foregoing decrees and instructions it is still
a matter of controversy among divines whether a full con-
fession is obligatory. In the opinion of several, there is
no universal law, divine or human, which makes confes-
sion obligatory in such a case.
3. The proximate matter of Penance, according to the
more common opinion, are the acts of the penitent : con-
1 d. xvi, n. 8.
150 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
trition, confession, and satisfaction. According to the
Thomist doctrine, the acts of the penitent constitute the
material part of the sacrament, so that they are the matter
out of which the sacrament is made, and are an essential
part of the sacramental sign. If the Council of Trent calls
them the quasi-matter,1 it is not because they are not the
true matter in the sense just explained, but because they
are not the matter which is used externally in the con-
fection of the sacrament, as is water in Baptism, or chrism
in Confirmation.
On the other hand, the Scotists allow, indeed, that contri-
tion, confession, and satisfaction on the part of the penitent,
are necessary conditions for the administration of Penance,
but they hold that the whole sacramental sign is contained
in the words of absolution. These words alone are used
by the minister of the sacrament, and they signify the grace
conferred by the sacrament. Taken materially, they con-
stitute its matter; inasmuch as they signify the giving
of grace for the remission of sins, they constitute its form.
This opinion has never been condemned by the Church,
and it remains probable, but the question belongs rather
to dogmatic than to moral theology.
4. It is not sufficient to confess one's sins in general
terms, and if they are grievous the law of God requires that
they be confessed according to number and species, as the
Council of Trent teaches.2 As we have seen, venial sins
are sufficient matter for absolution, but there is no neces-
sity to confess them. But supposing that a penitent has
only venial sins, and he wishes to confess them, what
kind of confession is necessary and sufficient ? Will it be
enough to say, " I accuse myself of some small sins and ask
1 Sess. xiv, c. 3. '* Sess. xiv, c. 5.
THE MATTER OF PENANCE 151
for absolution"; or "I accuse myself of all the sins of my
past life, and I have nothing serious" ?
All divines agree that it will be sufficient to mention
some one sin in particular in this case, or to mention the
virtue or obligation which has been violated, as by saying,
" I accuse myself of slight negligence in prayer," or "of small
faults against charity." They differ about the lawfulness
of using a mere general formula. Such a method of confess-
ing is against the practice of the Church, which, as St.
Thomas says, we should always follow; it is also liable to
abuse, for penitents can not always decide what is serious
and necessary matter for confession or not, and shame might
easily lead them to be content with generalities when they
should give particulars. However, there is something to be
said for the other view, inasmuch as some sort of confes-
sion is all that is required for the essence of the sacrament,
and when there are only venial sins to be confessed there
is no certain law which prescribes confession according to
number and species, or even more than in general terms.
This opinion is at any rate sometimes of use, as it may at
times enable confessors to be satisfied with generalities
when they can not get more.
5. The solution of questions about the obligation of
confessing doubtful sins largely depends on what system
of moral theology is followed. The following principles
are generally approved by probabilists :
a. When the penitent doubts whether he has been guilty
of some sinful act or not, he is not bound to confess it, for
he can not be said to be conscious of sin, and a certain obli-
gation can not arise from an uncertain source.
b. When the doubt is as to whether full consent was
given to what would have been a grave sin if that were the
152 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
case, the question should be settled by recourse to presump-
tions. If in other cases consent has usually been given,
the presumption is against the penitent, and he should
confess the sin as it is in his conscience; otherwise there
will be no obligation to do so.
c. If the doubt is whether the sin were mortal or venial,
there is no obligation to confess it, for the penitent is not
conscious of mortal sin; and only such are bound to con-
fess.
d. If the doubt is whether a mortal sin which was cer-
tainly committed has ever been confessed, we must distin-
guish; if there be no good ground for thinking that it has
been confessed, the obligation will still remain; if, on the
contrary, there be good ground for thinking that the sin
has been confessed, there will be no obligation of confessing
it again.
e. It is generally better for penitents, unless they are
scrupulous, to confess doubtful sins, as it conduces to peace
of conscience, and is a meritorious act of humility.
When a doubtful sin has once been confessed as such
there will be no obligation to confess it again, even though
subsequently the penitent becomes sure that he committed
the sin. The sin was confessed as it was on the penitent's
conscience, and it was absolved directly.
According to the common opinion, although there is no
strict obligation to confess a mortal sin which is doubtful,
or which has probably been confessed, yet one should not
go to holy communion in such a state of doubt without either
going to confession and confessing at least some sin, or
making an act of contrition. For a man should prove him-
self before receiving holy communion, and have a well-
grounded belief that he is in a state of grace.
THE MATTER OF PENANCE 153
If a penitent mentions only doubtful matter for abso-
lution, the confessor should secure certain matter before
giving absolution. Although a penitent may confess only
optional matter, yet he has a right to absolution founded
on the tacit contract which the confessor entered into with
him when he admitted him to confession.
CHAPTER III
CONTRITION
Contrition is the first of the acts of the penitent which
constitute the matter of the sacrament of Penance. It is
defined by the Council of Trent to be a heartfelt sorrow
and detestation of sin committed; with a purpose of not
sinning again. In this section, we will treat of contrition
apart from the purpose of amendment, and in the follow-
ing section, of the purpose of amendment.
Section I
The Nature of Contrition
1. A heartfelt sorrow is not quite the same thing as a
hatred or detestation of sin. Sorrow is a pain which we
feel on account of the presence of some evil or the absence
of some good ; hatred is an aversion for some evil which is
past. Hatred of sin, consequent aversion for it, and a
turning away from it is the chief element in contrition;
for if we have this hatred we shall have sorrow for sin re-
garded as a present evil, we shall turn away from it as a past
evil, and we shall propose to flee from it in the future.^
If, then, we have this hatred of sin, we shall have sorrow
and a purpose of amendment; we shall have true contri-
tion.
That sorrow for sin which arises from the perfect love of
154
CONTRITION 155
God is called contrition in the full and strict sense; sorrow
for sin arising from less perfect motives, as from the fear
of hell or the moral turpitude of vice, is called attrition.
Ordinarily the word contrition is used indifferently of both
kinds of sorrow.
2. Contrition or penitence or repentance is, as we have
already seen, according to the teaching of the Council of
Trent, a necessary condition for the forgiveness of sin by
God. God will not forgive sin unless the sinner turn from
his sin and approach Him by sorrow of heart. Contrition,
then, is a necessary means of salvation for all who have
fallen into grievous sin. It is also matter of divine precept
which must be fulfilled at least when the sinner is in danger
of death, for then it becomes of supreme necessity, and also
sometimes during life. The Church has determined this
divine precept by commanding all who have come to the
use of reason and have fallen into sin to go to confession at
least once a year. Moreover, repentance for sin becomes
necessary when any action has to be performed which for
its due performance requires the agent to be in the state
of grace. Furthermore, inasmuch as one who is deprived
by sin of the grace of God can not long resist temptation
and will fall again and again before long, the sinner is
obliged to rise from his sin in order to avoid repeated falls.
Of course it is better, and the sinner is to be urged, by all
means, to rise at once when he has had the misfortune to
fall into sin. He should never sleep while he is conscious
of being out of the friendship of God. Still he is not bound
under pain of committing a new sin to repent immediately
after committing sin. It will be sufficient if he repent at
least when repentance becomes necessary according to the
doctrine which has just been laid down.
156 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
3. Not every sort of sorrow is sufficient to justify the
sinner, even with the help of the sacrament of Penance.
Although perfect love of God suffices to reconcile the sin-
ner with God, though it leaves the obligation of confessing
the sin it remits, still this love will not serve by itself as
a preparation and disposition for the reception of Penance.
A material part of the sacrament of Penance is contrition,
and contrition is not love. The sinner, then, who wishes to
receive the sacrament of Penance must have true and sin-
cere sorrow for his sin ; he must detest it and turn away
from it in order to be reconciled with God, whom it offends.
Mere natural sorrow for sin because of the temporal evils
which it causes is not sufficient. I may well be sorry be-
cause sin has ruined my good name, or my health, or my
fortunes, but such motives are merely natural, and have no
relation to God. The sinner in the sacrament of Penance
seeks reconciliation with God, and so the motives of his
sorrow must have reference to God; they must be super-
natural, founded on revelation and on faith. Without
faith no act can be of avail for salvation, as " without faith
it is impossible to please God." * The sinner must regard
sin as the greatest of all evils, as in reality it is. He must
be prepared to do and to suffer anything rather than com-
mit sin again. Otherwise he can not be said to fulfil that
greatest of all the commandments, which bids us love God
with our whole heart, with our whole soul, with all our
strength, and with all our mind. Inasmuch as any one
mortal sin deprives us of the friendship of God, the sorrow
of the sinner must also be universal and embrace all the
sins by which he has grievously offended Almighty God.
For this it is not necessary that there should be a separate
1 Heb. xi. 6.
CONTRITION 157
and distinct act of sorrow for every sin committed ; it will
be sufficient if the motive be universal, so as to embrace all
sins. Thus, inasmuch as all mortal sins are directly op-
posed to charity, and any such sin deserves the punishment
of hell, if our sorrow is motived by love toward God, or
by fear of hell, it will be universal in the sense required.
Provided that there be sorrow for all mortal sins con-
fessed, a want of sorrow for venial sins will not invalidate
the sacrament. For venial sins are compatible with the
state of grace and the friendship of God. Still there must
be some sorrow for sin confessed; otherwise an essential
part of the sacrament of Penance will be wanting. And
so if the penitent have only venial sins to confess, for none
of which he is sorry, the sacrament would be invalid and
sacrilegious. He must at least be sorry for one sin con-
fessed, and he should not confess venial sins for which he is
not sorry unless he has some good reason, as if he wishes
to ask the advice of his confessor about them, or to make
the state of his soul more fully known to him.
4. As contrition according to the common view forms a
part of the sacramental sign in Penance, it should in some
manner be expressed outwardly, not indeed that any form
of words is necessary, but the sorrow of the penitent should
appear from his confession, from his demeanor, or from
his words or other signs. It must exist, if not before, at
least when absolution is given, for sin cannot be forgiven
if there be no sorrow for it. Moreover, as the different
parts of the sacrament go to make one moral whole, the
penitent's act of sorrow should in some way be referred to
the sacrament. For this, however, it will be sufficient if
together with the act of sorrow there be the intention to
confess the sin. In case, then, a penitent has inadvertently
158 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
omitted a serious sin from his confession, but remembers it
immediately after he has received absolution and mentions
it to the confessor, the latter may absolve him at once,
nor is it necessary for the penitent to make a fresh act of
sorrow for that particular sin.
On account of the necessity of a moral union between the
several parts of the sacrament, there must not be too long
an interval between the act of sorrow for sin and the recep-
tion of absolution for it. Ordinarily, of course, the sorrow
is virtually renewed and expressed when the sin is confessed,
but if this were not the case, and the act of sorrow preceded
the confession by more than one or two days, it would be
doubtful whether there was the necessary union between
the parts of the sacrament so as to constitute one sacra-
mental sign.
5. There have been heated controversies in the past as
to the sufficiency of attrition to remit sin with the sacrament
of Penance. Although they are not quite settled even yet,
nevertheless since the Council of Trent the common doctrine
is fairly clear and certain. The Council then seems to
teach * that sorrow for sin because of the fear of hell, or its
moral turpitude, or on account of the punishment with
which God afflicts the sinner even in this life, will be suffi-
cient for the remission of sin in the sacrament of Penance,
provided that it destroys all affection for sin in the heart
of the penitent, and converts him from sin to God. The
slavish fear of hell, by which a man refrains from sinful
acts while preserving his affection for them, is, of course,
insufficient even with the help of the sacrament to forgive
sin and reconcile the sinner with God. The fear which is
salutary and efficacious must be the filial fear by which the
1 Sess. xiv, c. 4.
CONTRITION 159
sinner turns to God because he neither wants sin nor its
evil consequences any more. Such sorrow has all the ele-
ments which, as we saw above, are required in contrition.
6. There is a controversy among theologians as to
whether the sacrament of Penance can ever be valid without
producing its effects in the soul at the time of its reception
on account of some obstacle which is there. We saw
above that this may be the case with Baptism and other
sacraments. There is a special difficulty with regard to
Penance, because the dispositions, whose absence is only an
obstacle to grace given by other sacraments, enter into the
substance of Penance, and so their absence would seem to
destroy the sacrament itself. In spite of this, however,
it is a probable opinion that at any rate in two cases the
sacrament of Penance may be valid but unformed, as theo-
logians say. The first case is when a penitent has for-
gotten some mortal sin for which he has never elicited an
act of sorrow, but confesses other sins for which he is sorry
for motives which are special to them and not universal.
The second is when through inculpable ignorance the peni-
tent thinks that it is not necessary to be sorry for all mor-
tal sins confessed, provided there be the requisite sorrow
for some. In these cases there will be all the elements
necessary for the validity of the sacrament, which, however,
can not infuse grace into the soul on account of the presence
there of grievous sin still unrepented of.
7. When Penance is received in danger of death with
attrition and not contrition, some theologians insist on
the necessity of the dying person making an act of perfect
love of God, either to make sure before death of the va-
lidity of the sacrament of Penance, or to satisfy the divine
precept, which according to them requires all who are in
160 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
danger of death to make an act of charity. However, when
the dying person has made a good confession and been
absolved even with attrition, he is certainly in the state
of grace, nor is there any valid argument which proves
that such a person is obliged to make an act of charity.
Neither the dying nor those who assist them are as a rule
conscious of any such obligation.
Because the Council of Trent, while describing the proc-
ess of the sinner's justification, mentions acts of faith,
hope, and the beginnings of love toward God, some theo-
logians concluded that explicit acts of those virtues are
required for Penance in addition to contrition. Those acts,
however, are implicitly contained in the other acts of the
penitent, and the fact that the Council explicitly mentions
them does not prove that it teaches that they must be ex-
plicitly elicited by the penitent sinner in order to receive
absolution for his sins.
CONTRITION 161
Section II
The Purpose of Amendment
1. We saw in the preceding section that contrition is
essentially a turning away with hatred from sin in order
to approach to God, and so all true contrition necessarily
implies a purpose not to sin again. If the truly contrite
sinner thinks of the future, he can scarcely fail to form an
explicit purpose of amendment, and some theologians hold
that this explicit purpose is necessaiy, otherwise why
should it find a place in the definition of contrition given
by the Council of Trent? On account of its importance,
it is well that the purpose of amendment should always
be explicit, but still as it is virtually contained in all true
sorrow for sin, and the fact that the Council explicitly
mentions it does not prove that it must necessarily be ex-
plicit, the opinion which denies the absolute necessity of
an explicit purpose of amendment for the validity of Pen-
ance is safe. A Roman council held in 1725 under Bene-
dict XIII issued an instruction explaining how to make
one's confession, and it only insists on an implicit purpose
of amendment.
2. Whether it be explicit or implicit, the purpose of
amendment must be sincere, efficacious, and universal.
It must be sincere, with, a genuine intention to avoid sin
in the future ; it will not suffice to make profession of good
intentions with the lips, without any real determination
to carry them into effect.
It must be efficacious, or the sinner must be prepared to
take the necessary means to avoid sin. A mere half wish
162 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
and half resolve will not do. The sinner must be pre-
pared to do and suffer anything rather than fall into sin
again. It would, indeed, be unwise to try one's own de-
termination by imagining all kinds of terrible; temptations
to sin to see if the will would remain constant, but at any
rate the will must here and now be so rooted in good that,
come what may, it is determined not to be moved.
There must also be a firm resolve to avoid all mortal sins
for the future, not merely any that may have been con-
fessed, but all others, or else there can be no friendship
with God, whom we must love above all things. He can not
love God above all things who is prepared to offend Him
mortally. The purpose of amendment need not extend to
all venial sins, provided that at least there is the sincere
intention of avoiding some sin that is confessed, or at any
rate of lessening the number of smaller transgressions.
CHAPTER IV
CONFESSION
1. Confession, or the self -accusation of a penitent made
to a priest with a view of obtaining sacramental absolu-
tion, is the second material element of Penance. Such
confession is necessary because it is an essential element
of the sacrament of Penance, which, as we have seen, is a
necessary means of salvation for all who have fallen into
grave sin after Baptism. The Council of Trent teaches
that "From the institution of the sacrament of Penance,
as already explained, the universal Church has always
understood that the entire confession of sins was also in-
stituted by the Lord, and is of divine law necessary for all
who have fallen after Baptism." 1
2. This confession must be made by word of mouth
according to the practice of the Church and the teaching
of the Council of Florence.2 However, oral confession is
not absolutely necessary for the validity of the sacrament,
for mutes or penitents who know no language known also
to the confessor, or those who are dying and are unable to
speak, may confess by signs. Moreover, for good reason,
any one may write his confession, hand it to the priest to
read, and accuse himself in general terms, such as "I con-
fess all that is written there." Although mutes and other
penitents may thus confess in writing, yet there is no
1 Sess. xiv, c. 5. 2 Decreto pro Armcnis.
163
164 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
obligation to do so, for sacramental confession should be
secret and auricular, whereas writing makes it to some
extent public, liter a scripta manei.
Clement VIII, by a decree dated June 20, 1602, con-
demned the opinion that it is lawful to confess by letter
to an absent priest or to receive absolution in the same
way from an absent priest, and forbade the opinion ever
to be put in practice; whence theologians conclude that
such confession or absolution would be invalid by divine
law, else the Pope could not have condemned it in such
absolute terms. It seems to follow that confession by
telephone would also be invalid, for confession would be
made by one who is absent, not present with the priest
at the time of receiving this sacrament, as is required by
the conditions of its valid administration.
3. A full, entire, and specific confession of all the mortal
sins which have been committed after Baptism is pre-
scribed by divine law. According to the Council of Trent,1
"If any one saith that in the sacrament of Penance it is
not necessary by divine law for the remission of sins to
confess all and singular the mortal sins which after due
and diligent previous meditation are remembered, even
those mortal sins which are secret, and those which are
opposed to the two last commandments of the Decalogue,
as also the circumstances which change the species of a
sin . . . let him be anathema."
Theologians distinguish between the material and the
formal integrity of confession. The material integrity
consists in making known each and all the mortal sins
which have been committed and which have not yet been
confessed; the formal integrity consists in confessing all
1 Sess. xiv, c. 7,
CONFESSION 165
the mortal sins which occur to the mind after a diligent
examination of conscience, or at least of all the sins which
the penitent is bound under the circumstances to confess
to the priest. It is formal integrity which is prescribed
by divine law, and to procure it the penitent is bound
before confession to make a diligent examination of his
conscience. He should not be too anxious in making this
examination ; it will be sufficient if he employ that diligence
which prudent men employ in worldly matters of impor-
tance. No general rule can be given to measure the length
of time which the examination should occupy. Much
depends upon the character of the individual, the length
of time which has elapsed since the last confession, whether
the penitent is accustomed to commit grave sins or not, and
on similar circumstances. If the penitent can not recollect
the number of times that he has fallen into serious sin, he
should mention the number as nearly as he can, and if he
has fallen very frequently and almost continuously over
a long period of time, it will be sufficient to mention the
approximate number of times that he has fallen in the
day or week, together with the length of time during which
the habit has lasted.
4.- A number of special questions must here be con-
sidered which touch on the integrity which is required in
confession.
The Council of Trent, as we have just seen, teaches that
those circumstances which change the nature of a sin must
be made known; the theft of a consecrated chalice, which
is a sacrilege, would not be adequately confessed by sim-
ply saying, "I committed theft." Not only circumstances
which change the specific nature of a sin must be confessed,
but also those which make a venial sin mortal and vice
166 THE SACBAMENT OF PENANCE
versa. The quantity in theft, then, must be indicated
sufficiently to enable the priest to judge whether it was a
mortal or a venial sin. Divines are not agreed whether
circumstances which merely increase the malice of a sin
but do not otherwise change its nature or moral quality
are necessarily to be confessed. Many, with the Catechism
of the Council of Trent, teach that there is an obligation
to confess them, but as they give no convincing reason for
their opinion and the contrary is held by many approved
theologians, we may safely follow the more easy and the
more lenient view.
It is not sufficient to confess as an internal sin one which
was completed in external act. It would not be sufficient
for a penitent to say that he desired to steal when he
actually stole. For although the malice of sin is in the
internal act of the will, and the external act adds nothing
to it per se, yet, considered as human actions, an internal
is different from an external act, and therefore as sins are
bad human actions, an internal sin is specifically different
from the same sin completed in external act.
It is a matter of controversy whether the mere effect of
a sin must be confessed. If a man wounds another with
the intention of killing him, and then repents and confesses
unlawful wounding with the intention of killing, but after-
ward the man dies, will his assailant be obliged to go to
confession again and confess homicide? The opinion is
more probable that there is no such obligation, for such
an effect of sin is not a sin, and we are only bound to con-
fess sins; a sin is a human action, and when the victim
dies his assailant does not act ; he would now prevent the
death if he could, and so he does not sin.
A vicious habit or custom of committing sin is a cause
CONFESSION 167
of sin rather than sin itself, and as sins are the matter of
confession, per se it is not necessary to confess a sinful
habit. If, however, the penitent did not use sufficient
diligence to correct his bad habit, and this caused him
inadvertently to commit sin, to blaspheme, for instance,
then although the blasphemy, because inadvertent, is not
sinful in itself, it is nevertheless voluntary and sinful in
its cause, and so the uncorrected bad habit must be con-
fessed. It is sometimes of importance for the confessor
to know whether his penitent has contracted a habit of
sin in order to be able to direct him, and so the confessor
has a right to ask in confession whether a habit has been
contracted, and the penitent is then under an obligation
to tell the truth.
If many sins have been committed with others it is
usually immaterial whether they were committed with
one and the same or with different persons. However, if
a sin against chastity is committed with a married person,
that circumstance must be mentioned, as it causes the sin
to be against justice as well as against chastity. Similarly,
if one or both accomplices in such a sin are bound by a
vow of chastity, that must be mentioned. A Religious
who is a priest, and even if he is solemnly professed, would
satisfy his obligation of confessing a sin against chastity by
mentioning it, and adding that he is under a vow of chastity.
For it is probable that there is no specific difference between
the violation of a solemn and a simple and even private
vow of chastity, and a priest like a Religious is bound to
chastity by vow.
Sins against chastity committed with relations have the
special'malice of incest, but with the exception of the first
decree in the direct line of consanguinity, it is probable
168 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
that the several degrees of kindred or affinity do not con-
stitute a specific difference in the sin. There is a special
malice and difformity in a sin of impurity committed with
parent or child, but among civilized peoples this is happily
of rare occurrence. Hatred against relations is not only
against general charity but is also contrary to piety, which
binds relations to love each other with a special affection.
Grave hatred will be a serious sin also against this virtue
of piety if it is indulged in against near relations, not if it
is against more remote kindred with regard to whom the
obligation is not so strict.
Mere superiority or position of itself does not change the
nature of a sin committed by rulers, magistrates, and people
in authority. And so if a master sin with his servant, the
sin does not of itself differ from ordinary fornication. If,
however, the sin is also a violation of a special duty, then
of course it will have a special malice, and so if a school-
master corrupt a youth committed to his care, he must
mention this circumstance in confession.
The time at which a sin was committed does not change
its nature, and so even though a sin which has been com-
mitted recently be confessed as though it were a sin of
one's past life, the confession will be valid, but of course
the practice is not to be commended, nor should it be
indulged in.
5. Integrity of confession is prescribed by divine law,
but as even divine law does not bind to what is impossible,
physical or moral impossibility of making a full confession
will excuse the penitent from obeying the law. And so
danger of death when the dying person has not the strength
or time for making a full 'confession, or ignorance of any
language known to the priest, or danger of violation of the
CONFESSION 169
seal of confession, or danger to life from pestilence or other
cause, will excuse the penitent from making a full confession
of all his sins. Innocent XI condemned the proposition
that a large concourse of penitents on some great feast is a
sufficient reason for absolving them without requiring a
full confession. When a penitent has been absolved with-
out making a full confession on account of the physical or
moral impossibility of doing so, there always remains the
obligation of supplying the defect in the next confession,
unless the impossibility continues. A proposition asserting
the contrary was condemned by Alexander VII. More-
over, that a penitent may lawfully ask for absolution with-
out making a full confession, the following conditions must
be verified:
a. There must be some sort of necessity for making the
confession here and now, as for instance the obligation of
receiving the sacraments at Easter, or the hardship of
remaining long without the sacraments, or in a state
of mortal sin.
b. There must be no other confessor at hand to whom a
full confession could be made without grave inconvenience.
c. All sins must be confessed which can be mentioned
without grave inconvenience, extrinsic to confession, which
affects the penitent, the confessor, or some third person.
The reason of this is because it can not be supposed that
Christ our Lord intended to bind penitents to make a full
confession when it would entail such a hardship, whereas
we know that He did command a full confession in spite
of shame or other difficulties which are the natural accom-
paniments of confession of sin to a fellowman.
6. By a general confession is meant a repetition of pre-
ceding confessions. Sometimes this is necessary, some-
170
THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
times it is useful; otherwise it is harmful, likely to beget
scruples, and lead the penitent to think about the past
when he should be thinking about the present and the
future, and so it should not be permitted.
A general confession is necessary when through want of
jurisdiction on the part of the confessor, or of a full con-
fession or of sorrow for sin on the part of the penitent,
former confessions were certainly invalid. In these cases
all the invalid confessions must be repeated at least as far
as the necessary matter is concerned.
A general confession at certain times extending over a
certain period is frequently prescribed to Religious by rule,
which, of course, should be dutifully observed. Moreover,
it is useful for most people to make a general confession
sometimes, especially when about to enter upon a new
state of life, or when while making a spiritual retreat and
meditating upon sin the grace of God moves the soul to
greater sorrow for the past than one ordinarily feels.
Sometimes a general confession may be allowed to allay
doubts and scruples of conscience with regard to past sins.
Unless some notable spiritual fruit is to be hoped for, a
general confession should in other cases besides the above
be regarded as harmful, and should not be allowed.
CHAPTER V
SATISFACTION
1. It is part of the law of eternal justice that when we
sin by following our own will instead of the will of God we
must be brought back again into the right way by suffering
what we would not. And so, sin brings with it its penalty ;
when we have sinned we must suffer for it either in this
world or the next. It is in keeping with this principle that
by the institution of Christ one of the elements of the
sacrament of Penance by which sin is forgiven is satis-
faction. By satisfaction is understood some action which
entails labor and pain, imposed by the priest in confession
on the repentant sinner and accepted by him. We have
already seen that the Council of Trent teaches that satis-
faction is an element in the material part of Penance, and
the same council in another place1 adds: " Therefore the
priests of the Lord ought, as far as the Spirit and prudence
shall suggest, to enjoin salutary and suitable satisfactions
according to the quality of the crimes and the ability of
the penitent."
Confessors, then, are under the obligation of giving a
penance to their penitents in satisfaction for the sins
which they confess. As a general rule, they must give a
grave penance for grave sins, otherwise they will sin griev-
ously; but probably only a venial sin would be com-
1 Sess. xiv, c. 8.
171
172 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
mitted by neglecting to give a suitable penance for light
faults.
In the early Church the penances enjoined were very
severe, but according to modern discipline that is consid-
ered a grave penance and suitable for a penitent who has
confessed grave sins, which would bind under a grave
obligation if it were imposed by ecclesiastical law. The
Church encourages her children to make up by gaining
indulgences for what the justice of God may require in
addition to the comparatively light penances which are
imposed nowadays.
The natural sequence of judicial acts in the tribunal of
Penance requires that a penance should be enjoined by
the priest before giving absolution, but it will be valid if
imposed after absolution.
The Ritual expresses a wish that, as far as possible,
penances should be given which are contrary to the sins
confessed, as almsgiving for avarice, fasting or other bodily
affliction for lust, humiliations for pride, acts of devotion
for sloth. For such as but seldom confess more frequent
reception of the sacraments may be enjoined. The con-
fessor should never apply to personal objects alms imposed
on his penitents, nor enjoin public penance for secret sins.
2. The penitent is bound to accept and to execute a
reasonable penance which his confessor has imposed on
him. This obligation will be grave when a grave penance
has been imposed for serious sins, otherwise it will bind
under pain of venial sin. As the penitent is bound to
accept the penance, so he is obliged to execute it at the
time prescribed, if any time was fixed, or if not, then at a
reasonable time. To defer its execution so long as to be
in danger of forgetting it would be equivalent to not ful-
SATISFACTION 173
filling it. It is best to execute the penance as soon as can
conveniently be done.
If the penitent forgets the penance which was enjoined,
he is excused from fulfilling any penance, as he is not bound
to confess the same sins a second time, and he can not
substitute some other of his own choice, as he is not the
minister of the sacrament.
3. In order to be sure of obtaining the sacramental effect
of fulfilling the penance enjoined by the confessor, the
penitent must be in the state of grace when he fulfils it,
for God does not remit temporal punishment due to past
sins in favor of one who is at enmity with Him. However,
by fulfilling the penance even in the state of mortal sin,
what had been enjoined would have been executed, though
it would not then effect its object of remitting temporal
punishment due to sin confessed. It is a disputed point
among theologians whether fulfilment of penance while in
a state of sin would produce its effect when the sinner
repented and again recovered the state of grace. Many
theologians hold that it does so, and that it revives in the
same way as a sacrament revives which has been validly
received, but which does not produce grace at the time of
its reception on account of the presence of some obstacle
in the soul.
Although it is better and safer to execute the penance
while in the state of grace, and if it is executed in a state
of mortal sin it does not at any rate at once obtain its effect,
yet it is not certain that any fault is committed by doing
one's penance while in sin, any more than it is sinful to
assist at Mass while out of the friendship of God. One
who in- sin hears Mass on Sunday satisfies the precept,
though he does not obtain the full fruit of the sacrifice;
174 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
in the same way one, who while in sin says his penance,
fulfils indeed his obligation, but does not thereby obtain
at the time the sacramental fruit of his action.
4. Although a penitent may not of his own authority
substitute another penance for that which was imposed
by his confessor, yet he may for good reason get this
commuted either by the same or by a different confessor.
The same confessor may commute the penance which he
himself imposed either in or out of confession, provided
that so long an interval has not elapsed that the commuta-
tion can not be considered one moral act with the confession
and the imposition of the penance which is commuted.
If the penitent goes to another confessor and asks for a
commutation of a penance which has been enjoined him,
the commutation must be granted in confession, otherwise
the new confessor will have no jurisdiction over the peni-
tent. The former confession need not be repeated; it is
probable that it will be sufficient if the new confessor
knows the penance which was given and for which a com-
mutation is asked, together with the difficulty which the
penitent feels in executing it.
CHAPTER VI
THE FORM OF PENANCE
1. We must distinguish the form which is required for
the validity of the sacrament from the form which is com-
monly used according to the Ritual. "I absolve thee
from thy sins," is sufficient for the validity of the sacra-
ment, and probably even the mere words, "I absolve
thee." The Ritual form consists of the four short prayers
beginning with Misereatur, etc., of which the third is the
most important, as it contains the absolution from censures
and from sin. The absolution from censures is always
given before the absolution from sin for the sake of greater
security, because, if the penitent were under censure, he
could not lawfully receive a sacrament. A rubric of the
Ritual expressly lays down that the other three prayers
may be omitted in shorter and more frequent confessions,
but it is better always to add the last prayer, as it probably
gives a special satisfactory efficacy to the good works
which the penitent subsequently performs.
We saw above that absolution can not be given validly
by a priest to a penitent who is not morally present at the
time. This sacrament is a judicial process and the priest
who is the judge pronounces sentence on the culprit who
is present in court. The absolution must be pronounced
by word of mouth, and the penitent must be within hear-
ing distance, not farther distant than the ordinary tone of
voice carries.
175
176 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
2. The priest can not pass sentence without having a
sufficient knowledge of the sins to be absolved and the
dispositions of the penitent. It is not necessary, however,
nor is it possible to have a distinct knowledge of the sub-
jective malice with which the sins of the penitent were
committed. The confessor may presume that the sub-
jective malice of the penitent corresponds with the objec-
tive malice of the sin, unless he has special reasons for
concluding otherwise. With his habitual knowledge of the
malice of different sins the confessor passes a sufficient
judgment on them if he quietly listens to the self -accusa-
tion of the penitent.
A merely historical account of the sins which a person
has committed may suffice for absolution if the penitent
resumes them under some brief formula by which he ex-
presses his desire to confess them and receive absolution
for them. The priest must in this case of course retain at
least a general and vague knowledge of the sins which he
absolves.
3. A dying person, who through weakness or other causes
is unable to make a full confession, may be absolved abso-
lutely if he mentions what sins he can, or even if he asks
for the absolution of his sins, for such a confession is formally
integral.
The Ritual prescribes that a dying person who has lost
the use of his senses is to be absolved even if he previously
only expressed a desire himself or through others to receive
absolution. In this case, also, it would seem that the
absolution should be absolute.
Dying persons who have lost the use of their senses may
be absolved conditionally even if they give no certain signs
pf a desire to confess or of sorrow for their sins. It may
THE FORM OF PENANCE 177
be that in such a state the dying person has the requisite
dispositions and is trying his best to give expression to
them, and so the movements of the body or his labored
breathing may be indications of a wish to receive absolu-
tion. At any rate in such a case of necessity we may use
even a slenderly probable opinion, and it is now the com-
mon practice to absolve conditionally in such cases.
CHAPTER VII
THE APPROBATION OF THE MINISTER OF PENANCE
1. No one but a priest can administer the sacrament
of Penance. The Council of Trent passed the following
decree: "If any one saith . . . that not priests alone are
the ministers of absolution but that to all and to each of
the faithful of Christ is it said: ' Whatsoever you shall
bind upon earth shall be bound also in heaven, and what-
soever you shall loose upon earth shall be loosed also in
heaven'; and 'whose sins you shall forgive they are for-
given them, and whose sins you shall retain they are re-
tained'; by virtue of which words every one is able to
absolve from sins, to wit, from public sins by reproof only,
provided he who is reproved yield thereto, and from secret
sins by a voluntary confession; let him be anathema." 1
Not every priest, however, can hear confessions ; besides
the power of Orders he must have the power of jurisdiction;
and except in certain cases before receiving jurisdiction he
must by a decree of the Council of Trent have received
episcopal approbation. It is about this approbation that
we have to treat here.
The decree of the Council of Trent is as follows: "Al-
though priests receive in their ordination the power of
absolving from sins, nevertheless the Holy Synod ordains
that no one, even though he be a regular, is able to hear
the confessions of seculars, not even of priests, and that he
1 Sess. xiv, c. 10.
178
APPROBATION OF THE MINISTER OF PENANCE 179
is not to be reputed fit thereunto, unless he either holds a
parochial benefice, or is by the bishops after an exami-
nation, if they shall think it necessary, or in some other
manner, judged capable; and has obtained their approval,
which shall be granted gratuitously; any privileges and
customs to the contrary notwithstanding, though they be
immemorial." l
The approbation of the bishop then is necessary by
ecclesiastical law to enable a priest to hear the confessions
of seculars, even of priests, validly, unless the priest hold
a parochial benefice, for then he can hear the confessions
of his parishioners without approbation. Nor is any
approbation required to hear the confessions of regulars
with solemn vows. We may define this approbation as
the juridical judgment of the bishop that a priest is fit
to hear confessions. It testifies to the priest's fitness and
makes him capable of receiving jurisdiction. The required
fitness consists in having the necessary knowledge, pru-
dence, and virtue, and the bishop may satisfy himself on
these points by subjecting the candidate, whether he be
a secular or a regular, to an examination. The bishop
whose approbation is required is the ordinary of the place
where the confession is heard, and he may or may not be
also the ordinary of the priest or of the penitent. This is
now a settled point of ecclesiastical law, though for some
time subsequent to the Council of Trent it was a matter
much canvassed among divines. •
There was also a controversy as to whether approbation
was necessary in order to absolve from venial sins or mortal
sins that have been 'already confessed, but Innocent XI
forbade bishops to allow priests to absolve even such sins
1 Sess. xxiii, c. 15, de ref.
180 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
without their approbation, and since this decree it has been
unlawful to do so, if not ^invalid, as the more common
opinion holds. The bishop may grant approbation him-
self or through his vicar-general. While the See is vacant,
the vicar-capitular grants approbation.
It is not sufficient for the confessor to presume that the
bishop will grant him approbation ; he must have received
it before exercising his functions, for it is a condition
precedent for the valid exercise of delegated jurisdiction.
2. The bishop may, and ordinarily does, limit the appro-
bation which he grants to a fixed time, to a certain place,
and to certain classes of penitents. In England the facul-
ties of the younger clergy are usually granted from synod
to synod, at which time the approbation previously granted
will lapse unless renewed. The approbation is usually
valid for the whole diocese, but nothing prevents it being
limited to a particular district. Nuns and females living
in convents are commonly excepted from general approba-
tion unless when they are lawfully outside the convent; in
order to hear their confessions validly within the convent
special approbation is required.
Note. — It can not be said that the practice which
exists in England prevails also in the United States. While
in this country nuns are frequently excepted from general
approbation, it is rare to except other females living in
convents. % Thus priests having ordinary faculties can in
most dioceses hear the confessions of children in a boarding-
school in charge of Sisters, as also the confessions of other
females in the convent, provided th^se are not Religious,
i.e., by their vows, or by being aspirants, as novices or
postulants. — End of Note.
APPROBATION OF THE MINISTER OF PENANCE 181
3. For good cause the bishop may recall the approbation
which he has once granted, and as he is the judge whether
there be a good cause or not, practically a priest can not
validly hear confessions when the bishop has revoked his
approbation, even though the priest maintain that there
is no just cause for doing so. Of course a bishop would
act unjustly in recalling a priest's approbation and thus
placing him under suspicion, unless he had sufficient and
certain ground to go upon.
CHAPTER VIII
THE JURISDICTION OF THE MINISTER OF PENANCE
1. Priests are judges in the tribunal of Penance, and
judges must have jurisdiction if their sentence is to take
effect. As the Council of Trent teaches: " Wherefore,
since the nature and order of a judgment require this, that
sentence be passed only on those subject to that judicature,
it has ever been firmly held in the Church of God, and this
synod ratifies it as a thing most true, that the absolution
which a priest pronounces upon one over whom he has not
either an ordinary or a delegated jurisdiction ought to be
of no weight whatever." *
Jurisdiction in general is the power of ruling subjects.
We must distinguish jurisdiction in the internal forum
from jurisdiction in the external forum. The latter has
reference primarily and directly to the common good, to
promote which it makes laws, administers justice, and
directs the machinery of government. Jurisdiction in the
internal forum refers directly and primarily to the good
of the individual soul, whose actions it directs toward
God. It is exercised either in the sacrament of Penance,
when sins are forgiven, or outside the sacred tribunal, as
when a dispensation is granted from ecclesiastical law.
Again, jurisdiction is either ordinary or delegated. Ordi-
1 Sess. xiv, c. 7.
182
JURISDICTION OF THE MINISTER OF PENANCE 183
nary jurisdiction is the authority which is exercised in
virtue of an office which one holds and* in one's own name ;
delegated jurisdiction is granted by one who has ordinary
jurisdiction and is exercised in that person's name.
As a general rule, one who has delegated jurisdiction can
not subdelegate it to another, but there are two exceptions
to this rule. Delegated jurisdiction which is annexed to
an office, like the power which bishops for many purposes
have over regulars, may be subdelegated for particular
cases. General delegation for a whole class of matters
may also be subdelegated in part for particular cases.
From what has been said it will be clear that bishops
have ordinary jurisdiction over their diocesans both in the
external and in the internal forum. A parish priest has
ordinary jurisdiction in the internal forum alone. Mis-
sioners with the cure of souls in England and in the United
States exercise the'ir functions in the name of the bishop
of the diocese, and have only delegated jurisdiction in the
internal forum. Simple confessors also have delegated
jurisdiction.
Ordinary jurisdiction ceases with the loss of the office
to which it was attached, or if the holder of it fall under
censure, and as being under censure is to be avoided.
Delegated jurisdiction ceases after the lapse of the time for
which it was granted, and when revoked by a superior.
Delegated jurisdiction for a particular case ceases on the
death of him who delegated it, or on his removal from
office, if nothing has been done in the matter; otherwise
it lasts until the matter is concluded. Delegated jurisdic-
tion for causes in general or for hearing confessions does
not cease on the death of him who granted it, or on his
removal from office, if it was granted for a definite period,
184 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
or until revoked, or even probably if granted during good-
will.
2. Although as a general rule absolution given by a priest
who has no jurisdiction is null and void, yet there are
certain cases in which the Church supplies jurisdiction so
that the act may be valid. One of these cases is mentioned
by the Council of Trent : 1 " Nevertheless, for fear lest any
may perish on this account, it has always been very piously
observed in the said Church of God, that there be no reser-
vation at the point of death, and that therefore all priests
may absolve all penitents whatsoever from every kind of
sins and censures whatever."
"The point of death" is not to be understood too liter-
ally; it means the same as "danger of death," such as
arises from a serious illness, a dangerous surgical opera-
tion, or an imminent battle in war.
Any one, then, who has priest's orders, even though he
be a heretic or schismatic, may validly absolve any penitent
who is in danger of death. Whether a priest without facul-
ties may do this, even when there is another approved con-
fessor present, is disputed. A clause in the Ritual seems to
imply that a simple priest can only give absolution if an
approved confessor be not present, and this is the teaching
of St. Alphonsus and of many other divines. Others, how-
ever, point out that no such limitation appears in the
words of Trent, nor does the Ritual strictly impose the
limitation; it only insinuates what in practice should
ordinarily be done. A simple priest, then, has at least
probable jurisdiction over a penitent who is in danger of
death, even when an approved confessor is also at hand.
Another case where the Church supplies jurisdiction is
1 Sess. xiv, c. 7.
JURISDICTION OF THE MINISTER OF PENANCE 185
when a priest without faculties hears confessions and he
is commonly supposed to have faculties with a colorable
title. Such a title exists when the faculties were indeed
granted, but invalidly on account of some secret flaw. That
the Church supplies in these circumstances is certain from
the law Barbarvus,1 and from the chapter Infamis in the
Decretum of Gratian.2
Even if there be common error about the priest's facul-
ties without colorable title, it is probable that the Church
supplies, because of the authority of many theologians
who teach this, and the public good seems to require it
as in the former case, though there is no text of law to
prove it.
Although the Church supplies jurisdiction in these cases
for the good of the faithful, yet a priest who knowingly
heard confessions without faculties would usurp jurisdic-
tion and commit a 'grievous sin.
The Church does not supply jurisdiction when there is
only private error on the part of one or two.
Finally, the Church supplies jurisdiction as far as it is
necessary to do so when a confessor gives absolution rely-
ing on probable jurisdiction. For it is the common prac-
tice of confessors to act on probable grounds for jurisdic-
tion, and a custom approved by the Church is a valid
source of jurisdiction. Absolution, then, given by a priest
with probable jurisdiction is valid and lawful.
When the possession of jurisdiction is doubtful, or when
the priest has no solid grounds for thinking that he has
jurisdiction, he may not lawfully give absolution without
necessity. For he wrould expose himself to the danger of
confecting a sacrament which is null and void, to the
1 Dig. 3, de officio prsetoris. 2 c. 1, C. iii, q. 7.
186 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
spiritual detriment of the penitent. In case of necessity,
however, when the penitent wishes to make his Easter
duty, or to avoid his spiritual loss, the priest may absolve
him conditionally with doubtful jurisdiction, warning the
penitent of the doubt, and leaving him to obtain absolu-
tion that is certainly valid if he choose to do so.
3. Ordinary jurisdiction is personal and follows its
possessor wherever he goes, so that a bishop or a parish
priest may hear the confessions of their subjects wherever
they meet them, even without the approbation of the local
ordinary. On the other hand, delegated jurisdiction is
restricted within the limits for which it was granted, and
so a missionary priest can not hear the confessions even of
his own flock when he is outside the diocese or district
to which his faculties are confined.
Regulars have a special privilege by which they can
lawfully hear the confessions of all who come to them in
the place for which they are approved. Secular con-
fessors have obtained the same faculty from custom, and
so now strangers from other dioceses may validly and
lawfully confess to any confessor, secular or regular, who
has the approbation of the ordinary of the place. This is
now a. general custom of the Church, sanctioned by the
Holy See, and therefore part of the common law of the
Church. No bishop, then, has the power to forbid his
subjects to go outside the diocese for confession to priests
belonging to other dioceses. In doing so they use a right
granted them by the Church.
4. Military chaplains may hear the confessions of the
soldiers committed to their charge while they are in camp
or on the march without the approbation of the ordinary
in whose diocese they happen to be; but when the soldiers
JURISDICTION OF THE MINISTER OF PENANCE 187
are in barracks or on garrison duty, their confessors re-
quire the approbation of the bishop of the place, unless
the contrary is specially set down in their faculties. By
a decree of Propaganda, May 15, 1906, the Archbishop of
Westminster, for the time being, is the Superior of all
commissioned military and naval chaplains of the British
Empire. He grants them the faculties necessary for the
exercise of their office, with the exception of the chaplains
in Ireland and India.1
By recent decrees of the Holy Office, a priest on board
ship who has faculties for hearing confessions either from
his own bishop, or from the bishop of the port of em-
barkation, or from the bishop of any other place at which
the ship touches, may hear the confessions in the ship of
all fellow-passengers or of any who come to him; and if
there is no priest at all or only one in a place where he
happens to go on sliore, and the ordinary can not easily be
reached, he may hear the confession of any one who asks
him to do so on land, and absolve him from cases reserved
to the bishop.2
1 A.S.S. xl, p. 308.
2 S.O., April 4, 1900; August 23, 1905; December 12, 1906.
CHAPTER IX
THE CONFESSORS OF RELIGIOUS
1. The confessors in Religious Orders which are exempt
from the jurisdiction of the ordinaries, get their jurisdic-
tion for hearing confessions from the Holy See through
their Superiors. No approbation is required to hear the
confessions of regulars, and so a regular confessor who is
deputed by his Superior to hear confessions can hear
those of his religious brethren and the novices, unless
there is some special rule about these latter. By a special
privilege granted by the Holy See they can also hear the
confessions of those seculars who live in the monastery
day and night in the service and under the obedience of
the Religious. Whether they can also without the appro-
bation of the ordinary hear the confessions of boys who
are living with them for the purpose of education, is dis-
puted among canonists and divines. Many distinguished
authorities hold that the privilege of hearing those in
their service may legitimately be extended to boys living
under their obedience for the purpose of receiving their
education, and whatever may be said for or against this
contention several .Orders have obtained special privileges
by which their confessors need no approbation of the
bishop to hear the confessions of their pupils. The regu-
lar Orders share in these privileges, which extend not
188
THE CONFESSORS OF RELIGIOUS 189
merely to boarders but also to clay scholars, as long as
these are within the limits of the monastery.
In order to hear the confessions of other seculars a
regular confessor must, as we saw above, be approved by
the bishop of the place where the confessions are heard.
The bishop usually grants faculties, which comprise not
only approbation but also jurisdiction; so that a regular
who has faculties for hearing confessions from the bishop
has, his jurisdiction from a twofold source. Before grant-
ing faculties to a regular, the bishop may require him to
stand an examination, but if after examination the regu-
lar proves himself fit the bishop is bound to grant him
permanent faculties, which he can not subsequently revoke
except for grave fault or just cause connected with con-
fession.
2. Religious living in community are bound to confess
to the regular confessors who are deputed by the Superior
to hear them, nor can they validly confess to externs.
Superiors themselves may not hear the confessions of
their subjects unless these have incurred a reserved case,
or desire of their own free will to confess to them.
While on a journey, Religious should confess to their
companion if they have one who is fit to hear their con-
fessions. Such companion will be fit if he is in priest's
orders, has the requisite knowledge of moral theology, and
is not under censure. If they have no fit companion,
Religious on a journey may confess to any other fit priest,
whether secular or regular, even if he is not approved,
unless approbation is required by the constitutions of the
Order to which they belong.
3. The Church has made certain special laws with re-
gard to the confessions of nuns. For each convent of
190 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
enclosed nuns there must be one ordinary confessor ol
mature years, who must be specially approved for that
convent by the bishop, and the approbation is usually
given for three years. Besides the ordinary confessor an
extraordinary confessor must be offered the nuns two or
three times a year, who must have the same qualities as
the ordinary confessor and must also be specially approved
by the bishop for the particular convent. The extraor-
dinary confessor usually visits the convent during the
ember weeks, and when he comes all the nuns must pre-
sent themselves to him to receive his blessing, even if
they do not wish to confess to him.
Furthermore, by the decree (S.C.EE. and RR.) Quem-
admodum, December 17, 1890, Superiors may not refuse
the request of a nun who at other times, and especially
when in danger of death, asks for some particular confessor
for the good of her soul. If the Superior knows that the
request is unreasonable or made without sufficient need,
she may have recourse to the ordinary; and the confessor
is not bound to go when asked for, if he knows that there
is no good reason for his being summoned.
4. Enclosed nuns with solemn vows were specially had
in view in the above legislation, but by degrees the same
rules were extended to nuns with simple vows without
papal enclosure, and Leo XIII expressly sanctioned this
by his constitution, Conditce a Christo, December 8, 1900.
When a nun is lawfully outside her convent she may go
to confession to any approved confessor according to the
mind of the Church, expressed in several decrees of the
Roman Congregations and in the Normce published June
28, 1901. Sometimes bishops express a wish that nuns,
especially if they habitually confess in a public church,
THE CONFESSORS OF RELIGIOUS 191
should go to the head priest, when there are several in
charge of a church. Such a wish or command should of
course be obeyed by the nuns, but it does not deprive
the other priests of the jurisdiction which they have
received.
CHAPTER X
RESERVED CASES
1. The Council of Trent says: 1 "It hath seemed to our
most holy Fathers to be of great importance to the dis-
cipline of the Christian people that certain more atrocious
and more heinous crimes should be absolved not by all
priests, but only by the highest priests." And so the
absolution of certain graver sins and censures, or cases as
they are called, is reserved to higher ecclesiastics. Ordi-
nary confessors retain their jurisdiction for other sins, but
it is limited, so that they have no authority over reserved
cases. The motive for thus reserving sins is the spiritual
good of the faithful, so that they may be deterred from
committing those sins on account of the difficulty of
obtaining absolution for them, and if unfortunately they
should fall into them they may have more skilful guides
than ordinary confessors are presumed to be.
2. Reservation is the limitation of jurisdiction, and so
in general all those who have ordinary jurisdiction, when
they delegate it to others, may reserve some cases for
treatment in their own tribunal.
In particular the Pope reserves certain censures and
sins of all the faithful throughout the world. In nearly
all papal cases both the censure and the sin are reserved,
but the sin is reserved on account of the censure, so that
1 Sess. xiv, c. 7.
192
RESERVED CASES 193
if through any cause the censure is not incurred, then the
sin is not reserved. The constitution Apostolicce Seats of
Pius IX contains a catalogue of most of the papal cases
which have a censure attached. They are classed in
series; the first contains cases specially reserved to the
Holy See; the second, cases simply reserved to the Holy
See ; the third, cases reserved to the bishops ; the fourth,
cases reserved to no one, from which therefore all approved
confessors may absolve. Besides the cases contained in
the constitution Apostolicce Sedis, priests who violate the
rules laid down by the decree S. C. C, May 11, 1904, with
reference to trading in stipends for Masses, incur suspen-
sion reserved to the Pope, and laymen incur excommunica-
tion reserved to the bishop. There is one papal case with
no censure annexed, i.e., false accusation of solicitation in
the sacred tribunal, according to the constitution of Bene-
dict XIV, Sacramentum Poenitentice.
Bishops also may reserve cases to themselves, but these
should not be too many; they should be only the more
serious and atrocious crimes, and not those which the
Pope reserves to himself. In England the First and
Fourth Synod of Westminster reserved to the bishop the
case of a priest going to the theater and thereby incurring
suspension. In the United States two cases are reserved
by provincial law: (a) the excommunication incurred by
those who attempt to marry again after getting a civil
divorce; (6) the excommunication incurred by those who
marry before any non-Catholic minister.
Note. — The first of these two cases is expressed by the
Third Plenary Council of Baltimore (n. 124) in the follow-
ing words : " Ad hcec crimina compescenda pcenam excom-
194 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
municationis statuimus, Ordinario reservation, ipso facto
incurrendam ab Us, qui postquam divortium civile obtinue
rint, matrimonium ausifuerint attentare" From the terms
here employed it is clear that to incur this censure the per-
son should have obtained a civil divorce before attempting
another marriage. It is also required for the censure that
the previous marriage should have been validly contracted
and should still exist, since it was not the intention of the
bishops to inflict excommunication upon one who had
been invalidly married on account of some divine or
ecclesiastical impediment, and, having procured a civil
divorce in order to escape legal penalties, would contract
marriage with some other. This is evident from the
words immediately preceding those cited above : " Novum
matrimonium inire attentant legitimo vinculo posthabito,
quod coram Deo et Ecclesia adhuc manet" It would also
appear necessary for incurring this censure that the per-
son should actually go through the form or ceremony of
another marriage, and not sufficient, e.g., to manifest the
intention of contracting another marriage, nor even to
make application to a priest or other person for this pur-
pose, because the words "novum matrimonium inire atten-
tat," may fairly be taken to require the attempt of another
marriage to be completed by a matrimonial ceremony.
Ignorance of the censure on the part of the person who
committed the crime to which the censure is attached is
deemed sufficient to excuse from incurring it, even though
the ignorance may have been gravely culpable. It would
seem from the form of expression used, uausi fuerint,"
that knowledge of the existence of the censure is required
in order to incur it, and that ignorantia crassa, or even
affectata, would not suffice. This point is deserving of
RESERVED CASES 195
special notice, because if the censure be not incurred, a
priest possessing ordinary faculties may give absolution
without having recourse to the bishop, since it is the
excommunication which is declared to be reserved.
Whether the excommunication affects both parties to
the attempted marriage, or only the one who had obtained
a civil divorce, is not quite evident. The words are
capable of either interpretation, especially when the two
parties who wished to contract marriage co-operated in
procuring the divorce,, However, according to the more
exact meaning of the clause, it is the persons who obtained
a divorce and then attempted marriage who are affected
by the excommunication, and not those others with whom
they attempt marriage. In some dioceses of this country
excommunication is incurred by those who knowingly
assist as witnesses (groomsman and bridesmaid) of such
invalid marriages. In the statutes of the archdiocese of
St. Louis (n. 119) the following words are added: " Item-
que testes authorizati, qui scienter sacrilege hujusmodi matri-
monio assistant"
The second excommunication referred to by the author,
as reserved in the United States, is set down in n. 127 of
the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. In general those
Catholics who get married before a minister of a non-
Catholic sect incur excommunication reserved to the ordi-
nary. The censure affects any Catholic of the United
States, whether he has been practising his religious duties
as a Catholic or not; nor does it make any difference as
regards this penalty, whether both contracting parties are
Catholics or only one of them; in either case the excom-
munication is inflicted upon the Catholic. To incur this
censure the marriage should be contracted before a minis-
196 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
ter of some non-Catholic sect. It is immaterial so far as
the censure is concerned whether the marriage be valid or
invalid. The impediment of Disparitas Cultus may exist,
or both parties may be baptized and may have some diri-
ment impediment, or there may be no diriment impedi-
ment whatever ; in any of these cases the censure is equally
incurred, because the words, " contraxerit vet attentaverit"
in the decree plainly signify that even an attempted mar-
riage is sufficient to incur the censure. It would appear
from the words of the decree, " coram ministro cujuscunque
sectce acatholicoz" that the censure is incurred when the
marriage ceremony is performed before the minister of
any denomination, heretical, Jewish, or any other. Still
the clause, "coram ministro" signifies something more
than the actual presence of the minister. He may be
present while the ceremony of marriage is being performed
without having any share in the function; unless he
officiate at the ceremony, the censure would not be in-
curred, since it is on account of the favor shown to the
sect by its minister officially assisting that the censure is
inflicted. If a civil magistrate perform the marriage cere-
mony, the censure, is not incurred ; even if the civil officer
happened to be a minister of some sect, the censure would
not appear to be incurred when he acted in his civil ca-
pacity only. The reason is that the marriage would "not
be celebrated before a minister as such, nor would the
motive for the infliction of excommunication, viz., favor
to a non-Catholic sect, be present. It is also to be noticed
that the excommunication imposed for this sin is reserved,
so that a priest with ordinary faculties can not absolve the
penitent. The particular manner in which the reservation
is made is expressed in the decree itself (n. 127). If a
RESERVED CASES 197
Catholic has committed the sin outside his own diocese,
the censure is reserved to the bishops of the United States,
any one of whom either personally or through a priest
delegated by him can absolve from the excommunication.
If the sin be committed within his diocese, the excom-
munication is reserved to the bishop of that diocese, who
can absolve the penitent or communicate faculties to a
priest for this purpose. In this latter hypothesis, when
the crime was committed in the diocese of the penitent, it
is provided that he may receive absolution from another
bishop, to whom he would have recourse without any
fraudulent intention of evading the law requiring him to
refer the case to his own bishop.
Regarding this censure a question has been raised, viz.,
How did the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore reserve
this case since it had already been reserved to the Sov-
ereign Pontiff? (Cf. Tanquerey, De Matrimonio, n. 251.)
It is quite certain that those who get married before
an heretical minister incur papal excommunication. The
Congregation of the Holy Office (May 11, 1892) declared:
" Eos qui matrimonium coram ministro heretico ineant, cen-
suram contrahere" Those who get married before an
heretical minister incur the first censure of those specially
reserved to the Roman Pontiff in the constitution " Apos-
tolicce Sedis," inasmuch as they are deemed "fau tores " in
relation to heretics. On the other hand, by a decree of the
Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars (November
26, 1602), held universally by theologians as still in force,
bishops are forbidden to reserve cases already reserved to
the Sovereign Pontiff. " Prohibent etiam ne (Episcopi)
sibi superflue reservent casus in Bulla Canaz Domini legi
consueta contentos/ neque alios Sedi Apostolicce specialiter
198 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
reservatos." Some answer this difficulty by saying that
in the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore the bishops
inflicted excommunication reserved to the ordinary on
account of irreverence to the laws of the Church, scandal,
etc.; while the papal excommunication was inflicted on
account of suspicion of heresy. (Cf. Tanquerey, I.e.) Accord-
ing to this opinion, a bishop may reserve a case already
reserved to the Roman Pontiff, if he reserve it from a
different motive. It is not easy to reconcile this view
with the obvious meaning of the decree just cited, where
there is no reference to the different motives with which
cases might be reserved, but a prohibition to reserve cases
already reserved to the Holy See, whatever might be the
motives of the reservation. A different explanation is
given by Putzer (Commentarium in Apostolicas Facultates,
5th ed., p. 228, note 1), namely, that the papal excommuni-
cation is incurred when the marriage is performed by an
heretical minister, and episcopal excommunication is in-
curred when it is performed by some other non-Catholic min-
ister. This view has the merit of distinguishing between the
two classes of cases, one of which is reserved to the Holy
See, the other to the ordinary, so that it could not be said
that the bishops were violating the prohibition of reserv-
ing a case already reserved to the Roman Pontiff. If this
opinion be adopted, it follows that a priest having faculties
to absolve from papal cases can absolve from the excom-
munication incurred by a person who was married by an
heretical minister, but can not absolve one whose marriage
was performed by any other non-Catholic minister, e.g.,
by a Jewish rabbi. There does not appear to be any
serious difficulty in holding this view, except that the
clause, "coram ministro eujuseunque sectce acaiholicoe" em-
RESERVED CASES 199
ployed by the bishops, is applicable to the minister of any
non-Catholic sect, whether he be a heretic or not; in
other words, the excommunication reserved to the ordi-
nary is, according to the more natural meaning of the
expression, incurred even when the minister is a heretic,
because the universal term, "acaiholicaz" should be taken
as including the particular one, "heretico." Hence it is
not evident that the bishops intended, as regards the
infliction of the censure, to make any distinction between
the case of a person getting married by a baptized minister
and the case of getting married by an unbaptized one.
Another mode of explaining this excommunication may
be proposed, viz., that the Sovereign Pontiff in approv-
ing this decree of the Plenary Council permitted an excep-
tion to be made to the general law prohibiting bishops to
reserve cases already reserved to him. Although by the
approval of the decrees of this council in forma communi,
the Holy See did not convey any guarantee for the canonical
or theological accuracy of every statement contained in
them, still such recognition affords some reason or pre-
sumption in favor of the validity and liceity of this ex-
communication as reserved to the ordinary. Perhaps a
different explanation may be suggested, viz., that the
prohibition of reserving cases already reserved to the
Holy See refers to bishops acting in their individual
capacity, not in their corporate capacity as members of
a plenary or provincial council. If either of these two
explanations be admitted, the literal and obvious mean-
ing of the decree is preserved and the prohibition of the
Congregation of Bishops and Regulars is not violated. It
need hardly be remarked that the bishops of the Third
Plenary Council of Baltimore did not intend to place any
200 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
restriction upon the Sovereign Pontiff that would prevent
him from granting faculties to whomsoever he might
wish, even in cases reserved by the bishops to themselves.
What the bishops did in the decree was in effect this,
that as far as they were concerned they communicated to
no priest the faculty to absolve from the excommunication
incurred by a Catholic who attempted marriage before a min-
ister (heretic or not) of any non-Catholic sect, so that unless
the faculty would be obtained from the Roman Pontiff the
absolution from the excommunication would be invalid.
Whichever of the foregoing opinions be the correct one,
or if none of them be correct, it is the general practice of
confessors, secular and regular, to have recourse to the
ordinary for the faculties and for the directions to be
followed in absolving penitents from this excommunica-
tion, whether papal, episcopal, or both combined. In some
places, diocesan statutes prescribe that there should be a
public retractation made in the Church by the penitent
according to a specified formula before receiving absolu-
tion; in other places it is deemed more prudent not to
insist upon a public retractation lest persons guilty of the
crime might abstain from seeking absolution through fear
of the humiliation incidental to the publicity, or lest the
attention of many others be drawn to the frequency of
the sin without sufficient counterbalancing advantages.
In any case the directions of the bishop are to be exactly
carried out in regard to the conditions for receiving abso-
lution as well as the manner of imparting it. The bishop
may require that the penitent be absolved in foro externo
from the censure, and that the form prescribed in the
Ritual for this purpose be observed. It frequently hap-
pens that the bishop empowers the priest to absolve from
RESERVED CASES 201
the excommunication in the tribunal of penance without
any absolution in foro externo.
It may be well to note that the excommunication,
whether papal or episcopal, may not have been actually
incurred by the person who was married by a non-Catholic
minister, because ignorance of the censure, even though
gravely culpable, may not reach that degree commonly
called crassa, and, if so, would excuse from incurring it.
This is not by any means a merely speculative point, as
it is very well known to experienced priests that Catholics,
while they may be aware of sinning grievously by obtain-
ing the assistance of a non-Catholic minister at their mar-
riage, have often no knowledge of the ecclesiastical law
inflicting censure upon such act and thus may escape
from incurring censure. When this occurs, i.e., when the
censure is not incurred on account of any reason whatso-
»
ever, there is no necessity to have recourse to the bishop
for faculties, since it is the excommunication which is
reserved according to the words of the decree, " excom-
municationem incurrere Episcopo reservatam" — End of
Note.
Besides these cases reserved by law the bishops reserve
a few cases to themselves for which the pagella of faculties
must be consulted. When the bishops reserve a sin with
a censure attached to it, it is a disputed point whether
the reservation of the censure is the primary object in
view, as in papal cases, or whether the reservation of the
sin and of the censure are of equal importance and inde-
pendent of each other. The solution of the question
depends on the intention of him who reserved the case,
and so the terms used should be considered.
202 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
The Superiors of Religious Orders may also reserve
cases of their subjects. Clement VIII issued a list of
eleven cases which they might reserve, and forbade them
to reserve others . except with the consent of a general or
provincial chapter of the Order.
3. Certain conditions are required in order that any
particular sin may be reserved. First of all it must be a
grave sin such as forms the necessary matter of confession,
for a venial sin which the penitent need not confess can
not be effectually reserved. It is not the practice of the
Church to reserve merely internal sins; there must be an
external act and as such gravely sinful. So that a slightly
indecent word even if uttered with a seriously bad inten-
tion would not fall under reservation if all sins of indecency
were reserved. The sin must be completed and perfect. in
its kind, not merely attempted, for reservation is to be
strictly interpreted. For the same reason it must be cer-
tain that the sin is reserved, so that any prudent doubt
of law or of fact whether a particular sin is reserved is
sufficient to enable the confessor to give absolution with-
out special faculties.
4. Those who are under the age of puberty do not incur
papal cases unless they are expressly included in the law.
The only papal case in which they are so included is the
violation of the enclosure of nuns. The same rule may be
applied to bishops' cases, unless a bishop has made known
his intention to bind even those who have not reached
the age of puberty. Ignorance of a censure, unless it be
crass or supine, excuses from the censure, as is expressly
laid down in the Decretals.1 As in papal cases the reser-
vation of the sin is on account of the censure annexed
1 c. 2, do oonst. in 6to.
RESERVED CASES 203
to it, and ignorance excuses from incurring this, therefore
ignorance will excuse one from incurring papal 'reserved
cases to which a censure is attached. The reservation of
false accusation of solicitation, the only papal case with-
out censure, is very probably penal, as theologians gather
from the words used by Benedict XIV in the constitution
Sacramentum Pamitentice, and as ignorance of a penalty
excuses one from incurring it, therefore ignorance will
excuse one from incurring this reserved case.
It is a disputed point whether ignorance excuses from
incurring bishops' cases or not. It excuses, indeed, from
incurring any censure inflicted by any ecclesiastical superior,
but it certainly does not excuse from incurring a reserved
sin if the bishop has expressed his intention of reserving
it even when committed in ignorance of the reservation.
Otherwise it is probable that ignorance excuses in episco-
pal as well as in papal cases, for reservation is partly
penal, and it can not attain its end of deterring the faithful
from committing reserved sins if they are ignorant of the
reservation.
It is a disputed point whether strangers are absolved
by virtue of jurisdiction tacitly granted by their own
bishop, or like other subjects of the bishop in whose
diocese they are staying. It is very commonly held now
that for the purpose of sacramental absolution a stranger
is subject to the jurisdiction of the bishop of the place,
like the rest of the faithful. Still the other view is prob-
able, and so a stranger may be absolved from a sin which
is reserved in the place where he makes his confession if
it is not also reserved in his place of domicile, and on the
other hand he may be absolved from a sin which is re-
served in his own diocese if it is not reserved in the place
204 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
where he makes his confession. It is plain, however, that
he can not be absolved without special faculties from a
case which is reserved in both dioceses, nor can he be ab-
solved if he came fraudulently from his own diocese with
the primary intention of escaping his own bishop, on ac-
count of a special clause in the constitution, Superna, of
Clement X.
5. In general, absolution for reserved cases may be had
from the person who reserved them, his successor, his
superior who has jurisdiction over the same subjects, and
from any one who has been specially delegated by one of
these to grant absolution.
As we saw above, according to the Council of Trent,
there is no reservation when the penitent is in danger of
death, and so any priest may then absolve any penitent
from every kind of censures and sins whatever. Nor, at
least probably, does any obligation remain to be fulfilled
in case of recovery by those who have been thus absolved,
except when they have been absolved from cases specially
reserved to the Holy See. In that case, one absolved by
a simple confessor is bound, if he recovers, by a clause in
the constitution Apostolicce Sedis, under pain of falling
again under the same censure, to submit his case either
personally or through his confessor to the Holy See, or to
obtain absolution from a confessor with special faculties.
Moreover, when it is necessary for the penitent to receive
absolution in order to avoid scandal, or loss of reputation,
or because he must say Mass or make his Easter com-
munion, or when he feels it a great hardship to remain in
the state of sin for the time required to obtain special
faculties, a simple confessor may absolve him directly
from any papal case. The penitent, however, is then
RESERVED CASES 205
bound within a month under pain of falling again under
the same censure to submit his case by letter or through
his confessor or another priest to the Grand Penitentiary
at Rome, or, in countries under Propaganda, to the car-
dinal prefect of that congregation, if he prefer to do so.
The name of the penitent of course is not given, but the
address to which the reply should be sent is indicated.
If there is no just cause for giving absolution at once,
the case must be submitted by letter as above to Rome,
asking for special faculties to give absolution which will
be granted under the prescribed conditions when the reply
arrives.
This method of treating papal cases was sanctioned by
the decree of the Holy Office, June 23, 1886, and confirmed
in detail by subsequent decrees. Confessors who have
missionary faculties in- England thereby receive authority
at present to absolve their penitents from all papal cases
except the attempted absolution of an accomplice in a sin
against chastity, and the false accusation of solicitation.
Note. — In the United States very extensive faculties
are granted to the bishops for absolving from papal cases,
and these faculties may be subdelegated to priests en-
gaged in the sacred ministry. Under Article 16, Form I,
authority is conferred upon the bishops in the following
words: " Absolvendi ab omnibus censuris in Constitutione
' Apostolicce Sedis moderationi,' October 12, 1869, Romano
Pontifici etiam speciali modo reservatis, excepta absolutione
complicis in peccato turpi." Without entering into an
explanation of the censures given in this constitution, it
may be observed that our bishops are empowered to
absolve from them whether they are simply or specially
206 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
reserved to the Holy See. Having the faculties to absolve
from papal censures, they can likewise absolve from the
sins to which those censures are attached, since the sins
are only reserved on account of the censure. According
to Article 16 there is only one censure of the constitution
Apostolicce Sedis, in which the bishops are restricted,
namely, the excommunication inflicted upon the confessor
who attempted to absolve his accomplice in peccato turpi.
In dealing with this censure our bishops do not possess
any special faculty which would relieve them from the
grave obligation of referring to Rome in accordance with
the decree of 1886, even though they, like simple con-
fessors, may absolve from the excommunication insurgent
cases. There is no need to refer to a special faculty, which
some of our bishops possessed, of absolving in a certain
number of cases of this kind, either by themselves or by
some one delegated by them. This faculty, if still pos-
sessed, is not of so much importance after the decree of
1886, when even simple confessors can absolve from the
censure, while the obligation on the part of the penitent
to have recourse to the Holy See within a month is to be
fulfilled under the penalty of falling again into the cen-
sure from which he was absolved.
Besides the papal censures reserved to the Roman
Pontiff in the constitution Apostolicce Sedis, the bishops
in this country can absolve from those censures which
have been inflicted by the Sovereign Pontiff since the pub-
lication of that constitution, when these can be brought
under some heading of the constitution. (Cf. Putzer, n.
140.)
It may be remarked that under Article 16 the bishops
do not possess the faculty of absolving from censures
RESERVED CASES 207
which the Sovereign Pontiff inflicts upon a person by
judicial sentence or by special mandate; nor under that
article is a bishop empowered to absolve from censures
which are reserved to and by another bishop; nor has a
bishop by the same article the faculty to absolve from
censures reserved by Religious Superiors to themselves.
There is one papal case specially, or, more accurately,
most specially reserved by the Sovereign Pontiff, yet with-
out censure — false denunciation for solicitation — from
which our bishops can not absolve except under the cir-
cumstances in which, like ordinary confessors, they could
absolve in the case of the attempted absolution of the
accomplice. To incur this reservation, it is required that
the false statement against the priest be made on oath;
otherwise a simple confessor can absolve from the sin
without afterward referring the case to Rome.
To what extent the faculties for giving absolution pos-
sessed by the bishops are communicated to priests, may
usually be learned from the pagella. The general practice
in the United States is that the bishops grant to their
priests all the faculties they can in regard to papal cases;
while the cases reserved by themselves are very few. It is
worthy of note that under Article 15, Form I, the Holy
See has granted powers to our bishops regarding heresy,
which powers may also be and generally are communicated
to priests in the ministry. — End of Note.
Regulars also have certain privileges with regard to
absolving from papal cases, the extent of which is known
from the special grants made to them.
The method prescribed for papal cases is being applied
also to bishops' cases except that when absolution is
208 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
given at once without special faculties on account of some
necessity for receiving absolution on the part of the peni-
tent, that absolution is indirect, not direct, unless the
penitent will not be able to present himself to the bishop
for the next six months. This is a consequence of the
older discipline by which the penitent was bound to present
himself personally to the Superior who had reserved the
sin, or to his delegate. There was no obligation of writ-
ing to the Superior. If the penitent was prevented from
presenting himself to the Superior for five years, the im-
pediment was deemed perpetual and the reservation
ceased. If the impediment lasted from six months to
five years, any confessor might absolve the reserved sin
directly; but the penitent was obliged to present himself
to the Superior when he could do so. If the impediment
did not last for six months, the confessor had no direct
power over the reserved sin, but he might absolve directly
from other sins and indirectly from the reserved sin if the
penitent were for some cause obliged to seek absolution.
The common practice, however, is for confessors who get
a case reserved to the bishop in confession to defer abso-
lution until special faculties can be obtained for the case
from the bishop. The penitent will then again present
himself to the confessor and- receive direct absolution with
the monitions of the bishop.
The method of dealing with Religious who have incurred
cases reserved in their Order depends on the rules and
constitutions of the Order. The members of exempt
Orders are not themselves subject to episcopal reservations,
though of course they can not absolve seculars who have
incurred them without special faculties from the bishop.
Whenever the penitent can obtain direct absolution for
RESERVED CASES 209
a reserved sin and desires to go to confession, he is bound
to make a full confession, including the reserved sin. If,
however, the only mortal sin on his conscience is reserved
to the bishop, he is not bound to go to confession to a
simple priest who can only give indirect absolution before
holy communion, when he is compelled to receive com-
munion to avoid scandal, loss of reputation, or other just
cause; it will be sufficient if he make an act of contrition,
for he has not an opportunity of confessing to a priest with
the requisite jurisdiction. If he has other mortal sins be-
sides a reserved case, some good authors still deny that
he is bound to go to confession for the same reason, though
the most common opinion binds him to go, for he can
obtain direct absolution from the non-reserved mortal
sins, as the confessor has jurisdiction for them, and at the
same time he is indirectly absolved from the reserved sin.
At any rate he will be bound at some future time to obtain
direct absolution from the reserved sin.
CHAPTER XI
DE ABUSU SACRAMENTI PCENITENTLE
1. Sanctissimis institutis abuti hominum malitia valet,
nee sacramento Pcenitentise excepto. Ecclesia tamen
nihil intentatum reliquit ut abusus hujus sacramenti
evitentur vel ut iis si forte occurrant aptum remedium
prsebeatur. Gregorius XV aliique Romani Pontifices et
prsesertim Benedictus XIV leges tulerunt contra sollici-
tationem in sacro tribunali ac absolutionem complicis in
peccato turpi. De his in hoc capite agimus ac primo de
sollicitatione.
De crimine sollicitationis in sacro tribunali Benedictus
XIV Constitutione Sacr amentum Poenitentice tria statuit.
Primo committit ac mandat omnibus locorum Ordinariis
universi orbis christiani in suis respectivis dicecesibus ut
diligenter omnique humano respectu postposito inquirant
et procedant contra omnes ac singulos sacerdotes, tam
seculraes quam regulares quomodolibet exemptos, qui
sollicitationis sunt rei, eosque graviter puniant. Rei
autem sunt sollicitationis qui aliquem pcenitentem, quse-
cumque persona ilia sit, vel in actu sacramentalis confes-
sionis, vel ante, vel immediate post confessionem, vel
occasione, aut prsetextu confessionis vel etiam extra occa-
sionem confessionis in confessionali, sive in alio loco ad
confessiones audiendas destinato aut electo, simulatione
audiendi ibidem confessionem, ad inhonesta et turpia
210
DE ABUSU SACRAMENTI PCENITENTI^E 211
sollicitare, vcl provocare, sive verbis, sive signis, sive
nutibus, sive tactu, sive per scripturam aut tunc aut post
legendam, tentaverint, aut cum eis illicitos et inhonestos
sermones vel tractatus temerario ausu habuerint. Secundo,
omnes et singuli sacerdotes ad confessiones audiendas
constituti tenentur suos pcenitentes quos noverint fuisse
ab aliis sollicitatos sedulo monere de obligatione denun-
ciandi locorum ordinariis personam qua? sollicitationem
commiserit, etiamsi sacerdos sit qui jurisdiction ad ab-
solutionem valide impertiendam careat, aut sollicitatio
inter confessarium et poenitentem mutua fuerit, sive
sollicitationi poenitens consenserit, sive consensum minime
pra?stiterit, vel longum tempus post ipsam sollicitationem
jam effluxerit, aut sollicitatio a confessario non pro seipso
sed pro alia persona peracta fuerit. Tertio, potestas
absolvendi eos qui sive per se sive per alios apud ecclesias-
ticos judices falso innoxios sacerdotes sollicitationis accusant
reservatur Summo Pontifici, ut tarn detestabile facinus
metu magnitudinis poena? coerceatur.
2. Ex dictis igitur, qua? fere ad verbum in Constitutione
Benedicti XIV inveniuntur, constat Ordinarios teneri sub
gravi inquirere in sollicitantes ac hujus criminis reos
graviter punire. Praxis Sacri Officii est ut post unam
alteramve denunciationem sacerdos denunciatus observe-
tur. Post tertiam vero contra suspectum procedi solet.
Ad formale examen vocantur parochi aliique spectata?
virtutis viri qui de indole et qualitatibus denunciantis et
denunciati sub juramento de veritate dicenda et de secreto
servando testimonium proferunt. Pcena? jure reis infli-
genda? sunt privatio omnium facultatum ad confessiones
excipiendas, suspensio ab exercitio ordinis, privatio bene-
ficiorum, privatio vocis activa? et passiva? si sit regularis,
212 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
omnes tamen sunt ferendse sentential. Termini adhibiti in
crimine definiendo strictse sunt interpretationis. In actu
sacramentalis confessionis : hoc intelligendum est de inter-
vallo quod intercedit inter benedictionem et absolutionem
etiam si pcenitens non fuerit absolutus ob defectum dis-
positionum vel ob aliam causam.
Ante vel immediate post : ita ut nulla actio non ref eribilis
ad sollicitationem intercesserit.
Occasione vel prcetextu confessionis: occasio est quando
confessio sequebatur vel sequi debebat juxta intentionem
petentis. Prsetextus habetur quando confessarius ficte
proponit confessionem ut sollicitet. Quare si mulier et
sacerdos fingunt confessionem faciendam ad alios decipien-
dos et ad tutius peccandum non est locus denunciandi, nee
probabilius si pcenitens prsetexat confessionem ad sacer-
dotem vocandum et sollicitandum. Probabilius non est
denunciandus sacerdos qui propter cognitam ex confessione
fragilitatem mulieris earn domi sollicitat, quia occasione
scientise ex confessione habitse sollicitat, non occasione
confessionis.
In confessionali sive in alio loco ad confessiones audiendas
destinato aut electo simulatione audiendi ibidem confessionem :
unde non denunciandus est sacerdos qui sollicitat mulierem
stantem ante confessionale, deest enim simulatio audiendi
ejus confessionem.
Inhonesta et turpia: haec significant gravia peccata
contra sextum decalogi prseceptum. Graviter inhonesti
sermones vel tractatus quin ulterius procedatur constituunt
sollicitationem si ceterse conditiones habeantur. Qui ex-
terne consentit pcenitenti sollicitanti videtur esse denun-
ciandus.
3. Omnes confessarii monere suos pcenitentes, sive
DE ABUSU SACRAMENTI PCENITENTI^E 213
feminas sive masculos tencntur quos ab aliis sacerdotibus
fuisse sollicitatos noverint de obligatione denunciandi
sacerdotes sollicitantes locorum ordinariis vel Sanctae
Sedi per Sacrum Officium vel per Pcenitentiariam. Infra
mensem ab accepta cognitione denunciationis faciendae
obligatio est implenda, aliter pcenitens sollicitatus incurrit
excommunicationem nemini reservatam ex Constitutione
Pii IX, Apostolicce Sedis. Omnes etiam qui certo sciant
casum sollicitationis sacerdotem reum denunciare tenentur,
non tamen sub censura. Confessarii monere pcenitentes
de obligatione denunciandi sollicitantes tenentur, etiamsi
prsevideant eos obligationem non impleturos, nisi sint in
articulo mortis, tunc enim dissimulare ob salutem animae
licet. Nee capax est absolutionis qui onus implere recusat
vel saltern nisi promittat se onus impleturum quum pri-
mum poterit. Confessarius audiens pcenitentem qui sol-
licitatus fuisse videtur, circumstantias casus investigare
debet ut moralem certitudinem de crimine patrato acquirat
antequam obligationem denunciandi sollicitantem imponat.
Denunciatio juridice est facienda, ac proinde qui denunciat
personaliter adire debet ordinarium loci ubi crimen patraba-
tur, ac sub juramento testimonium dare. Qui ordinarium
adire nequit, ad eum scribat, ut delegatum sibi substituere
valeat ad denunciationem accipiendam. Scriptae denun-
ciationes anonynue nullius sunt momenti, nee sufficiunt
ad obligationi satisfaciendum.
Qui falso juridice accusat sacerdotem sollicitationis
gravissimum committit peccatum cujus absolutio specialis-
simo modo Romano Pontifici reservatur.
4. Ex eadem Constitutione Benedicti XIV, Sacramentum
Pcenitentice, confessarius pcenitentem quocum peccatum
grave contra castitatem commiserit a peccato complicem
214 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
absolvere nequit; qui autem talem complicem absolvere
attentat in casum incidit specialissimo modo reservatum
Romano Pontifici. Eandem poenam incurrit qui se
absolvere fingit vel, sive directe sive indirecte, complicem
inducit ad peccatum complicitatis tacendum quum ad
confessionem venit. Si vero poenitens bona fide vel in-
advertenter peccatum complicitatis omiserit dum com-
pile! confitetur valide ab eo absolvitur. Idem videtur
dicendum si complex ab alio sacerdote directe a peccato
complicitatis jam absolutus idem peccatum postea tamquam
materiam liberam sacerdoti complici confitetur. Pra?stat
autem ut sacerdos complex nunquam confessionem com-
plicis excipiat nisi in casu necessitatis.
Complex vero in peccato turpi hie intelligitur qui interne
et externe grave peccatum contra castitatem sive verbis
sive aspectu sive facto cum sacerdote etiam ante sacer-
dotium susceptum commiserit. Ut incurratur censura
absolutio debet esse formalis ita ut sacerdos sciat se absol-
vere pcenitentem complicem, vel saltern ut ejus ignorantia
sit crassa et supina. Requiritur etiam ut poenitens cog-
noverit se peccasse cum hoc sacerdote sive in actu peccati
sive saltern ante absolutionem acceptam, quamvis non sit
necessarium ut poenitens confessarium in actu confessionis
agnoscat. Sacerdos igitur qui larvatus et incognitus cum
muliere peccavit earn adhuc ignorantem suum complicem
absolvere valide potest, nam aliter sese proderet pcenitenti
ac alii confessario ad quern poenitens absolutionis causa
accederet.
5. In articulo seu periculo mortis absolutio complicis
data a complice sacerdote semper est valida ne anima
pereat, ait Benedictus XIV. Prseterea complex moribun-
dus qui nequit aut non vult alteri sacerdoti confiteri licite
BE ABUSU SACRAMENTI PCENITENTI^E 215
etiam a complice sacerdote absolvitur. Si vero alius sacer-
dos etiam non approbatus adsit, vel sine infamia et scan-
dalo advocari possit ad confessionem accipiendam, sacerdos
qui complicem in periculo mortis constitutum absolvat ex-
communicationem non evitat.
In locis remotis ubi complex alium confessarium habere
nequit, et in periculo est ne sine absolutione discedat e
vita, potest probabiliter a complice absolvi ne anima
pereat. Poterit etiam sacerdos facultatem obtinere ut
complicem in tanta necessitate absolvat.
CHAPTER XII
THE DUTIES OF A CONFESSOR IN THE CONFESSIONAL
The confessor does not satisfy his obligations merely
by absolving the penitents who come to him, and refusing
absolution to those who are not properly disposed. In the
confessional he holds the place of Christ for the reconciliation
of sinners with God ; he is also the minister of the sacrament,
and as such he is bound to see that it is validly and lawfully
received by the penitent. In other words, as theologians
say, the confessor is the spiritual father, doctor, counselor,
and judge of his penitents. Something must be said on
each of these heads.
Section I
The Confessor as Spiritual Father
The confessor should remember how Our Lord used to
act toward sinners during His mortal life; with what
charity, forbearance, and patience He dealt with them,
and he should strive to imitate his divine model. Like
Him he should be interested in the souls of men, not in
their social position, age, or sex. Whoever they may be,
he should receive all sympathetically and kindly. This
does not mean that he should treat all precisely in the
same way. Just because of his interest in his penitents
and of his sympathy for them, he will treat them as their
215
DUTIES OF CONFESSOR IN THE CONFESSIONAL 217
various needs demand; not expecting the same degree
of virtue in all, nor attempting to raise all to the same
height of sanctity. He should try to discover what God
designs for each soul and be content to second the inspira-
tions of the Holy Spirit.
In dealing with pious penitents, especially of the other
sex, he should be brief and austere, otherwise he will lose
much time with little or no fruit, and expose himself to no
little danger. With these penitents, especially, he should
treat of nothing in the confessional except what concerns
their consciences, and that in a fatherly way, but briefly.
Even if he recognizes his penitents, it will be better as a
rule not to show that he knows them for what they are
outside the confessional. He will thus be able to deal
with them for the good of their souls with more freedom
and detachment.
Section II
The Confessor as Physician of Souls
1. It is the confessor's duty not merely to reconcile the
sinner with God by absolving him from sin, but by sug-
gesting to him means and remedies against relapse to
enable the penitent to lead a good life in future. The con-
fessor is the spiritual physician of souls, and he should be
skilled in diagnosing the diseases of the soul, and in apply-
ing the proper remedy. Catholic literature is very rich in
ascetical books whose special province it is to map out
the way of spiritual progress, to point out and describe
the many vices and other obstacles to be overcome by the
Christian wayfarer, and the means to be taken for the pur-
pose. Among the best known of such works are: Rod-
218 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
riguez' "On the Practice of Christian Perfection/' "The
Devout Life" of St. Francis of Sales, "The Spiritual Exer-
cises" of St. Ignatius, "The Spiritual Combat," by Scupoli,
etc. The confessor should make himself as familiar as
possible with one or two such treatises, and he should have
tested their worth by applying the lessons which they give
to the conduct of his own life. Here it will be sufficient
briefly to indicate some general remedies which may be
usefully prescribed in most cases where there is a sincere
desire to amend. Frequent and fervent prayer, frequent
reception of the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist,
pious meditation on the end of life and on the presence of
God, avoiding evil company and the occasions of sin,
avoiding idleness by constant occupation of mind and
body, as far as is possible. Besides these general remedies,
the confessor may suggest special ones for the correction
of particular vices. The selfish and thoughtless should
be told to practise kindness to those about them; the
proud, acts of humility; the voluptuous, mortification of
their passions; the envious, praising the good deeds of
others; and so on. There is special difficulty as to the
best method of treating recidivists and those who are
placed in an occasion of sin, and something must now be
said on each of these classes.
2. A recidivist is one who after many confessions has
fallen into the same sin without any or scarcely any amend-
ment. There is a controversy among theologians as to
whether and on what conditions such a one may be ab-
solved. Certain rigorists maintained that a recidivist
could not be absolved until, by abstaining from sin for a
considerable time, he had proved the sincerity of his con-
version. According to the judgment of St. Alphonsus
DUTIES OF CONFESSOR IN THE CONFESSIONAL 219
there is intolerable rigor in this opinion. On the other
hand, laxists held that a penitent who has contracted a
habit of sin should be absolved at once without delay even
though there be no hope of amendment, provided that he
make verbal profession of his sorrow and purpose of amend-*
ment. The foregoing proposition was condemned by
Innocent XI, and if it were put in practice it would lead
to grave abuses. For a confessor can not give absolution
to one whom he can not reasonably judge to be truly sorry
for his sins. There are cases where in spite of verbal
protestations the confessor can not form even a probable
judgment that the recidivist is truly sorry for his sins.
And sometimes it will benefit the penitent to defer absolu-
tion for a short time even if it might absolutely be given
at once. The common opinion lies between these two
extremes, and we can not do better than explain it in the
words of Lugo, for the lengthy discussions of subsequent
authors on this question have added nothing of substantial
value to the older doctrine;
a. If a confessor judge a penitent, notwithstanding a
past habit of sin, to have here and now a true sorrow and
a firm resolve not to sin again, he can absolve him ; because
present sorrow and a purpose of amendment are sufficient,
and future amendment is not required. And so he may
absolve him even though he thinks he will fall again.
6. But in the second place it is certain that when a priest,
considering the past habit of sin, the propensity to it, and
other circumstances, can not judge the penitent to be
sufficiently averse from the sin, he can not absolve him,
however much the penitent asserts that he is sorry, because
if the priest does not believe him he has not the requisite
ground for giving absolution.
220 THE SACRAMENT OT PENANCE
c. It will help toward forming a judgment about the
present dispositions of the penitent if he show special signs
of sorrow, or if he has already tried to correct his habit, or
if having never before been told what means to employ
to correct his habit, now, on being told, he willingly accepts
and proposes to employ them.
d. Finally, it will sometimes be useful to put off absolu-
tion for some days so as to excite the penitent to make
greater efforts to overcome himself and show signs of real
amendment.1
3. An occasion of sin is an external circumstance which
leads one to commit sin. It is a proximate occasion if,
when a person is placed in it, it leads him to commit sin
oftener than not ; otherwise it is remote. It is a necessary
occasion if he can not avoid it by using ordinary diligence;
otherwise it is voluntary.
a. There is no necessity to avoid remote occasions of
sin, for it is not possible to do so, and in spite of them sin
may be avoided by using the proper means.
b. We are bound to avoid proximate and voluntary
occasions of sin, for we can not remain in them without
exposing ourselves to the proximate danger of committing
sin, and if we voluntarily choose to remain in a proxi-
mate occasion we voluntarily choose the sin. As we are
bound to avoid sin we are bound to take the necessary
means for that end. This doctrine is confirmed by the
61st, 62d, and 63d propositions, condemned by Innocent
XI.
c. A necessary occasion is one which we can not avoid.
It is physically necessary if we can not physically get away
from it; it is morally necessary if it is more difficult to
l"Lugo, de pcenit. xiv, n. 166.
DUTIES OF CONFESSOR IN THE CONFESSIONAL 221
avoid it than to keep from sin while in it by using proper
means and precautions.
There is no obligation to avoid necessary occasions of
sin, for we can not be obliged to do what is impossible;
but we are bound to take the necessary means to avoid
sin in spite of being in the occasion, and such means are
always at hand if we have the good will to use them, for
God's goodness will never permit us to be tried above our
strength. By using the means to avoid sin while placed
in an occasion of sin, we make the proximate occasion
remote, as theologians say.
It follows from this that one who finds his ordinary
avocation in life, which is supposed to be an honest one,
a proximate occasion of sin to him, is seldom bound to give
it up ; he is only bound to make the occasion remote, which
is generally possible wkh a good will and the help of God's
grace.
Section III
The Confessor as Counselor
1. The duties of the confessor require considerable ex-
pert knowledge in one who aspires to the office. He must
in the first place have a competent knowledge of Chris-
tian morals and of all that belongs to the valid and law-
ful administration and reception of the sacraments. St.
Alphonsus teaches us that it is not sufficient merely to
know the general principles of Christian morality; the
confessor must have considerable skill in applying those
principles correctly, according to the infinite variety which
is found in human actions. The confessor should have
received a thorough grounding in moral theology during
222 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
the course of his priestly studies, and he should continue
to keep it up during the rest of his life, for it is quickly
lost unless means are taken to keep it fresh in the mind.
The Church shows that she is conscious of this danger by
insisting that all who have the cure of souls should at cer-
tain times every year be present at the conferences of the
clergy, where moral questions are discussed. Every con-
fessor is not called upon to be an authority in moral ques-
tions, but at least he should be able to decide correctly
ordinary doubts and difficulties, and know when to doubt
about more serious questions.
2. The confessor is bound to instruct a penitent before
he can give him absolution when he finds that he is ignorant
of what he must know in order to receive the sacrament
of Penance validly and lawfully. And so if the penitent
does not know how to make an integral confession, or how
to make an act of contrition, the confessor must instruct
him. In the same way, he must teach one who is ignorant
of those truths which must be believed in order to be
saved. Innocent XI condemned the proposition that a
man is capable of receiving absolution however great may
be his ignorance of the mysteries of the Faith, and even
if through culpable negligence he does not know of the
mystery of the most blessed Trinity and of the Incarnation
of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Ignorance of those Christian
truths whose knowledge is required by precept, and of
the obligations of one's state of life, is not a bar to valid
absolution, and in spite of it absolution may lawfully be
given on condition that the penitent undertake to learn
what he should know, if the confessor can not give the
necessary instruction at once.
3. No general rule can be laid down as to whether the
DUTIES OF CONFESSOR IN THE CONFESSIONAL 223
confessor should instruct a penitent whom he finds to be
ignorant on other matters. Various cases must be dis-
tinguished. If the ignorance of the penitent is morally
hurtful to him, as is an erroneous conscience which thinks
that a perfectly harmless act is sinful, the confessor should
put his conscience right. Again, if the penitent asks whether
an action is lawful or not, the confessor should instruct
him. In other cases, if the penitent is ignorant of his
obligation, and he would not fulfil it even if he were told,
as a general rule the confessor may and should abstain
from telling him under the circumstances. For the infor-
mation would do no good, but only harm, inasmuch as the
sins which hitherto were only material would henceforth
be formal. There is, however, an exception to this rule
when what is done in ignorance and good faith is a cause
of public scandal, for then the public good requires that
the penitent should be told even to his temporary private
loss.
On these principles authors agree that if a confessor
detect a diriment impediment between parties who think
that they are validly married, he should not inform them
of it, at any rate until he has obtained the necessary dis-
pensation, so that he can at once proceed to set the matter
right.
Section IV
The Confessor as Judge
1. As judge in the tribunal of Penance the confessor
passes sentence and imposes satisfaction proportionate to
the sins confessed. If the penitent makes a full confession,
in truly sorry for his sins, and is ready to fulfil to the best
224 THE SACBAMENT OF PENANCE
of his ability all his grave obligations at least, there is
nothing to prevent the confessor giving a penance and
absolution at once. There is no necessity for putting ques-
tions to well-instructed penitents who make their con-
fession with care and diligence, or to those who have only
light matter to confess. If however, the penitent does
not fully declare the number and species of his grave sins,
or if the confessor is not satisfied about his dispositions, he
is bound to question him to procure a full confession and
the necessary dispositions before giving absolution.1
If the confessor knows that the penitent has committed
some serious sin, but says nothing about it in confession,
he should question him as to whether there is anything
else on his conscience. If the penitent denies that there
is, he should as a rule be absolved ; it is a received maxim
that " the penitent must be believed in his own favor as
well as against himself. " Even if the sin was known to the
confessor from the confession of some one else, he must
not of course put any question which would amount to a
violation of the seal, but he may put a general question
as to whether there is anything else, and if the penitent
denies that there is, he may as a rule absolve even then.
It may be that the penitent did not commit formal sin, or
that he has forgotten it, or thinks that he is not bound to
mention it to this confessor, or there may be some mistake
on the part of the confessor or the informant. Still if it
is quite evident to the confessor that the penitent is mak-
ing a bad confession, and so is not disposed for absolution,
he can not, of course, absolve him.
2. The confessor's obligation of putting questions to the
penitent in order to supply any defect on the part of the
!4 Lat. c. 21; Ritual.
DUTIES OF CONFESSOR IN THE CONFESSIONAL 225
latter, is a grave one.' Still it is only secondary; the obli-
gation lies with the penitent in the first place, and so the
confessor may be excused from grave sin if occasionally
he does not put questions even to obtain what is necessary
matter for confession. We may allow this especially when
the confessor is weary after hearing a great many con-
fessions, and, partly through weariness, partly through
some slight negligence, fails to ask questions which are
per se necessary.
3. The Ritual and theologians warn the confessor against
putting unnecessary and indiscreet questions to the peni-
tent. By doing so he may easily scandalize him or even
teach him to commit sin. This is especially the case with
regard to the young. In the matter of chastity it is a
maxim that it is better to fail in putting many questions
than to put one which* is not necessary.
The confessor should be moderate in questioning the
penitent, and only put questions about matter in which
it is probable that he has committed sin. He should re-
member that the penitent is only bound to confess what his
own conscience accuses him of; he does not sin nor is he
bound to confess according to the conscience of his con-
fessor.
CHAPTER XIII
MISTAKES MADE IN HEARING CONFESSIONS
1. One who culpably causes unjust harm to another is
bound in justice to repair that harm as far as he can. Even
if the action which causes harm to another is done inno-
cently, there will nevertheless arise an obligation to prevent
the harm as far as possible as soon as the danger is noticed,
and if there is grave negligence in doing this without rea-
sonable excuse, injustice will be committed and the obliga-
tion of making restitution incurred. A confessor who
admits a penitent to confession is bound in justice to ab-
solve him if he is properly disposed for absolution. And
so if he has neglected to do so, he must repair the error
afterward, especially if the penitent were in danger of
death and may die in sin without sacramental absolution.
Similarly, if the confessor gave his penitent false instruc-
tion in faith or morals, or bad advice, or bound him to
make restitution when he was under no obligation to do
so by the law of God, or released him from such an obliga-
tion when he was really under it, the confessor must after-
ward correct his mistake, taking the precaution to ask the
penitent's leave to say something to him about his con-
fession if an opportunity is afforded him only out of con-
fession. When the penitent was wrongfully compelled
to make restitution with grave fault on the part of the
confessor, the latter is bound in justice to make him
226
MISTAKES MADE IN HEARING CONFESSIONS 227
restitution for the loss that he has suffered, if he can not
otherwise recover his money. The confessor is in the same
way bound to make restitution to the defrauded creditor
when with grave fault he released a penitent from the
obligation of paying a just debt, if in consequence the
penitent is now unwilling or unable to fulfil his obligation.
2. If the confessor merely neglected to impose a penance,
or supply for the deficiency of the penitent's confession
by questioning him, or failed to correct some mistake
that he was laboring under, or to warn him of the obliga-
tion of making restitution, he did not thereby sin against
justice, and he is not bound to make restitution, unless
indeed in the circumstances his silence was equivalent to
positive approval. Still, if knowingly and wilfully he did
any of these things, he committed sin, and in as far as harm
to his penitent or to others ensued he violated charity,
which obliges every man to do what he can to prevent loss
and damage to others. Even out of confession if he can
prevent harm being caused by his failure to do his duty
in the confessional, he should with the penitent's leave do
his best to prevent it.
CHAPTER XIV
THE SEAL OF CONFESSION
1. By the seal of confession is understood the religious
obligation to keep secret anything that is manifested in
sacramental confession.
This obligation is imposed by the natural, the divine,
and by positive ecclesiastical law. For the very fact that
a penitent who makes known his sins in secret to the
confessor with a view to obtaining absolution, lays upon
the confessor the strictest obligation in justice and in charity
not to violate the trust placed in him, much as a doctor
or a lawyer when consulted about private matters is bound
to observe secrecy with respect to what has been confided
to him. Our Lord, who commanded all who fall into grave
sin after Baptism to go to confession, could not have im-
posed such an obligation without requiring confessors to
observe the strictest secrecy about what they hear in
confession.
The Church, too, in the Fourth Council of Lateran (c. 21)
forbids the confessor under grave penalties ever to betray
by word, sign, or in any other way, what he has heard in
sacramental confession.
The obligation of the seal of confession differs from all
other secrets in that it is never lawful under any circum-
stances to make known the least thing that has been
manifested by a penitent in confession. If questioned
228
THE SEAL OF CONFESSION 229
about confessional matter, even in a court of justice, the
priest must always answer that he knows nothing about
it, as with perfect truth he may do, for what he knows as
a confessor, he knows as the vicegerent of God, not as
man. Not even to save his life or the lives of others may
a priest violate the seal; like Fr. Henry Garnett, or St.
John of Nepomuk, he must be prepared to lay down his
life rather than break the seal. He is never released from
his obligation even by the death of the penitent, for people
are unwilling that their secret sins should be mentioned
even after their death.
A grave sacrilege would be committed by the direct
manifestation of the least fault known from sacramental
confession, but theologians allow that if the danger of
confessional matter becoming known is very remote there
may be only venial sin in indirect violation of the seal.
2. The person who hears the sacramental confession of
another made with a view to obtaining absolution is pri-
marily bound by the seal. Even if such a person were
not a true priest but merely represented himself to be one,
he would, nevertheless, be bound by the obligation of the
seal, for he could not violate the trust placed in him with-
out such violation injuring the penitent and turning people
away from the sacrament.
Not only the priest, but all others, who mediately or
immediately come to know anything confessed to a priest
with a view to absolution, are bound by the obligation of
the seal. Superiors, then, who are asked for faculties to
absolve from reserved cases, other confessors whose advice
is asked about cases of conscience, any one who by design
or by accident overhears what is said in confession, are
bound equally with the confessor. The obligation of the
280 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
seal is imposed in favor of the penitent; it is the penitent's
secret, but he himself is not bound by it. It does not fol-
low, however, that penitents may without let or hindrance
talk to others about what the confessor has said or done
to them in the confessional. They are at least bound by
a natural obligation to reveal nothing which would tend in
any way to injure or aggrieve the confessor A confessor
may speak with the penitent in the confessional about past
confessions in as far as this is necessary for the present
guidance and instruction of the penitent; but outside of
confession he may not speak of confessional matter even
to the penitent without the latter's express leave freely
given. There is a question discussed among theologians
as to whether one who finds and reads the written con-
fession of another violates the seal or is bound by it. It is
better to distinguish various cases. If the circumstances
in which the paper is found show that it has been used for
the purpose of making a sacramental confession, as when
it is found in the confessional, then the written confession
is a sort of continuous confession, and knowledge derived
from it comes under the seal. The same must be said of a
letter written to an ecclesiastical superior for faculties to
absolve from a reserved case. Otherwise, inasmuch as the
writing down of one's sins is not sacramental confession,
knowledge gained from such a source without reference to
actual confession does not seem to come under the seal.
Similarly, there is a difficulty about giving or refusing
to the penitent an attestation that he has been to con-
fession. If the penitent is unworthy of absolution and has
not been absolved, but asks for the confessor's attestation
that he has been to confession, what is the latter to do?
If the refusal of the attestation would in the circumstances
THE SEAL OF CONFESSION 231
show that the penitent was not absolved, it is clear that it
cannot be refused without a violation of the seal; in other
circumstances the confessor will be free to give or refuse it.
3. Not only all sins mentioned in confession are the
matter of the seal, but everything which was mentioned
because it was thought to be a sin, and every circumstance
which was mentioned in order to make a full confession
and whose manifestation would tend to injure the penitent
or make confession odious, comes under the seal. And so
if one who is under a vow of chastity mentions the fact in
order to make a full confession of a sin of impurity, the
fact that the person is under vow is protected by the
seal. In the same way moral and social defects, such as
scrupulosity and illegitimacy, come under the seal if they
were made known with reference to confession, and if
their manifestation would be to the injury of the penitent
or make confession odious.
The virtues of a penitent are not the matter of the seal,
nor does a confessor seem to violate his obligation if he
merely says that he has heard the confession of such a
one, unless on account of special circumstances it would
cause injury to the penitent or make confession odious.
Nor does a confessor whose watch was stolen by a penitent
while making his confession break the seal by giving
information of the theft to the police.
4. The seal may be broken directly or indirectly. It is
broken directly when the confessor says that such a peni-
tent told him such a sin in confession. It is broken in-
directly when the confessor says or does anything or ab-
stains from saying or doing anything from which others
may come to the knowledge of confessional matter, or by
which the penitent may be aggrieved or- confession made
232 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
odious. A confessor, then, indirectly violates the seal by
changing his conduct to the detriment of the penitent in
consequence of what he has heard in confession; by say-
ing that a certain sin is rife in a place in which he has
heard few confessions; by talking with another confessor
about the sins of a penitent of both of them.
It used to be a common view among theologians that
ecclesiastical superiors might use knowledge gained in
hearing confessions for external government, provided
that in such use there was no direct or indirect revelation
of confessional matter. After the decree of Clement VIII,
May 26, 1593, and that of the Holy Office, November 18,
1682, this opinion has become obsolete, and now it is uni-
versally held that no knowledge gained in the confessional
can be used by the priest for external government if such
use aggrieves the penitent, or makes the sacrament odious,
or otherwise directly or indirectly violates the seal.
In spite of the strictness of the seal the confessor may
make use of knowledge gained in the confessional to correct
his own faults, to treat his penitents and others with more
kindness, to learn by experience how better to fulfil his
duties as confessor, how to preach more fruitfully, but
always with prudence and without giving any just cause
of complaint to his penitents.
BOOK VI
EXTREME UNCTION
CHAPTER I
THE NATURE OF EXTREME UNCTION
1. The Council of Trent defined that Extreme Unction
is a true sacrament of the New Law insinuated by St.
Mark and promulgated and recommended to the faithful
by St. James when he wrote : " Is any man sick among you ?
Let him bring in the priests of the Church, and let them
pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the
Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick man;
and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he be in sins they
shall be forgiven him." l
This sacrament, as the Council of Trent also teaches, is
the complement or completion of Penance. As we have
seen, Penance was specially instituted for the remission of
post-baptismal sin, and its reception is necessary for all
Christians who have fallen into grave sin after Baptism.
Penance, then, ordinarily precedes Extreme Unction, which
is properly a sacrament of the living; its primary effect is
to infuse sanctifying grace into the soul for the salvation
of the sick man. If any sins still remain on the soul, pro-
vided that there be at least attrition for them, they will
be remitted together with the remains of sin. By the
1 James v. 14, 15
233
234 EXTREME UNCTION
remains of sin are understood the temporal punishment
due to them, spiritual weakness and inclination to evil,
lethargy in the doing of good. The sacrament removes
these wholly or in part, according to the dispositions of the
recipient, and, moreover, if it be for the good of the sick
person and in keeping with the providence of God, it
restores him to bodily health. This last effect is not pro-
duced by miracle, but by means of natural causes; the
sacrament consoles and soothes the sick person, dispels
his mental anxieties, and the resultant state, with the
blessing of God, sometimes brings about a recovery. In
order to produce this effect with more certainty the ad-
ministration of the sacrament should not be too long
deferred.
2. The remote matter of Extreme Unction is olive oil
blessed by a bishop. Ecclesiastical law requires that
priests obtain the oil of the sick from their own ordinary,
not from any other bishop.
The proximate matter is the anointing with oil of the
principal organs of the senses, and where the organs are
double both are anointed, the right one first. In Eng-
land, according to the Ritual, the eyes, ears, nostrils,
mouth, hands, and feet, are anointed; but when the re-
cipient is a woman in a public infirmary or hospital the
priest has a special leave to omit the anointing of the feet
if he thinks that it would excite scandal or comment.
Note. — In the United States there is no special leave
to omit the anointing of the feet when a female is receiving
Extreme Unction in a public hospital: nor would there
seem to be here any danger of scandal that would excuse
from it. There is a legitimate custom, however, in this
THE NATURE OF EXTREME UNCTION 235
country to omit the unction of the loins of males, as appears
from the Excerpta of the Roman Ritual published for the
United States, and also from Kenrick, Sabetti, and others;
but there is no such custom in favor of omitting the unction
of the feet, whether of males or females. There may, how-
ever, exist a grave reason, e.g., when the feet are enveloped
in plaster of Paris or when some serious inconvenience
would arise to the patient, which would justify its omission.
— End of Note.
If some sense-organ is wanting, the part of the body
nearest to where it should be is anointed. Each anointing
has its own special form, that for the eyes being: "By
this holy anointing and through His most sweet mercy
may the Lord forgive whatever sins thou hast committed
through thy sight. Amen." The form for the other
senses is similar. If the near approach of death will not
allow of all the senses being anointed with their appropriate
forms, the forehead may be anointed with the following
general form: "By this holy anointing may the Lord for-
give whatever sins thou hast committed. Amen." ! As,
however, Extreme Unction is only probably valid when
administered with such a single anointing under one gen-
eral form, if there is time it should be repeated immedi-
ately in the form prescribed by the Ritual.
1 S.O. April 25, 1906.
CHAPTER II
THE MINISTER OF EXTREME UNCTION
Only a bishop or a priest can validly administer this
sacrament, and the only lawful minister is the bishop or
priest who has the cure of souls in the place where the
sick man dwells, or another priest with his express or at
least reasonably presumed leave. If a Religious presumes
without the leave of the parish priest to administer this
sacrament or the Viaticum to laymen or to clerics, except
in a case of necessity, he incurs excommunication reserved
to the Holy See by the constitution Apostolicce Sedis.
Note. — The reader must not infer from the statement
here made that a Religious who administers Extreme
Unction or the Viaticum without the leave of the pastor
in the United States incurs this excommunication. As
there are no parish priests properly so called in this coun-
try, the excommunication is not incurred. See Genicot,
vol. 2, n. 604; also Sabetti, n. 1002, where he says that
except in the province of San Francisco this censure has
no application to the United States. That this province
does not form an exception, the reader may consult Putzer,
Commentarium in Apostolicas Facilitates, n. 113. Although
Religious in the United States are not affected by this
censure, it does not follow that they are at liberty to
administer either of these two sacraments without leave
236
THE MINISTER OF EXTREME UNCTION 237
of the ordinary or of the priest having pastoral charge
of the district. — End of Note.
In the Latin Church one priest performs all the unctions,
but the sacrament is valid if different priests perform the
several unctions, as is done in the Greek Church. The
organs should not merely be touched with the holy oil,
but anointed, and the Ritual prescribes that this should
be done by making the sign of the cross on the organ with
the thumb after dipping it in the oil. Care should be taken
not to finish the form before both organs have been anointed
when they are double, and the several anointings should
be done continuously, as it is probable that all together
constitute the sacrament by which grace is not given until
the last anointing is finished.
CHAPTER III
THE RECIPIENT OF EXTREME UNCTION
1. In order to be able to receive Extreme Unction
validly a man must be baptized, must have attained the
use of reason, and must be in probable danger of death
from sickness. Extreme Unction, then, may be admin-
istered to those adults who are in danger of death from
disease, from the pains of childbirth, from a wound, from
poison, and from old age, even though they be no longer
in their right senses. It can not be validly given to soldiers
before going into battle, to criminals who are going to be
executed, to imbeciles who have never had the use of
reason, to children who have not yet come to the use of
reason, or to unbaptized persons.1
2. This sacrament may only be given once in the same
sickness and in the same danger, but if the sickness be
prolonged and after partial recovery the sick person again
becomes dangerously ill, Extreme Unction may be repeated.
According to some good authors it may be repeated after
a month's interval, for as a general rule the danger may
be considered a new one after such a period of time.
No good Catholic would wish to depart this life without
the help of this and the other sacraments; still there is
no obligation under sin to receive Extreme Unction. But
although the faithful who, without despising it, neglect
1 Ritual.
238
THE RECIPIENT OF EXTREME UNCTION 239
to receive this sacrament do not thereby commit sin, yet
a priest who has the cure of souls would sin grievously if
he neglected to give those under his charge the opportunity
of receiving this sacrament in their last sickness. As soon
as there is probable danger of death the last sacraments
may be given in the following order: Penance, Viaticum,
Extreme Unction, and finally the papal blessing for the
moment of death.
BOOK VII
THE SACRAMENT OF ORDERS
CHAPTER I
THE NATURE OF ORDERS
1. The priesthood of the New Law is not a mere office
and bare ministry of preaching the Gospel: Our Lord
instituted it and gave it the power of offering the sacrifice
of His body and blood and of forgiving sins.1 This power
is conferred on priests by the sacrament of Orders, which
also gives the grace to those who are rightly ordained to
perform their sacred functions worthily. Those functions
are various, and partly by divine institution, partly by
ecclesiastical, they have been divided and assigned to
separate grades of a spiritual hierarchy. The perfection
of the priesthood and the whole of its powers reside in
the episcopate; some portion of what bishops possess is
communicated to the inferior ranks of the clergy by a special
rite for each grade. Thus Orders is one sacrament, but the
different ranks of the clergy participate in it in different
degrees, or in other words there are several Orders. There
are three major or sacred Orders, to which by ecclesiastical
law is annexed a solemn vow of chastity, and there are
four minor Orders. The sacred Orders are the priesthood,
the diaconate, and the subdiaconate ; by the minor Orders
are ordained acolytes, exorcists, lectors, and doorkeepers.
1 Trent, scss. xxiii, c. 1,
241
212 THE SiCRAMEST OF ORDERS
It is a moot point among theologians whether all these
Orders are sacraments or not ; more probably only the epis-
copate, priesthood, and diaconatc are sacraments and of
.^mediate divine institution, the rest being of ecclesiastical
institution. Those Orders which are sacraments impress
a character on the soul.
The first tonsure, by which a lay person is made a cleric,,
is certainly of ecclesiastical institution and is not a sacra
inent.
2. The matter of the minor Orders is the handing to the
olerb the symbols of the office to which he is ordained, and
ohe words which accompany this act constitute the form.
There is a controversy whether the handing to the subdear,on
of an empty chalice with the paten alone, or also the giving
to him of the book of epistles, is the matter of the subdi-
iiconate, and similarly with regard to the form. It is also
a matter of controversy whether the imposition of hands
alone is the matter of the diaconate, priesthood, and epis-
copate, or the handing to the ordinand the symbols of his
office, or whether both together constitute the matter.
There is the same difference of opinion with regard to the
form, but these questions belong to dogmatic theology.
3. In practice, the rite prescribed for ordination in the
Pontifical must be observed, and if anything be omitted
which even probably belongs to the essence of the sacra-
ment, the whole must be repeated again, at least condi-
tionally. Thus, if in the ordination of a priest the chalice
with wine and the paten were not handed to the ordinand
to touch while the bishop pronounced the appropriate form
of words, the whole ordination would have to be repeated
before one thus ordained could be allowed to say Mass.
Similarly, if the imposition of hands is omitted which pre-
THE NATURE OF ORDERS 243
cedes and accompanies the prayer and preface which are
said by the bishop and which contain the form, the whole
rite must be repeated. On the contrary, if the third impo-
sition of hands which accompanies the prayer, "Receive
the Holy Ghost, etc." is omitted, this portion of the rite
alone need be supplied afterward, as it is certain that it
only belongs to the integrity of the sacrament, not to its
essence.
Although previous reception of the priesthood is more
probably necessary for the valid ordination of a bishop, the
inferior Orders do not seem necessary for the valid ordina-
tion to the priesthood.
Whether three co-consecrators are necessary for the
validity of an episcopal consecration is disputed, but at
least the Pope can give faculties to have only one conse-
crating bishop.
The functions of those who are in minor Orders, with the
exception of exorcists, may according to modern discipline
be exercised by laymen.
CHAPTER II
THE MINISTER OF ORDERS
1. The ordinary minister of Orders is a bishop, who is
the only valid minister of the episcopate and priesthood.
A priest may receive delegated authority from the Pope
to confer minor Orders, and the subdiaconate, and prob-
ably also the diaconate. Thus abbots have power to give
minor Orders to their own subjects, and cardinals, if they
be priests, may give them to clerics belonging to their
titular churches in Rome.
Ecclesiastical law requires that Orders be received only
from one's own bishop, or from another bishop with his
leave, which is granted by giving the subject dimissorial
letters. A person may become the subject of a bishop so
as to make him his own and the lawful minister for giving
him Orders in five ways :
a. By being born in his diocese not by mere accident, but
while his parents had a domicil therein.
b. By acquiring a domicil in the diocese, or by taking up
one's abode in the diocese with the intention of always
living there for the future. This intention is proved by
actually living in the diocese for ten years, or by trans-
ferring thither the greater part of one's goods and living
there for some time. The intention of always living in the
diocese must also be asserted on oath.
c. By having peaceable possession of a benefice in the
diocese which is sufficient for one's decent support.
244
THE MINISTER OF ORDERS 245
d. By a three years' service of the bishop, who within a
month after ordination must confer on the ordinand a
benefice sufficient for his decent support.
e. By incardination in the diocese, done in writing after
excardination by one's own bishop according to the de-
crees of the Sacred Congregation of the Council, July 20,
1898, November 24, 1906.
2. By the common law, regulars must be ordained by the
bishop in whose diocese their convent is situated, but some
have a special privilege, of giving dimissorials to their
members for ordination by any bishop who is in union with
the Holy See. Whenever a bishop holds an ordination
outside his own diocese he requires the leave of the bishop
of the place to exercise pontifical functions.
CHAPTER III
THE SUBJECT OF ORDERS
1. To be able to receive Orders validly, the subject must
be of the male sex and baptized. It has always been under-
stood in the Church that women can not receive Christian
Orders. Moreover, an adult must have at least an habitual
and express intention to receive ordination (unless indeed
he is an imbecile and has never had the use of reason).
2. Many qualities and conditions are requisite for the
lawful reception of Orders about which something must
here be said; the fuller treatment of this matter belongs
to canon law.
a. As we saw when treating of the clerical state, one who
aspires to Orders must be of good life and must be called by
God. Before receiving sacred Orders he must make the
spiritual exercises.
6. The ordinand must not be a neophyte or one recently
baptized in adult age, nor of evil reputation, nor irregular,
nor under censure.
c. Before being made a cleric he must have received the
sacrament of Confirmation.
d. He must have been examined by the competent
authority as to whether he has the knowledge required for
the Orders which he desires to receive. The Council of
Trent prescribed that those to be ordained in minor Orders
should know Latin; that subdeacons and deacons should
246
THE SUBJECT OF ORDERS 247
be educated in letters, and should know how to fulfil the
duties of their office ; that priests should be able to explain
the rudiments of the Faith to the people and to administer
the sacraments. The First Synod of Westminster (d. 21)
requires that those who are to be promoted to the subdi-
aconate should be examined in one tractate of theology,
those to be promoted to the diaconate in two, to the
priesthood in three at least, or in the whole of dogmatic
theology.
Note. — In the United States there is no such law as
is here set down for England, requiring an examination in
theology previous to the reception of each of the major
Orders. — End of Note.
By a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and
Regulars, November 4, 1892, Religious to be ordained must
show testimonial letters that besides the regular course of
lower studies they have studied theology for one year
before the subdiaconate, for two years before the diaconate,
and for three before the priesthood.
e. An interval of one year should elapse between minor
and sacred Orders, and between each sacred Order, unless
for just cause a dispensation is obtained.
/. The lower Orders must be received before the higher,
and not before the legitimate age. The subdeacon must
have entered on his twenty-second year, the deacon on his
twenty-third, the priest on his twenty-fifth.
A bishop must have completed his thirtieth year.
g. By common law sacred Orders should be conferred
during Mass on the Saturdays in Ember Week, or before
Passion Sunday, or before Easter Sunday. Minor Orders
may be conferred on any feast of precept though suppressed.
248 THE SACRAMENT OF ORDERS
The bishops in missionary countries and some Religious
Orders have the privilege of ordaining outside the assigned
times and without observing the intervals. Custom in
Great Britain and in the United States favors a wide inter-
pretation of this privilege, so that bishops ordain on any
convenient day.
Note. — The bishops of the United States have two facul-
ties from the Holy See enabling them to dispense in the
canonical age for priesthood. One of these is Article 3,
Form I : " Dispensandi super defectu atatis unius anni
ob operariorum penuriam, ut promoveri possint ad sacerdo-
tium, si alias idonei fuerint." The other faculty is Article
3, Form C: ''Dispensandi cum diaconis utriusque cleri
super defectu cetatis quatuordecim mensium, ut promoveri
possint ad sacerdotium, si alias idonei fuerint." These
two faculties have reference to priesthood only, not to
deaconship or subdeaconship. The second faculty is more
extensive than the first, since it is applicable to both
branches of the clergy, secular and regular (utriusque
cleri), while the first regards seculars only, according to a
declaration of the Holy Office, April 9, 1727. Besides the
first faculty enables the bishops to dispense in one year
from the canonical age for priesthood; the other, in one
year and two months: the first requires for its exercise
an urgent need for priests (ob operariorum penuriam),
while the second does not require this reason. There is
a third faculty still more extensive in respect of the age at
which priesthood may be received. Some of our bishops
have received Form T in place of C, D, and E, and under
Article 1 can confer priesthood when the ordinand is only
twenty-two years and six months. "Dispensandi cum
THE SUBJECT OF ORDERS 249
quindecim utriusque cleri diaconis suce jurisdictioni sub-
jectis super defectu cetatis octodecim mensium, ut eo non
obstante ad sacrum Presbyteratus ordinem promoveri
possint, dummodo idonei sint et nullum aliud eis obstet
canonicum impedimentum." From this article it may
be seen that the number of deacons who can be promoted
to priesthood a year and a half below the canonical age is
limited to fifteen; hence when this number is exhausted,
a renewal of the faculty is to be sought for. — End of Note.
h. Those who receive sacred Orders must communicate
in the Mass of ordination.
k. The Church does not wish her clergy to have to beg
or to exercise some unbecoming trade in order to gain a
livelihood, so she requires that to be admitted to sacred
Orders a cleric must have a title, as it is called, or a certain
guarantee of decent support. Various titles are recognized
by ecclesiastical law, such as a benefice, pension, patrimony,
poverty for Religious, a common table, the Mission, and
others. If a cleric already ordained loses the title of his
ordination, he may be compelled by the bishop to find
another.
I. Before ordination regulars must be solemnly professed
unless they have a special privilege by which simple profes-
sion suffices.
After ordination a priest pays homage to the bishop and
solemnly promises obedience to his ordinary. He under-
takes no new burden by this promise; he simply binds
himself anew to pay canonical obedience to the bishop in
all matters subject to his authority; and a secular priest
obliges himself not to leave the diocese for which he was
ordained without the leave of his bishop.
250 THE SACRAMENT OF ORDERS
Note. — It is well to distinguish between the faculty
which the bishops of the United States have of conferring
Orders extra tempora without the observance of the
interstices, from the custom by which they may go beyond
the limits of this faculty. In Article 1 of Form I is the
following: "Conferendi Or dines extra tempora, et non
servatis interstitiis usque ad presbyteratum inclusive, si
sacerdotum necessitas ibi fuerit." By this faculty the
bishops may confer sacred Orders on Sundays, feasts of
obligation, or on feasts which were once obligatory, but
now abrogated; it does not give authority to confer them
outside of those days, as was declared by the S. C. of Rites
to the bishop of Montreal (May 18, 1883). However, there
exists a custom by which the bishops in the United States
may confer minor or major Orders on any day of the year
which they deem convenient. The lawfulness of this cus-
tom is held by eminent authors, such as Kenrick, tr. xx,
n. 34; Sabetti, n. 835; Putzer, n. 99; Tanquerey, De
Ordine, n. 20; nor does there appear to be any author of
note who denies its lawfulness. Being a particular legiti-
mate custom it was not set aside by the S.C. of Rites in the
response to the bishop of Montreal, nor has it been abrogated
by any subsequent decision of the Holy See.
Regarding the interstices or interval of one year pre-
scribed between acolyteship and subdeaconship, between
the latter and deaconship, as well as between deaconship
and priesthood, the bishops can dispense for a just cause —
non servatis interstitiis. This power of dispensation does
not enable a bishop to confer two of those orders on the
same day; for this a special power would be required, or
a legitimate custom which does not seem to exist in this
country. — End of Note.
BOOK VIII
MARRIAGE
CHAPTER I
BETROTHAL
1. The seventh sacrament of the Christian Church is
Marriage, and because it is usually preceded by an engage-
ment to marry, we will first treat of betrothal. Betrothal
may be defined as a mutual promise of future marriage
between persons who may marry lawfully.
It is a mutual promise or a bilateral contract between a
man and a woman, and the conditions which are required
for the validity of any bilateral contract are requisite for
betrothal. There must be a serious, voluntary, and de-
liberate intention to enter into the agreement. Mere
unmeaning flirtation, or the expression of a wish by the man
that he could make the woman his wife, do not make a
betrothal. Anything which destroys the voluntariness of
the act will prevent it from being a valid contract. Sub-
stantial mistake about its nature or about the identity of
the other party to the contract, and probably even mistake
about some unessential quality in the other party, if it
were the motive for entering into the contract, would make
it null and void. As grave and unjustly caused fear is a
diriment impediment to marriage, so, too, it prevents a
valid engagement to marry.
251
252 MABRIAGE
The promise must be deliberate, made with full knowledge
and advertence to the serious step which is being taken.
There must be, as divines say, the deliberateness about the
act which is necessary to commit a grave sin. The mutual
consent of the parties must be expressed by words, writing,
or other suitable sign. The acceptance by a woman of a
ring from a man who has asked her to be his wife is a suffi-
cient expression of consent and concludes the contract.
For many years past a special law has existed in Spain
by virtue of which no betrothal is valid unless attested by
a formal document in writing. In the year 1900 this law
was extended to the whole of Spanish America, and by the
decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Council, August 2,
1907, no betrothal between Catholics or in which one of
the parties is a Catholic is valid or has any canonical effects
unless it is contracted in writing and is signed by the par-
ties, and also signed either by the parish priest, or by the
local ordinary, or at least by two witnesses. If either of the
parties or both of them are unable to write, the fact should
be noted in the document, and another witness must be
added who will sign the document together with the priest,
or the local ordinary, or the two witnesses mentioned
above. This decree binds all Catholics throughout the
world, and takes effect from Easter Sunday, April 19,
1908.
The term parish priest in this decree is used to desig-
nate not only him who is lawfully placed in charge of a
canonically erected parish, but in countries where there are
no canonically erected parishes the priest to whom the cure
of souls in a definite district is lawfully entrusted, and who
is equivalent to a parish priest, and in missions where as
yet the districts are not definitely marked out all priests
BETROTHAL 253
who in any place have the general cure of souls assigned
them by the superior of the mission.
The parties must be capable of entering into a lawful
marriage at any rate at the time contemplated when the
engagement is made. For a promise to do something which
is impossible or unlawful has no binding force, and so if
at the time contemplated there will still be some diriment
or prohibitory impediment between the parties, an engage-
ment to marry is void.
A valid contract to marry at a future time when the par-
ties will be free to do so may be entered into by those who
are now hindered by some impediment. And so children
under age, though incapable of marrying, may enter into a
valid betrothal. According to the old canon law, even their
parents might make a valid engagement for them, if they
were present and did not express dissent; or, if absent,
afterward ratified the contract. The decree of August 2,
1907, abolishes this rule, as also the presumption of law by
which marriage attempted by children under age was pre-
sumed to be a valid engagement to marry.
Some authors applied that presumption to the case of
clandestine civil marriages contracted in places subject
to the decree Tametsi of the Council of Trent. They
held that although such a marriage was null and void,
yet it had the effects of a betrothal, as in the case of
those under age. Leo XIII, however, by a decree dated
March 17, 1879, decided that a clandestine marriage has
not the effects of a betrothal even if the parties intended
that it should have.
Betrothal of children under seven is presumed to be
invalid for want of the use of reason, but if it is proved
that the parties to the contract had sufficient use of reason
254 MARRIAGE
in spite of their tender age, the engagement will be valid ;
malice is then said to supply for the want of age. -
2. Betrothal under condition, as, "I will marry you if I
can earn £200 a year," is lawful, and follows per se the ordi-
nary rules of conditional contracts. Such a betrothal will
impose on the party who enters into it an obligation to do
what he can to fulfil the condition, and when the condition
is fulfilled the engagement will become valid and binding
without any renewal of consent. Similarly, an engage-
ment in this form, " I will marry you if I reach the age of
twenty-one," will become a binding engagement on attain-
ing that age. On the contrary, an engagement under an
impossible condition is null and void from the commence-
ment. And so, if two parties between whom there is a diri-
ment impediment, which either can not be dispensed or for
which a dispensation is not usually given, enter into an en-
gagement under the form, " I will marry you if we can get
a dispensation," there will be no valid contract. It is much
controverted among canonists and divines whether the
same is to be said when the impediment is one for which
a dispensation can be, and usually is, granted. If cousins,
for example, entered into an engagement under the form,
"I will marry you if I can get a dispensation," what would
be the effect of such an engagement? There would, of
course, be an obligation to ask for a dispensation; but if
it were got, would there be a valid betrothal by virtue of
the conditional engagement, or would the parties have to
renew their consent ? Many authors maintain that in this
case there is no valid betrothal without a renewal of con-
sent. For proof of their view they point out that the
parties were not free to enter on an engagement to marry
on account of the diriment impediment between them;
BETROTHAL 255
that it is unbecoming to contract on condition that the
superior grant a dispensation from the law which should be
observed by all ; and that when the question has been sub-
mitted to Rome, the decision has uniformly been in favor
of this view. On the other hand, many good authors hold
that there is nothing in these reasons to prohibit us from
applying to such cases the ordinary doctrine concerning
conditional contracts, and so the general question remains
undecided and uncertain. Both opinions are theologically
probable.
CHAPTER II
THE EFFECTS OF BETROTHAL
1. As betrothal is a contract and the matter is serious
the betrothed are under a grave obligation in justice to fulfil
their engagement. If a special time was agreed upon, they
must keep to the appointed time, otherwise they must
marry at a reasonable time after the engagement has been
concluded. As grave inconveniences are likely to arise'
from a too prolonged betrothal, it is the duty of those who
have the cure of souls to admonish those engaged that they
should marry if without just cause they defer doing so too
long. A delay of over a year without good reason seems
excessive.
2. After betrothal the parties are under a special obli-
gation to live chastely, and if either commit a sin of im-
purity with a third person the sin has a special malice on
account of his violation of the fidelity which he owes to his
betrothed. It is a disputed point whether the circumstance
of betrothal changes the species of the sin so that mention
of it must be made in confession, or whether it merely ag-
gravates its malice. It is probable that it does not change
the species of the sin, for betrothal does not, like marriage,
give one party a right in the other, but gives only a right
to have the other when the engagement is executed.
3. Betrothal to one prevents valid betrothal to another
as long as the former tie lasts, for a promise to do what is
256
THE EFFECTS OF BETROTHAL 257
unlawful has no binding force. If, however, in spite of
betrothal to one the party marries some one else, the mar-
riage will be valid but illicit, just as the sale of a house to
one person is valid in spite of a previous promise to sell it
to some one else. Betrothal, in other words, is a prohibi-
tory, not a diriment impediment of marriage with third
persons. The Church, however, has made betrothal a
diriment impediment of marriage with others related to
the betrothed within the first degree of kindred, as with the
sister or brother of the betrothed. This impediment has
the name of public honesty.
4. The consent of the parents of the parties is certainly
not necessary for the validity of marriage. The Council of
Trent teaches this.1 Nor is it necessary per se for the law-
fulness and the validity of. betrothal, because in the choice
of a state of life every man is his own master. It does not
follow, however, from this doctrine, that children need not
consult their parents about marriage and about a partner
for life. In a matter of such importance for the future hap-
piness of the child, and because the marriage of a member
of the family concerns not merely the individual, but the
whole family, and especially the head of it, a dutiful child
will ordinarily consult his parents before entering on an
engagement to marry. If a child wishes to contract an
unsuitable marriage, as if the heir of an honored house
wishes to marry an actress of doubtful reputation, the
parents have a right to object to such a marriage; and if
they forbid it, the son is bound to obey, and he commits sin
if he goes against his parents' commands. An engagement
contrary to the reasonable commands of one's parents is
unlawful and therefore invalid. Mere inequality of rank
1 Sess. xxiv, c. 1, de ref. Matr.
258 MARRIAGE
between the parties of itself is not a sufficient reason why
parents should forbid a marriage, but a difficulty arises
when inequality of rank will be the cause of dissension and
ill feeling in the family. Even in this case a son who
wishes to marry some one of inferior rank is not always
bound in conscience to submit to the wishes of his parents.
If he is satisfied that the woman he loves will make him a
good wife, and he is not prepared to take anybody else,
he is not bound to sacrifice his own happiness in deference
to the wishes of his parents, especially when these originate
in social prejudice rather than in a desire for the welfare
of their child.
English civil law requires the consent of the father or
guardian for the lawfulness of the marriage of a minor.
In most of the United States of America the law is similar.
Note. — By common law in the United States marriages
of those under seven years of age are void, while those
over that age are not void ; but if the male and female have
not reached the age of fourteen and twelve respectively,
the marriage is voidable. The statutes of the different
States vary in regard to the age for contracting marriage,
but in most of them the violation of the law does not make
the marriage void, but voidable.
1. In Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Hamp-
shire, Tennessee, and Virginia, the male can marry at
fourteen and the female at twelve.
2. In Iowa, North Carolina, Texas, and Utah male and
female can marry at sixteen and fourteen respectively.
3. In Alabama, Arkansas, and Georgia the male and
female must be seventeen and fourteen respectively; in
Kansas, seventeen and fifteen.
HIE EFFECTS OF BETROTHAL 259
4. In California, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma,
Oregon, South Dakota, and Wisconsin eighteen and fifteen
respectively for male and female.
5. The male must be eighteen and the female sixteen
in Arizona, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,
Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Porto Rico, West Vir-
ginia, and Wyoming.
6. In Colorado, District of Columbia, Maine, Mississippi,
Missouri, New Jersey, Vermont, and Washington the male
twenty-one and female eighteen.
7. Only in Connecticut, Florida, Pennsylvania, and
Rhode Island must each party be twenty-one.
The remaining States differ from any of those men-
tioned, none exceeding twenty-one for each sex, and none
under fourteen and twelve. for male and female respectively.
If parties want to get married under the age prescribed by
statute, in some States they should have the consent of
parents or guardian; in others, this is not required for the
validity. In a State where such consent is required, the
parties under age may go to a State where no such law
exists and there get married, the matrimonial laws not being
extra-territorial. When there exist State laws prohibiting
persons under the prescribed age to get married without
consent of parents or guardians, such laws do not make the
marriage invalid, but have a penalty annexed to their vio-
lation. It may be interesting to note that every State in
the Union, except South Carolina, has some statute regu-
lating the age for marriage. — End of Note.
CHAPTER III
DISSOLUTION OF BETROTHAL
1. Betrothal, like other contracts, can be dissolved in
various ways. The parties may both agree to release each
other and then they will be free, for by a rule of law all
things are dissolved by the same causes which gave them
birth. But although the betrothal thus ceases to exist, yet
the impediment of public honesty, which by ecclesiastical
law is the consequence of betrothal, does not cease to bind
the parties, and so neither can marry a relation of the other
within the first degree without a dispensation. If children
under age have been betrothed, they can not release the
contract even by mutual consent until the age of puberty,
and then within three days either may resile from the con-
tract without waiting for the consent of the other party;
but if they do not use this privilege granted by canon law
they are presumed to ratify the contract.
2. One of the betrothed may resile if a circumstance
of importance be detected or happen which if it had been
known before would have prevented the contract being
entered into. This rule is commonly admitted by divines,
who explain it by saying that betrothal is of its nature condi-
tional, and has such a condition as the above annexed to it.
If, then, one of the parties finds that the other has an un-
governable temper, or great debts, or is given to drink, or
if the other becomes afflicted with a disease like consump-
260
DISSOLUTION OF BETROTHAL 261
tion or paralysis, he will be free to rescind the contract.
The innocent party may resile if the other commit fornica-
tion with some one else, and certainly the man is free if he
find out that the woman was corrupted even before betrothal.
The same rule may be applied in favor of the woman when
she finds out that the man committed fornication before
betrothal, at least if in the particular case it is a sign of
inconstancy or is very much resented.
Betrothal is annulled if an impediment of marriage
come to exist between the parties unless it had its origin in
the culpable fraud of one of them, for then he must do what
he can to obtain a dispensation or at least compensate
the other, as no one should reap advantage from his own
fraud.
3. One who is betrothed may resile in order to enter a
Religious Order, or to take sacred Orders, or even with a
view of living in the world under a perpetual vow of chas-
tity, for in all these cases a higher life is embraced, and
betrothal has also the condition annexed, " Unless after-
ward I am called to a higher life."
4. The Pope may for just cause grant a dispensation
from betrothal. Some authors maintained that the Pope
had not the power to grant such a dispensation, inasmuch
as it would violate the rights of the other party. However,
if an individual is unreasonably obstinate in the mainte-
nance of his rights, the head of the society to which he be-
longs should have the power of granting relief to others
whom that obstinacy places in difficulties. This is what
the Pope sometimes does; when a civil marriage contracted
in violation of betrothal to another, though null and void
in the eyes of the Church, makes it impossible for the mar-
ried party to return to his former betrothed, the Pope will
262 MARRIAGE
grant a dispensation even if the other party refuses to
forego his rights.
5. When one of the parties labors under a secret defect
which if known would furnish sufficient ground for resiling
from the engagement, there is no strict obligation to make
it known to the other party, unless it will be to his detriment.
Past sin, then, need not be declared, but if the woman has
undergone an operation which makes her incapable of bear-
ing children, she should not contract marriage with' a man
who is ignorant of the defect and hopes to have children.
Whether marriage with a woman contracted in violation
of a promise of marriage made to another annuls the former
betrothal altogether, or whether the obligation to marry
the first is only suspended and revives again if the wife
die before the husband, is a disputed question among
divines. Of course, such a breach of faith makes the other
party free to marry some one else if she choose, and the
opinion is at least probable that by such a radical change
in circumstances as marriage with another the former en-
gagement is altogether dissolved and can not revive. There
is something incongruous in the idea of a person wTho is
married to one, being nevertheless still under the obliga-
tion to marry some one else.
6. If a man after betrothal without the knowledge or
consent of his betrothed goes to live elsewhere at a dis-
tance so that personal intercourse between them is im-
possible, the woman may consider herself free to break off
the engagement. A short absence makes no difference in
the mutual obligations of the parties. If it is uncertain
with what intention and for how long a time a betrothed
person has absented himself, information as to his inten-
tions should be sought by letter before breaking off the
DISSOLUTION OF BETROTHAL 2G3
engagement. If a time was fixed for the marriage, the ob-
ligation is not extinguished by failure to keep to the time4,
unless it is certain that the intention of the parties was to
break off the engagement if the marriage were not contracted
at the appointed time. Presents made to the betrothed in
view of marriage are forfeited if the engagement is broken
off through the fault of him who made the presents, other-
wise, if the fault is on the other side.
If it is certain that there is good cause for breaking off
an engagement, this may be done by private authority;
it will only be necessary to have recourse to the ecclesi-
astical judge when the cause is doubtful, or when scandal
would arise if the engagement were broken off by private
authority on account of the cause being unknown.
7. People who are only engaged to be married have
not the rights of married people, and if they attempt
to use them they are guilty of sin against the sixth com-
mandment. It is, however, as a rule morally necessary
for them to become acquainted with each other, and they
are justified in showing to each other those marks of affec-
tion which are not wrong in themselves and which are
usual in the circumstances. It is to be desired that they
should not be much together alone, especially at night,
and if they are left alone they should not show greater
familiarity toward each other than they do when a mother
or sister is with them.
CHAPTER IV
BANNS OF MARRIAGE
1. Before publishing the banns of marriage the priest
who has the cure of souls must have at least a general
knowledge of those who wish to marry. The Ritual
prescribes that he should inquire whether there is between
them any impediment of kindred or affinity, or any other;
whether they wish to marry freely and of their own accord ;
whether they be of age, and know the rudiments of the
Faith so as to be able to teach it to their children.
With regard to people with no fixed abode, strangers,
the wives of soldiers, sailors, and others, who are said
to have died in foreign parts, the Ritual admonishes the
priest not to admit them readily to marriage before mak-
ing all needful inquiries about them, and referring their
case to the bishop, so as to have his leave for the marriage.
2. If no impediment has been discovered by examining
the parties, the priest publishes the banns in accordance
with the decree of the Council of Trent.1 "It ordains
that for the future before a marriage is contracted the
proper parish priest of the contracting parties shall three
times announce publicly in the Church, during the solemni-
zation of Mass, on three continuous festival days, between
whom marriage is to be celebrated; after which publica-
tion of banns, if there be no lawful impediment opposed,
1 Sess. xxiv, c. 1, de ref. Matr.
264
BANNS OF MARRIAGE 265
the marriage shall be proceeded with, in the face of the
Church."
The reasons for this law are : the avoidance of clandestine
marriages, so that it being known who are married, there
may be less danger of bigamous marriages; the discovery
of impediments of marriage; and the protection of the
rights of others arising from former betrothal. The banns
must be published by the parish priest in the Church of
the parish or district where the parties have their domicil
or quasi-domicil. If they live in different parishes, the
banns must be published in both; and if either or both
have recently, within six months, come from another
district, the banns must be published there as well. They
must be published during the principal Mass on three
successive days of obligation; but if by mistake the
publication has been omitted at Mass, the omission may
be made good in the evening, if there be a considerable
concourse of people at the evening service.
3. The very form which is commonly made use of in
publishing banns shows that by them the Church intends
to impose a serious obligation on all who know of any
impediment between the parties who wish to marry to
communicate their knowledge to the parish priest. This
precept of the Church will bind even when the impediment
is matter of a natural or promised secret, for such a secret
can not avail against the just commands of a superior.
A professional secret binds more strictly, but it does not
excuse one who knows it from doing what he can without
betraying the secret to procure the removal of the impedi-
ment.
4. The obligation of publishing the banns is a serious
one, but for good reason the bishop or his vicar-general
266 MARRIAGE
may dispense with them either wholly or in part. Accord-
ing to approved theologians, the bishop is even obliged
sometimes to dispense with banns , when charity toward
his flock requires it. Thus a dispensation should be given
when it is probable that otherwise the marriage will be
maliciously prevented, when it is a necessary means to
preserve the reputation of the parties who are thought
to be man and wife already, and when the parties are
obliged to depart at once to foreign countries. For lighter
reasons the bishop may dispense, but he is not obliged to
do so.
A parish priest has no jurisdiction in the external forum,
and so he cannot dispense of his own authority from banns.
In some special case, however, it might be necessary to
marry the parties without delay, and then if there were
no time to have recourse to the bishop, a simple priest
might declare that under the circumstances the law with
regard to banns ceased to be of obligation.
This principle that, when positive law not only ceases
to promote the common good but is actually adverse to
it, then it no longer binds in the particular case, may
sometimes be applied, according to many theologians,
even to such impediments of marriage as have their origin
in positive law. It might happen that everything was
ready for the marriage, that the parties with their friends
were already in the church, and then for the first time,
whether from confession or in other ways, the priest be-
came aware of a secret and diriment impediment to the
marriage of the parties. If the parties know nothing of
the impediment, the best way out of the difficulty would
be for the priest to say nothing about it, proceed with
the ceremony, and after.vard apply for a dispensation,
BANNS OF MARRIAGE * 267
which when obtained he will execute in the manner to
be described below. It is probable that in such a case
the impediment ceases to bind, but for greater security a
dispensation should be asked for and executed. If one of
the parties knows of the impediment, but it can not be made
known without injury to his reputation, he might be in-
structed to give his consent in the marriage conditionally
on getting a dispensation, which should then be obtained
as soon as possible. If the impediment were of its nature
public, like that of kindred, and no harm would follow from
its being known besides the delay in the marriage, the priest
should openly say why the marriage must be put off for
a time in order to obtain the necessary dispensation.
The Ritual prescribes that the parties should be dili-
gently instructed how t-hey should live in a pious and
Christian way in the state of wedlock. This is done partly
in the confessional, partly outside. The parish priest
may make a brief discourse to them at the end of the
ceremony, or if he prefer he may read to them the in-
struction which is inserted in the Ritual for the purpose.
CHAPTER V
THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT
1. Marriage may be denned as a contract between
a man and a woman by which they give each other the
right to exercise the acts requisite for the procreation of
children, and bind themselves to live indissohibly together.
Living in accordance with this contract constitutes the
state of marriage.
The primary end of marriage is the procreation of children
for the preservation and increase of the race; besides this
there are also the secondary ends of mutual society and
help, and a lawful outlet for concupiscence. The Fathers
and councils mention a threefold good in marriage : that
of children, that of mutual fidelity, and that of the sacra-
ment, or an indissoluble and holy union, typified by the
union between Christ and His Spouse the Church.
It is the teaching of the Church, defined by the Council
of Trent, that marriage between baptized Christians is
a sacrament, and so Christ our Lord though he did not
institute marriage, yet raised it to the dignity of a sacra-
ment of the New Law, causing the marriage contract to
be productive of grace ex opere operato whenever it is
worthily entered into by baptized Christians. Between
these the contract is the sacrament, there is no real dis-
tinction between them, and among Christians a marriage
can not be valid without being also a sacrament.
268
THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT 269
2. There are certain technical terms used by theologians
to designate different kinds of marriage, and it will be
well to give them here.
A valid marriage between non-baptized persons is called
legitimate; when it is perfected by the use of marital
rights it becomes consummated; a valid marriage between
Christians not yet consummated is said to be a ratified
marriage.
A true marriage is one that has been validly contracted
and which can be proved by suitable arguments; a pre-
sumptive marriage is one presumed by law; a putative
marriage is one thought to have been validly contracted,
but which is really invalid on account of some hidden
diriment impediment.
A canonical marriage is one celebrated according to the
laws of the Church ; a civil marriage is contracted according
to the laws of the State ; a secret marriage, or a marriage
of conscience, is one celebrated without banns by the
bishop's leave before the parish priest and witnesses who
are bound to secrecy ; a morganatic marriage is contracted
by a person of rank with one of inferior position in life
on condition that she and her children are excluded from
the rank of the father.
3. Marriage is rooted in human nature; it was in-
stituted by God and raised by Our Lord to the dignity
of a Christian sacrament; and so of course it is honorable
and its use is lawful. The marital rights, or the debt as
St. Paul calls it,1 is the matter of the matrimonial con-
tract, and therefore the right to use marriage is of its
essence, and without it marriage can not exist. However,
marriage does not necessarily imply the exercise of the
1 1 Cor. vii. 3.
270 MARRIAGE
right which it gives, any more than the ownership of a
house implies the use of it. Our Lady and St. Joseph
were really married though Our Lady always remained
a virgin.
Although marriage is lawful and honorable, yet all are
not commanded to marry. A man may remain a bachelor
if he please, and many women remain single without their
having the option of being married. The Church, follow-
ing St. Paul, teaches that the state of celibacy, or virginity,
voluntarily chosen in order to render a more whole-hearted
service to God, is more perfect than the state of marriage.
Our Lord Himself said that there are some who refrain
from marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven,
and He added, "He that can take, let him take it." At
the same time He said, "All men take not this word, but
they to whom it is given." ! And certainly for some who
are strongly inclined by nature to the pleasures of the
flesh, or who have fostered their passions by indulgence,
the word of St. Paul remains true, "It is better to marry
than to be burnt."
4. The efficient cause of marriage, as of all contracts,
is the consent of the parties expressed outwardly by
sensible signs. That consent must be mutual, referring
to the present, not to the future; it must be deliberate
and voluntary, and expressed by suitable signs; not only
because it is a bilateral contract but also because it is
a sacrament, which is essentially an outward sign of
invisible grace.
For the validity of the contract any suitable signs by
word, or writing, or nods, would suffice. The contract
is valid when entered into by proxy, by letter, or by other
1 Matt. xix. 11.
THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT 271
means of communication between the absent. Ordinarily,
for the lawful celebration of marriage the parties must be
present with each other, and all must be done in accordance
with what is laid down in the Ritual.
Any one, who having entered into the contract of mar-
riage afterward asserted that he had only feigned consent,
would not be listened to in the external forum. In the
forum of conscience he should be told that he must give
a real and internal consent, as that is practically the only
way to repair the injury which by his fraud he has in-
flicted on the other party. If such a case occurred, it
would not be necessary to go through the form of marriage
again; all that would be required would be for the de-
faulting party to make good the expression of his con-
sent.
5. Marriage should be contracted absolutely, but if in
any particular case it is contracted under condition, we
must distinguish various cases, to see how the condition
will affect its validity.
a. A marriage contracted under a condition which
has reference to the past or to the present and is verified,
as, "I agree to marry you if you are a maid," is valid,
but it will not be lawful to use marital rights until it is
known wrhether the condition is verified or not. If the
condition is not verified, the contract is invalid.
b. An explicit condition against the essence of mar-
riage which has reference4 to the future makes it null and
void for want of true consent to marriage. Thus the
conditions, ." I marry you if you agree to have no off-
spring," or, " Until I find a more suitable partner," or,
"If you will sell yourself for money," make the marriage
null and void; for such conditions destroy the perpetual
272 MARRIAGE
and exclusive right, the transference of which is of the
essence of the contract of marriage.
c. If nothing against the substance of marriage is ex-
pressed in the contract, but one or both of the parties
intends to do something which is against the essence of
marriage, such an intention will vitiate the contract or
not, according as it excludes marital rights or only implies
a determination to abuse them. Thus if a man intended
to have two wives on a footing of perfect equality, he would
be married to neither of them; but if he intended really
to be married to one and was also bent on keeping a con-
cubine, his marriage with the first would be valid. Simi-
larly, if two were to marry with the intention of living
together in virginity, the marriage would be null and void
if there was no transference of marital rights; if their
intention excluded only the use of marital rights, the mar-
riage would be valid.
The validity of marriage contracted with mutually op-
posed intentions will depend on which is predominant,
or on which would be chosen if their mutually destructive
character were known and realized. And so if a baptized
person wants to be married but does not want the sacra-
ment of matrimony, he will be married if that is the pre-
dominant intention ; he will not be married if the intention
to exclude the sacrament is predominant.
CHAPTER VI
<HE MINISTER, MATTER, AND FORM OF MATRIMONY
1. We have seen that according to the teaching of the
Church the contract of marriage was raised by Our Lord
to the dignity of a sacrament, so that the marriage con-
tract constitutes the sacrament, and as such confers
grace on baptized and worthy recipients to enable them to
perform the duties of their state of life like true Christians.
The efficient cause of the contract is the mutual consent
of the parties, who thereby confect the sacrament, and
who are, therefore, its ministers to each other. The remote
matter would seem to be the marital rights which are the
matter of the contract ; the proximate matter is the mutual
offer, and the form the mutual acceptance of those rights.
It is uncertain whether a Christian who by dispensation
marries a non-baptized person receives the sacrament or
not, as the other party is certainly incapable of receiving
a sacrament. It is also disputed whether the marriage
of unbaptized persons who are converted to the Faith be-
comes a sacrament on the reception of Baptism.
2. The civil authority probably has power over the
marriages of non-baptized subjects, so that it can make
diriment and prohibitory impediments to such marriages
for the common good. Christian marriage is a sacrament,
and the administration of the sacraments belongs ex-
clusively to the Church, so that the State has no power
273
274 MARRIAGE
to make diriment or prohibitory impediments for Christian
marriage. The regulations which the civil authority
makes concerning marriages of soldiers and others should,
of course, be observed if they are reasonable and just,
but they are not impediments in the strict sense. There
is nothing to prevent the State from making laws con-
cerning the civil effects of marriage, such as the property
rights of married people, rights of inheritance and suc-
cession, titles of nobility, and similar matters ; these things
are within the competence of the State. But questions
which affect the bond of marriage, and the capacity of
parties to contract marriage, belong exclusively to the
Church, and so laws of divorce made by the civil authority
are of no validity in the forum of conscience, except in
so far as they sanction and apply the laws of the Church.
3. Marriage is a sacrament of the living, and should
be received in the state of grace. The priest should
endeavor to get the parties to go to confession and com-
munion when they are married, so that they may enter
on their new state of life with the blessing of God. The
rite in Catholic marriages should be performed in the
Church, and if the wife has not received the nuptial blessing
before it is the wish of the Church that, whenever the
rubrics permit, the Mass Pro Sponso et Sponsa should be
said, and the nuptial blessing given as therein laid down.
This Mass may be said on all days outside close time ex-
cept on feasts of the first and second class, and on days
of obligation. On these days, however, a commemoration
may be made of the Mass Pro Sponso et Sponsa and the
prayers after the Pater and communion may be added.
Although the common law of the Church prescribes
that the nuptial blessing shall not be given out of Mass, in
MINISTER, MATTER, AND FORM OF MATRIMONY 275
England we may follow our Ritual, which says that it
should not be omitted even if Mass is not said, until this
privilege is specially revoked by competent authority.
Note. — From the rubrics of the Roman Ritual and
from several decrees of the S. C. of Rites, it is manifest
that the nuptial blessing is not to be given except during
Mass. Thus that Congregation declared (June 23, 1853),
" Benedictionem nuptialem juxta rubricas non esse imper-
tiendam nisi in Missa." Still more recently (June 30,
1896) the same prohibition was repeated. (See Decreta
Authentica, n. 3922.) However, an apostolic indult has
sometimes been granted, allowing the nuptial blessing to
be given outside of Mass. The province of Quebec re-
ceived this faculty in 1865, and according to our author
England possesses a similar privilege; In the United
States there is no such indult or legitimate custom.
A question has been proposed, whether there is a strict
obligation in the United States of imparting the nuptial
blessing (when the rubrics permit) and therefore of hav-
ing Mass celebrated on the occasion. Some authors hold
the strict obligation, though not sub gravi. Tanquerey
(De Matrimonio, n. 47) says: " Juxta communem sententiam,
Missa cum benedictione nuptiali de prcecepto est, non de
mero consilio, nisi rationabilis causa excusat. Probabilius
I a wen non obligat sub mortali, ut recte docet St. Alphonsus
(n. 988)." It is difficult at present to hold any obligation
of this sort, either sub gravi or sub veniali. The S.C.
of Rites issued a general decree on votive masses (June
30, 1896), declaring: " Benedictio enim nuptiarum in
missali positd, si sponsi earn petierint, (ceterum ad earn
non adigendi, bene tamen adhortandi) ab ipsa Missa
276 MARRIAGE
pro Sponso et Sponsa abstrahi nunquam potest, sed infra
earn omnino debet fieri." (Cf. Deer. Auth. de Missa pro
Sponsis, n. 3922.) From the parenthetical clause of the
decree it is clear that parties are not to be compelled on
the occasion of their marriage to have Mass along with
the nuptial blessing. The Fathers of the Third Plenary
Council of Baltimore (n. 125) are indeed very strong and
rightly so in urging the pastors to inculcate the practice
of having Mass and the nuptial blessing. "Frequenter
et gravibus verbis inculcent pium ilium et laudabilem Ec-
clesice ritum, quo fideles non noctu sed Missce tempore cum
benedictione nuptiali contrahant. Qua ratione fidem suam
Catholicam tacite profitentur et coram omnibus ostendunt
quam alte, ut decet, ac splendide de Matrimonii dignitate
ac sanctitate sentiant. Et hoc quidem non solum laude
dignum sed fere necessarium videtur nostris hisce temporibus
quando nihil intentatum relinquunt religionis hostes, ut
matrimonio omnis sanctitatis, omnis sacramenti species,
si fieri potest, adimetur et quasi merus contractus civilis
cestimetur. — End of Note.
In England the State does not acknowledge Catholic
marriages unless they are celebrated in presence of a reg-
istrar and in a building registered for marriages. A priest
who solemnized marriage otherwise would be liable to
severe punishment as a felon. Due notice of a marriage
must also be given to the superintendent registrar of
the district or districts in which the parties reside. The
marriage can not take place without the registrar's cer-
tificate, which can not be granted before the expiration of
twenty-one days after the notice has been entered, if
the marriage is to be without license, or of one day if it is
MINISTER, MATTER, AND FORM OF MATRIMONY 277
to be with license. These and other laws which the civil
authority has imposed on Catholic marriages should be
observed in order that the marriages of Catholics may
be recognized by the law of the land, and to avoid greater
evil. The Nonconformist Marriage Act of 1899 enabled
Nonconformists to dispense with the presence of the reg-
istrar, but its onerous conditions prevented the Catholic
bishops from accepting it.
CHAPTER VII
THE PROPERTIES OF MARRIAGE
1. Unity and indissolubility are the properties or
peculiar qualities of marriage which we have to discuss
in this chapter. Its unity consists in its being a contract
in which the parties are necessarily one man and one
woman. If several men have one and the same wife at
the same time, we have polyandry,, which is contrary to
the law of nature, for it prevents the natural increase
of the human race, makes domestic life almost impossible,
and on account of the uncertainty of paternity renders
the proper education of the children who are born very
difficult. If one man has several wives at the same time,
there is polygamy, which is certainly less in keeping with
man's nature than monogamy. Polygamy degrades woman,
destroys that equality which in regard to marriage rights
should exist between the sexes, and makes it difficult for
peace and harmony to reign in the family. It is certainly
against the positive divine law, promulgated anew by
Christ our Lord, and obligatory on all men after the preach-
ing of the Gospel. The Council of Trent anathematized
him who should say that it is lawful for Christians to have
several wives and that this is not forbidden by divine law.1
2. Marriage is also indissoluble, at least by divine law,
so that no human power can dissolve a marriage once
1 Sess. xxiv, c. 2.
278
THE PROPERTIES OF MARRIAGE 279
validly contracted; "What God hath joined together
let no man put asunder." l This text has the strictest
application to the consummated marriage of baptized
Christians which can only be dissolved by divine authority.
The Pope can for a grave reason dispense in the ratified
but not consummated marriage of a Christian; ratified
marriage is also dissolved by religious profession of solemn
vows; and there is the case of the Pauline privilege.
a. The Pope not unfrequently uses the power given to
him by Our Lord to dissolve the merely ratified marriage
of Catholics for some grave reason. A probable suspicion
of impotence in one of the parties, and a serious quarrel
which leaves no hope of reconciliation, have been held
sufficient causes for granting a dispensation from a ratifiec
marriage. As the Pope has no jurisdiction over non-
baptized persons, he can not exercise his authority to dis-
solve their marriages. But if a non-baptized married
couple were converted to the Faith, the Pope would have
power to dissolve their marriage if it had not been consum-
mated after Baptism, for even if it had been consummated
before Baptism it would only rank as a ratified marriage.
By authority of the Holy See a baptized pagan who had
several wives is sometimes permitted to keep any one of
them who may be converted with him, if the first is un-
willing to become a Christian. Similarly, a married pagan
converted in circumstances which render it impossible
to interpellate the other party is sometimes allowed by
Papal dispensation to contract another marriage with
a Catholic.
b. Solemn profession in a Religious Order with solemn
vows annuls a previously existing ratified marriage by
1 Matt. xix. 6.
280 MARRIAGE
ecclesiastical law. Mere entrance into religion and even
profession of simple vows in Orders that have solemn
vows is not sufficient. By ecclesiastical law a period of
two months is granted after marriage, during which there
is no obligation to render the debt, in order that either
of the parties may use his privilege of entering religion.
c. The consummated marriage of two pagans may be
dissolved by the Pauline privilege if one of them is con-
verted to the Faith, and the other will neither be converted
nor live at peace without trying to draw the convert to
sin. It is in this sense that the Church interprets the
words of St. Paul: "But if the unbeliever depart, let him
depart. For a brother or sister is not under servitude
in such cases. But God hath called us in peace." '
The marriage is not dissolved by the Baptism of one of
the parties, but if the conditions mentioned above are
verified the convert after Baptism may contract a second
marriage with a Christian, and by this marriage the former
is dissolved. In order that it may be known whether
the other party is willing to be converted or at least to
live at peace with the convert, he must be interpellated
by the bishop or by his authority. Both interpellations
are required, and more probably they are necessary for
the validity of the second marriage, unless a dispensation
from them is obtained from the Holy See. Thus in a
case of insanity of the other party, a dispensation from
the interpellations was granted, and in countries where
Christians were forbidden to live with Jews, only one
interpellation was put, " Whether the other party was
willing to be converted to the Faith," and if a negative
answer was given, the convert was free to marry again.
1 1 Cor. vii. 15.
THE PROPERTIES OF MABRIAGE 281
3. Although the marriage bond is in general indissoluble
according to Catholic teaching, yet for good cause married
people may separate either perpetually or at any rate for
a time. They may do this by mutual consent if there is
no danger of incontinence, in order to lead a more perfect
life in religion or sacred Orders; and for a time for less
serious reasons, as for the sake of trade or travel. Serious
danger to body or soul from brutal violence or infectious
disease like syphilis, or from heresy or apostasy committed
after marriage, is sufficient to justify separation as long
as the danger lasts. Finally, the innocent party may
separate from the other on account of adultery, perfect,
consummated, and not condoned explicitly or implicitly
by rendering marital rights after knowledge of the crime.
Our Lord Himself permits separation for this breach of
the marriage compact, and if the crime is certain and
notorious the separation may be effected by private
authority. In case of doubt or when there is danger of
scandal because the adultery is secret, the authority of
the ecclesiastical judge should be invoked. Separation
is allowed to the innocent party; it is not of obligation,
and as a rule the confessor will do well to try his best to
bring about forgiveness and reconciliation. If both parties
commit adultery, there is mutual compensation and neither
has the right to separate from the other.
4. Although questions concerning divorce and the sep-
aration of married people belong of right to the ecclesi-
astical court, in most modern States the civil authority
claims and exercises jurisdiction in these mat'ters. May
Catholics take their marriage cases to the civil courts,
and may Catholic judges and Catholic lawyers lend their
aid in deciding them? No answer can be given to these
282 MARRIAGE
questions which wil] apply to all countries and circum-
stances. In some countries Catholics can still have their
rights safeguarded by recurring to the ecclesiastical courts,
and there is no reason why they should carry their matri-
monial suits to the civil tribunals. In England and in
the United States the Church tacitly or explicitly permits
Catholics to apply to the civil courts at least for a judicial
separation. Before doing so they should put their case
before the ecclesiastical authorities, and this is prescribed
under liability to penalties by the Third Plenary Council
of Baltimore.1
Note. — The portion of the decree here referred to is
as follows: "lis omnibus, qui matrimonio conjuncti sunt,
prcecipimus, ne inconsulta auctoritate ecclesiastica, tribu-
nalia civilia adeant ad obtinendam separationem a thoro
et mensa. Quod si quis attentaverit, sciat se gravem reatum
incurrere et pro Episcopi judicio puniendum esse." What
is precisely meant by the clause, inconsulta auctoritate
ecclesiastica, is not quite evident. Does it signify that
before suing for a judicial separation in the civil court
a person is required to consult the bishop or would he
sufficiently comply with the tenor of this clause by con-
sulting his own pastor? It is certain that pastors have
not, strictly speaking, from their office any authority
in foro externo regarding matrimonial cases, these being
reserved to the ordinary; and therefore it might seem
insufficient to refer such a question to the pastor alone.
On the other hand, a bishop might delegate a pastor as
judge of the sufficiency of cause of a parishioner for seeking
a separation, so that the latter after receiving a favorable
1 n. 126; S.O. December 19, 1860.
THE PROPERTIES OF MARRIAGE 283
opinion might licitly apply to the divorce court. Perhaps
it may be held that the ecclesiastical authority required
to be consulted according to the decree was not intended
to be confined to the bishop or to a priest specially
delegated by him, but may be understood of any pastor
or assistant regarding his parishioners without any special
delegation by the bishop. It would appear that the
term ecclesiastical authority, may fairly be interpreted
in the wider sense, so long as the bishop does not reserve
to himself the power of giving permission to apply to the
divorce court. Practically a priest, pastor, or assistant
is justified in following the recognized usage of his diocese
in this matter, since such usage implies episcopal sanction.
The writer of this note once had occasion to refer to the
bishop a person who for good reason wanted to procure
a legal separation from her husband. It was the opinion
of the bishop expressed on that occasion that the priest
could have given the permission without reference to the
ordinary. To-day, when the number of divorce suits is
largely on the increase, it would be difficult for the bishop
to judge personally or through his matrimonial court all
the cases of the kind which might be presented. Hence
perhaps many of the bishops are content, as in the instance
given, to leave the decision to the pastor or assistant. —
End of Note.
With regard to divorce cases, Catholics in England
and in the United States may have recourse to the
civil courts in order to obtain a declaration of nullity
when a marriage has already been declared invalid or
annulled by the ecclesiastical authorities. They may not
go to the civil courts in order to obtain dissolution of
284 MARRIAGE
a valid marriage with the intention of marrying again.
This is obvious from what has been said above. There
is a difficulty as to whether a Catholic may petition for
a divorce in the civil courts, not with the intention of con-
sidering the marriage dissolved and marrying again, but
in order to obtain the civil advantages annexed to divorce,
such as a change of marriage settlements or release from
the obligation of supporting his wife's child by another
man. The question is disputed among theologians, but
as the law in English-speaking countries does not express
hostility to religion and does not affect to touch the con-
science but only the external relations of the citizens,
the better opinion is that Catholics for good cause may
petition even for divorce in the civil courts, with the in-
tention of using only the civil advantages that follow from
it. A consequence of this is that Catholic lawyers and
judges may for grave reasons undertake these cases in
the civil courts. For greater safety and to show their
submission to the Church they should ask the leave of
the bishop.
CHAPTER VIII
THE IMPEDIMENTS OF MARRIAGE IN GENERAL
1. The impediments of marriage are certain conditions
or circumstances which prevent marriage between the
persons whom they affect. Some have their origin in
natural and divine law, as the impediment of previous
marriage, which as long as it lasts prevents a second
marriage; others have their origin in ecclesiastical- law,
like that of public decency. Some prevent marriage
being lawfully contracted and are called prohibitory,
though a marriage contracted in spite of them is valid;
others are diriment impediments and where they exist
prevent marriage being validly contracted; but if they
arise after marriage has already been contracted they
can not make it null and void.
. Diriment impediments are, in general, annulling laws
which for the common good make the parties affected
incapable of contracting a valid marriage, and render the
act null and void if marriage is attempted in spite of them.
Such laws remain in force in spite of ignorance or fear,
and so as a general rule a marriage contracted in ignorance
of a diriment impediment which exists between the parties
is null and void in spite of the ignorance. In the same
way private inconvenience does not make a diriment im-
pediment cease to bind, but if the law can not be observed
without causing public harm and inconvenience, then it
285
286 MARRIAGE
ceases to be of obligation. Thus, if illness prevents one
of the parties from going to be married in the Church on
the day appointed, he is not justified in contracting mar-
riage privately at home ; but if all the priests of a country
are driven out, as were those of France in the Revolution,
marriage may be contracted without the presence of the
parish priest.
2. The impediments of natural and divine law bind all
men, whether infidels or Christians, and so a marriage be-
tween parent and child is always and everywhere null and
void. The civil authority more probably has power to
make impediments of marriage which will bind its non-
baptized subjects, but the Church alone has power to make
impediments for Christians who have been baptized.1 All
baptized persons, whether Catholics or heretics or schis-
matics, are subject to the diriment impediments of marriage
unless they have been specially exempted from them. For
all who are baptized thereby become members of the
Church of Christ and subject to the jurisdiction of the
divinely constituted head of that Church. The Supreme
Pontiff, then, has power to bind all who are baptized by
those impediments of marriage which are of ecclesiastical
origin. Neither the practice of Rome nor the express
declarations of the Popes afford any ground for the opinion
that it is not the Church's intention to bind heretics and
schismatics by the diriment impediments of marriage.
Especially since the time of Benedict XIV many cases have
been decided of marriage contracted between non-Catholics
being declared null and void on account of some impedi-
ment of ecclesiastical origin. The general principle is
clearly stated in the answer of the Sacred Congregation of
1 Leo XIII Encyc. Arcanum, February 10, 1880.
IMPEDIMENTS OF MARRIAGE IN GENERAL 287
the Council to the bishop of Rosenau, August 20, 1780.
" But, you say, because heretics in Hungary marry among
themselves even within the prohibited degrees in virtue only
of royal permission, I may well be asked what is to be said
about the validity of such marriages. The answer is that
unless a lawful dispensation of the Church by whose au-
thority those impediments were introduced is obtained for
them, the declaration of Benedict XIV clearly decides that
those marriages are invalid. For it lays down that in
Holland marriages between heretics are to be held as valid,
even though the form prescribed by the Council of Trent
was not observed in solemnizing them, provided that no
other canonical impediment stood in the way; and this
exception shows clearly that if there be any other canonical
impediment, such as exists within the forbidden degrees
of kindred, those marriages are not valid."
According to the common opinion, then, marriages con-
tracted by baptized heretics and schismatics, when there
is a diriment impediment of ecclesiastical origin between
the parties, are invalid, though the impediment may not
be recognized in the sect to which they belong. Such mar-
riages, however, inasmuch as they are contracted in good
faith, are putative, and the children are legitimate.
CHAPTER IX
THE PROHIBITORY IMPEDIMENTS
There are four prohibitory impediments of marriage
according to modern ecclesiastical law: the prohibition of
the Church, close time, betrothal, and simple vows. Some-
thing must be said on each of these.
1. The impediment called the Church's prohibition is
either special or general. A special prohibition of marriage
is issued by the parish priest, or the bishop, or the Pope,
when it has been found out that the proposed marriage will
violate the rights of a third party, or when a well-founded
suspicion arises that there is some impediment between
the parties. By a general prohibition is understood a law
of the Church which forbids marriage in the circumstances
but does not make it null and void if in spite of the prohibi-
tion it is contracted. Thus the Church forbids marriage
without banns ; it forbids clandestine and mixed marriages.
We have already treated of the law concerning banns, and
it will be more convenient to treat of mixed marriages
under the diriment impediment of disparity of worship.
Clandestinity, or marriage without the presence of the par-
ish priest and witnesses, is also a diriment impediment,
to be treated of below, in places where the decree Tametsi
of the Council of Trent has been published. In Great
Britain and in the greater part of the United States of
America the decree Tametsi was never published, but
288
THE PROHIBITORY IMPEDIMENTS 289
clandestinity is now a diriment impediment of marriage in '
Great Britain and in the United States, as well as through-
out the Western Church, by virtue of the decree Ne temere,
August 2, 1907.
2. During close time, or the periods between the first
Sunday of Advent and the Epiphany, and from Ash
Wednesday to Low Sunday, the solemnization of marriage
is forbidden by the common law of the Church. The sol-
emnization of marriage consists especially of the Mass Pro
Sponso et Sponsa, the nuptial blessing, and outward pomp
and feasting in connection with the marriage. A simple
and private marriage without these solemnities during
close time is noj; against the common law, but in many
dioceses even such a marriage is forbidden by custom or
diocesan law without leave of the bishop.
3. Betrothal between two persons prevents the parties
from lawfully marrying any third party unless the be-
trothal is legitimately broken off. In other words, be-
trothal is a prohibitory impediment of marriage with any
other person than the betrothed, as we saw above.
4. There are several simple vows which are so many
prohibitory impediments of marriage.
A vow of chastity hinders marriage, for he who has taken
such a vow exposes himself to the danger of violating it if
he marries, or of depriving the other party of his marital
rights. Even after marriage has been contracted the
obligation of the vow remains, unless a dispensation is
obtained or the obligation of the vow is indirectly annulled
by the other party.
By a vow of virginity he who takes the vow promises
God that he will not commit a consummated sin against
chastity. He will sin, therefore, by marrying, because he
290 MARK I AGE
exposes himself to the danger of breaking his vow or of
defrauding the other party of his rights. If by a consum-
mated sin against chastity his virginity has been destroyed,
the vow can no longer be observed, and ceases.
The same rules hold with regard to a vow of celibacy
which is violated by marriage, but after marriage has been
contracted no further obligation remains.
Chastity, virginity, and celibacy are loosely used one
for the other, and if a case arose in the confessional the in-
tention of the penitent would have to be inquired into in
order to discover what obligation he wished to take upon
himself by his vow.
One who has vowed to receive sacred Orders would
commit sin by marrying, for by marriage the other
party obtains rights which are incompatible with the ob-
servance of the vow. He is bound to ask the other party's
leave to receive Orders, and if it is refused he may use
his marriage rights. The obligation of the vow will then
ordinarily cease as being impossible of fulfilment, though
per se it is only suspended, and revives on the death
of the other party, or in case of his loss of marital
rights.
Similarly, one who has taken a vow to enter religion
commits sin by marrying, as he makes the observance of
his vow difficult or impossible. Before consummating
marriage he is still bound by his vow if it bound him to
enter a Religious Order in the strict sense. After marriage
has been consummated he may use his marital rights, and
the vow usually ceases on account of impossibility of
observance.
5. The power of dispensing from the impediments of
clandestinity, solemnization of marriage during close time,
THE PROHIBITORY IMPEDIMENTS 291
trie vow of entering religion with solemn vows, and the proof
of liber status when it is not altogether certain, is reserved
to the Holy See. By the common law a dispensation from
the impediment arising from a vow of perpetual and perfect
chastity, and from mixed marriage, can only be obtained
from the Holy See, but in England and in the United
States the bishops have authority to dispense from both by
virtue of special faculties.
Bishops can also dispense in banns, and in vows that hin-
der marriage and are not reserved to the Pope. Regular
and secular confessors have specially delegated faculties
for dispensing in vows that are not reserved.
Note. — In the United States the bishops have in Article
4, Form I, the faculty " Dispensandi et commutandi vota
simplicia in alia pia opera, et dispensandi ex rationabih
causa in votis simplicibus castitatis et religionist By this
faculty the bishops have power to dispense in vows, even
in those that arc set down as reserved to the Sovereign
Pontiff, such as the vow of perpetual chastity and the vow
of entering a Religious Order with solemn vows. They
arc not, however, empowered to dispense from the three
religious vows taken in an Order or congregation whose
institute has been approved by the Holy See ; but the bishop
can dispense in those vows when the institute is not so
approved. The bishops are accustomed to communicate
the faculty of Article 4 in an ample manner. The only
restriction \n the archdiocese of St. Louis is: " Exceptis
tamen Us (votis) quce emittuntur in societatibus religiosis sire
virorum sive midierum in Nostra Diocesi existentibus" The
reader will find in Putzer's " Commentary on the Apostolic
Faculties " a detailed explanation of the extent of the faculty
292 MARRIAGE
in Article 4, as well as of the manner in which according
to the practice of the Holy See it ought to be exercisecL
(n. 106-110.) — End of Note.
CHAPTER X
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS
Article I
Impotence
1. Impotence is the incapacity to have carnal inter-
course such as is required for the procreation of children.
It is absolute if the incapacity extends to all persons of the
other sex, otherwise it is relative. Temporary impotence
exists only for a time and may be cured by lapse of time or
by some lawful operation which does not endanger life;
perpetual impotence lasts for life. It is antecedent if it
precedes marriage, otherwise it is subsequent.
2. Antecedent and perpetual impotence annuls mar-
riage by the law of nature, for the matter of the marriage
contract is in that case impossible. This is true whether
the impotence be absolute or only relative, but in the former
case marriage is out of the question, while in the latter a
valid marriage may be contracted with some one else,
though it is impossible with a person with respect to whom
the party is impotent. Subsequent impotence, which has
supervened on marriage, can not, of course, annul the mar-
riage already contracted, but if it is altogether certain it
makes the use of marriage unlawful.
This, however, is not to be lightly presumed, for the right
293
294 MARRIAGE
is in possession, and for its lawful exercise it suffices if there
be any probability of its not being impossible.
Neither does antecedent but temporary impotence annul .
marriage, for a contract is valid if the matter is possible or
by using ordinary means can be made possible.
When it is doubtful whether a spouse is impotent or not
the decision must be in favor of the validity of the marriage,
and since all such questions belong to the forum externum,
they fall under the cognizance of the bishop, nor can they
be settled by the confessor.
3. Mere barrenness or sterility is not impotence, nor does
it make marriage impossible or unlawful. There is a con-
troversy among experts as to whether removal of the ovaries
or of the womb or of both organs makes a woman impotent
or only sterile. The decisions which have been given by
the Roman Congregations in particular cases are quoted
in defence of both opinions, and as yet no general solution
of the question has been given. Until this happens, a
woman who has undergone such operations should not
marry without consulting the bishop, but if she is already
married the more favorable opinion should be followed.
This impediment is recognized by English law.
Note. — Impotence is also recognized by the civil law
of the United States. Keezer, in his " Treatise on the Law
of Marriage and Divorce," published in 1906, says (n. 12),
" Incurable impotency at the time of the marriage and
existing at the time of filing the libel is a ground for annul-
ment." Again (in n. 160) we find the following: "The
incapacity of either party to consummate the marriage, by
reason of a defect of physical organization or infirmity, is
a cause of divorce from the bonds of matrimony. And by
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 295
the laws of some States, such a cause, existing at the time
of the marriage, renders the contract voidable, and it may
be declared ab initio by a sentence of nullity." In n. 164
the same writer says, "The impotency must exist at the
time of the marriage and be incurable in order to constitute
a ground for divorce or annulment." From these extracts
one may observe an agreement between the civil law in this
country and the natural law regarding this impediment.
Many States have passed laws regulating the time within
which actions for annulment of marriage on the ground of
impotence should be instituted. Regarding ecclesiastical
trials for impotence the reader may consult Smith's
"Marriage Process" (n. 182-195). — End of Note.
Article II
Age
Males under fourteen years of age and females under
twrelve are presumed to be physically incapable of procre-
ating children and not to have that maturity of judgment
which is requisite for entering the married state. The
Church has made them incapable of marrying by requiring
the age of fourteen complete in males and twelve complete
in females for the validity of marriage, unless, according
to the legal phrase, malice supplies for age. This means
that if it is proved to the satisfaction of the bishop that one
who has not yet reached the age of puberty, as it is called,
is nevertheless physically capable of procreating children,
he may contract a valid marriage. The age of puberty
varies according to race and climate; in northern latitudes
it is not reached till the age of about fifteen in girls and
seventeen or eighteen in boys. Even though the parties
296 MARRIAGE
may not yet be capable of having children, they may marry
validly if they are of the age required by the Church, though
it is desirable not to marry before full maturity. Those
who are not baptized are not subject to the ecclesiastical
impediment of age, but in this matter English law agrees
with canon law.
Article III
Previous Marriage
1. One who is already married can not validly contract
a second marriage unless the former bond is dissolved by
one of the means described above, or by the death of the
other spouse. Previous marriage, then, is a diriment im-
pediment of a second marriage as long as it subsists, by the
law of nature and by positive divine law. This impediment,
therefore, binds all men, whether Christian or heathen.
It is not lawful for one who has been married before to
contract a second marriage, unless there is certain proof
that the first marriage has been dissolved by lawful au-
thority or by the death of the former spouse.
If the decease is proved by a certificate of death or
some similar authentic document, or by two witnesses who
are above suspicion, or by any other legitimate means, the
parish priest may allow the second marriage. If, however,
there is no certain proof to be had, and it is doubtful whether
the party in question is free to marry, the case must be
referred to the bishop, who will investigate the circum-
stances, and if any prudent doubt remain he will not allow
the second marriage without consulting the Holy See.
Sometimes in special circumstances the Pope allows a
second marriage, even when strict proof of the death of the
former spouse is not obtainable, as he did in the case of
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 297
the wives of the Italian soldiers who perished in the battle
of Adoua.1
2. If a person has unlawfully contracted a second mar-
riage without the necessary certainty concerning the death
of a fori 1 km- spouse, it does not follow that the second mar-
riage is invalid, and that the parties must separate. If
there is only slight doubt about the death of the former
spouse, after making fruitless inquiries, the parties may live
together as man and wife. If only one of the parties is
in bad faith and is not certain of the death of a former
spouse, while the other knows nothing of the difficulty,
he should render the marriage debt, but he has no right to
ask it as long as he remains in bad faith. If both parties
are in bad faith, they can not lawfully use marriage as long
as they are in that ♦ state. Inquiries should be made,
and if probable reasons can be discovered for thinking that
the former partner is dead, they may use marriage, accord-
ing to a probable opinion. For even in this case the mar-
riage has been contracted, it is probably valid, and it is not
certain that any one else has a prior right, so the parties
should be allowed to use it. If the second marriage was
contracted in good faith, and a doubt about the death of a
former spouse arises subsequently, inquiries should be made,
and if they are fruitless the parties may live as man and
wife. Of course, in all cases when it is found out for certain
that a former spouse is alive, the second marriage is in-
valid, and the parties must separate, or at any rate must
not live as man and wife together.
English law enforces this impediment, but if a former
spouse has not been heard of for seven years or more, it
will not punish the other party as guilty of bigamy if he
1 S.O. July 20, 1898.
298 MARRIAGE
marries a second time, although he must separate if tb^
former spouse appear subsequently.
Note. — Generally, according to United States law, a
second marriage is invalid unless the first has been
dissolved by death, or by a valid decree of divorce, and
the dissolution takes place before the second marriage.
Hence bigamy is committed if a person legally married mar-
ries another during the life of his or her consort, not having
procured a divorce. Many States have made laws so that
if the husband or wife be absent for a period of years and
be unheard of during that time, the other party marrying
again will not be liable to prosecution for bigamy; also,
when husband or wife by a former marriage has been sen-
tenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary for life, the
other party will not be prosecuted for marrying again.
— End of Note.
Article IV
Consanguinity
1. Consanguinity is the bond of relationship by blood
existing between those who are descended by carnal genera-
tion from one and the same near stock. The relationship,
therefore, arises from community of blood derived from a
common and not too remote ancestor. That common an-
cestor is called the stock; the distance in descent between
one person and the other is called the degree of relationship ;
and the series of persons who descend from the same stock
is called the line, which is direct if they descend from one
another, otherwise it is collateral. The degrees are equal
in the collateral line if the persons are equally distant from
the common stock ; otherwise they are unequal.
It is immaterial whether both parents of the common
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 299
stock arc the same or only one, and whether the birth be
legitimate or not.
The method of computing the degrees differs somewhat
in canon law from that adopted by modern English civil
law, which here follows the Roman civil law. The following
are the rules for reckoning the degree of relationship accord-
ing to canon law which is followed in moral theology :
a. To find the degree of relationship in the direct line,
count the persons, leaving out the common stock.
b. In the collateral line, when the degrees are equal, count
the persons in one of the lines of descent, leaving out the
common stock.
c. When the degrees are unequal, count the longer line,
leaving out the common stock in the same way, and add
the number of persons in the shorter line. Thus, an uncle
and niece are related in the second degree, touching the
first, or mixed with the first.
According to the English method of computation, which
is also followed in most States of the Union, all the persons
are counted both in the direct and collateral lines, leaving
out the common stock. According to this method, an uncle
and niece are in the third degree.
Consanguinity in the first degree of the direct line annuls
marriage by the natural law ; and in further degrees indefi-
nitely, but more probably only by ecclesiastical law. In
the collateral line it is disputed whether consanguinity in
the first degree annuls marriage by the law of nature or not ;
it certainly does so to the fourth degree by ecclesiastical law.1
This impediment, therefore, is partly of natural, partly of
ecclesiastical lawT, and although in the more remote de-
grees of both the direct and collateral line it does not bind
1 Council of Lat. 4 (1215).
300 MARRIAGE
those who arc not baptized, yet even among them there is
a natural bond in blood relationship which after Baptism
becomes a diriment impediment of marriage within the
prohibited degrees. One who is baptized is subject to the
laws of the Church, and can not, without the necessary dis-
pensation, many a relation within the forbidden degrees,
even if the latter is not baptized.
English law follows in this matter that of Leviticus,
and according to its method of computation consanguinity
is a diriment impediment of marriage to the third degree
inclusive, but not beyond. Thus an uncle can not marry
a niece, but two cousins may marry, by English law.
Note. — The United States law regarding the impedi-
ment of consanguinity follows somewhat the English law.
But in some States first cousins are forbidden to marry.
This is so in the following States : Arizona, Arkansas, Colo-
rado, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North
Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsyl-
vania, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. There are a
few States, such as Indiana and Washington, which pro-
hibit marriage to those who are more closely related by
blood than second cousins. (See Schouler's " Domestic
Relations," sec. 16.) — End of Note.
2. The impediment of consanguinity may be multiple
from various causes.
a. If two near relations marry, their offspring will be
related in several different ways :
A = B
I i
E = F
f/\{
k L
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 301
Iii this scheme K and L are cousins descended from the
common stock E=b\ and so they arc in the second degree
in the collateral line. Both K and L are also descended
from A = B through E and through F. On this account
they are in double fourth degree of relationship. Thus
then4 is a threefold relationship between them, and if a dis-
pensation were required for K to marry L, mention should
be made of this fact.
b. Similar results will follow if two relatives marry two
relatives :
A B
I I
G H
«
In this scheme G and H are descended from both A and B,
and they are in double second degree of relationship.
c. Similarly , if one man successively marries two who
are related to each other:
A .
I I
E F
I I
G H
G and H are in the second degree from the common stock D,
and in the third from the common stock A. D is sup-
posed to marry his deceased wife's sister.
Article V
Affinity
1. Affinity is the relationship which one contracts with
the relatives by blood of a person with whom he has
carnal intercourse. For by complete carnal intercourse
the parties become " one flesh " and the4 blood relatives of
one become related to the other.
302 MARRIAGE
It has its origin in positive ecclesiastical law with regard
to the collateral line and more probably also in the direct
line. It may arise from lawful carnal intercourse in mar-
riage, and then it extends to the fourth degree, or from un-
lawful intercourse, and in that case the Council of Trent
restricted it to the first and second degree. The degrees
in affinity with the husband are the same as the degrees of
consanguinity with the wife and vice versa.
2. Although the impediment of affinity has its origin in
ecclesiastical law and therefore it does not bind those who
are not baptized, yet a certain natural bond corresponding
in some sense with affinity arises from carnal intercourse
even among the non-baptized. If a non-baptized person
is received into the Church, this natural bond becomes
the impediment of affinity, so that a pagan who had a
pagan wife and who is converted to the Faith can not
without dispensation many any of the relations of his
dead wife within the fourth degree.
As this impediment is of ecclesiastical origin, the Church
can dispense from it, but she does not dispense in affinity
in the first degree in the direct line arising from lawful
carnal intercourse, and but seldom in the same degree when
it arises from unlawful intercourse, and then the following
clause is inserted in the dispensation, "Provided that
the woman was born before the unlawful intercourse took
place." In this way the danger of sanctioning a mar-
riage between parent and child is prevented.
Affinity may be multiplied like consanguinity by having
carnal intercourse with several who are related to each
other. A man who commits sin with three sisters con-
tracts a double affinity with each, and can marry none of
them without dispensation. Affinity, however, does not
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 303
generate affinity, so that two brothers may marry two sis-
ters, and a father and son may marry a mother and daughter.
3. A man who sins with the relatives of his wife in the
first or second degree contracts affinity with his wife.
This can not, of course, annul his marriage, but by ecclesias-
tical law it deprives him of the right to ask for the marriage
debt until he is dispensed ; but his wife may ask, as she is
not to be punished for his sin. This is a penal law, and the
penalty is not incurred by one who sinned in ignorance of
it, or under compulsion. Confessors usually have power
to grant the necessary dispensation.
English law only acknowledges affinity arising from
lawful intercourse between those who are married, and it
extends only to the same degrees, computed in the same
way, as does consanguinity.
Note. — There is a considerable number of States where
affinity is not recognized by civil law as an impediment of
marriage, such as Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado,
Florida, Idaho, and Illinois. — End of Note.
Article VI
Spiritual Relationship
1. Spiritual relationship arises by ecclesiastical law from
the administration of Baptism and Confirmation. Accord-
ing to modern discipline, it annuls marriage between the min-
ister of the sacrament and the recipient and his parents, and
also between the sponsors and the recipient and his parents.
As it has its origin in ecclesiastical law, it does not affect
those who are not baptized, and the impediment is doubtful
and consequently non-existent when Baptism is doubtful or
only probable. The impediment does not arise if Baptism
304 MARRIAGE
was administered privately without sponsors and afterward
the ceremonies with sponsors are supplied in the Church:
There is a twofold impediment if the same person is
sponsor both in Baptism and Confirmation, but there is
only one although the same person is sponsor in Baptism
or in Confirmation for several children of the same parents.
Article VII
Adoption
By adoption a person becomes in law the child of another,
though he is not such by nature. Legal adoption, accord-
ing to Roman law, was a diriment impediment of marriage
between certain parties, and in this matter the civil law
has been canonized by the law of the Church. It binds
only those who are baptized in as far as it is an ecclesias-
tical impediment of marriage, and only in three respects :
a. It annuls marriage between the adopter and the
adopted and those descendants of the latter who are under
his authority at the time of the adoption.
b. It annuls marriage between the adopted and the chil-
dren of the adopter as long as they are under his authority.
c. Finally, it annuls marriage between the adopter and
the widow of the adopted, and between the adopted and
the widow of the adopter.
Roman law, as such, is nowhere in force at present, but
wherever the law of the country makes provision for
adoption so that in essentials it resembles in this point the
Roman civil law, the Church canonizes it, and therefore
adoption is a diriment impediment of marriage between
the parties mentioned above. In England adoption exists
1 S.O. April 29, 1894.
THE DIMM EXT IMPEDIMENTS 30
r
as a private contract between the parties, but it is not other-
wise recognized by law, and so in England there is no room
for the impediment of marriage arising from legal adoption.
In' most of the States of the Union there seems to be a
form of adoption recognized by law sufficient to make it the
basis of the ecclesiastical impediment.1
Note. — Some of the most eminent theologians of the
United States, e.g., Keririck and Sabetti, held that the
canonical impediment of legal relationship or adoption had
no existence here. Their argument was that in this coun-
try there existed no perfect adoption from which alone this
impediment arises. The opinion can scarcely be main-
tained any longer, for there are some States in which at
present adoption, perfect in essentials, exists by statute law ;
and this is sufficient for the canonical impediment. There
is a declaration of the Holy Sec called "Instructio Austriaca,"
from which it is evident that, if the adoption be such as to
correspond in essentials to the . perfect adoption of the
Roman Law, there exists a diriment impediment. In n.
28 of that Instruction it is said: " Adoptio, qualis arro-
gationi seu adoptioni perfectce juris Romani quoad essentialia
respondet, secundum nunc vigentem Ecclesice praxim, matri-
monium dirimit." Cases may easily occur, in which it
may be doubted whether the requisites of perfect adoption
are present, when there is a statute prescribing certain
formalities. In such cases, .the safer method is to apply to
the Holy See with a description of the State law on adoption
and of the particular facts in each case. It is deserving of
notice that the bishops in the United States have no faculty
to enable them to dispense in this impediment, and conse-
quently, if a dispensation is to be sought, recourse must be
1 Smith, Marriage Process, n. 263,
306 MARRIAGE
had to the Holy See. Some States, such as Calif ornia, Iowa
Missouri, and Vermont, prescribe for adoption a written in-
strument only, duly executed and recorded ; while others,
like Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, require
a judicial decree. — End of Note.
Article VIII
Public Propriety
The impediment of public propriety arises by ecclesi-
astical law from valid and certain betrothal, and from
ratified, not consummated, marriage.
Before the Council of Trent public propriety arose in
the same way from betrothal or sponsalia de futuro, and
from ratified marriage or sponsalia de presenti, and ex-
tended to the fourth degree in both cases. The Council x
abrogated the impediment arising from invalid betrothal,
and restricted it, even when it arises from valid betrothal,
to the first degree in the direct and collateral lines. It
made no change in the law affecting public propriety
when it arises from ratified marriage, and therefore when
it arises from this source it still annuls marriage to the
fourth degree, and arises even from invalid marriage, pro-
vided that it is not invalid for want of consent.2 For if
there is no consent, the ground of the impediment is wanting,
that is, the union of minds, as that of affinity is union of
bodies, and that of consanguinity community of blood.
Another exception is that this impediment does not arise
from ratified marriage when it is invalid on account of
public propriety arising from previous betrothal with a
relative of the other party in the first degree.
1 Sess. xxiv, c. 3, de ref. Matr.
2 Pius V, Ad Romanian, July 1, 1568.
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 307
After the ratified marriage has been consummated, the
impediment of public propriety is absorbed in that of
affinity, and if a dispensation is required for a second mar-
riage of the widow or widower with a relation of the former
spouse, mention need not be made of public propriety,
but only of affinity. The impediment, of course, lasts
even though the betrothal or the marriage from which it
arose is dissolved, unless a dispensation is obtained from
the competent authority.
Article IX
Solemn Vows and Sacred Orders
1. A solemn vow of chastity, taken in a Religious Order,
strictly so called, or taken implicitly when sacred Orders
are received in the Latin Church, is a diriment impediment
of marriage by ecclesiastical law. This has long been
the practice of the Western Church, and it was solemnly
enunciated by the Council of Trent: "If any one saith
that clerics constituted in sacred Orders, or regulars who
have solemnly professed chastity, are able to contract
marriage, and that being contracted it is valid, notwith-
standing the ecclesiastical law or vow; and that the con-
trary is nothing else than to condemn marriage ; and that
all who do not feel that they have the gift of chastity,
even though they have made a vow thereof, may contract
marriage; let him be anathema: seeing that God refuses
not that gift to those who ask for it rightly, neither does
He suffer us to be tempted above that which we are able." l
In the Eastern Church marriage may be contracted
before receiving sacred Orders, and those who have married
1 Sess. xxiv, c. 9,
308 MARRIAGE
may use their marital rights after receiving sacred Orders,
but sacred Orders are a bar to contracting a new marriage.
This shows that sacred Orders, apart from the vow, which
in the Latin Church is taken when they are received, are
a diriment impediment of marriage. By a special privi-
lege, the simple vow of chastity taken by members of the
Society of Jesus at their first profession is also a diriment
impediment of marriage.
2. As this impediment owes its origin to ecclesiastical
lawT, the Church can dispense in it, but she seldom does
so except for grave reasons which concern the public weal.
Leo XIII granted bishops the faculty of dispensing, by
themselves or through some trusty ecclesiastic, the sick
who are in great danger of death so that there is not time
to have recourse to the Holy See, from all, even public,
impediments which annul marriage by ecclesiastical law,
except the priesthood and affinity in the direct line arising
out of the lawful use of marriage.1
Article X
Difference of Religion
When a man and woman marry, they enter upon the
closest possible union for mutual help and for the rearing
and education of a family. Religion should be at the
base of that union, and should furnish the fundamental
principles for the education of their' offspring. This,
however, is hardly possible if husband and wife profess
different religions, so that the very nature of marriage
excludes difference of religion in husband and wife. If
both the parties are baptized Christians, but only one is
1 S.O. February 20, 1888.
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 309
a Catholic, difference of religion is only a prohibitory
impediment; if one of the parties is not baptized, it con-
stitutes a diriment impediment. The first is commonly
called a mixed marriage, and we will devote to it the fol-
lowing section.
Section I
Mixed Marriages
1. Mixed marriages are forbidden by the natural, divine,
and ecclesiastical law. For the parties are ministers to
each other of the; sacrament of Marriage; but it is unlawful
for a Catholic without grave necessity to communicate in
religious rites with a non-Catholic, and to receive a sacra-
ment from him. Besides, it usually happens that in marry-
ing a non-Catholic the Catholic party exposes himself to
the danger of either losing his faith altogether, or at least
of suffering its purity and brightness to be tarnished.
The Church has forbidden mixed marriages from the ear-
liest ages, and the Popes and bishops have issued innumer-
able instructions and warnings against them. It is with-
out doubt a grave sin to contract a mixed marriage without
a dispensation, and the Church shows her detestation of
it by prohibiting any religious function at the marriage,
even when a dispensation for it has been obtained.
2. However, in countries where Catholics and non-
Catholics live together, and especially if the latter greatly
outnumber the former, as they do in Great Britain and
in the United States, it is almost impossible to avoid
mixed marriages sometimes, and the bishops receive au-
thority from the Holy Sec to grant the necessary dispen-
sation. Certain conditions must be fulfilled before the
310 MARRIAGE
bishops can lawfully exercise their faculty of dispensing.
In the first place, there must be a grave canonical cause,
or a good reason such as the Church recognizes to be suf-
ficient for a dispensation in this matter. In order to re-
move as far as possible the danger connected with mixed
marriages, the Church requires that the non-Catholic party
shall promise to leave the Catholic the free exercise of his
religion, and that both parties promise to bring up all the
children in the Catholic faith. Moreover, the Catholic
party must undertake to do his best to bring about the
conversion of his spouse to the Catholic religion. The
necessity of these promises is founded in the natural and
divine law, and although the common law of the Church
does not demand that they be made in writing, this is fre-
quently required by diocesan law.
If one of the parties be a baptized Catholic but one who
has given up the practice of his religion without going over
to any heretical sect, there is no strict impediment to his
marrying a Catholic, but of course efforts should be made
for his conversion, and if he remain indifferent the bishop
should be consulted.
In England, when a dispensation has been obtained for
a mixed marriage, the bishops allow the priest to assist
at it at the altar rails vested in surplice and stole.
Note. — The practice in the United States is different
from that of England, the priest not wearing stole or sur-
plice, nor permitting the marriage to take place in the
Church. (See Putzer, n. 219.) The Second Plenary Coun-
cil of Baltimore (n. 334) says : " Meminerint insuper sacer-
dotes, pluribus SS. Pontificum decretis vetari, ne ullus sacer
ritus fiat, vet vestis sacra adhibeatur, dum faidera ejusinodi
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 311
ineuntur, quce neque intra ecclesiam ineunda sunt" The
priest, however, is not forbidden to wear the cassock and
biretta, because these pertain to his ordinary dress. — End
of Note.
The banns should be published, but without any allusion
to the difference of religion between the parties.
Note. — It is not the custom in the United States to
have the banns proclaimed for mixed marriages. Dr.
Heuser, in his book "The Parish Priest on Duty" (p. 136),
asks, "Arc the banns published in the case of mixed
marriages ?" The answer is, "No; because the Church
is not supposed to take notice of the marriage as a sacred
rite, although her minister attests it as a solemn mutual
contract involving rights and duties." This custom of
the United States is not contrary to the general practice
of the Church regarding mixed marriages. In the supple-
ment to the Roman Ritual for this country, under the
heading, "Modus assistendi matrimoniis mixtis" we find
the following (p. 12) : " In ineundis istiusmodi nuptiis,
1. Ecclesia ea generatim omittenda indixit, per quce Catholi-
corum matrimonia decorantur. Quoad proclamationes Banno-
rum, Sancta Sedes hisce postremis temporibus declaravit, illas
posse fieri in mixtis nuptiis qwv Apostolica dispensatione
contrahantur , suppressa lam en mentione Religionis con-
jugum: et solum quando ad detegenda si quce sint impedi-
menta, eas necessarias atque opportunas Ordinarius in
Domino censuerit." It may be noticed from these words
that the banns are not absolutely forbidden in mixed
marriages when the diversity of religion of the contract-
ing parties is not mentioned ; nor are they commanded — ■
" posse fieri in mixtis matrimoniis." But according to this
312 MARRIAGE
instruction they should only be employed when the ordi-
nary deems them necessary and opportune. — End of Note.
A sermon before or after the function is not prohibited.
Mass, however, should never be said nor the nuptial bless-
ing given at a mixed marriage.
The Church does not allow the Catholic party to go
through an}' marriage rite before a non-Catholic minister
acting as such. If the non-Catholic minister acts as a
civil magistrate, and Catholics are obliged to go through
the marriage ceremony in his presence in order to have
their marriages recognized by the State, it is permitted.
Section II
Difference of Religion
1. When one of the parties is a baptized Christian and
the other is not baptized, marriage is not only forbidden,
but is null and void by a universal custom of the Church,
which has the force of a general law. Such a marriage,
as is clear from St. Paul,1 has been unlawful from apostolic
times, but in the first centuries of the Christian era it was
not invalid, and there are several well-known instances
of saints being married to pagans. Gradually, however,
a marriage between a baptized Christian and a pagan
came to be looked upon as invalid, unless contracted in
virtue of the Church's dispensation, and this has been the
settled rule from about the beginning of the twelfth cen-
tury. As the impediment is of positive law it can, of course,
for grave reason be dispensed with, and then even the
apostolic prohibition will cease if the dangers which are
1 2 Cor. vi. 14.
THE DI RIM EXT IMPEDIMENTS 313
common to mixed marriages and to difference of religion
can be avoided.
2. Difficulties arise when the Baptism of one or of both
the parties is doubtful. According to the rule laid down
in many decrees of the Roman Congregations doubtful
Baptism with reference to marriage which is to be, or which
has been, contracted, is presumed to be valid. There-
fore marriage between one who is doubtfully baptized
and another who is certainly not baptized is invalid on
account of difference of religion. Marriage between two
persons is valid when there is doubt about the Baptism
of both or about its validity. Marriage is also valid when
one of the parties is certainly baptized and there is a doubt
about the Baptism of the other. In these cases it is the
better opinion that as the above rule is only founded on a
presumption, and this must yield to the truth, if afterward
it is discovered for certain that one who was thought to
be probably baptized was in fact never baptized, the mar-
riage will be valid or not according as the other party was
either not baptized or doubtfully or certainly baptized.
Gasparri, however, and others think that when marriage
has been contracted on the presumption of valid Baptism
in case of doubt, it is valid and remains so, even though
it is afterward discovered that the party in question was
never baptized or that his Baptism was invalid. But this
seems to be asserted on insufficient grounds.1
Article XI
Crime
By ecclesiastical law certain crimes committed by mar-
ried people which are specially opposed to the sanctity
1 Wernz, Jus Decret. iv, n. 508.
314 MABhIAGE
of marriage constitute a diriment impediment of a sec-
ond marriage. These crimes are: adultery together with
a promise of marriage or attempted marriage with the
adulterer, murder of a spouse with the machination of the
other party, adultery and murder of a spouse. In order
that these crimes may constitute a diriment impediment
of another marriage, certain conditions explicitly or im-
plicitly contained in canon law must be fulfilled. These
will be described in the following sections.
Section I
Adultery with Promise of Marriage
1. When husband or wife commits adultery with a third
person and promises to marry that person after the death
of the other spouse, the Church makes the adulterers
incapable of contracting a valid marriage even after the
first has been dissolved by death. The aim of the Church
is to protect married people, to guard the sanctity of
marriage, and to punish crime. A law, however, which re-
stricts the liberty of marriage must be strictly interpreted,
and so Doctors require the following conditions in the
adultery and in the promise in order that the impediment
may arise:
a. The adultery must be real, formal on both sides,
and complete. It must be real, or one at least of the
parties must be united in a true, valid marriage. That
fact must be known to both the adulterers, or else they
are not guilty of formal but merely material adultery.
If each party knows that the other is married and the other
conditions are verified, there will be a double impediment
between them. The adultery must be complete, so that
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 315
it would be possible for it to produce its natural result
in offspring.
b. The promise, too, must be real, not fictitious, accepted
by the promisee, absolute not conditional, made with
knowledge of the present marriage, and undertaking to
contract marriage after the death of the other spouse.
For one of the objects of the law is to remove the tempta-
tion to plot against the life of husband or wife.
Both the adultery and the promise must have place dur-
ing the continuance of the same marriage, but it is imma-
terial whether the promise be made before, after, or at
the same time as the adultery is committed.
2. This impediment of crime also exists between parties
who have committed adultery with each other and at-
tempted to marry during the lifetime of the spouse of one
of them. The adultery must have the same qualities as
in the preceding case, and the marriage must be really
and truly attempted, not merely feigned. It is imma-
terial whether the attempted marriage precede or succeed
the adultery. It is obvious that those will lie under this
impediment who, after a civil divorce from a spouse,
many again and consummate the attempted marriage.
Section II
Murder of a Consort
Murder by a man and a woman of the spouse of one
of them constitutes a diriment impediment to their mar-
riage. This impediment does not arise unless death really
ensues; attempted murder is not sufficient. Moreover,
the murder must be committed not by one of them alone,
even if the other afterward approve of it, but by both,
316 MARRIAGE
either by mutual physical help, or by moral persuasion of
some sort. Death must also be inflicted with the inten-
tion of marrying the other when free; as Doctors gather
from the end of the law, which is to prevent murder of a
consort with a view to marrying some one else. This
intention must at least be manifested in some way to the
other party, though it is not necessary that it should
openly actuate both of them to the perpetration of tho
crime.
Section III
Adultery and Murder
1. When a man and a woman commit adultery and one
of them murders his consort in order to marry his accom-
plice in adultery, the third impediment of crime arises be-
tween them and hinders the marriage. In this case there
need be no promise of future marriage, nor any attempt at
marriage, nor need the death be the result of the plotting
of both of the parties. It will be sufficient if the adultery
have the qualifications mentioned above in the first sec-
tion, and murder really be committed with the intention
of marriage manifested in some way, as by presents or by
love letters to the other party.
2. If to adultery and murder as just described there
be joined the promise of future marriage, and the plotting
of the death of the consort of one of the parties with the
conditions laid down in the previous sections, there will
be not one but three impediments, and if marriage were
actually attempted during the murdered consort's life,
there will be four. The impediment is purely of ecclesi-
astical law, and therefore it does not bind those who are
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 317
not baptized. If, however, one of the parties is baptized,
it will indirectly affect the other.
3. In the external forum ignorance of this impediment
of crime can not be effectively pleaded in favor of the va-
lidity of a marriage contracted in such ignorance. Igno-
rance of fact but not ignorance of law is admitted as an
excuse sometimes. However, in the internal forum it
is a probable; opinion defended by many Doctors that
ignorance of this impediment excuses the parties from
incurring it, and if marriage be contracted it will prob-
ably be valid. The reason is that this impediment differs
somewhat from the rest, in that it has more of the na-
ture of a penalty imposed on the delinquents than have
the other impediments. Moreover, the penalty inflicted
in punishment for crime, the incapacity to marry the
other party, is extraordinary and not such as could be
inferred from the nature of the crime, nor such as naturally
follows its perpetration. Therefore, according to the gen-
eral rule laid down in the treatise on Laws, ignorance will
probably excuse the parties from incurring this impedi-
ment in the tribunal of conscience. This opinion will
enable the confessor to allow guilty parties who make their
sin known to him in confession to live together after mar-
riage, but it will be safer to ask for a dispensation from
the occult impediment and convalidate the marriage.
If the crime becomes known to the confessor before mar-
riage, a dispensation should be got before the marriage
is contracted.
Note. — In the United States the bishops have the
faculty of dispensing in this impediment according to
Article 8, Form I: " Dispen$nndi «uper impedimentum
318 MARRIAGE
criminis, neutro tamen conjugum machinante, et restituendi
jus amissum petendi debitum." It is customary for the
bishops to subdelegate this faculty to the priests of their
respective dioceses. On the meaning of this faculty, see
Putzer, n. 124. Whatever restrictions may be placed re-
garding the exercise of this faculty can be generally found
in the pagella or diocesan statutes. — End of Note.
Article XII
Error, Slavery, Imbecility
1. By error is understood a mistaken judgment by which
one person or thing is taken for another. It differs from
ignorance, which is merely the absence of knowledge.
Error, if it is substantial, annuls marriage as it does other
contracts, by the law of nature itself. For a contract is
not valid unless there be an agreement of wills between
the contracting parties, and there can not be that agreement
if one of the parties is in error about the substance of the
contract. There will be such a substantial error when
there is a mistake about the person with whom marriage
is contracted. If A thinks he is marrying B and intends
to marry B, the marriage will be invalid if the other party
to the contract is C, not B. Sometimes a mistake about
the quality or rank of the other party may be substantial
and invalidate the marriage. Thus, if a woman thinks
she is marrying the eldest son of a peer, and only intends
to marry the eldest son, who she thinks is present, the mar-
riage will be null and void if the bridegroom is not the
eldest son of a peer. Ordinarily, however, a mistake
about the quality or condition of the other party will not
be substantial, and will not invalidate the contract. If
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 319
the lady intends to marry the person present who she
wrongly thinks is the eldest son, the marriage will be valid.
It is possible that there should be a substantial mistake
about the subject-matter of the contract of marriage.
Thus, if a woman thinks that marriage is a mere union of
friendship between the parties, and when she marries
does not intend to give her husband any right to have
children by her, the marriage is invalid. Mere ignorance
as to the way in which children are brought into the world
does not invalidate marriage.
2. If a freeman married a slave under the mistaken
belief that she was free, the marriage was null and void
by ecclesiastical law; if he married knowing the servile
condition of the other party, the marriage was valid. To
this extent the Church received the Roman legislation on
the marriage of slaves, according to which they could not
validly marry one that was free, and their marriages among
themselves were merely at the good will of their masters.
The law of the Church corrected what was inhuman in
the Roman civil law, and adopted its provisions as far
as they were in harmony with Christian principles. Now-
adays, of course, this impediment can scarcely be of practi-
cal importance in any part of the world.
3. Imbeciles who have not the use of reason are inca-
pable by the law of nature of contracting a valid marriage,
unless it is contracted in a lucid interval. If the loss of
reason supervenes on marriage which has been validly
contracted already, it can not of course annul the
marriage.
320 MARRIAGE
Article XIII
Violence and Fear
1. Violence is the onset of force too great to be resisted,
and fear is a perturbation of mind arising from present
or future danger. Here we treat of fear caused by ex-
trinsic violence, inasmuch as it is a diriment impediment
of marriage.
When marriage is contracted through grave fear, caused
unjustly by a free agent with a view to extorting marriage,
ecclesiastical law makes it null and void. Whether such
a marriage is invalid by natural law is a moot point among
Doctors. Fear may, indeed, sometimes be so excessive
that it takes away the use of reason, so that a man under
its influence does not know what he is doing. If a man
married under the influence of such terror, the marriage
would of course be invalid for want of consent. But com-
monly even grave fear does not produce such effects; a
man in danger of shipwreck or death knows as a rule what
he is doing, and if he marries in such circumstances, though
induced by fear to do so, the marriage will be valid. But
when he is unjustly forced by some one to marry against
his will, the injury done to him is a sufficient reason for
the Church to make the marriage null and void, even though
•
he knew what he was doing and consented to the marriage.
The only difference between this case and the former lies
in the injury inflicted by the fear caused by a free agent.
This, however, does not seem sufficient ground for assert-
ing the nullity of the contract by natural law, though
it affords a just reason why positive law should make it
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 321
invalid. The better opinion, then, seems to be that grave
fear is a diriment impediment of marriage by ecclesiastical
law when the fear is caused unjustly by some one with a
view to compelling the party to marry against his will.
Hence, if one who had violated a woman was threatened
with a beating and married her in order to escape it, the
marriage would be valid. Fear arising from reverence for
parents and superiors is in general not sufficiently serious
to make marriage contracted under its influence null and
void. In certain circumstances, however, such a fear may
become grave and sufficient to annul marriage. Much
depends on the character of the party who was influenced
by fear, and on the means employed to compel acquiescence
to the wishes of harsh and severe parents or guardians.
The question as to whether in any particular case there
was grave fear is a question of fact to be determined by
the ecclesiastical judge after weighing all the circumstances
of the case.
2. Although marriage has been contracted under the
influence of grave fear sufficient to render it invalid, the
marriage may afterward become valid if fear disappears,
and the party who was under its influence freely cohabits
with the other, and expresses matrimonial consent. In
this case it will not be necessary to repeat the external
solemnization of the marriage unless the impediment was
publicly known. It will be sufficient if the parties manifest
their consent to be man and wife privately when freed
from the influence of grave fear.
As may be gathered from what has already been said,
slight fear, such as any ordinarily constituted person can
despise, does not invalidate marriage, even when it is caused
unjustly with a view to extort marriage
322 MARRIAGE
Article XIV
Abduction
The Council of Trent1 made the following law: "The
Holy Synod ordains that no marriage can subsist be-
tween the abductor and her who is abducted so long as
she shall remain in the power of the abductor. But if
she that has been abducted, being separated from the ab-
ductor and being in a safe and free place, shall consent
to have him for her husband, the abductor may have her
for his wife." This decree made abduction a diriment
impediment of marriage, and in keeping with its tenor
the impediment may be defined as the violent abduction
of a woman from a place of safety to another place where
she is detained in the power of the abductor for the pur-
pose of marriage. In order to constitute the impediment
the abduction must be against the will of the woman,
whether it be effected by open violence, or threats, or fraud ;
for if she freely consent both to the abduction and to
marriage, we have elopement, not abduction. Consent
to both abduction and marriage is required, for the Council
made an abducted woman incapable of contracting a valid
marriage, as long as she is in the power of the abductor.
The woman, too, must be the abducted party; if a man
were forcibly carried off by the orders of a woman who
wished to marry him, this impediment would not arise.
It is a disputed point among Doctors as to whether the
impediment would arise if a man carried off his betrothed
by violence in order to marry her. The better opinion
is that the impediment would hinder the marriage, for
1 Scss. xxiv, c. 6, de ref. Matr.
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 32b
although betrothal gave the man a right to marry the
woman at the proper time, still it gave him no right to use
violence for the purpose.
The words in the definition "from a place of safety/
signify a place where the woman is not in the power of the
abductor, so that to give rise to the impediment the woman
must be taken from one place to another which is mor-
ally distinct, and where she is under the control of the
abductor. The abductor's aim must be to contract mar-
riage, not merely to satisfy his lust.
The impediment is of ecclesiastical law and lasts as long
as the person abdueted remains in the power of the
abductor, for, as the Council says, if the woman be restored
to her liberty and then freely chooses to have the abductor
for her husband, the impediment ceases.
The Council imposed the penalty of excommunication
on the abductor and on all who aid and abet him, besides
obliging him to give the woman a sufficient dower whether
he marry her or not.
Article XV
Clandestinity
1. A clandestine marriage is one that is contracted
without the solemnities which are prescribed by the Church,
so that a civil marriage before the registrar, a marriage
in private, and a marriage before a priest not duly au-
thorized to assist at it, are all clandestine marriages. Such
a marriage always was and is gravely sinful, because it
is forbidden by the Church on account of the great evils
which frequently are the consequence, and because mar-
riage is a sacrament and it should be received with fitting
324 MARRIAGE
solemnity in the Oharcli. Moreover, the Council of Trent
by the decree Tayaetsi l made clandestine marriages in-
valid in all places where the decree has been published
according to the directions therein laid down. These will
be best set forth in the words of the Council itself. The
Council says:
'And that these so wholesome injunctions may not be
unknown to any, it enjoins on all ordinaries that they
as soon as possible make it their care that this decree be
published and explained to the people in every parish
church of their respective dioceses; and that this be done
as often as may be during the first 3^ear, and afterward as
often as they shall judge it expedient. It ordains, more-
over, that this decree shall begin to be in force in each
parish at the expiration of thirty days, to be counted from
the day of its first publication made in the said parish."
2. This decree, then, differs from other ecclesiastical
laws, in that there is a special mode prescribed for its pro-
mulgation, and it does not bind anywhere unless it has been
thus promulgated, or at least unless it has been observed
in the place for a long time as the decree of the Council
of Trent. In order to obtain binding force in any place,
the decree must be published in the parish church by the
authority of the bishop, and it will begin to bind in the
parish thirty days after it was first promulgated. This
special mode of promulgation was adopted for the decree
in order that difficulties might not arise from it concern-
ing the marriages of heretics and schismatics. It was
foreseen that they would not receive it, and yet they would
be subject to it if it were promulgated in the ordinary way,
and that therefore their marriages would be null and void
1 Sess. xxiv, c. 1, de rof. Matr,
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 325
and their children illegitimate. In order to obviate these
difficulties the Council prescribed that the decree should
be published in each parish, so that the parishes which
had fallen away from the Church would not have it pro-
mulgated for them and would not be subject to it. There-
fore, as a general rule, the decree does not bind heretics
in places where at the time of its promulgation they had
separate churches and formed distinct religious bodies;
on the other hand, it binds all, both Catholics and Prot-
estants, if it has been published in a parish where the
latter did not at the time form a separate religious body.
Thus there are places where the decree has never been
published and where consequently it is not in force. Among
these places are England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden,
Denmark, most of the provinces of the United States of
America, and some cantons of Switzerland.
There are other countries where it has been promulgated
:n almost every parish, and in general binds all baptized
persons, whether Catholics or Protestants. Such places
are Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Austria, and Belgium.
There are other countries where marriages between
Catholics are subject to the decree, but not others. Among
these are Ireland, Holland, the German Empire, Russia,
Poland, Canada, Louisiana and Florida, Hungary, Bom-
bay, and Malabar.
As a general rule, where marriages between non-Catho-
lics are exempt from the decree, mixed marriages are also
exempt, and vice versa; but Malta is an exception, for by
a decree January 12, 1890, marriages contracted there
between non-Catholics are valid though clandestine, while
clandestine mixed marriages are invalid.
3. The conditions required for the validity of a marriage
326 MARRIAGE
which is subject to the decree Tametsi are that the marriage
must be solemnized in the presence of the parish priest of
one of the parties, or in the presence of some other priest
with the leave of the parish priest or of the ordinary, and
two or more witnesses. If the parties live in different
parishes, the parish priest of either place may assist at the
marriage validly, but by custom, and sometimes by dioce-
san law, the parish priest of the bride is to be preferred.
The priest who thus has the right to assist at a marriage
is the priest of the parish where the parties have their
domicil or quasi-domicil. A domicil is acquired in a parish
by actually living in it and by having the intention of
always living there unless called elsewhere. A quasi-
domicil is acquired by living in a parish and having the
intention of living there for the greater part of a year. By
a special decree of the Holy Office, May 6, 1886, Catholics
in the United States, who go from a place where the decree
Tametsi binds, to another place where it does not bind and
live there for one month, acquire thereby a quasi-domicil
for the purpose of marriage.
Note. — The privilege referred to by the author was
conveyed in the following terms: " Eminentissimi Inquisi-
tor'es Generates die 6 Maii 1886, re mature perpensa, sequens
ediderunt decretum: 'Concilia Baltimorensi postulante sup-
plicandum SSmo ut decernere dignetur in Statibus American
confederatis, se transferentes e loco, ubi viget caput Tametsi,
in ilium locum, dummodo ibi continuo commorati fuerint per
spatium saltern unius integri mensis, et status sui liber tatem,
uti juris est, comprobaverint, censendos esse ibidem habere
quasi-domicilium in or dine ad matrimonium, quin inquisitio
facienda sit de animo ibi per manendi per majorem anni
partem.' In audientia vera die 12 Maii 1886 referente R.P,D,
TUK DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 327
Josepho D'Annibale S. Officii adsessore, SSmus Dominus
Leo XIII prcedictum EE. PI*. Decretum sua auct&ritate
ratum habere et confirmare dignatm est, contrariis quibu.s-
cunque non obstantibus."
It may be said that the proper interpretation of this
privilege has now an historical interest only on account of
the new legislation of the Church contained in the decree,
" Ne temere" which makes the acquisition of a quasi-
domicil by a month's residence universal and thus causes
the privilege as such to cease in the United States. How-
ever, the validity of a considerable number of marriages
already contracted in this country depends upon the true
meaning of the privilege, so that according to a stricter
interpretation many marriages would require revalidation.
From the words quoted it 'follows that in the United States
persons who move from a place where the Tametsi is in
force to another place where they stay continuously for
one month are to be considered as acquiring in this latter
place a quasi-domicil sufficient for marriage. The author
interprets "alium locum" as another place where the Tam-
etd is not binding. Many, however, have understood
" alium locum" as another place, different from the former
place of residence, whether the Tametsi was binding or not in
the new residence. The difference between the two opin-
ions has been of practical importance. Thus a person
leaving the city of St. Louis where the decree is binding
and going to the diocese of New Orleans where it is also
binding would not, according to the author's opinion, after
a month's residence in the latter place, acquire a quasi-
domicil, while according to the other opinion he would
acquire it because he would go to another place, thus
verifying the terms of the decree. There are also some,
328 MARRIAGE
perhaps more correctly very many, who have held that the
privilege in question should properly be extended to all
who go from one place to another, irrespective of the
existence of the Tametsi in the former place of residence;
so that if a person reside in a place for a month, he would
acquire a quasi-domicil there, whether he left a place where
the Tametsi was or was not in force. Comparing this last
opinion with the two preceding ones, it is evident that
these follow more closely the literal meaning of the words
expressing the privilege, while the other seems to be ex-
tending the privilege beyond the strict signification of the
terms. On the other hand, when one considers the motive
with which the bishops of this country asked for the privi-
lege and the fact that the Holy See evidently wished to
accede in substance to their request, the third opinion
appears more probable than the other two. The chief
reason for the petition was, in the words of the bishops:
"Gravia incommoda et anxietates ac molestice quce frequenter
sacerdotibus oriuntur, si canonical prcescriptiones de quasi-
domicilio sint servanda?" In the United States there is a
large fluctuating population, so that many persons do not
have any permanent abode, nor can it be even said that
they have the essentials hitherto required for a quasi-dom-
icil, i.e., actual residence with the intention of staying for
the greater part of a year. They may have remained for
a month or two in a place, but there was no intention of
making it their abode nor of remaining even for six months,
so that it was often difficult to say who was their proprius
parochus for matrimony. Then, if a priest to whom parties
of this kind would apply for marriage should not be able,
on account of the uncertainty about their proprius parochus,
to tell them the priest who could attend to their marriage,
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 329
there would be danger that they would contract a civil
marriage or perhaps contract before a non-Catholic min-
ister. Hence it was important to have some fixed period
of residence determined, e.g., one month, so that, apart from
any intention of the parties to leave or to remain, the pas-
tor of the place where such residence for a month occurred
could perform the marriage ceremony. Now a large num-
ber of such cases would arise from persons going from a
place where the Tametsi was not binding to some other place,
so that it is to be presumed that the bishops in their peti-
tion proposed to make provision for such cases. Similarly,
it is to be presumed that the Holy See intended to make
provision so that after a month's residence in a place a per-
son might get married by the pastor of that place, no mat-
ter whether he had immediately before lived in a place where
the Tametsi was binding or in a place where it was not bind-
ing. Let us suppose, for example, that a female from some
rural parish of the diocese of St. Louis, in which parish the
Tametsi is not in force, comes into the city of St. Louis,
where it is in force, and lives as a servant in some parish
of the city for a month. Can she be married by the pastor
of this parish on the ground of the month's residence? Yes
or no, according to the mode in which the privilege should
be interpreted. One thing, however, seems beyond doubt,
viz., that it was the intention of the bishops to procure
for the pastors the privilege by which a month's residence
would suffice for a quasi-domicil in this class of cases as
well as in the converse class, namely, when the party leaves,
e.g., the city of St. Louis and goes to some parish in the
country where the Tametsi is not binding. It is also clear
that there would be at least equal reason for a favorable
answer to the former petition as to the latter.
330 MARRIAGE
The question regarding those interpretations of the
privilege has not been settled by the Holy See. De Becker,
in his treatise, "De Sponsalibus et Matrimonio," says that
a dubium regarding the extent of the privilege was pro-
posed to the S. C. of Propaganda by a bishop of the United
States, but that no reply was received. — End of Note.
In order to lose a domicil or quasi-domicil that has once
been acquired, the party must leave the place and must
have the intention of not returning to it.
Minors who are not sui juris retain the domicil of their
parent or guardian as long as they do not renounce it;
married women similarly retain the domicil of their hus-
bands. Public officials, professors, students, servants, and
others in like capacities, acquire a quasi-domicil in the
place where their avocations call them as soon as the two
necessary elements are verified, as soon, that is, as they
actually take up their abode in the place with the intention
of staying there for the greater part of a year unless they
are called elsewhere.
4. Strangers who are staying for a time in a place subject
to the decree must conform to the law of the place with
regard to marriage, even though they come from a parish
where it does not bind, for contract is governed by the law
of the place where it is entered into. Embassies of foreign
nations do not enjoy the privilege of exterritoriality in this
respect, so that the marriage of a baptized British subject
contracted in the British embassy at Rome is subject to
the decree of Trent.1 Strangers, who come from a place
where the decree binds to another place where it does not
bind, with the fraudulent intention of marrying there,
can not contract a valid marriage unless they acquire a
'S.O. August 1, 1900.
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 331
domicil or quasi-domicil in the place, or obtain leave1 for
some priest to marry them there from their parish priest
or from their ordinary.
It is- a disputed point whether two strangers who came
from a place where the decree binds without any intention
of marrying could contract a valid marriage in a place
where the decree does not bind, without acquiring a domi-
cil, quasi-domicil, or obtaining the leave of their parish
priest. The decisions of the Roman Congregations favor
the negative view, so that such a marriage should never be
permitted, though after being contracted it can only be
declared invalid by competent authority.
Those who wander about and have no domicil or quasi-
domicil anywhere, may with leave of the ordinary validly
and lawfully contract marriage in the presence of the priest
»
of the parish where they happen for the time to be staying.
Such people are called vagi.
Any one in priest's orders may receive delegated authority
from the parish priest or the ordinary of the parties so as
validly to assist at their marriage.
5. Besides the priest, at least two witnesses must assist
at a marriage, according to the decree of Trent. Any per-
son, whether a man or a woman, who has the use of reason
and who knows what is going on so that he can give evidence
on it, may act validly as a witness. If at any time there
comes to be a general impossibility for those who wish to
marry in any place to reach the parish priest, and if the
impossibility lasts for a considerable time, marriage may
be contracted validly before witnesses alone. We saw
above that impossibility of getting at the parish priest in
the case of a particular marriage would not exempt the
parties from the law.
332 MARRIAGE
The law regarding clandestine marriages, like any other
positive enactment, may be abrogated by contrary custom,
as in fact it has been in Japan. The Holy Office, however,
has several times declared that the mere non-observance
of the decree by schismatics and heretics can never cause
the decree of Trent to lose its binding force.
From what has been said it follows that clandestine mar-
riages in England are indeed gravely sinful, but as a general
rule were not invalid, unless there was some other diriment
impediment between the parties. If Catholics had con
tracted a valid but clandestine marriage, they could repent
of their sin, and then ask for absolution and the nuptial
blessing from the priest. In the case of a mixed and clan-
destine marriage there appeared to be no obligation of giv-
ing or receiving the nuptial blessing, though this might be
done unless the bishop ordained otherwise.1
The decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Council,
August 2, 1907, made a great change in the law of the
Church with regard to clandestine marriages. The decree
affects all marriages contracted on and after Easter Sun-
day, April 19, 1908, in which one of the parties at least is
a baptized Catholic, but it does not affect marriages con-
tracted before that date.
By this decree no marriage is henceforth valid unless it
be contracted before the parish priest, or one who has the
general cure of souls in the place where the marriage is
celebrated, or before the local ordinary, or before a priest
delegated by one or the other, and before at least two wit-
nesses. In order to assist at marriage validly the priest
and the local ordinary must have acquired possession of
their office, and not be publicly and by name excommuni
1 S.O. December 14, 1865.
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 333
cated or suspended from that office. They can assist
validly only within the limits of the territory assigned to
them, but within those limits they can validly assist at a
marriage contracted either by their subjects or by others.
They must freely ask and receive the consent of the parties
without being compelled thereto by force or grave fear.
Something more is necessary in order that their assistance
be also lawful.
They must have satisfied themselves in the manner pre-
scribed by law of the freedom of the parties to marry ; also
that one of the parties has a domicil in the place wrhere
the marriage is contracted or at least has lived there for a
month ; otherwise, in order that the priest or the local ordi-
nary may lawfully assist at marriage, they need the leave of
the priest or of the ordinary of one of the parties, unless
there be grave necessity which excuses from it.
Except in case of necessity a priest may not assist at the
marriage of those who have no fixed place of abode without
leave of the ordinary after the matter has been referred to
him or to a priest deputed by him for the purpose. As a
general rule the marriage must take place before the priest
of the bride unless there be some good reason to the con-
trary.
A parish priest, and one who has the general cure of souls,
and the local ordinary, may grant leave to any determinate
and certain priest to assist at marriages within the limits
of their respective territories. But in order to assist law-
fully and validly, such delegated priest must observe the
terms of his mandate, and the rules laid down above
for the assistance of the parish priest and of the local ordi-
nary.
In imminent danger of death when the parish priest, or
384' MARRIAGE
one with the general cure of souls in the place, or the local
ordinary, or a priest delegated by one of them, can not be
had, marriage may be contracted validly and lawfully
before any priest and two witnesses for the sake of con-
science and the legitimization of children, if this is re-
quired.
If in any country neither a priest with the cure of souls
nor the local ordinary, nor a priest delegated by either of
them can be had, and that has now been the case for a
month, the parties may marry validly and lawfully by
expressing their formal consent before two witnesses.
When marriage has been celebrated, the priest who has
the cure of souls, or one wTho takes his place, must at once
insert in the marriage book the names of the spouses and
of the witnesses, the place and date of the marriage, and
other details, according to the method prescribed in the
Ritual or by the ordinary; and that, although another
priest delegated by him or by the local ordinary assisted
at the marriage. ,
Moreover, the priest who has the cure of souls must note
also in the " Book of Baptisms " that the party contracted
marriage on such a day in his parish. And if the party
were baptized elsewhere the priest of the marriage must
send notice to the priest of the Baptism either immediately
or through the bishop's court, so that the marriage may
be entered in the "Book of Baptisms." When marriage
has been contracted in danger of death before a priest
procured for the purpose, or only before two witnesses as
above, the priest in the former case and the witnesses in
the latter are bound jointly and severally with the con-
tracting parties to take care that the marriage be entered
in the prescribed books as soon as possible.
THE DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 335
Priests guilty of violating these precepts are to be suit-
ably punished by the ordinary, and one who without leave
or just cause marries the subjects of another must surrender
the fees received to the priest whose rights he has infringed.
Heretics and schismatics who have never been admitted
into the Catholic Church are not bound by this decree.
Mixed marriages, however, in which one of the parties
is a baptized Catholic, are subject to the decree, except in
the German Empire, where they are valid if the parties
were born and marry therein.
CHAPTER XI
DOUBTFUL IMPEDIMENTS
1. When there is a doubt as to the existence of a diri-
ment impediment which annuls marriage by natural or
divine law, marriage must not be contracted, for as there
would always be a doubt as to whether it was valid, the par-
ties would be exposed to the continual danger of sinning
against the natural law. Theologians make an exception
to this general rule in favor of those who labor under
probable impotence, for these may marry on account of
the strong presumption that all men are potent unless
the contrary is certain, and because it would be an in-
tolerable hardship to prohibit a person from marrying
because of such a doubt. In the case of a doubtful im-
pediment of positive law, we must distinguish between a
doubt of law and a doubt of fact. When there is a doubt
whether the positive law extends to the particular case, as
whether spiritual relationship arises between the sponsors
in a private Baptism and the child or his parents, the im-
pediment practically does not exist, as the law is of strict
interpretation and the Church dispenses as far as is neces-
sary in such a case of doubt.
When the doubt is about a fact, as whether the parties
are related within the prohibited degrees of kindred, the
Church does not supply if the impediment really exists,
and a dispensation should be asked for to make sure. The
bishop has power to dispense in such cases of doubt.
336
DOUBTFUL IMPEDIMENTS 337
When marriage is contracted with a supposed impedi-
ment which in reality does not exist, the marriage will of
course be null and void if the parties thought that it was
altogether impossible, and merely intended to go through
the external form. On the other hand, it would seem to
be valid if they intended to marry as far as they could,
though they were afraid they could not do so. And so if
one, whose consort has been absent for a long time and
who is not known to be dead, as in fact he is, marries
again, giving her consent to the marriage as far as possible,
it would seem that the marriage is valid though unlawful.
2. When a marriage has been contracted and a doubt
subsequently arises as to its validity on account of the
probable existence of a diriment impediment, inquiry
must be made with a view to settling the doubt, and in
the meanwhile the party in doubt must abstain from asking
for the marriage debt, though he is not precluded from
rendering it to a consort who asks for it in good faith with-
out any suspicion about the validity of the marriage. If
the doubt still remains after ordinary diligence has been
used in making inquiries, the doubt may be put aside, and
the marriage may be presumed to be valid. The rules of
law may be applied to such a case, "In doubt we must
presume the validity of the act," and, "In doubt the con-
dition of him who is in possession is the stronger." These
rules apply with all the greater force inasmuch as marriage
is favored, and the decision must always be given in its
favor in case of doubt.
If it becomes certain that a marriage which has been
contracted is invalid by reason of a diriment impediment
existing between the parties, and the invalidity is publicly
known, the parties must separate, Otherwise there would
388 MAURI AGE
be clanger of sin and public scandal. If the impediment l:
secret and the parties are in good faith without any knowl-
edge of its existence, they should be left in their ignorance
until a dispensation from the impediment has been obtained.
The dispensation should be executed in one of the ways
to be described in a subsequent chapter.
If the parties know of the existence of the impediment
and of the consequent nullity of their marriage, they must
separate at least from bed, until a dispensation can be
procured. Whether they can be permitted to live together
as brother and sister in the same house, depends on whether
they can thus avoid all proximate occasion of sin. If they
can not, some excuse to avoid scandal and awaking sus-
picion must be found for a temporary separation.
CHAPTER XII
DISPENSATIONS FROM DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS
1. The Church can not grant a dispensation from those
impediments which belong to the natural and divine law.
She can not, for example, allow a Christian to marry again
while a former wife is still alive, nor dispense in a case of
certain impotence. Although she can dispense in all
impediments which have their origin in ecclesiastical law,
yet as a matter of fact she but seldom does so in some
of them, such as the priesthood, and affinity in the first de-
gree arising from consummated marriage. The Council of
Trent decreed universally that "as regards marriages to
be contracted, either no dispensation at all shall be granted,
or rarely, and then for a cause, and gratuitously." ' Still,
according to modern discipline it is not uncommon for
dispensations to be granted in the more remote degrees of
consanguinity and affinity, in spiritual relationship, in
occult crime, and in some other impediments.
2. As the diriment impediments of marriage belong to
the common law of the Church, per se only the Holy See
can lawfully dispense in them. However, when there are
very grave reasons for granting a dispensation and there
is no time to communicate with Rome, bishops may dis-
pense in occult impediments, as, by a concession of Leo XIII,
February 20, 1888, they may also do in both public and
1 Sess. xxiv, c. 5, de ref. Matr.
339
340 MAURI AGE
occult impediments when one of the parties is in danger
of death and there is not time to have recourse to Rome.
Bishops may dispense, too, in doubtful impediments for
the sake of greater security. Besides these ordinary
powers, granted to them by custom or by the express or
tacit consent of the Pope, the bishops of most countries
now commonly receive from the Holy See delegated au-
thority to dispense in those impediments which are more
easily dispensable. When the parties are subject to dif-
ferent bishops, that bishop will have powder to dispense
whose subject is specially bound by the impediment, as,
for example, the person under vow, and the Catholic party
in a mixed marriage. If both parties are equally affected
by the impediment, as by that of consanguinity, and the
dispensation is granted by faculties received from Rome,
either bishop may lawfully grant the dispensation. It has
several times been decided that all special faculties habitu-
ally granted to local ordinaries by the Holy See neither
cease nor are suspended on account of their death or re-
moval from office, but pass to their successors according
to the terms of the decree of the Holy Office, Feb. 20, 1888.
The Pope dispenses from public impediments through
the datary,1 and from occult through the penitentiary.
Propaganda, however, exercises the authority of both
those offices in favor of those who are subject to its juris-
diction, as some English-speaking countries are, though
they may have recourse to the penitentiary, if they choose,
in matters subject to its jurisdiction.
When application is made to the datary for a dispensa-
tion from a public impediment in favor of parties who also
1 After November 3, 1908, through the Congregation on the Disci-
pline of the Sacraments.
DISPENSATIONS FROM DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS Ml
labor under an occult impediment, a dispensation from
the latter must be sought from the penitentiary, mention-
ing the public impediment for which a dispensation has
been asked from the datary, but without giving the real
names of the parties. In this case, when a bishop has
faculties to grant both such dispensations, he does not
require the special faculty of cumulating, as he does in
other cases of multiple impediments.
As a general rule when the Holy See grants a dispensa-
tion, this is granted in forma commissoria, by which the
bishop who sent in the petition is commissioned to dis-
pense the parties after verification of the allegations made,
and under certain conditions. The bishop thus commis-
sioned may delegate the verification of the allegations and
the execution of the dispensation to one of his clergy, or if
the parties live in another diocese to the bishop of that
diocese.
A tax to cover expenses and a composition to be spent
oh pious purposes is imposed on parties dispensed by the
ordinary Roman tribunals. The composition varies with
the impediments for which a dispensation is asked, and
according as the parties are poor, almost poor, or rich.
The penitentiary grants dispensations gratuitously from
occult impediments, and in recent times it has obtained
power to dispense the poor even from public impediments.1
It is a disputed question whether a dispensation granted
by the penitentiary from a public impediment in favor of
one who falsely alleged that he was poor would be valid.
Propaganda grants dispensations to its subjects gra-
tuitously, but it sometimes requires the party dispensed
to offer an alms.
'This power was taken away by the Constitution Sapienti consilio.
29 June, 1908.
342 MARRIAGE
3. Matrimonial dispensations can not be granted lawfully
even by the Pope without good cause, and a good cause
is required for the validity of a dispensation granted by a
bishop. A cause is motive or final when it is ordinarily
deemed sufficient for granting a dispensation; when it
only induces the superior to grant a dispensation more
readily, it is said to be impulsive. When the petition for
a dispensation omits to mention what should be men-
tioned, it has the defect of subreption; when it alleges
what is false, there is obreption. When subreption or
obreption occur in the motive cause, the dispensation is
invalid at least if the cause alleged was the sole cause,
and even if it was not the validity of the dispensation is
doubtful. Subreption or obreption in an impulsive cause
does not affect the validity of the dispensation. In doubt
as to whether a cause falsely alleged for a dispensation was
motive or impulsive, the presumption will be in favor of
the validity of the dispensation, In dubio standum est pro
valore actus. If the motive cause for granting the dis-
pensation ceases before the dispensation is executed, the
dispensation will lapse; if, however, the motive cause
ceases to exist after the dispensation has been executed,
though before the marriage has been contracted, the im-
pediment has been removed and the parties may marry.
Propaganda, May 9, 1877, issued an instruction on
matrimonial dispensations, which sets forth and explains
the ordinary canonical causes which are accepted as
sufficient for granting a dispensation. The same causes,
however, are not sufficient for a dispensation from all
impediments, and the party interested should put down
in his petition all the grounds that he can find for granting
the favor he requests. We can not do better than give
DISPENSATIONS FROM DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 343
here the chief portion of this important document in Fr.
Guy's translation:
"1. SmaUness of the place, either absolute or relative
(as regards the female petitioner alone), seeing that in the
place of her birth or even domicil a woman's relationship
is so widely spread that she is unable to meet with any one
to be married to of an equal position with her own, save
a relative by blood or by marriage, without leaving her
country, which would be a hardship to her.
" 2. The advancing age of the woman. If, for instance,
she is over twenty-four and has not hitherto met with one
of her own position to whom she might be married. But
this reason does not hold good in the case of a widow
wishing to marry again.
"3. Deficiency or absence of dowry. If a woman has
not actually a dowry large enough to enable her to marry
another of her own position, unconnected by blood or
marriage, in her own place of abode. And this reason
becomes all the more weighty when the woman has no
dowry at all and a relation by blood or by marriage is
willing to marry her, or even to make a suitable settlement
upon her.
"4. Contentions about inheritance that have already
arisen or serious or imminent danger of the same. If a
woman has on hand an important suit in reference to her
inheriting wealth of great amount, and there is no one
else to undertake a contention of this kind and carry it on
at his own expense save the person who is desirous of
marrying her, a dispensation is usually granted, for it is
of benefit to the community at large that an end should
be put to the contention. A reason of this nature, how-
ever, suffices only in cases of remote grades of relationship.
o
44 MAE B 1 AGE
a
5. Poverty on the part of a widow with a numerous
family which some man promises to support. But at
times a widow obtains the benefit of a dispensation owing
to her youth and the danger of incontinence.
"6. The blessing of peace; and under this head come
not only treaties between realms and princes, but the
cessation of serious enmities, disturbances, and ill will
between citizens.
"7. Too great, a suspicious, or dangerous familiarity, as
well as having, almost unavoidably, to dwell together
under the same roof.
"8. Previous connection with a relation by blood or by
marriage, or with any other party under an impediment,
and pregnancy, with consequent legitimization of the off-
spring, in order to provide for the well-being of the off-
spring and the good name of the mother, who would
otherwise remain unmarried.
"9. Disgrace coming upon the woman arising from a
suspicion that through over-familiarity with a relative or
connection she had been seduced by him, although the sus-
picion should be false, in a case when unless she marries,
a woman seriously defamed would either remain unmar-
ried, or must marry beneath her, or serious loss would
ensue.
" 10. Revalidating a marriage which has been contracted
in good faith, and publicly in the way prescribed by the
Council of Trent, because its dissolution could hardly be
brought about without grave public scandal and heavy
loss especially on the woman's part. But if the parties
have got married in bad faith, they by no means deserve
the favor of a dispensation as the Council of Trent decides.
"11. Danger of a mixed marriage, or of its being cele-
DISPENSATIONS FROM DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 345
brated before a non-Catholic minister. When there is dan-
ger of those wishful of being married, though connected
?n one of the closer degrees, going before a non-Catholic
minister for the marriage in defiance of the authority of
the Church, by reason of the refusal of a dispensation,
there are just grounds for dispensing; for there is imminent
danger not only of a most serious scandal to the faithful,
but also of apostasy and loss of faith on the part of those
so doing and disregarding the impediment to matrimony,
especially in countries where heresy flourishes unchecked.
The same must be said in the case of a Catholic woman
who ventures upon marriage with a non-Catholic man.
" 12. Danger of incestuous concubinage.
" 13. Danger of a civil marriage. From what has been
said, it follows that probable danger of those who are
petitioning for the dispensation having only a civil mar-
riage, as it is called, if they can not get the dispensation,
is a lawful reason for dispensing.
"14. The removal of grave scandal.
"15. Putting a stop to open concubinage.
" 16. Merit, that is in the case of one who has by resisting
the enemies of the Catholic faith, or by generosity toward
the Church, or by his learning, virtue, or some other means,
deserved well of religion.
"Such are the more common and strong grounds which
are usually brought forward when matrimonial dispensa-
tions are to be petitioned for; and theologians and canon-
ists treat of them exhaustively.
" But this instruction now turns to those points wThich,
in addition to the grounds for obtaining the dispensation,
must, whether by law, custom, or the practice of the curia,
be expressed in the petition, or the dispensation becomes
346 MARRIAGE
null if the truth be kept back or what is untrue is advanced
even in ignorance. These are :
"1. The name and surname of the petitioners must
both be written down distinctly and clearly, without any
abbreviation.
"2. The diocese of birth or of actual domicil. When
petitioners have a domicil out of the diocese of their birth
they can ask, if they please, that the dispensation should
be sent to the ordinary of the diocese in which they are
actually residing.
" 3. The species (in its most determinate form) of the
impediment, whether it is consanguinity or affinity, aris-
ing from lawful or unlawful connection; public morality
Qionestas) arising from espousals or the marriage ceremony ;
in the case of an impediment by reason of crime, whether
it arose from murder of the party's spouse with the promise
of marriage, or from such murder with adultery, or from
adultery alone with the promise of marriage; in spiritual
relationship, whether it is between a god-parent and the
person baptized, or between a god-parent and one of the
parents of the person baptized.
"4. The degree of consanguinity or affinity or morality
Qionestas) arising from a marriage ceremony, and whether
it is a simple or mixed degree, the more remote as well as
the less, together with the line, and whether it is direct
or collateral; likewise, whether the petitioners are related
by a double tie of consanguinity, both on the father's and
mother's side.
"'5. The number of impediments; for instance, is the
consanguinity or affinity twofold or manifold; or is there
affinity as well as relationship; or any other kind of im-
pediment diriment or prohibitory.
DISPENSATIONS FROM DIRIMENT IMPEDIMENTS 347
"6.. Various circumstance*, such as whether the marriage
is to bo or has been contracted; if contracted, it must be
stated whether this was done in good faith at least on one
side, or with a knowledge of the impediment; likewise,
whether it was after proclamation of banns and in ac-
cordance with the prescriptions of the Council of Trent,
or whether with the view of more easily obtaining a dis-
pensation; finally, whether it has been consummated, if
in bad faith, at least on one side, or with knowledge of
the impediment." l
The instruction required that mention be made of incest,
if this crime had been committed between the parties who
asked for the dispensation, but this obligation was abolished
by a decree of the Holy Office, June 25, 1885.
4. It was stated above that as a rule the Holy See grants
dispensations in forma commissoria. When the impediment
is occult the commission to dispense the party laboring
under the impediment is issued to the confessor. It will
therefore be the confessor's duty to verify the allegations as
far as possible and faithfully to observe all the conditions
laid down in the papal rescript. The observance of the
conditions expressed by such terms as, Provided that,
If, or the ablative absolute, is necessary for the validity
of the dispensation. Besides the conditions, certain things
are also prescribed, such as the destruction of the rescript
after it has been executed ; but these matters do not affect
the validity of the dispensation. One of the usual con-
ditions is previous sacramental confession, which requires
the hearing of the confession of the party, but not neces-
sarily his absolution. If this clause is not in the rescript,
it may be executed outside the confessional. No special
1 Synods in English, p. 78.
348 MARRIAGE
form is prescribed for granting the dispensation, which
may be done by word of mouth.
When the impediment is public the commission is issued
to the ordinary of the parties or to the ordinary of the
place where they live. After the ordinary has received
the rescript he may delegate the verification of the clauses
to the parish priest of the parties, and after this has been
done he may grant the dispensation according to the terms
of the rescript, and on being signed by the ordinary the
dispensation will at once take its effect. The document or
a copy of it should be sent to the parish priest, who will
inform the parties that the dispensation has been duly
granted.
When the bishop is able to grant the necessary dispensa-
tion, he ordinarily does so in forma gratiosa. This signifies
that on receipt of the petition and having satisfied himself
of the truth of the allegations contained in it, he grants
the dispensation forthwith by signing a document drawrn
up in due form, and sends it to the parish priest, who will
inform the parties of the terms on which it has been
granted.
CHAPTER XIII
REVALIDATE JN OF MARRIAGE
1. When marriage has been contracted invalidly the or-
dinary thing to do is to secure its being contracted validly,
if this is possible. It may have been invalid on account
of clandestinity, or for want of consent, or because there
was some diriment impediment between the parties. .
When the marriage was invalid on account of clandes-
tinity, it must be revalidated by supplying the defect and
contracting marriage anew before the parish priest and
two witnesses. If the invalidity of the first marriage was
known publicly, the second must be publicly solemnized;
otherwise it will be sufficient to contract it in private.
2. When the first marriage was invalid for want of
consent of both the contracting parties, the only way of
revalidating it is by both renewing their consent. This,
again, should be done publicly if the invalidity of the former
marriage was matter of public knowledge; in other cases
it will be sufficient to renew consent in private. When
the former marriage was invalid for want of consent of
only one of the parties, it will be sufficient if this party
after becoming acquainted with its invalidity freely renews
his consent. This may be done validly not only by express
word of mouth, but by living together as man and wife,
and exhibiting the ordinary signs of matrimonial union.
3. When the first marriage was invalid on account of
some diriment impediment between the parties, the first
349
350 MARRIAGE
thing to do is to remove the obstacle to marriage by ob-
taining a dispensation from the impediment and duly
executing it. If both the parties were aware of the im-
pediment, they must renew their consent either in public
or in private, according as the nullity of the marriage was
publicly known or not.
If only one of the parties was aware of the impediment
and it was such as to affect that party alone directly, as
does, for example, the impediment of difference of worship,
after the dispensation has been procured and executed it
will be sufficient if the Catholic party renews his consent
explicitly or implicitly by living in matrimonial union. The
consent of the other party was valid as expressed in the
first instance and it is continually renewed by living in mar-
riage. When impediments like those of consanguinity and
affinity equally affect both parties though only one of them
is aware of it, as a general rule the other party must be
told of the nullity of the previous marriage in order that
both may express a valid consent together. This is ordi-
narily required by a special clause inserted in dispensations
granted in such cases, when it can be done without grave
inconvenience. Sometimes, however, this can not be done
openly, and then it will be sufficient if, without indicating
the real ground of nullity, the party who knows of the
impediment induces the other to renew his matrimonial
consent independently of the former consent which was
invalid.
Sometimes not even this can be done, and in such cases
of special difficulty recourse may be had to a dispensation
in radice, as it is called, by which the Holy See sometimes
revalidates a marriage without any renewal of consent by
the parties. By a dispensation in radice the diriment
REVALIDATION OF MARRIAGE 351
impediment which existed is removed, the marriage is
validly contracted by the consent which was given in the
former marriage and which still subsists, and the children,
if any have been born, are legitimized as if the former
marriage had been valid. By a fiction of law, the former
marriage is held to be valid and to have all the effects
of a valid marriage.
It is obvious that to enable the Church to do this the
impediment must be of merely ecclesiastical origin, and
so capable of being removed by the Church; the consent
given in the former marriage must of itself be valid and
capable of effecting a real marriage except for the impedi-
ment, and, moreover, the consent of the parties must still
persist at the time when the dispensation is given, other-
wise true marriage can never exist between the parties.
If these conditions are fulfilled by a dispensation in radice
without any renewal of consent, the parties will be truly
married, and the effects of marriage will date from the first
contract, though it was invalid.
Note. — The bishops of the United States have received
the faculty sanandi in radice in Article 6, Form D, which
is as follows: "Sanandi in radice matrimonia contracta
quando comperitur adfuisse impedimentum dirimens super
quo, ex Apostolicoz Sedis Indulto, dispensare ipse possit;
magnumque fore incommodum requirendi a parte innoxia
renovationem consensus, monita tamen parte conscia im-
pedimenti de effectu hujus sanationis" The authority of
dispensing in matrimonial impediments may be exercised
either with regard to a marriage to be contracted, or to a
marriage already contracted, but invalidly on account of
the existence of some diriment impediment. In the lattei
352 MARRIAGE
class of cases a bishop may exercise his powers of dispensing
in impediments so that the parties by mutual renewal of
consent after the application of the dispensation would
become validly married. This simple dispensation, as it
is termed, may be granted by our bishops in the United
States according to the limitations in Forms I, D, and E.'
The authority of granting a dispensation in radice is quite
distinct, so that a bishop who can grant a simple dispensa-
tion may not have power to grant a dispensation in radice.
As a matter of fact many bishops have no such permanent
power. They may apply to the Holy See in a particular
case and be empowered to grant the sanatio in radice for
that case without receiving any lasting or habitual power
for other cases which may arise. The sanatio in radice
is said to be "perfect," when neither of the parties who
invalidly contracted renews the matrimonial consent;
"imperfect" sanatio occurs when one of the parties is
aware of the impediment and gives a new consent. This
latter kind alone our bishops have the faculty of grant-
ing, as will be presently seen.
The faculty sanandi in radice as expressed above in
Article 6, Form D, was for a long time the subject of
considerable doubt and controversy, as is well known to the
readers of the "American Ecclesiastical Review " ; but much
light has been thrown upon it from recent decisions of the
Holy See, and especially from responses of the Holy Office
(August 22, 1906) to questions proposed by the bishop of
Covington.
1. By this faculty the bishops can grant a sanatio in
radice in each ecclesiastical impediment in which by virtue
of powers granted them under Forms I, D, and E they
could grant a simple dispensation, as is clear from the words
REVALIDATION OF MARRIAGE 353
11 super quo ex Apostolicce Sedis Indulto, dispensare ipse
possit." This power does not, however, authorize them to
give a sanatio in radice whenever several diriment impedi-
ments, or one diriment impediment along with a reserved
impediment, e.g., mixta religio, arises in a given case, as
was declared to the bishop of Burlington by the S. C. of
Propaganda (January 30, 1882). Just as the authority to
dispense in any canonical impediment by simple dispen-
sation does not imply the power of dispensing in several
impediments which may exist together in a particular case,
so neither does the power of giving a sanatio in radice for
several impediments imply the power of giving a sanatio
in radice when those impediments are found together. A
bishop may, therefore, receive the cumulative power, as
it is termed, to grant a "simple" dispensation, i.e., for
several existing impediments, without having the cumu-
lative power to grant a sanatio in radice. Most of the
bishops in the United States, if not all, possess the cumu-
lative power as regards " simple" dispensation (see De
Becker, 2d ed., p. 313), although this does not appear
from any of the four Forms, I, C, D, and E, granted to
them; while they do not appear to have any permanent
faculty for granting a sanatio in radice cumulatively. The
same author, De Becker (p. 372, n. 1), mentions that
an American prelate asked the faculty but did not obtain
it. However, the general principle, that the authority of
giving a sanatio in radice for a given impediment does
not avail when another impediment also exists, admits of
some exceptions, as appears from an answer given by the
Holy Office (August 18,1897). The question was asked:
" Utrum concurrente aliquo impedimento dirimente secreto
seufori interni cum alio impedimento, sed publico, necessaria
354 MARRIAGE
sit ad dispensationem specialis cumulandi facultas?" Re-
sponse: "NEGATIVE et detur Decretum 31 martii 1872 in
Coimbaturen . . . quod sic se habet: SSmus Dominus de-
claravit yeneratim prohibitionem concedendi absque speciali
facultate dispensationes quando in una eademque persona
concurrunt impedimenta matrimonialia non extendi ad eos
casus in quibus, cum impedimento natura sua publico, aliud
occurrit impedimentum occultum seu fori interni."
2. The foregoing faculty (Article 6) extends to all the
canonical impediments for which the power of dispensing
was granted to all bishops under the decree of February 20,
1888. Under this decree all ordinaries were empowered
to dispense in any ecclesiastical impediment, except priest-
hood and affinity in linea recta ex copula licita, when the
parties to be dispensed had been living in "concubinage or
had contracted a civil marriage, provided that one of the
parties was so sick as to be in very great danger of death,
"cegrotos in gravissimo mortis periculo constitutos,1J and pro-
vided also that there was no time to have recourse to the
Holy See for such dispensation. That by Article 6 the
bishops of the United States possess the power of dispensing
in radice under the circumstances just mentioned, is evident
from the answer of the Holy Office (August 22, 1906) to
the first qucesitum proposed by the bishop of Covington:
uQuomodo intelligi debet expressio 'Super quo, ex Apostolical
Sedis Indulto, dispensare possit ' ? Utrum nempe solos casus
Indultorum quinquennalium (seu particularium) contineat,
an etiam omnes casus Indulti generalis a Rom. P. Leone XIII
omnibus Ordinariis concessi die 20 Feb. a. 1888 quoad
concubinarios, quorum unus versatur in periculo mortis adeo
ut, vi prcedictce facultatis Episcopi sanare valeant in radice
omnia matrimonia pro quibus reliqui Ordinarii facidtatem
REVALIDATION OF MARRIAGE 355
habent simplicem concedendi dispensationem, supposito
utique quod adsit species seu figura qiccedam matrimonii"
The answer was: " Facultatem Art. 6, formuke D, extendi
posse ad casus Indulti diei 20 Febr. 1888, servatis ejusdem
Indulti clausulis, facto verbo cum SSmo." It does not, how-
ever, follow from this answer that the bishops have the
cumulative power of dispensing in radice in the impedi-
ments referred to in the decree of 1888, unless in the cases
excepted by the decree of the Holy Office (August 18, 1897)
cited above. It is not certain that the authority given by
the decree of 1888 conveys any cumulative power, even
for " simple" dispensations. For opposite opinions on this
particular question, the reader may consult De Becker,
p. 303 and 304: Wernz, "Jus Decretalium," vol. 4, n. 617,
n. G7. The point here in controversy has not any
practical importance for those who, like most, if not all
the bishops of the United States, have received an in-
dultum cumulandi; but as h&o been already remarked, this
indultum cumulandi refers only to "simple" dispensations;
not to dispensations in radice.
3. It is now quite certain that the potestas sanandi in
radice conferred upon the bishops of the United States is
not confined to occult impediments, as some writers erro-
neously held. There are two express declarations of the
Holy See given for this country upon this question. The
first was given to the bishop of Belleville on May 8, 1889.
There was a case proposed, that of a Catholic having got
married to an infidel before a civil magistrate without a
dispensation in disparitas cultus. After this marriage, in-
validly contracted, the Catholic party knows that the infidel
consort will not accept the conditions required for obtaining
a dispensation in disparitas cultus and asks for a sanatio in
356 MARRIAGE
radice. The question proposed under these circumstances
was: "An Episcopus utens facultatibus extraordinariis in
formula D contends sanare valeat in radice matrimonium
in casu, an insistere ut a parte infideli pars Catholica sep-
aretur f ' ' Response : ' ' Ad primam partem dubii AFFIRM-
ATIVE: hoc enim in casu ad partis Catholicce spirituali
saluti consulendum sanatio in radice indulgeri solet. Pars
vero Catholica promittere debet se pro viribus curaturam
observantiam legum ecclesiasticarum, conjugis infidelis con-
versionem ac Catholicam prolis educationem. Ad secundam
partem: pendere ex circumstantiis particularibus" There is
also a response of the Holy Office to the archbishop of
Cincinnati (June 20, 1892) in a dubium he proposed regard-
ing the validity of a sanatio in radice he had granted. The
marriage had been invalid on account of disparitas cultus
and the infidel party refused to fulfil the required con-
ditions, while the Catholic party promised to do whatever
could be done for the Catholic education of the offspring.
"Quatenus urgeret necessitas, consensus per sever et, et im-
positum fuerit matri onus baptismi et educationis prolis totis
viribus curandce potuisse uti facultatibus.^ In both cases
there was question of a public impediment, viz., disparitas
cultus, which, though it may not happen to be commonly
known as existing in a particular instance, is of its own nature
public. Hence the power of dispensing in radice possessed
by our bishops is not limited to occult impediments. This
also is manifestly shown from the answer of the Holy Office
to the bishop of Covington already quoted, in which it is
declared that those who have the faculty in Article 6 can
dispense in radice in all the impediments, for which the
ordinaries throughout the Church received authority to
grant a "simple" dispensation according to the decree of
REVALIDATION OF MARRIAGE 357
1888. Many of those impediments are public in the theo-
logical sense of the term, such as consanguinity, affinity
from lawful wedlock, etc.
4. There is another class of cases in which by Article 6
the bishops of this country can grant a dispensation in
radice, viz., when a marriage is invalid on account of a
divine impediment and this impediment afterward ceases;
the marriage may be validated from the time of the ces-
sation of that impediment. There was a celebrated case
called "Casus Parisiensis," which was settled by the
Sacred Penitentiary April 25, 1890. Two persons, one of
whom was a Catholic female of the diocese of Paris, were
validly married, but after a civil divorce was obtained she
contracted a second marriage with a Catholic while the first
husband was still living. After his death she strove to
have her second marriage revalidated coram Ecclesia; but
the husband refused, alleging that for him a civil contract
was sufficient. Then she besought the Holy See to grant
a sanatio in radice. which was conceded. Now under
Article 6, Form D, a sanatio in radice can be effected under
similar circumstances, when it appears that the consent
of each consort persevered from the time that the matri-
monial contract, which was invalid by reason of the im-
pediment of ligamen, was entered into. This is apparent
from a response of the Holy Office to one of the dubia
proposed by the bishop of Covington in the decree of 1906
regarding the interpretation of Article 6. It was asked:
" Utrum adhuc sit locus facultati si ambce quidem partes
cognoscunt nullitatem matrimonii sed una earum adduci non
potest ad renovandum consensum." The response to this
question was: "Negative, nisi constet verum datum fuisse
consensum sub specie matrimonii et eurndem ex utraque
358 MABRIAGE
parte per sever are." When, therefore, the condition here
expressed is present, i.e., the matrimonial consent con-
tinued by both parties, the faculty under Article 6 may
be exercised. Some authors are of opinion that, in the
consent given when the divine impediment still existed,
there is a natural force which produced its effect as soon as
that impediment ceased provided that there was no other
diriment impediment existing; while others think that the
consent originally given with the existence of the divine
impediment possessed no force whatever, but that as soon
as that impediment ceased, vthe parties could express mat-
rimonial consent in words or by conjugal intercourse,
which consent, although invalid from clandestinity or some
other ecclesiastical impediment, could be cured by the
action of the Church so that the marriage would become
valid at the moment such action was applied without both
parties being required previously to know of such proposed
application.
5. It is now time to consider the restrictions placed upon
the exercise of the faculty in Article 6. These are indi-
cated in the words in which it is conveyed: " Magnumque
fore incommodum requirendi a parte innoxia renovationem
consensus, monita tamen parte conscia impedimenti de effectu
hujus sanationis." There are two conditions here set forth.
The first is when a great difficulty or grave inconvenience
would arise from requiring each party to renew consent;
for instance, if one of the parties, when asked, would likely
refuse to renew consent, or even if great dissension would
be reasonably apprehended from inducing both "to renew
consent; otherwise the faculty could not be exercised.
The second condition required for the exercise of this
power is that before the sanatio is applied, one of the parties
REVALIDATION OF MARRIAGE 359
should be aware of the impediment and of the sanatio to
be exercised as well as of its effects. The necessity of this
condition is clear from a response to the bishop of Covington
in the decree of 1906. It was asked whether the faculty
(Art. 6) could be exercised, "si ambce hie et nunc earn
(nullitatem matrimonii) ignorant, dummodo postea una pars
moneatur de sanatione obtenta ejusque effectu." The answer
was, "Negative"
From this answer it appears that if both parties be
ignorant of the nullity of their marriage, this faculty can
not be exercised, even though one of the parties be ad-
monished of the sanatio having been applied and of the
effect of the sanatio; in other words, one of the parties
should be aware of the invalidity of the marriage previous
to the exercise of the facultas sanandi. That this is the
correct view, is manifest not only from the response of the
Holy Office, but likewise from the very words of the faculty,
umonita tamen parte conscia impedimenti de effectu hujus
sanationis" It is not, however, necessary that one of the
parties should have been for a long time aware of the
existence of the impediment or of the sanatio to be applied.
This knowledge may have been obtained immediately
before the act of validation takes place. Besides the two
conditions just mentioned, there must of course be also
present those conditions which are required for every dis-
pensation in radice, even when granted immediately by the
Sovereign Pontiff. These are: first, that a matrimonial
consent was formerly given such as would have sufficed
for a valid marriage, if no impediment existed ; second, the
continuance of this consent by each party until the act of
revalidation takes place; third, that there be a grave
reason for employing this extraordinary means of revalida-
360 MARRIAGE
tion rather than the ordinary means by simple dispensation
and mutual renewal of consent; and fourth, that there be
question of dispensing only in an ecclesiastical impediment.
6. When a priest is called upon to send a petition to the
bishop for a sanatio in radice, he should send in writing a
statement of the case, setting forth the impediment on
account of which the marriage was invalid, whether the
marriage was entered into with or without the knowledge
of the diriment impediment by the contracting parties;
also the reasons for a revalidation, such as scandal or danger
of incontinence which would arise from a separation of the
parties ; impossibility or great difficulty in getting a renewal
of consent from both parties. The bishop, if satisfied with
the reasons, may pronounce the act of revalidation, which
ought to be communicated to the party aware of the im-
pediment and should be recorded in some document to be
o reserved.
In conclusion it may be remarked that this faculty
sancndi in radice, like all the faculties called habitual,
which are granted to bishops by the Holy See, such as
the faculties contained in the Forms I, C, D, and E, can
be validly exercised by the vicar-general, even without any
special deputation for this end, since the vicar-general
possesses all the habitual faculties granted to the bishop
whose vicar-general he is ; but for the licit exercise of such
faculties the vicar-general is required to show due sub-
ordination to his bishop. See Decree of the Holy Office
to the bishop of Covington, ad quintum. — End of Note.
CHAPTER XIV
DE DEBITO CONJUGALI
1. Verba S. Pauli prooemii locum teneant nobis hanc
fcedam materiam breviter tractaturis: "Uxori," inquit
Apostolus, "vir debitum reddat, similiter autem et uxor
viro. Mulier sui corporis potestatem non habet, sed vir;
similiter autem et vir sui corporis potestatem non habet,
sed mulier. Nolite f raudare invicem, nisi forte ex con-
sensu ad tempus, ut vacetis orationi ; et iterum revertimini
in idipsum, ne tentet vos Satanas propter incontinentiam
vestram." J
Proinde non tan turn licitus est usus conjugii sed alteri
parti serio et rationabiliter petenti est ex justitia debitum
sub gravi reddendum.
Quod quamvis sit certissimum admittuntur tamen
causae excusantes ab hac obligatione, ita ut nulla sit
obligatio reddendi debitum quando reddi non possit sine
periculo vitse, morbi gravis, vel quando non rationabiliter
petatur, ut ab amente aut ebrio, vel petatur nimis fre-
quenter, ut si pluries in eadem nocte. Etiam semi-ebrio
petenti videtur licitum, prsesertim propter periculum
gravium defectuum turn corporalium turn moralium in
prole forte gignenda, debitum denegare nisi propterea
timeantur rixse, discordise, et incontinentia ex parte
petentis.
1 1 Cor. vii. 3-5.
361
362 MARRIAGE
Dictum est in his circumstantiis nullam adesse obli-
gationem debitum reddendi, imo per se illicitum esset
debitum reddere cum proximo periculo vitae vel sanitatis.
Attamen si morbus esset diuturnus nee proxime tendens
ad mortem, qualis est syphilis, permittitur sano debitum
reddere cum periculo infectionis ad incontinentiam vitan-
dam vel ad amorem conjugalem fovendam. Major diffi-
cultas habetur quando judicio medici proles gignenda morti
esset matri. Tales vero casus non sunt facile admittendi,
et quidem medici judicium de periculo vitse facilius pro-
nunciant eo quod mulieres illud aucupantes videant. Nisi
igitur casus sit omnino specialis, tuto confessarius consilium
mulieri tale judicium medici alleganti dabit ut viro placere
studeat ac cum magna fiducia Deo se committat.
Quum conjuges sibi invicem debitum reddere teneantur,
patet eos ad simul cohabitandum regulariter etiam teneri,
nisi quando necessitas id non patitur vel quando ex mutuo
consensu sine periculo incontinentia? et sine scandalo aliter
fit.
Conjugibus senibus vel debilibus qui ssepius copulam
nonnisi imperfecte exercent non est denegandus usus
matrimonii dummodo aliqua sit spes eos posse rite actum
perficere.
2. Quid liceat quid non liceat conjugibus sequenti regula
generali continetur: Quod utile est ad actum conjugalem
exercendum licet ; quod est contra prolis generationem vel
tendit ad illam impediendam est graviter illicitum; quod
non est contra prolis generationem, quamvis sit prseter
illam, saltern non est graviter illicitum.
Unde resolves: Licet conjugi tactibus et aspectibus
impudicis sese ad copulam excitare, et post vir se retrac-
tavit licet uxori tactibus se excitare ad delectationcru
DE DEBITO CONJUGALI 36
g
vcneream completam. Copula soclomitica et copula in-
ccepta sed abrupta cum effusione seminis extra vas mulieris
graviter illicita est. Si autem experientia constat con-
jugibus se posse sine proximo periculo pollutionis copulam
incceptam abrumpere, non vicletur hoc esse mortale si
uterque consentiat. A fortiori alii tactus et aspectus turpes
sine proximo periculo pollutionis a conjugibus admissi
non videntur mortalia, et ab omni peccato excusantur si
ex justa causa exercentur, ut ad affectum conjugalem
fovendum.
3. Peccatum grave contra naturam et finem matrimonii
committit vir qui copula imperfecta sese voluntarie ab
uxore retrahit et extra vas seminat. Ex facto Onan
vocatur peccatum onanismus.1
Constat autem esse peccatum grave ex Sacra Scriptura
ex eo quod frustratur finem principalem matrimonii, et
tendit in ruinam generis humani. Constat etiam ex
pluribus responsis SS. Congregationum. Moraliter nil
refert quo medio peccatum hoc frustrate naturae com-
mittatur, sive instrumento quodam, sive involucro, sive
lotione vasis mulieris post copulam, sive mere retractione
viri ante seminationem. Si mutuo consilio et consensu
conjugum tale quid fiat uterque graviter peccat.
Si tamen actus viri onanisticus uxori displiceat, quae
etiam eum inducere ad rem hones te perficiendam frustra
tentavit, hoec non videtur prohibenda quominus debitum
viro petenti reddat vel etiam ex gravi causa postulet.
Ipsa enim materialiter tantum cum peccato viri cooperatur,
quae cooperatio ex gravi causa est licita. Habetur vero
gravis causa turn ex parte viri ne offendatur, turn ex parte
uxoris quae cum periculo incontinentia non est privanda
Gen. xxxviii. 9.
364 MARRIAGE
juribus suis maritalibus. Licet igitur mulieri etiamsi vir
onanistice agat, veneree delectari in usu matrimonii, imo
licet ei postquam vir sese retractavit excitare sese tactibus
ad completam satisfactionem si hanc nondum sit experta.
Confessarii rcgulariter conjuges interrogare non debent
de modo quo jura maritalia exerceant. Si tamen conjux
dubia proponat de liceitate onanismi conf essarius doctrinam
Catholicam breviter ei declarare debet. Imo si suspicionem
fundatam habet conjuges sive bona sive mala fide onanistice
agere eos monere debet, cum de gravi peccato valde nocivo
ipsis conjugibus et societati humanse agatur. Conjux qui
doctringe Catholics? de hac re acquiescere nolit per se
absolutionis est incapax.
4. Dummodo copula rite perfici possit nullus situs in ea
exercenda graviter est illicitus, et situs non naturalis
cohonestatur ita ut ne venialiter quid em sit illicitus dum-
modo justa aliqua causa habeatur.
Vetere lege accessus ad uxorem prohibebatur men-
struorum et purgationis tempore, imo antiqua lege ecclesi-
astica similis vigebat prohibitio. Videtur dicendum illas
leges esse positivas nee amplius Christianos obligare.
Varige sunt Doctorum sententise circa liceitatem talis
accessus. Rationes quas* afferebant plures ut actus illi-
ceitatem demonstrarent fabulis nitebantur, attamen scien-
tia physiologica comprobat sententiam juxta quam ob
statum nerveum mulieris menstruorum et purgationis
tempore sub veniali saltern est viro abstinendum nisi justa
causa excusat. Idem dicendum videtur de tempore prseg-
nationis, imo si esset copula periculo proximo abortus sub
gravi tunc esset abstinendum. Vix tamen constare potest
de tali periculo unde obligatio abstinendi urgeri non valet.
Probabilis videtur sententia plurium juxta quam tactus
DE DEBITO CONJUQALI 365
impudici quos conjux secum exercet altera parte absente
dummodo nullum sit periculum proximum pollutionis non
sunt peccata mortalia. Ipse status matrimonialis, aiunt,
reddit tales actus minus indecentes, ita ut quod apud
solutos sit grave, apud conjugatos sit tantum veniale.
Nee delectatio morosa de copula habita vel habenda,
secluso iterum periculo proximo pollutionis, videtur sub
gravi conjugibus prohibita. Imo delectatio mere rationalis
de objecto licito, qualis est copula conjugibus, ne veniale
quid em esset; attamen practice delectatio de actu con-
jugal! vix mere rationalis esse poterit, quatenus naturaliter
excitat sensus et membra. Unde delectatio morosa de
copula habita vel habenda sub veniali saltern regulariter
etiam conjugibus prohibetur.
Copulam cum conjuge exercere cum mente adulterina,
cogitando de alia persona praeter conjugem, grave est
peccatum propter mentem adulterinam.
BOOK IX
CENSURES
Part I
CENSURES IN GENERAL
CHAPTER I
THE NATURE OF AN ECCLESIASTICAL CENSURE
1. We here understand by a censure a spiritual and
remedial penalty by which a baptized and contumacious
delinquent is deprived by ecclesiastical authority of the
use of certain spiritual advantages. It differs from other
penalties, such as degradation, which are also spiritual and
inflicted by the Church, in that a censure has in view the
correction and amendment of the delinquent, while other
penalties have chiefly in view the common good to be pro-
cured by the punishment and repression of crime. The
Church has jurisdiction only over those who are baptized,
and she punishes by censures only those of her children
who have done wrong with their eyes open, with knowl-
edge of the wrongfulness of their action and of the spiritual
censure by which the Church punishes it.
A censure does not and can not deprive a man of all the
spiritual advantages which he may possess. There are
some spiritual gifts in man'3 possession which depend
only on his personal relations with God, such as sanctify-
367
368 CENSUBES
ing grace, and the supernatural virtues and gifts which
accompany it. These may adorn the soul of one who is
not baptized, and they are not possessed by all members
of the Church. There are, however, other spiritual privi-
leges which a Christian enjoys through membership with
the Church of God. Among these theologians distinguish
those that are internal, external, and mixed. Internal
comprise the special providence and helps which God
grants to the members of His Church because they belong
to His Spouse who is continually interceding for them.
External are the society and special charity which binds
the members of the Church to each other. Mixed are the
participation in the same sacraments and sacrifice, the
common suffrages, satisfactions, and indulgences, which
the children of the Church in communion with her enjoy.
According to the common opinion, excommunication de-
prives the delinquent of all these privileges, it puts him
outside the communion of the faithful, and consequently
leaves him without the benefits of union. The other two
censures, suspension and interdict, deprive him at least of
some of those benefits, as of their nature they are limited
in their effect. There are, however, some theologians
who with Suarez deny that a censure deprives a man of
the merely internal advantages which membership with
the Church confers.
2. With reference to the effects produced by them,
censures are of three kinds : excommunication, suspension,
and interdict. With reference to the manner in which
they are inflicted, they are said to be a jure, or ab homine.
The former are imposed by a stable and permanent law,
the latter by way of particular precept or sentence. Some-
times a censure is incurred by the very fact of committing
NATURE OF ECCLESIASTICAL CENSURE 369
a crime, without any declaratory sentence of a judge; it
is then said to be latce sententice. Sometimes it needs the
intervention of a judge and is said to beferendce sententice.
3. Certain conditions must be fulfilled in order that a
censure may be incurred :
a. As it is a serious penalty, and a serious penalty can
only be inflicted for a grave fault, a censure can only be
incurred by one who has committed a mortal sin.
b. The Church does not judge of what is merely internal,
and so the fault which is punished by censure must be
grave externally as well as internally. A slight blow given
to a cleric, which does not constitute a serious injury, does
not involve excommunication incurred by those who vio-
late the privilege of the canon, even though the act were
accompanied with mortal hatred.
c. Penalties must be interpreted strictly, and therefore
the crime which is punished by censures must be com-
pleted, not merely attempted.
d. Inasmuch as a censure is remedial and inflicted on
the delinquent for his correction and amendment, it can
not be incurred for a crime which is altogether past, and
which has left no traces behind it. Sometimes suspension
or interdict may be inflicted in punishment of such crimes,
but then they are inflicted for a definite period, or forever,
and become pure penalties, not censures.
e. There must be contumacy in order that a censure
may be incurred, or, in other words, the delinquent must
be conscious at the time that he is committing a crime
which is punished by the Chur.ch by censure. It follows
from this that a censure can not be inflicted ab homine by
a particular sentence without previous admonition, and
this should ordinarily be in writing so as to be capable
370 CENSURES
of proof. In censures inflicted a jure or ab homine by a
general precept which is* of the nature of a law, no special
admonition is required, as the law itself is a sufficient
admonition. Nor is an admonition necessary when sus-
pension or interdict are inflicted by way of mere penalty.
4. It is of faith that the Church has the power of in-
flicting censures. It is contained in the general power of
binding and loosing granted to the Church by her divine
Founder. This power is exercised by all ecclesiastical prel-
ates who have jurisdiction in the external forum, unless
their authority has been restricted. The Pope and a
general council have jurisdiction over the whole Church,
and they can bind all the faithful by their laws and cen-
sures. A bishop or his vicar-general can inflict censures
on their subjects, as can regular prelates on theirs. A
parish priest has no jurisdiction in the external forum,
and can not as such impose censures, nor can laymen, nor
women.
A bishop can not lawfully exercise contentious jurisdic-
tion outside his diocese, and consequently he can not inflict
censures outside his diocese when the case requires a
judicial process. If the case does not require any judicial
process, he may impose a censure on a guilty subject even
when he is outside his diocese.
A bishop within his diocese may punish with censure a
subject who is now outside the diocese on account of a
crime which was committed within the diocese, and even
on account of a crime which has been committed outside
if it had reference to the diocese. And so a parish priest
who is absent from the diocese and refuses to come to
synod, or who is taking too long a holiday, may be punished
by censure. The more probable opinion holds that a sub-
NATURE OF ECCLESIASTICAL CENSURE 371
ject who violates a precept imposed under censure while
he is outside the diocese incurs the censure, though St.
Alphonsus admits that the opposite is probable. The
jurisdiction of Superiors over regulars is personal, and
these certainly incur censures imposed on them wherever
they may be at the time when it is imposed. Regulars
belonging to mendicant Orders and members of the Society
of Jesus have a special privilege granted by the Holy See,
by which they can not be put under censure by any bishop,
even when they do wrong in matters in which their general
exemption is of no avail, and in which they are subject
to the bishop. In three cases, however, these Religious
may be punished by episcopal censure, notwithstanding
their special privilege. Gregory XV permitted this in
case they preach in churches not their own without the
bishop's license, or in their own without asking for his
blessing, or against his command; Innocent X added to
this the case of disobedience with reference to hearing
confessions; and Urban VIII added the case of hanging
sacred pictures painted in an unusual or scandalous manner.
5. In order to incur a censure, the delinquent must
be subject to the authority which imposes it. Strangers,
therefore, do not incur the particular censures which bind
in the place where they are staying for a short time. If
strangers, however, violate some provision of the common
law which for such violation imposes a censure ferendce
sententice, the bishop of the place may inflict this on them.
Even when they offend in other matters, the local ordinary
may punish them by other penalties, and if they prove
contumacious, they may be put under censure by him.
For one and the same crime a delinquent only incurs
one censure of several, which may perhaps have been
372 CENSURES
inflicted by the same * authority. Thus one who teaches
an heretical proposition which has been condemned by
the Holy See under pain of excommunication, incurs the
censure specially reserved to the Pope, but not that also
which is simply reserved to the Pope by the constitution
Apostolicce Sedis. On the other hand, a delinquent may
incur several censures for the same crime imposed by
different authorities, just as he may be punished by several
censures for different crimes or for repetitions of the same.
6. Grave fear and ignorance prevent contumacy, and
therefore hinder one who commits a crime under their
influence from incurring any censure by which such crime
is punished. If, however, the ignorance be crass or supine,
it will not excuse from grave sin or contumacy, and so
the censure will be incurred. But if the censure is inflicted
on those who knowingly, rashly, with rash daring, or pre-
sumption, commit a crime, full knowledge is required in
order to incur the censure, and not only crass but prob-
ably even affected ignorance will prevent its being
incurred.
CHAPTER II
ABSOLUTION OF CENSURES
1. When a censure has been incurred, it does not cease
as a rule merely by lapse of time or on the correction
and amendment of the delinquent. The delinquent must
obtain absolution of the censure from one who is compe-
tent to give it. In some cases, however, a censure is im-
posed as long as certain conditions last, and then on the
termination of those conditions the censure lapses with-
out absolution. Thus by the decree of the Congregation
of Bishops and Regulars (November 4, 1892), regulars in
sacred Orders who are expelled or dismissed by their
Superiors remain suspended until the Holy See provides
for them, and they find a bishop to receive them.
Any confessor may absolve from censures inflicted by
law and not reserved to the Holy See or to the bishop.
Censures, too, which are imposed ab homine but by a
general precept or ordinance are in the same categoiy,
and may be absolved by any confessor unless they are
reserved. .
Absolution for a reserved censure must be sought from
him to whom it is reserved, or from his delegate. Similarly,
absolution from a censure inflicted ab homine by a particu-
lar precept must be obtained from him who inflicted it,
or from his superior, or successor in office, or from some
one delegated by one of these to grant absolution.
373
374 CENSURES
Bishops and priests with missionary faculties in mis-
sionary countries receive the amplest powers to absolve
from almost all censures that are inflicted by the common
law of the Church, even though many of them are per se
reserved to the Holy See or to the bishops. As we saw in
the Book on Penance, two cases, the attempted absolution
of an accomplice in a grave sin of impurity and the false
accusation of solicitation, are generally excepted, and in a
more special way reserved to the Holy See.
When a general faculty to absolve from censures is
granted, it will avail both for the external and for the
internal forum. If it is granted only for the internal
forum, of itself it is of no avail for the external. Absolu-
tion granted for the internal forum will remove the censure
as far as the relations between the soul and God are con-
cerned, and it may also reconcile the delinquent with the
Church and thus serve for the external forum as well, if
the prelate to whom the case belongs is willing so to accept
it, and there is no scandal to be repaired. If the case has
been brought before the judge in the external forum, or if
there is danger of this, one who has power to absolve only
in the internal forum should not interfere.
2, Any cleric with ordinary or delegated jurisdiction for
the case may absolve from a censure; neither priestly
Orders nor episcopal approbation is required. Although
absolution should ordinarily be given by word of mouth,
and in presence of the delinquent, still it may validly be
conveyed to one who is absent by letter. A censure may
be removed even against the will of him who has incurred
it, and sometimes even the dead are absolved that they
may not be deprived of Catholic burial. A person under
several censures may be absolved from one while he still
ABSOLUTION OF CENSURES 375
remains subject to the others, as the removal of one has
no necessary connection with the removal of the rest.
Absolution from censures should be given before absolu-
tion from sins, although if the order is inverted by mis-
take this would not affect the validity of the absolution.
No special form is required for the validity of absolution
from censures, but in the confessional the priest should
make use of the ordinary form in the Ritual by which
both censures and sins are absolved.
Part II
DIFFERENT KINDS OF CENSURES
CHAPTER I
EXCOMMUNICATION
1. Of all the penalties which the Church can inflict,
excommunication is the most severe, and it virtually con-
tains the others. It deprives the delinquent of all the ad-
vantages which he possessed as a member of the Church,
and puts him outside the communion of the faithful.
According to the ancient discipline of the Church, no
excommunicated person could hold any intercourse with
the faithful, nor could the faithful hold intercourse with
him, but at the close of the Middle Ages, when heresy be-
came more common, it grew to be impossible to maintain
the ancient rigor, and Martin V introduced an important
mitigation in the law. By the decree Ad evitanda, he dis-
tinguished between those under censure who were still to
be avoided and those who were to be tolerated. All who
were excommunicated by name, and at the same time
specially denounced by name, together with all who
notoriously violated the privilege of the canon by striking
clerics, were still to be avoided; all others were to be
tolerated. By this concession Catholics might without
scruple, as far as concerned the censure, henceforth have
intercourse with persons under censure who were tolerated.
The concession was not, indeed, made directly in favor of
076
EXCOMMUNICA TION 377
those under censure, but these could not fail to benefit
indirectly by the relaxation in the law that had been
granted to the faithful. The tolerated as well as those to
be avoided were still theoretically subject to the former
disabilities, but custom made a distinction between them
in several important respects.
By the ancient discipline one of the faithful who held
unlawful intercourse with one who was under excom-
munication himself incurred the minor excommunication,
but this penalty has ceased to exist since the promul-
gation of the constitution of Pius IX, Apostolicce Sedis,
where no mention is made of it.
2. The effects of excommunication as mitigated by
modern discipline may be enumerated as follows:
a. It deprives the excommunicated person of the use
of the sacraments, sacramentals, and indulgences of the
Church, so that whether tolerated or not he can not law-
fully receive them, and if he does so unabsolved he com-
mits grave sin.
Z>. It deprives at least those who are not tolerated of
the public suffrages and prayers which the ministers of
the Church offer in her name. To pray publicly in the
services of the Church or to offer Mass publicly even for
the tolerated except for their conversion seems still in
general forbidden. Special exceptions, however, are some-
times made in favor of non-Catholic rulers. According to
a very probable opinion it is allowed in private to offer
Mass for those excommunicates who are tolerated, inas-
much as the decree of Martin V allowed Catholics to hold
communion with them and so to offer Masses and suffrages
for them. No one is forbidden, but rather all are urged to
pray in private for the excommunicated.
378 CENSURES
c. An excommunicated priest can not lawfully adminis-
ter the sacraments. However, in extreme necessity even
one who is to be avoided may administer them, and one
who is tolerated may do so if the faithful request it of him.
d. One who is to be avoided can not lawfully be present
at the liturgical offices of the Church, but those who are
tolerated are not only allowed by modern custom but
even urged to come to Catholic services so that prejudice
may be removed and they may be better disposed toward
the Church.
e. Excommunication renders null and void presentation
to a benefice or the conferring of an ecclesiastical dignity
with jurisdiction annexed to it. It also makes one in-
capable of receiving the benefit of a papal rescript, and
therefore such favors usually contain a clause absolving
the recipient from any censure he may have incurred in
order to secure the validity of the favor conferred on him.
/. One who is to be avoided as excommunicate can not
hold any office in an ecclesiastical court. Roman law
made him incapable of holding the office of judge or advo-
cate, of being a witness, or even a guardian to a minor,
or the executor of a will. Such disabilities are not recog-
nized in modern civil legislation. A tolerated excom-
municate was not ipso facto excluded from holding office
in an ecclesiastical court, but legal exception might be
taken to him.
g. An excommunicate who is to be avoided is deprived
of all ecclesiastical jurisdiction both of the internal and of
the external forum. One who is tolerated retains any juris-
diction which he possessed as long as he retains his title,
but he can not lawfully exercise it except at the request
of the faithful who are allowed to communicate with him.
EX COM M UNICA TION 379
h. Excommunication deprives a person of the right to
ecclesiastical burial in consecrated ground. If, however,
before death he gave signs of repentance, and of a wish
to be reconciled with the Church, absolution may be given
after death and the corpse may then receive Christian
burial.
i. Those who were to be avoided as being under excom-
munication were also deprived of civil society and social
intercourse. This prohibition of social intercourse was
only binding under pain of venial sin, and many reasons
of no great weight were held to excuse its violation even
from venial sin. The conditions of modern society have
increased and added weight to those excuses so that
practically the prohibition of social intercourse and civil
society with excommunicates has ceased to be of im-
portance.
Beside the foregoing effects immediately produced by
excommunication, there are others more remote. If the
person under excommunication violates the censure by
unlawfully and solemnly exercising sacred Orders, he
incurs irregularity, and if after due admonitions he takes
no steps to be released from the censure but remains in it
for a whole year, he becomes suspect of heresy.
CHAPTER II
SUSPENSION
1. Suspension is a censure by which a cleric is deprived
of the use of some ecclesiastical power which he has by
reason of his Orders, office, or benefice.
This censure, then, differs from the rest in that it is
inflicted only on clerics whom it deprives of the lawful
exercise of some portion or of the whole of the ecclesi-
astical power which they possess. A suspended priest
may hear Mass and receive the sacraments, and he retains
the Order or office from which he is suspended, but he
can not lawfully exercise that Order or office as long as he
is under censure.
Suspension may be partial, as when it deprives the
delinquent of the exercise of some sacred Order, or office,
or of the administration and fruits of his benefice; or it
may be total and embrace all these ecclesiastical powers.
When a cleric is simply suspended without any special
limitation he is understood to be totally suspended from
all sacred Orders, the exercise of his office, and the fruits
of his benefice.
Suspension ab homine, inflicted for the perpetration of a
crime, should ordinarily be imposed after the crime has
been proved judicially. However, the Council of Trent *
permitted prelates to suspend their clerics on account of
1 Sess. xiv, c. 1, de ) af.
380
SUSPENSION 381
a secret crime and without judicial process. If they use
this right, they are said to suspend the delinquent ex in-
formata conscientia; they are not bound to make known
the grounds of their action to the delinquent himself, but
they should be prepared to submit them to the Sacred
Congregation if he have recourse to Rome, as he has a
right to do, though he has no right to a strict appeal.1
Suspension inflicted for life, or for a crime which is
altogether past and done with, or at the will and good
pleasure of the Superior, is not a censure in the strict sense,
but a mere penalty inflicted in punishment for crime.
2. A suspended person who exercises an act prohibited
him by the censure commits grave sin, and if he solemnly
exercises sacred Orders after being suspended from them
he incurs the penalty of irregularity in addition. An act
of jurisdiction on the part of one who is publicly suspended
and who is not tolerated would be invalid ; such an act on
the part of one who is tolerated would always be valid,
and even lawful if it were exercised at the request of the
faithful who have the right to ask it of him.
1 Instruct. S.C. de P.F., October 20, 1884.
CHAPTER III
INTERDICT
1. Interdict is a censure which prohibits the use of
liturgical offices, some sacraments, and ecclesiastical
burial. It differs from excommunication and suspension,
even when the effects are similar, in that excommunica-
tion deprives the delinquent of the use of the sacraments,
for example, inasmuch as that use is a communication
with the faithful, and suspension deprives the delinquent
of the exercise of ecclesiastical power in the administration
of the sacraments, while interdict forbids their use inas-
much as they are sacred actions and objects of which for
just reasons the delinquent is deprived.
An interdict is local, personal, or mixed, as the pro-
hibition immediately affects the place, certain persons, or
both.
It is general or special as it affects the whole of some
country or body ; or only some particular place or person,
physical or moral.
It is total or partial as it deprives of liturgical functions,
some sacraments, and ecclesiastical burial, or only of some
of these spiritual advantages.
In spite of the prohibition of liturgical functions, these
may be celebrated with open doors on certain more solemn
festivals, provided that those whose crime was the occa-
sion of the interdict do not approach the altar. Mass, too,
382
INTERDICT 383
may be said during an interdict with closed doors in
churches where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved, in
order that it may be renewed for the needs of the sick.
The ordinary distribution of holy communion, the nup-
tial blessing, the ordination of clerics, and the adminis-
tration of Extreme Unction are forbidden ; the sacraments
of Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, Marriage without the
nuptial blessing, the Viaticum, and even Extreme Unction
when another sacrament can not be administered, are not
forbidden during an interdict.
Ecclesiastical burial may not take place in a consecrated
cemetery which is under interdict, nor may interdicted
persons be buried in consecrated ground.
2. The violation of an interdict by doing what it forbids
is a grave sin, and a cleric who violates a personal inter-
dict by the exercise of an action belonging to sacred Orders
or who performs such an action in a place which is inter-
dicted by name incurs irregularity. There are also certain
other penalties inflicted for the violation of an interdict,
as we shall see when treating of the constitution Apos-
tolicce Sedis.
CHAPTER IV
ECCLESIASTICAL PENALTIES
1. Certain ecclesiastical penalties resemble censures in
some respects, and it will be convenient to say a word
about them here. Deposition is an ecclesiastical penalty
by which a cleric as a punishment for grave crime is for-
ever deprived of the exercise of his Orders, or of his office
and the use of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or of his benefice ;
or at the same time of the exercise of his Orders, of his
office and jurisdiction, and of his benefice. It differs from
a censure in that it is vindictive not remedial, and it does
not endure merely until correction, amendment, and abso-
lution; but of itself it is perpetual. The deposed cleric
retains the privileges of the forum and of the canon.
2. Degradation is a more severe penalty than deposi-
tion, inasmuch as it reduces the cleric to the state of a
layman as far as it is in the power of the Church to do,
and deprives him of all clerical offices, rights, and privileges.
Degradation is inflicted by the bishop in punishment of
grave crimes committed by clerics who are incorrigible,
by depriving them solemnly of their vestments and insignia
of office, and handing them over to be dealt with by the
secular arm.
3. Cessation from divine offices is ordered in a place in
punishment for some grave crime that has been therein
committed. It differs from a local interdict in that it
384
ECCLESIASTICAL PENALTIES 385
altogether forbids the administration of the sacraments
except such as are necessary, liturgical functions, and
ecclesiastical burial.
4. By ecclesiastical burial is meant interment in con-
secrated ground with the rites of the Church. All Catholics
who die in communion with the faithful have a right to
ecclesiastical burial. If there is no consecrated ground
in which they can be buried, the grave in which they are
placed is blessed at the time of interment. As far as
possible, Catholics should have a special cemetery of their
own or a portion at least of the common cemetery assigned
to them exclusively. In this a part should be left unblessed
for the reception of the bodies of unbaptized infants and
of those to whom Christian burial is to be denied. These
are either such as are deprived of ecclesiastical burial
because they died out of communion with the faithful,
or those to whom it is denied in punishment of crime.
To the first category belong all who are not baptized,
open and public heretics, schismatics, apostates, and those
under excommunication, for "with those with whom
we have not communicated when alive we do not com-
municate when dead." *
To the second class belong suicides, unless they killed
themselves while out of their mind, and this the Church
readily presumes, those who have been killed in a duel,
those who did not make their Easter duties, and open
and public sinners. No Catholic, however, should be
refused ecclesiastical burial without the sentence of the
bishop.
Those also, who of their own free will chose to be cremated
and persevered in this choice till death, are denied eccle-
1 c. 12, de sepulturis.
386 CENSURES
siastical burial. The Church's rites may be performed
at the house and in the Church in favor of those who are
to be cremated by the wish of another, but no sacred rites
are permitted at the crematorium.1
Although cremation in itself is not intrinsically wrong,
yet the Church for good reasons forbids it, and it is gravely
sinful for a Catholic to take a formal part in the cremation
of the body of a Catholic.
1 S.O. December 15, 1886=
Part III
SPECIAL CENSURES
CHAPTER I
THE BULL "APOSTOLICLE SEDIS " WITH COMMENTARY
In this part we will give the particular censures which
are in force at the present day. Most of them are con-
tained in the constitution Apostolicce Sedis, issued by
Pius IX, October 12, 1869, which it will be well to print
in its entirety, adding a few notes by way of comment
where they seem called for. We may warn the reader
that the document is legal p"d highly technical, and that
want of caution or knowieuge may easily lead him to
draw very wrong conclusions from the document.
CONSTITUTIO SANCTISSIMI D.N.
QUA
CENSURE LAT.E SENTENTLE LIMITANTUR
Pius Episcopus, Servus Servorum Dei, ad perpetuam
rei memoriam:
Apostolicie Sedis moderationi convenit, quae salubriter
veterum canonum auctoritate constituta sunt, sic retinere,
ut, si temporum rerumque mutatio quidpiam esse tem-
perandum prudenti dispensatione suacleat, Eadem Aposto-
lica Sedes congruum supremse suae potestatis remedium
ac providentiam impendat. Quamobrem cum animo
Nostro iampridem revolveremus, ecclesiasticas censuras,
387
388 CENSURES
quae per modum latse sentential, ipsoque facto incurrendse
ad incolumitatem ac disciplinam ipsius Ecclesiae tutandam,
effrenemque improbo.rum licentiam coercendam et emen-
dandam sancte per singulas aetates indictse ac promulgatse
sunt, magnum ad numerum sensim excrevisse; quasdam
etiam, temporibus moribusque mutatis, a fine atque causis,
ob quas impositoe fuerant, vel a pristina utilitate atque
opportunitate excidisse; eamque ob rem non infrequentes
oriri sive in iis, quibus animarum cura commissa est,
sive in ipsis fidelibus dubietates, anxietates, angoresque
conscientise ; Nos eiusmodi incommodis occurrere volentes,
plenam earundem recensionem fieri Nobisque proponi
iussimus, ut, diligenti adhibita consideratione, statueremus,
quasnam ex illis servare ac retinere oporteret, quas vero
moderari aut abrogare congrueret.
(a) Ea igitur recensione peracta, ac Venerabilibus Fra=
tribus Nostris S. R. E. Cardinalibus in negotiis Fidei
Generalibus Inquisitoribus per universam Christianam
Rempublicam deputatis in consilium adscitis, reque diu
ac mature perpensa, motu proprio, certa scientia, matura
deliberatione Nostra, deque Apostolicse Nostra) potestatis
plenitudine, hac perpetuo valitura Constitutione decerni-
mus, ut ex quibuscumque censuris sive excommunicationis,
sive suspensionis, sive interdicti, qua3 per modum latse
sententise, (b) ipsoque facto incurrendse hactenus impositse
sunt, nonnisi illse, quas in hac ipsa Constitutione inser-
rimus, eoque modo, quo inserimus, robur exinde habeant;
simul declarantes, easdem non modo ex veterum canonum
auctoritate, quatenus cum hac Nostra Constitutione con-
veniunt, verum etiam hac ipsa Constitutione Nostra, non
secus ac si primum editse ab ea fuerint, vim suam prorsus
accipere debere.
CONSli/UTIO APOSTOLIC^ SED1S 889
a. In doubt, therefore, this constitution must be inter-
preted strictly both because it deals with penalties and
because the intention of the maker of the law was to limit,
not to increase, the number of censures.
b. So that the constitution does not affect censures
which are ferendce sententice, nor of course those which be-
long to the special law of particular provinces, dioceses,
or Religious Orders, but to the common law of the Church.
Each of the censures which follow is a law which pro-
hibits the act of which it treats under pain of incurring
the censure inflicted.
EXCOMMUNICATIONES LaT,E SeNTENTLE SPECIALI MoDO
Romano Pontifici Reservat^e
Itaque excommunicationi latie sentential speciali modo
Romano Pontifici reservatse subiacere declaramus:
I. Omnes a Christiana fide apostatas, et omnes ac sin-
gulos hsereticos, quocumque nomine censeantur, et cuius-
cumque sectse exsistant, eisque credentes, eorumque re-
ceptores, fautores, ac generaliter quoslibet illorum de-
fensores.
Speciali modo. — The censures in the first list are specially
reserved because they can not be absolved by such as have
only a general faculty to absolve from cases reserved to
the Pope, nor by bishops when they are occult by virtue
of the Chapter Liceat, 1 and those who are absolved in
danger of death from these censures are bound in case of
recovery afterward to present themselves before the Holy
See and accept its commands.
Apostatas. — Apostates are those who altogether fall
1 Trent, sess. xxiv, c. 6, de ref.
390 CENSURES
away from the Catholic Faith whether they profess any
other form of religion or not.
Hcereticos. — Heretics in this connection are those only
who sinfully, internally and externally, reject some dogma
proposed by the Church to be believed, though they know
fully well that it is so proposed.
Credentes. — Those who express their belief that some
false doctrine of heretics is true, or that in general apos-
tates and heretics teach the truth.
Receptores. — Harborers of heretics, as such, to prevent
them from being detected or punished.
Fautores. — Fautors of heretics are those who afford
them help and assistance in matters touching their heresy.
Defensores. — Defenders of heretics are such as by word,
in writing, or by deed defend their heretical teachings or
their persons from capture and punishment.
II. Omnes et singulos scienter legentes sine auctoritate
Seclis Apostolicsc libros eorundem apostatarum et hsereti-
corum haeresim propugnantes, nee non libros cuiusvis
auctoris per Apostolicas litteras nominatim prohibitos,
eosdemque libros retinentes, imprimentes, et quomodo-
libet defendentes.
Scienter. — Full knowledge of this law and of the fact
of transgression is required in order to fall under this
censure. Crass, and probably even affected ignorance
will excuse from the censure.
Legentes. — Reading, not hearing, is forbidden under cen-
sure, and the quantity read must be considerable with
reference to the intention of the law which is to preserve
the purity of the Faith.
Libros. L— A newspaper, pamphlet, or sermon, is not a
book. Periodicals, however, come under the law,
CONSTITUTIO APOSTOLIC^ SEDIS 391
Propugnantes. — To fall under this censure it is not suf-
ficient if the book merely contain heresy; it must under-
take the defence of heresy by arguments.
Prohibitos. — Books that come under this clause must
be forbidden not merely by a Roman congregation, but
immediately by letters issued in the name of the Pope
and mentioning them by name. Such a book is Fenelon's
"Explication des Maximes des Saints." They must be for-
bidden under pain of excommunication; some authorities
say even under pain of excommunication reserved to the
Holy See.
Retinentes. — Retaining for any purpose whatever with-
out leave.
Defendentes. — Defending the book or its heretical doc-
trine by word, writing, or deed.
III. Schismaticos et eos qui a Romani Pontificis pro
tempore exsistentis obedientia pertinaciter se subtrahunt
vel recedunt.
Schismaticos. — Schismatics are those who refuse to be
subject to the Roman Pontiff, the divinely constituted
head of the Church, whether through mere malice or
because they hold false opinions about the Church and
Catholic doctrine, and thus separate themselves from the
body of the Church, constituting themselves a new body
or joining some other religious body already in existence.
Recedunt. — Even those whose act does not amount
to schism, but who knowingly and wilfully withdraw
themselves from obedience due to the Roman Pontiff and
refuse to acknowledge his authority in some spiritual mat-
ter, incur this excommunication. One who continued to
acknowledge the Pope's authority but refused to obey
his commands on account of the difficulty of obedience,
392 CENSUBES
or for some similar motive, would not incur this cen-
sure.
IV. Omnes et singulos, cuiuscumque status, gradus seu
conditionis fuerint, ab ordinationibus seu mandatis Ro-
manorum Pontificum pro tempore existentium ad univer-
sale futurum Concilium appellantes, nee non eos, quorum
auxilio, consilio vel favore appellatum fuerit.
V. Omnes- interficientes, mutilantes, percutientes, capi-
entes, carcerantes, detinentes, vel hostiliter insequentes
S. R. E. Cardinales, Patriarchas, Archiepiscopos, Epis-
copos, Sedisque Apostolicse Legatos, vel Nuncios, aut
eos a suis 'Dicecesibus, Territoriis, Terris; seu Dominiis
eiicientes, nee non ea mandantes, vel rata habentes, seu
prsestantes in eis auxilium, consilium vel favorem.
VI. Impedientes directe vel indirecte exercitium iuris-
dictionis ecclesiastics sive interni sive externi fori, et
ad hoc recurrentes ad forum sseculare, eiusque mandata
procurantes, edentes, aut auxilium, consilium vf\ favorem
prsestantes.
Impedientes. — Hindering those who possess ecclesias-
tical jurisdiction from exercising it; this censure does not
touch those who put obstacles in the way of the exercise
of the power of Orders. It is done directly by threatening
evil to those who have jurisdiction in case they use it,
indirectly, when others connected with them are threatened,
or pressure is brought to bear upon them but the object
of it is not avowed.
Recurrentes. — Not only the foregoing, but also those
who have recourse to the civil authority to hinder the
exercise of ecclesiastical jurisdiction fall under this censure.
Prcestantes. — " Giving help, counsel, or favor thereto ''
is by some limited to the last clause, " Procuring or issuing
CONSTITUTIO APOSTOLIC^ SEDIS 393
its mandates;" by others it is extended to the other two
clauses of the censure.
VII. Cogentes sive directe, sive indirecte iudices laicos
ad trahendum ad suum tribunal personas ecclesiasticas
praeter canonicas dispositiones : item edentes leges vel
Decreta contra libertatem aut iura Ecclesise.
Cogentes. — The Holy Office, January 23, 1886, ex-
plained that this censure only affected legislators and
other authorities who, contrary to the law of the Church,
where this is in force, compel lay judges to bring ecclesi-
astical persons before their tribunal as parties in a civil
or criminal suit.
Edentes. — Those who are the authors of laws and decrees
against the liberty and rights of the Church in the widest
sense incur this censure. ^ Makers of laws to expel Religious
Orders from the country, or to hinder the clergy in the
exercise of their functions of preaching, instructing, or
administering the sacraments, fall under the censure.
VIII. Recurrentes ad laicam potestatem ad impediendas
litteras vel acta quselibet a Sede Apostolica, vel ab eiusdem
Legatis aut Delegatis quibuscumque profecta, eorumque
promulgationem vel exsecutionem directe vel indirecte
prohibentes, aut eorum causa sive ipsas partes, sive alios
lsedentes vel perterrefacientes.
Recurrentes. — Having recourse by petition or appeal
or any other way to the civil authority and thus hindering
the publication or execution of letters from the Holy See.
Acta. — Letters, acts, rescripts of grace or of justice,
coming either immediately from the Pope or from his
legates or delegates, or from the Roman congregations,
are all comprised in this clause.
Prohibentes. — Hindering directly or indirectly their
394 CENSURES
promulgation and execution by having recourse to the
civil authority, or, as some maintain, by any other means,
for the law does not distinguish nor should we do so.
Lcedentes. — Injuring or frightening those whose interest
it is to have the letters or acts published and executed,
because of those letters or acts.
IX. Omnes falsarios litterarum Apostolicarum, etiam in
forma Brevis ac supplicationum gratiam vel iustitiam
concernentium, per Romanum Pontificem, vel S. R. E.
Vice-Cancellarios seu Gerentes vices eorum aut de man-
dato Eiusdem Romani Pontificis signatarum : nee non f also
publicantes Litteras Apostolicas, etiam in forma Brevis,
et etiam falso signantes supplicationes huiusmodi sub
nomine Romani Pontificis seu Vice-Cancellarii aut Gerentis
vices prsedictorum.
X. Absolventes complicem in peccato turpi etiam in
mortis articulo, si alius Sacerdos licet non adprobatus
ad confessiones, sine gravi exoritura infamia et scandalo,
possit excipere morientis confessionem.
This censure was explained in the Part on Penance.
XI. Usurpantes aut sequestrantes iurisdictionem, bona,
redditus, ad personas ecclesiasticas ratione suarum Ec-
clesiarum aut Beneficiorum pertinentes.
Usurpantes. — Seizing as their lawful owner, not like
a thief. Those who get possession of ecclesiastical prop-
erty from those who seized it in the first instance do not
incur this censure, but they fall under that inflicted by
the Council of Trent,1 which is placed below in the next
series but one, p. 412.
Sequestrantes. — Judges or those who make use of a
judge's authority to sequestrate jurisdiction, temporal
1 Sess. xxii, c. 11, de ref.
CONSTITUTIO APOSTOLICJE SEDIS 395
or spiritual, property, or rents, belonging to ecclesiastical
persons on account of their churches or benefices; not
the ecclesiastical property belonging to hospitals, or to
churches for the support of the fabric, etc., or to religious
houses.
XII. Invadentes, destruentes, detinentes per se vel per
alios civitates, terras, loca aut iura ad Ecclesiam Roma-
nam pertinentia; vel usurpantes, perturbantes, retinentes
supremam iurisdictionem in eis ; nee non ad singula pra>
dicta auxilium, consilium, favorem prsebentes.
Invadentes. — Invading by armed force.
Destruentes. — Destroying wholly or in part.
Detinentes. — Detaining, whether they be the first
invaders or their successors. Per se vel per alios refers
to the three preceding m words.
Pertinentia. — Belonging to the Roman Church, not to
the Pope or to others as individuals.
Perturbantes. — By hindering the making or execution
of laws, fostering rebellion, etc.
Jurisdictionem. — Exercising supreme authority in places
belonging to the Church.
Praibentes. — Such as proximately co-operate with the
foregoing by contributing money, influencing the people
by their writings, etc. Civil officials holding office under
the usurper do not fall thereby under the censure, as they
are necessary for the preservation of public order.
Pius IX, by the constitution Romanus Pontifex, August
28, 1873, added another excommunication specially re-
served to the Holy See to the foregoing. It affects: "1.
Dignitates et Canonicos Cathedralium Ecclesiarum vacan-
tium, ac illos qui deficientibus Capitulis Vicarios deputant
(vacantis ecclesia)), aut vacantes ccclesias legitime admin-
396 CENSURES
istrant, qui ante exhibitionem Litterarum Apostolicarum
concedere et transferre in nominatum et prsesentatum ad
eandem Ecclesiam ejus curam, regimen, et administratio-
nem sub quovis titulo, nomine, qusesito colore, ausi fuerint.
2. Nominatos et prsesentatos ad vacantes ecclesias, qui
earum regimen, et administrationem suscipere audent ex
concessione et translatione a Dignitatibus et Canonicis,
aliisque, dequibus supra, in eos peracta. 3. Necnon in
eos qui prsemissis paruerint, vel auxilium, consilium, aut
favorem praestiterint, cujuscumque status, conditionis,
prseeminentiae, et dignitatis, fuerint."
A quibus omnibus excommunicationibus hue usque
recensitis absolutionem Romano Pontifici pro tempore
speciali modo reservatam esse et reservari; et pro ea
generalem concessionem absolvendi a casibus et censuris,
sive excommunicationibus Romano Pontifici reservatis
nullo pacto sufficere declaramus revocatis insuper earun-
dem respectu quibuscumque indultis concessis sub quavis
forma et quibusvis personis etiam Regularibus cuiuscum-
que Ordinis, Congregationis, Societatis et Instituti, etiam
speciali mentione dignis et in quavis dignitate constitutis.
Absolvere autem prsesumentes sine debita facultate, etiam
quovis prsetextu, excommunicationis vinculo Romano Pon-
tifici reservatse innodatos se sciant dummodo non agatur
de mortis articulo, in quo tamen firma sit quoad absolutos
obligatio standi manclatis Ecclesise, si convaluerint.
EXCOMMUNICATIONES LAT^E SeNTENTLE ROMANO PONTI-
fici Reservatse
Excommunicationi lata? sententise Romano Pontifici
reservatse subiacere declaramus.
I. Docentes vel defendentes sive publice, sive privatim
CONSTITUTIO APOSTOLIC^ SEDIS 397
propositiones ab Apostolica Sedc damnatas sub excom-
municationis poena latae sententise; item docentes vel
defendentes tamquam licitam praxim inquirendi a pceni-
tente nomen complicis, prouti damnata est a Benedicto
XIV in Const. Suprema 7 Iulii 1745; Ubi primum 2 Iulii
1740; Ad eradicandum 28 Septembris 1746.
Docentes. — One who publicly or privately teaches, or
publicly or privately defends, as not being worthy of con-
demnation, propositions which have been condemned by
the Holy See under pain of excommunication falls under
this censure. A catalogue of such propositions will be
found in Lehmkuhl.1 Some of these propositions are
heretical and one who believed and taught them would
incur the first excommunication of this constitution spe-
cially reserved to the Hojy See, and not this. The censure
would not be incurred for.teaching or defending a proposi-
tion condemned by the Index, Holy Office, or a general
council.
Complicis. — A confessor is as a rule forbidden to ask
a penitent the name of a person with whom he has com-
mitted a sin. Any one who teaches or defends the practice
of asking in confession the name of an accomplice and
refusing absolution if the penitent will not disclose it,
falls under this censure. It is here supposed that the
action may sometimes be lawful according to what is
generally laid down under the head of fraternal correction,
and one who teaches that in those exceptional cases the
confessor may ask the name of the accomplice does not
of course incur this censure.
II. Violentas manus, suadente diabolo, iniicientes in
Clericos, vel utriusque sexus Monachos, exceptis quoad
1 vol. ii, n. 942.
398 CENSURES
reservationem casibus et personis, de quibus iure vel
privilegio permittitur, ut Episcopus aut alius absolvat.
Violentas. — This signifies any serious injury by deed,
not by word, against the cleric's person, liberty, or dignity.
Saadente diabolo. — An injury which is mortally sinful.
The censure is not incurred when a cleric is struck with-
out sin, as in self-defence, or for the sake of correction by
parents or masters.
Clericos. — Any one who has received at least the tonsure.
Monachos. — Religious of both sexes, novices, lay
brothers, and tertiaries, if they wear the habit and live
in community.
Exceptis. — This clause only affects the reservation of
the censure. Bishops could absolve a delinquent from
this censure if the injury were of a less serious character,
and even when it was serious if it was occult. Abbots
could absolve their subjects who had incurred the censure
unless the injury were very grave. These provisions of
the law are now of less moment, especially in missionary
countries, where confessors usually receive faculties to
absolve from this censure, however it may have been
incurred.
This censure guarantees the privilege of personal in-
violability of the clergy and is called the Privilegium
canonis.
III. Duellum perpetrantes, aut simpliciter ad illud pro-
vocates, vel ipsum acceptantes, et quoslibet complices,
vel qualemcumque operam aut favorem prsebentes, nee
non de industria spectantes, illudque permittentes, vel
quantum in illis est, non prohibentes, cuiuscumque dig-
nitatis sint, etiam regalis vel imperialis.
Duellum. — Duel is here to be taken in the strict and
CONSTITUTIO APOSTOLIC.fi SEDIS 31)9
technical sense of an unlawful fight with deadly weapons
between two combatants by special arrangement as to
time and place.
Acceptantes. — Not only those who actually fight the
duel but those who send or accept a challenge to a duel
which does not come off, fall under the censure.
Complices. — Accomplices are those who order or counsel
a duel, or who act as intermediaries or seconds. All such
and those who in any way assist in a duel are excom-
municated. It is a moot point whether accomplices in
a challenge or acceptance of a duel which is not fought
come under the censure.
Spectantes. — Onlookers who have come for the purpose
of seeing the duel, not mere passers-by who happen to
see it, nor those who look on in secret from a dis-
tance.
Non prohibentes. — Military or civil authorities who per-
mit or who do not prohibit duelling when they have the
power to do so.
IV. Nomen dantes sectse Massonicce, aut Carbonarice,
aut aliis eiusdem generis sectis quae contra Ecclesiam
vel legitimas potestates seu palam, seu clandestine ma-
chinantur; nee non iisdem sectis favorem qualemcumque
prsestantes; earumve occultos corypha3os ac duces non
denunciantes, donee non dedunciaverint.
Sectce. — All who become Freemasons, or Carbonari, or
members of any similar society which plots either openly
or in secret against the legitimate government in Church
or State, whether an oath of secrecy is exacted from the
members or not, fall under this censure.
Prceslantes. — All who favor them in any way, openly
or in secret, directly or indirectly, physically or morally.
400 CENSURES
positively or negatively, by not repressing them when they
ought and can do it.
Denunciaverint. — All who know the secret heads and
leaders of such societies are bound to denounce them to the
ordinary under pain of excommunication, and those who
neglect this duty remain excommunicated until they make
the denunciation, when the censure ceases.
There is no obligation to make the denunciation when
the heads or leaders are publicly known, or when it would
be useless, or when it would entail serious personal damage
unless the public damage would be still greater from not
making the denunciation.
Note. — For the benefit of American readers it may be
well to make special reference to three societies condemned
by the Church: the Knights of Pythias, the Odd Fellows,
and the Sons of Temperance. These three societies were
condemned August 20, 1894. Soon after this condemna-
tion some bishops of the United States represented to the
Holy See the grave pecuniary loss which many Catholic
members of those societies would sustain from being obliged
to sever all connection with them. Under the statutes of
those societies the members were entitled in the event of
sickness or grave necessity to receive aid, and in the case of
death the family of the deceased member would receive
a certain quota of assistance. Now many of the Catholic
members had for a long time been paying assessments at
stated times as a condition for membership and for the
right to the foregoing advantages without, however, receiv-
ing anything in return for those payments. Could the
Holy See permit the application of some remedy by which
this serious loss would be prevented ? If the Catholic mem-
CONSTITUTIO APOSTOLIC^ SEDIS 401
bers would discontinue payment of their assessments,
they, and not the society to which they belonged, would
suffer the loss. Besides, it sometimes happens that mem-
bers are legally bound by periodic instalments to discharge
debt contracted by the society. The Holy See was there-
fore asked whether it would be lawful for Catholic members
of any of those three societies to continue the payment of
the required assessments or debt and to retain their names
on the register of members. To this question the Cong, of
the Holy Office answered (January 18, 1896) in the follow-
ing terms : " Generatim loquendo non licere : et ad mentem.
Mens est quod ea res tolerari possit sequentibus conditionibus
et adjunctis, simul in casu concurrentibus , scilicet: 1. Si
bona fide primitus sectce nomen dederit antequam sibi inno-
tuisset societatem fuisse damnatam. 2. Si absit scandalum vel
opportuna removeatur declaratione, id a se fieri ne jus ad
emolumenta vel beneficium temporis in aire alieno solvendo
amittat: a quavis interim sectce communione et a quocunque
interventu, etiam materiali, ut prcemittitur, abstinendo.
3. Si grave damnum sibi aut familial ex renunciatione ob-
veniat. 4. Tandem ut non adsit vel homini illi vel familial
ejus periculum ullum perversionis ex parte sectariorum,
spectato prcecipue casu vel infirmitatis vel mortis: neve
similiter adsit periculum funeris peragendi a ritibus Catholi-
cis alieni" From this response it appears that, when cer-
tain conditions are found together in a given case, it may
be tolerated for a member to continue the prescribed pay-
ments and retain his name on the register. The conditions
are first, that the person was in good faith when he became
a member, not aware of the society being under condemna-
tion; second, that there be no scandal, or, if there be, that
it should be removed by an opportune statement that the
402 CENSURES
object to be attained is not to lose the right to the emolu-
ments nor to the time benefit in payment of debt, while
the member must abstain from any communication with or
participation in the society ; third, that a grave loss would
arise to the member or to his family from his renunciation
of the society; fourth, that there be no danger of perver-
sion to the member or his family from the sectaries,
especially in the case of sickness or death, nor any danger
of having a funeral at variance with the Catholic
ritual. The Sovereign Pontiff Leo XIII approved and con-
firmed the Decree of the Holy Office, but besides ordered
that, as the question was full of dangers and difficulties,
and one which affected various ecclesiastical provinces, the
Delegate-Apostolic of the United States for the time being
should for the sake of uniformity make provision for par-
ticular cases, after the conditions given above would have
been complied with. Hence if a Catholic member of one
of those three societies should wish to procure the pecuniary
advantages of members and for this purpose retain a certain
sort of membership so far as to have his name kept on the
register, a petition is to be sent to the Delegate-Apostolic
at Washington, D.C., by the bishop, pastor, or confessor,
setting forth the name of the member, when he joined the
society, whether in good faith, etc., and asking that his
name be retained in the register of the forbidden society.
His Excellency is accustomed to send a reply granting the
petition, provided that the statement made be correct and
the conditions required by the Holy See be verified. Such
passive membership is no obstacle to admission to the sacra-
ments.
It is to be observed that it is only for the three societies
named above that this concession has been made by the
CONSTITUTIO APOSTOLIC^ SEDIS 403
Holy See, and that it is still prohibited sub gravi to join
any of them. It is even held by some writers that those
three societies are forbidden under pain of excommunica-
tion. Thus Putzer in his work on the " Apostolic Facul-
ties" (n. 142) says of them, " Censuris subjectce esse videntur"
Sabetti (n. 994, q. 6), on the other hand, holds, " Non sunt
damnatce sub censura, sed solum quia sunt malce." If it
appear that these societies plot against the Church either
openly or secretly, their members incur excommunication
reserved to the Roman Pontiff, because the terms of the
censure (n. 4, 2d tabella) are verified, "Quce contra Eccle-
siam vel legitimam potestatem sen palam seu clandestine
machinantur •." It is on this point that the controversy
turns, whether or not these societies can be said to conspire
against the Church. Since no certain solution has been
given to the question, it is to be held according to a general
principle of censures that it is not incurred. The Holy See
was asked regarding another secret society (the Indepen-
dent Order of Good Templars), whether the excommunica-
tion against secret societies inflicted in the constitution
Apostolical Sedis affected this society. The question was
not definitely settled by the Holy Office, the answer being
" ' Dilata" but this Congregation declared that it was for-
bidden under pain of mortal sin to join that society. The
Holy See has given no authoritative decision as to whether
the three societies under consideration fall under censure ;
but since the Holy Office postponed a definite answer as
to the excommunication inflicted on the Independent
Order of Good Templars, there may be reason for hold-
ing that the excommunication does not affect the three
societies, inasmuch as a concession of passive member-
ship under certain conditions is made in favor of them
404 CENSURES
and not allowed for the Independent Order of Good
Templars.
There are other societies in the United States about
which doubt has arisen whether they are to be considered
forbidden. According to a Decree of the Third Plenary
Council of Baltimore (n. 255) a difficulty of this kind is to
be settled by a commission of the archbishops, and, if the
members should not agree, the question is to be referred
to Rome. The same Plenary Council sets down (n. 247)
two means or signs by which it may often be ascertained
whether a particular society should be considered as for-
bidden. One sign is, when the society enjoins a secret to
be kept so absolutely as not to permit any manifestation
of it to ecclesiastical authority. The other sign is, when
the society exacts an oath or promise of blind obedience.
In either of these cases the society is to be held as forbid-
den, so that Catholics who become members of it are to be
deprived of sacramental absolution until they renounce it
actually or seriously promise to do so immediately. — End
of Note.
V. Immunitatem asyli ecclesiastici violare jubentes, aut
ausu temerario violantes.
Immunitatem. — Immunity is a right belonging to
sacred places, such as churches, chapels, cemeteries, reli-
gious houses, seminaries, bishops' palaces, and hospitals
wherein there is a public chapel, so that those who take
refuge there may not be taken away by force. Highway
robbers, murderers, heretics, rebels, and others are ex-
cluded from the enjoyment of the privilege by law, and in
many countries the privilege is still further restricted by
concordats, while in others it is not recognized by the civil
C0NST1TUTI0 APOSTOLIC^ SEDIS 405
authority at all, and even Catholics are obliged to act as
if it did not exist.
Jubentes. — Those who knowingly and freely without
compulsion violate ecclesiastical immunity or who command
others to do so incur the censure. The two following cen-
sures were commented on in the first volume in connection
with the religious vow of chastity.
VI. Violantes clausuram Monialium, cuiuscumque gene-
ris aut conditionis, sexus vel setatis fuerint, in earum mo-
nasteria absque legitima licentia ingrediendo; pariterque
eos introducentes vel admittentes, itemque Moniales ab
ilia exeuntes extra casus ac formam a S. Pio V in Constit.
Decori prsescriptam.
VII. Mulieres violantes Regularium virorum clausuram,
et Superiores aliosve eas admittentes.
VIII. Reos simonise realis in Beneficiis quibuscumque,
eorumque complices.
Realis. — In which the simoniacal contract is at least
partially performed on both sides.
Beneficiis. — In buying or selling benefices, or in the
collation, election, or presentation to benefices.
IX. Reos simonise conficientialis in Beneficiis quibus-
libet, cuiuscumque sint dignitatis.
Dignitatis. — All prelates therefore, even cardinals, in-
cur this censure if they are guilty of confidential simony.
X. Reos simonise realis ob ingressum in Religionem.
Ingressum. — Those who buy or sell admission to pro-
fession in a Religious Order incur this censure, not those
who pay for their support during the novitiate, or even
afterward.
XL Omnes qui qusestum facientes ex indulgentiis aliis-
que gratiis spiritualibus excommunicationis censura plec-
406 CENSURES
tuntur Constitutione S. Pii V. Quam plenum 2 Ianuarii
1569.
Indulgentiis. — Offering indulgences or other spiritual
favors, such as the faculty of choosing one's confessor,
dispensations from abstinence, etc., in consideration for a
sum of money.
XII. Colligentes clcemosynas maioris pretii pro Missis,
et ex iis lucrum captantes, faciendo eas celebrari in locis
ubi Missarum stipendia minoris pretii esse solent.
Colligentes. — The decree of the Sacred Congregation of
the Council, Ut debita, May 11, 1904, On what is to be ob-
served and avoided in the satisfaction of manual Masses,
specially provides that this censure shall retain its full force.
XIII. Omnes qui excommunicationemulctantur in Con-
stitutionibus S. Pii V, Admonet nos, quarto Kalendas Aprilis
1567, Innocentii IX, Quce ab hac Sede pridie nonas Novem-
bris 1591, Clementis VIII, Ad Romani Pontificis curam,
26 Iunii 1592, et Alexandri VII, Inter ceteras, nono Kalen-
das Novembris 1660, alienationem et infeudationem Civi-
tatum et Locorum S.R.E., respicientibus.
By the constitution of St. Pius V those are excommuni-
cated who treat of or advise the granting in fief or aliena-
ting of cities and places belonging immediately to the Holy
See. These terms are to be strictly interpreted and more
probably would not affect those who should advise the
Pope to surrender the temporal dominions of the Holy See
to the Italian government.
XIV. Religiosos prsesumentes clericis aut laicis extra
casum necessitatis Sacramentum Extremse Unctionis aut
Eucharistise per viaticum ministrare absque Parochi licentia.
Religiosos. — Religious who are solemnly professed in an
Order approved by the Pope, not others.
CONSTITUTIO APOSTOLIC^ SEDIS 407
Prcesumentes extra casum necessitatis. — Those, therefore,
who administer the sacraments in case of necessity or
what they think to be such do not incur the censure.
Laicis. — Except those who are de familia.
Viaticum. — To administer holy communion to the sick
after they have received the Viaticum is not forbidden
under pain of incurring this censure.
Parochi. — Some authorities maintain that where there
are no parish priests but only missioners with the cure of
souls, as in Great Britain and in the United States, there
is no room for this censure, as it only punishes the viola-
tion of the rights of parish priests strictly so called.
XV. Extrahentes absque legitima venia reliquias ex
Sacris Coemeteriis sive Catacumbis Urbis Romse eiusque
territorii, eisque auxiliurn vel favor em prsebentes.
Reliquias. — The bones or ashes of martyrs buried in
the Catacombs, not other remains or souvenirs.
XVI. Communicantes cum excommunicato nominatim
a Papa in crimine criminoso, ei scilicet impendendo auxil-
iurn vel favorem.
To incur this excommunication the person communi-
cated with must be excommunicated by the Pope by name
or denounced by him as already under excommunication;
he who communicates with him must do so in the crime for
which he incurred excommunication by giving him help or
favor to enable him to persevere in his wickedness.
XVII. Clerici scienter et sponte communicantes in divinis
cum personis a Romano Pontifice nominatim excommuni-
catis et ipsos in officiis recipientes.
Clericos. — Probably only the inferior secular clergy are
comprised under this term when it is to be interpreted
strictly as here.
408 CENSURES
Recipientes. — Admitting them t.o the performance of
sacred offices, such as the celebration of Mass, the admin-
istration of the sacraments, public prayers, which clerics
perform as ministers of the Church.
EXCOMMUNICATIONES LaT,E SeNTENTLE EpISCOPIS SIVE
Ordinariis Reservat^e
Excommunicationi latse sententia? Episcopis sive Ordi-
nariis reservatae subiacere declaramus :
I. Clericos in Sacris constitutes vel Regulares aut Moni-
ales post votum solemne castitatis matrimonium con-
trahere prsesumentes ; nee non omnes cum aliqua ex pra>
dictis personis matrimonium contrahere praesumentes.
Votum solemne. — All who after taking a solemn vow of
chastity presume to marry, and those who contract mar-
riage with them, incur this censure.
II. Procurantes abortum, effectu sequuto.
Abortum. — Abortion is to be understood in the strict
sense, not embryotomy or craniotomy or causing premature
birth when the child is viable. To incur the censure the
abortion must be directly intended, so that one who struck
a pregnant woman and thus caused abortion, but without
any intention of causing it, would not incur the censure.
Some theologians are of opinion that the mother who pro-
cures abortion in herself is excused from this censure, inas-
much as she was excepted in the older legislation, and so
may be supposed to be excepted in this constitution whose
object is to limit the number of censures.
Note. — In some dioceses of the United States it is a
reserved excommunication for the mother to cause abortion
on herself. Hence whatever opinion one may hold on the
CONSTITUTIO APOSTOLIC^ SEDIS 409
question, whether this case is reserved by the constitution
Apostolicce Sedis or by the bishop, a confessor before ab-
solving such a mother should procure faculties from the
bishop, unless he would have or procure them from the
Holy See. — End of Note.
III. Litteris apostolicis falsis scienter utentes, vel
crimini ea in re cooperantes.
To the foregoing is to be added the following from the
decree Ut debita, May 11, 1904, " Qui statuta in prcece-
dentibus articulis 8, 9, 10, et 11 quomodolibet aut quovis
prcetextu perf ringer e ausus fuerit . . . si laicus, excom-
municationem latce sententice episcopis reservata obstringe-
tur" The acts hereby forbidden under pain of excom-
munication reserved to the bishop in the case of lay
people are :
1. The giving of stipends for Masses to booksellers, mer-
chants, managers of magazines and papers, and dealers
in church furniture, or to any one else, for any other pur-
pose except with the intention that the Masses should be
said by them or their subjects if they be priests.
2. It is forbidden to separate the stipend from the say-
ing of the Mass for which it is offered, or to exchange it
for anything else, or to subtract anything from it, but it
must be handed over wholly as it is to him who says the
Mass.
3. It is forbidden to sell or buy books, church furniture,
or anything else, or to pay for subscriptions to magazines
and papers by means of stipends for Mass, whether the
Masses are to be said or have already been said, whenever
it is done habitually and furthers trade.
4. Without special leave of the Holy See, it is forbidden
410 CENSURES
to subtract anything from the stipends offered at cele-
brated shrines for the upkeep of such places.
The Third Plenary Council of Baltimore (n. 124) punished
with excommunication reserved to the ordinary those under
its jurisdiction who should dare to attempt to marry again
after obtaining a civil divorce: as also (n. 127) those
Catholics who should marry before a minister of any
non-Catholic sect in any place subject to the prelates who
were members of the Council.
excommunicationes lat,e sententle nemini
Reservat^e
Excommunicationi lata3 sententise nemini reservatse
subiacere declaramus:
I. Mandantes seu cogentes tradi Ecclesiastic® sepul-
ture hsereticos notorios aut nominatim excommunicatos
vel interdictos.
Those who order by public authority or compel by vio-
lence Catholics to bury in consecrated ground notorious
heretics, or those who have been excommunicated by
name, or publicly denounced as interdicted, incur this
censure.
II. Lsedentes aut perterrefacientes Inquisitores, denun-
tiantes, testes, aliosve ministros S. Officii; eiusve Sacri
Tribunalis scrip turas diripientes, aut comburentes; vel
prsedictis quibuslibet auxilium, consilium, favorem prse-
stantes.
III. Alienantes et recipere prsesumentes bona ecclesi-
astica absque Beneplacito Apostolico, ad formam Ex-
travagantis, Ambitiosce De Reb. Ecc. non alienandis.
Alienantes. — This term has here a wide signification
C0NST1TUTJ0 APOSTOLIC^J SEDIS 411
and means any act by which ownership is transferred,
such as sale, mortgage, lease for a longer term than three
years. It refers to administrators of ecclesiastical prop-
erty.
Bona ecclesiastica. — Movable or immovable property
which belongs to the Church and is considerable in amount.
For the ordinary may alienate even real Church property
up to the value of £15 or £20. Produce of ecclesiastical
property may also be sold and what can not be kept with-
out loss.
Absque beneplacito. — The leave of the Holy See and
a good reason are required for the lawful alienation of
Church property.
IV. Negligentes sive culpabiliter omittentes denunciare
infra mensem Confessarios sive Sacerdotes a quibus sol-
licitati fuerint ad turpia in quibuslibet casibus expressis
a Prsedecess. Nostris Gregorio XV, Constit. Universi 20
Augusti 1622, et Benedicto XIV, Constit. Sacramentum
pxnitentice, 1 Iunii 1741.
Prseter hos hactenus recensitos, eos quoque quos Sac-
rosanctum Concilium Tridentinum, sive reservata Summo
Pontifici aut Ordinariis absolutione, sive absque ulla
reservatione excommunicavit, Nos pariter ita excommu-
nicatos esse declaramus; excepta anathematis poena in
Decreto Sess. IV, De editione et usu Sacrorum Librorum
constituta, cui illos tantum subiacere volumus, qui libros
de rebus sacris tractantes sine Ordinarii approbatione
imprimunt, aut imprimi faciunt.
Heic paulisper sistimus, ut inseramus excommunica-
tionis poenas, quas inflixit Tridentinum Concilium cum
adiectis ab eo reservationibus, atque inde prosequemur expo-
neve Constitutionem de qua agimus.
412 CENSURES
De usurpatoribus quorumcumque bonorum ecclesias-
ticorum aut iurium, quorum excommunicatio est Ro-
mano Pontifici a Concilio Tridentino reservata.
Sess. XXII, c. 11, de Reform : "Si quern clericorum vel lai-
corum quacumque is dignitate, etiam imperiali aut regali, prce-
fulgeat, in tantum malorum omnium radix cupiditas occupave-
rit, ut alicuius ecclesice seu cuiusvis scectdaris vel regularis
Beneficii, montium pietatis, aliorumque piorum locorum iuris-
dictiones, bona, census ac iura etiam feudalia emphyteutica,
fructus, emolumenta, seu quascumque obventiones, quce in min-
istrorum et pauperum necessitates converti debent, per se vel
alios vi vel timore incusso, seu etiam per suppositas personas
Clericorum aut Laicorum, seu quacumque arte aut quocumque
qucesito colore in proprios usus convertere, illosque usurpare
prcesumpserit, seu impedire, ne ab Us ad quos iure pertinent,
percipiantur, is anathemati tamdiu subiaceat, quamdiu iuris-
dictiones, bona, res, iura, fructus et redditus, quos occupaverit,
vel qui ad eum quomodocumque, etiam ex donatione sup-
positce personce, pervenerint, ecclesice eiusque administratori
sive Beneficiato integre restituerit, ac deinde a Romano Ponti-
fice absolutionem obtinuerit . . . Clericus vero, qui nefandce
fraudis et usurpationis huiusmodi fabricator seu consentiens
fuerit eisdem poenis subiaceat. ..."
Excommunicatur Magistratus si ad instantiam Episcopi
non prsebeat auxilium adversus contradictores clau-
surse monialium: itemque violantes earum clausu-
ram.
Sess. XV, c. 5, de Reg. : u Bonifacii VIII Constitutionem;
quce incipit, Periculoso, renovans Sancta Synodus, universis
Episcopis sub obtestatione divini iudicii et interminatione
CONSTITUTIO APOSTOLIC^ SEDIS 413
maledictionis ceternce prcecipit, ut in omnibus monasteriis
sibi subiectis ordinaria, in aliisvero Sedis Apostolicce auc-
toritate, clausuram sanctimonialium, ubi violata fuerit,
diligenter restitui, et ubi inviolata est, conservari maxime
procurent, inobedientes atque contradictores per censuras
ecclesiasticas aliasque poznas, quacumqae appellatione post-
posita, compescentes, invocato etiam ad hoc, si opus fuerit,
auxilio brachii scecularis. Quod auxilium ut prcebeaturi
omnes Christianos Principes hortatur Sancta Synodus, et
sub excommunicationis poena ipso facto incurrenda, omnibus
magistratibus scecularibus iniungit."
Sess. XXV, ex cap. 5, de Reg., u Ingredi autem intra
septa monasterii nemini liceat, cuiuscumque generis aut
conditionis, sexus vel cetatis fuerit, sine Episcopi vel Supe-
rioris licentia in scriptis obtenta, sub excommunicationis
pcena ipso facto incurrendaP
Excommunicantur Rap tores mulierum eorundemque
consocii.
Sess. XXIV, ex cap. 6, de Reform Matr. : "Decernit
Sancta Synodus, inter raptor em et raptam, quamdiu ipsa in
potestate raptoris manserit, nullum posse consistere matri-
monium. Quod si rapta a raptore separata et in loco tuto
et libero constituta ilium in virum habere censuerit, earn
raptor in uxorem habeat, et nihilominus raptor ipse ac omnes
illi consilium, auxilium et favor em prcebentes, sint ipso
iure excommunicati. ..."
Excommunicantur qui libertatem matrimonii contra-
hendi violant.
Sess. XXIV, ex cap. 9, de Reform Matr. : " Itaplerumque
temporalium dominorum ac magistratuum mentis oculos
414 CENSURES
terreni affectus atque cupiditates, exccecant, ut vivos et mu-
lieres, sub eovum iurisdictione degentes, maxime divites
vet spent magnce hereditatis habentes, minis et poenis adigant
cum Us matvimonium invitos contvaheve, quos ipsi domini
vel magistvatus Mis pvcescvipsevint. Quave, quum maxime
nefavium sit Matvimonii libevtatem violave et ab eis iniuvias
nasci, a quibus iuva expectantuv, pvcecipit Sancta Syno-
dus omnibus, cuiuscumque gvadus, dignitatis et conditionis
existant, sub anathematis poena, quam ipso facto incuvvant,
ne quovis modo divecte vel indivecte subditos suos vel quos-
cumque alios cogant, quominus libere matrimonia contra-
hant."
Excommunicantur, qui cogunt mulierem ad ingrediendum
monasterium, vel impediunt.
Sess. XXI, cap. 18, de Reg. : (C Anathemati Sancta Synodus
subiicit omnes et singulas personas, cuiuscumque qualitatis
vel conditionis fuerint, tarn Clericos quam Laicos, sceculares
vel regulares, atque etiam qualibet dignitate fungentes, si
quomodolibet coegerint aliquam virginem vel viduam, aut
aliam quamcumque mulierem, prceterquam in casibus in
iure expressis, ad ingrediendum monasterium vel ad sus-
cipiendum habitum cuiuscumque religionis, vel ad emittendam
prqfessionem, quique consilium, auxilium vel favorem dede-
rint, quique scientes earn non sponte ingredi monasterium
aut habitum suscipere, aut professionem emittere, quoquo
modo eidem actui vel prcesentiam vel consensum vel auc-
toritatem interposuerint. Simili quoque anathemati subiicit
eos, qui sanctarum virginum vel aliarum mulierum volun-
tatem veli accipiendi vel voti emittendi quoquo modo sine
iusta causa impedierint"
GONSTITUTIO APOSTOLIC^] SEDIS 415
Excommunicantur duellantes et reliqui, qui duellum quasi
honestum spectaculum permittunt vel adiuvant, vel
assistunt.
Sess. XXV, ex cap. 19, de Reform: u Imperator, Reges,
Duces, Principes, Marchiones, Comites et quocumque alio
nomine Domini temporales, qui locum ad monomachiam in
terris suis inter christianos concesserint, eo ipso sint excom-
municati. Qui vero pugnam commiserint, et qui eorum
patrini vocantur, excommunicationis . . . pcenam incur-
rant. . . . Illi etiam, qui consilium in causa duelli tarn
in iure, quam in facto dederint aut alia quacumque ratione
ad id quemquam suaserint, nee non spectatores, excommunica-
tionis ac perpetuce maledictionis vinculo teneantur."
Excommunicantur . qui ' sequentes falsas propositiones
docent.
Sess. XIII, ex cap. 11, de Euchar. : " Ne tantum Sacra-
mentum (Eucharistise) indigne atque ideo in mortem et
condemnationem sumatur, statuit atque declarat ipsa Sancta
Synodus, illis, quos conscientia peccati mortalis gravat,
quantumcumque etiam se contritos existiment, habita copia
confessoris, necessario praimittendam esse Confessionem
sacramentalem. Si quis autem contrarium docere, prcedicare
vel pertinaciter asserere, seu etiam publice disputando de-
fender e prcesumpserit, eo ipso excommunicatus existat.1'
Sess. XXIV, ex cap. 1, de Reform Matr. : uDubitandum
non est, clandestina matrimonia, libero contrahentium con-
sensu facta, rata et vera esse matrimonia, quamdiu Ecclesia
ea irrita non fecit, et proinde iure damnandi sunt illi, ut eos
Sancta .Synodus anathemate damnat, qui ea vera ac rata
esse negant, quique falso affirmant, matrimonia a filiis-
416 CENSURES
familias sine consensu parentum contracta irrita esse, et
parentes ea rata vel irrita facer e posse."
Hce sunt excommunicationes quas in rebus disciplines
inflixisse Tridentinum Concilium reperimus.
Clement IX, by the constitution Solicitudo, July 17,
1669, forbade missionaries sent to the East Indies, or to
North or South America, to trade by themselves or through
others, under pain of excommunication, loss of active and
passive voice, and the confiscation of the merchandise
and gains. He ordered all gains made in such trading to
be paid over to the ordinary and by him to be distributed
among the poor. He declared all Superiors of Religious
Orders or congregations to be subject to the same penalties
if they neglect to punish their subjects who may be guilty
of such unlawful trading. No delinquent can be absolved
except when in danger of death unless restitution of the
ill-gotten gains has been already made.
Note. — The censure here explained by the author is
not contained in the constitution Apostolical Sedis, but
was subsequently added (December 4, 1872) by the Holy
See, and was declared to apply to the East Indies and to
America. (See Coll. de Prop. Fide, n. 351.) It was extended
to the Chinese missionaries by a Decree of the Holy Office
(January 17, 1883). In this same decree it was declared
that the excommunication affects not only missionaries from
Europe, but any ecclesiastics who under the name of mis-
sionary or under any other title will be sent for a time to,
or will tarry in one of the countries named in any manner
whatsoever (quomodolibet morabuntur) . A question of
practical importance for the United States arises, viz.,
whether the censure affects the clergy of this country,
CONSTITUTIO APOSTOLIC^] SEDIS 417
*
secular and regular? There has been no exception made
in regard to the United States, so that when we find the
words, u Missionariis quibuslibet in Indiis Orientalibus
et America existentibus" mentioned in an encyclical of
the S. C. of Propaganda (March 29, 1873) regarding
the censure, we should infer the inclusion of the United
States. It would, therefore, seem that the censure may
be incurred in this country since it was applied by the
Holy See to America generally. However, it is compara-
tively few of the clergy of the United States who could
incur this censure. Those who are affiliated to a particu-
lar diocese, whether they came from Europe or any other
country, do not seem to be affected ; nor do those who, al-
though not affiliated, have obtained some permanent posi-
tion. Neither of these classes can be said morari in the
sense of the decree.. Those ecclesiastics may be guilty of
grave sin by negotiatio or trading forbidden by the general
law of the Church; but they would not incur the censure.
Whether the same may be held of all other ecclesiastics
who may be residing in this country, it is difficult to say
with certainty. If they, having no permanent abode
here, perform even once an act of trading in this country,
it is not clear how they escape this censure. It may,
however, be well to quote the opinion of Putzer (Apost.
Fac. n. 140), who thinks that this censure has probably
ceased in the United States, "Quce tamen in locis ubi Dioeceses
cum clew indigeno et stabiliter incardinato erectce sunt, ut
apud nos, probabiliter cessavit." If the censure has been
incurred, the delinquent can not be absolved except in
articulo mortis until he has made restitution of the ac-
quired gains to the ordinary or vicar-apostolic. This is
in accordance with the Decree of the Holy Office of 1883.
418 CENSURES
(See Coll. P. F. n. 352.) However, if the delinquent could
not make restitution while he wished to make it, he could
be absolved outside of danger of death by an ordinary
confessor, as also when he has already made restitution.
(Cf. Genicot, vol. 2, n. 612.) — End of Note.
Sequitur modo SSmi Domini Nostri Constitutio, quam
referre assumpsimus.
Suspensiones Lat^e Sententle Summo Pontifici
Reservat^e
I. Suspensionem ipso facto incurrunt a suorum Bene-
ficiorum perceptione ad beneplacitum S. Sedis Capitula
et Conventus Ecclesiarum et Monasteriorum aliique omnes,
qui ad illarum seu illorum regimen et administrationem
recipiunt Episcopos aliosve Prselatos de praedictis Ecclesiis,
seu Monasteriis apud eandem S. Sedem quovis modo
provisos, antequam ipsi exhibuerint Litteras Apostolicas
de sua promotione.
II. Suspensionem per triennium a collatione Ordinum
ipso iure incurrunt aliquem orclinantes absque titulo
Beneficii vel patrimonii cum pacto ut ordinatus non petat
ab ipsis alimenta.
III. Suspensionem per annum ab Ordinum administra-
tione ipso iure incurrunt ordinantes alienum subditum etiam
sub praetextu Beneficii statim conferendi, aut iam collati,
sed minime sufficientis, absque eius Episcopis litteris
dimissorialibus, vel etiam subditum proprium, qui alibi
tanto tempore moratus sit, ut canonicum impedimentum
contrahere ibi potuerit, absque Ordinarii eius loci litteris
testimonialibus.
IV. Suspensionem per annum a collatione Ordinum ipso
CONSTITUTIO APOSTOLIC^E SEDIS 419
iure incurrit, qui, excepto casu legitimi privilegii, Ordinem
sacrum contulerit absque titulo Beneficii vel patrimonii
Clerico in aliqua Congregatione viventi, in qua solemnis
professio non emittitur, vel ©tiam religioso nondum pro-
fesso.
V. Suspensionem perpetuam ab exercitio Ordinum ipso
iure incurrunt Religiosi eiecti, extra Religionem degentes.
By the decree S.C. EE. et RR., November 4, 1892:
" Alumni votorum solemnium vel simplicium, perpetuorum
vel temporalium, in sacris ordinibus constituti, qui expulsi
vel climissi fuerint perpetuo suspensi maneant, donee a S.
Sede alio modo eis consulatur; ac prseterea episcopum
benevolum receptorem invenerint, et de ecclesiastico
patrimonio sibi providerint. Qui in sacris ordinibus
constituti et votis simplicibus obstricti, sive perpetuis
sive temporalibus, sponte dimissionem ab Apostolica Sede
petierint et obtinuerint, vel aliter ex apostolico privilegio
a votis simplicibus vel perpetuis vel temporaneis dispen-
sati fuerint, ex claustro non exeant donee episcopum
benevolum receptorem invenerint, et de ecclesiastico
patrimonio sibi providerint, secus suspensi maneant ab
exercitio susceptorum ordinum. Quod porrigitur quo-
que ad alumnos votorum simplicium temporalium qui
quovis professionis vinculo jam forent soluti, ob elapsum
tempus quo vota ab ipsis fuerunt nuncupata."
VI. Suspensionem ab Ordine suscepto ipso iure incur-
runt, qui eundem Ordinem recipere prsesumpserunt ab
excommunicato vel suspenso, vel interdicto nominatim
denunciatis, aut ab hseretico vel schismatico notorio:
eum vero, qui bona fide a quopiam eorum est ordinatus,
exercitium non habere Ordinis sic suscepti, donee dispen-
setur, declaramus,
420 CENSURES
VII. Clerici sseculares exteri ultra quatuor menses in
Urbe commorantes ordinati ab alio quam ab ipso suo
Ordinario absque licentia Card. Urbis Vicarii vel absque
prsevio examine coram eodem peracto, vel etiam a proprio
Ordinario posteaquam in prsedicto examine reiecti fuerint;
nee non Clerici pertinentes ad aliquem e sex Episcopatibus
suburbicariis, si ordinentur extra suam dioecesim, dimis-
sorialibus sui Ordinarii ad alium directis quam ad Card.
Urbis Vicarium; vel non prsemissis ante Ordinem sacrum
suscipiendum exercitiis spiritualibus per decern dies in domo
urbana Sacerdotum a Missione nuncupatorum, suspen-
sionem ab Ordinibus sic susceptis ad beneplacitum S. Sedis
ipso iure incurrunt: Episcopi vero ordinantes ab usu
Pontificalium per annum.
Priests who violate the provisions of the deeree S. C. C,
May 11, 1904, with reference to stipends for Mass which
were given above, incur suspension a divinis reserved
to the Holy See; clerics who are not priests incur sus-
pension from the Orders which they have received, and are
made incapable of ascending to higher Orders.
In the province of Westminster, ecclesiastics who have
received sacred Orders are strictly prohibited from being
present at stage representations in public theaters, or in
places temporarily made use of as public theaters, under
the penalty to transgressors of suspension to be incurred
ipso facto, such as has hitherto been the rule in all parts
of .England, with reservation to the respective ordinaries.
The same penalty enforces a still stricter law in Ireland ;
in Scotland and in the United States priests are forbidden
to go to public theaters, but not under pain of censure.
coNsriTurio apostolic^: sedis 421
Interdict a Lat^e Sententle Reservata
I. Interdictum Romano Pontifici speciali modo reser-
vatum ipso iure incurrunt Universitates, Collegia et Ca-
pitula, quocumque nomine nuncupentur, ab ordinationibus
seu mandatis eiusdem Romani Pontificis pro tempore
existentis ad universale futurum Concilium appellantia.
II. Scienter celebrantes vel celebrari facientes divina in
locis ab Ordinario, vel delegato Iudice, vel a iure inter-
dictis; aut nominatim excommunicatos ad divina officia,
seu ecclesiastica sacramenta, vel ecclesiasticam sepul-
turam admittentes, interdictum ab ingressu Ecclesise ipso
iure incurrent, donee ad arbitrium eius, cuius sententiam
contempserunt, competenter satisfecerint.
Denique quoscumque alios Sacrosanctum Concilium
Tridentinum suspensos aut interdictos ipso iure esse
iecrevit, Nos pari modo suspensioni vel interdicto eosdem
obnoxios esse volumus et declaramus.
Heic iterum paulisper sistimus inserentes Suspensiones
vel Interdicta a Concilio Tridentino lata, ut has canonicas
censuras Lectores sub oculis habeant.
Suspenduntur vel interdicuntur qui variis modis violant
canones de sacra Ordinatione.
Sess. XXIII, ex cap. 8, de Reform : " Unusquisque
autem a proprio Episcopo ordinetur. Quod si quis ab alio
promoveri petat, nullatenus id ei, etiam cuiusvis generalis
aut specialis rescripti vel privilegii prcetextu, etiam statutis
temporibus permittatur, nisi eius probitas ac mores,
Ordinarii sui testimonio, commendentur. Si secus fiat,
ordinans a collatione Ordinum per annum et ordinatus c
422 CENSURES
susceptorum Ordinum exsecutione, quamdiu proprio Ordinario
videbitur expedire, sit suspensus."
Sess. XXIII, ex cap. 14, de Reform: "Cum promotis
per saltum, si non ministraverint, Episcopus ex legitima
causa possit dispensare.^
Sess. VII, c. 10, de Reform : " Non liceat Capitulis sede
vacante, infra annum a die vacationis, ordinandi licentiam,
aut litteras dimissorias seu reverendas, ut aliqui vocant,
tarn ex iuris communis dispositione, quam etiam cuiusvis
privilegii aut consuetudinis vigore, alicui, qui Beneficii
ecclesiastici recepti sive recipiendi occasione arctatus non
fuerit, concedere. Si secus fiat, Capitulum contraveniens
ecclesiastico subiaceat interdicto, et sic ordinati, si in minori-
bus ordinibus constituti fuerint, nullo privilegio clericali,
prcesertim in criminalibus gaudeant. In maioribus vero
ab exsecutione Ordinum ad beneplacitum futuri Prcelati
sint ipso jure suspensi."
Sess. VI, cap, 5; de Reform: " Nulli Episcopo liceat
cuiusvis privilegii prcetcxtu pontificalia in alterius dicecesi
exercere, nisi de Ordinarii loci expressa licentia, et in personas
eidem Ordinario subjectas tantum. Si secus factum fuerit,
Episcopus ab exercitio pontificalium, et sic ordinati ab
exsecutione Ordinum sint ipso jure suspensi."
Sess. XXIII, c. 10, de Reform: " Abbatibus ac aliis
quibuscumque, quantumvis exemptis, non liceat in posterum
intra fines alicuius dioecesis consistentibus, etiam si nullius
dioecesis vet exempli esse dicantur, cuiquam, qui regularis
subditus sibi non sit, Tonsuram vel minor es Ordines conferre;
nee ipsi Abbates et alii exempti, aut collegia vel capitula
qucecumque, etiam ecclesiarum cathedralium, litteras dimis-
sorias aliquibus Clericis soecularibus , ut ab aliis ordinentur,
concedant. Sed horum omnium ordinatio, servatis omnibus,
CONSTITUTIO APOSTOLIC^E SEDIS 428
quce in huius Sanctce Synodi Decretis continentur , ad Epis-
copos, intra quorum dioecesis fines existant, pertineat; non
obstantibus quibusvis privilegiis, prcescriptionibus aut con-
suetudinibus etiam immemorabilibus. Pcenam quoque im-
positam Us, qui contra huius Sanctce Synodi sub Paulo III.
Decretum a capitulo episcopali sede vacante litteras dimis-
sorias impetrant, ad illos, qui easdem litteras non a Capitulo,
sed ab aliis quibusvis in jurisdictione Episcopi, loco Capit-
uli sede vacante succedentibus, obtinerent, mandat extendi.
Concedentes autem dimissorias contra formam Decreti ab
Officio et Beneficio per annum sint ipso iure suspensi."
Sess. XIV, ex cap. 2, de Reform: "Nemo Episcoporum,
qui titular es vocantur, etiam si in loco nullius dioecesis, etiam
exempto, aut aliquo monasterio cujusvis ordinis resederint,
aut moram traxerint, vigore cujusvis privilegii sibi de pro-
movendo quoscumque ad se venientes pro tempore concessi,
alterius subditwn, etiam prcetextu familiaritatis continues
commensalitatis suce, absque sui proprii Pmlati expresso
consensu aut litteris dimissoriis, ad aliquos sacros aut mino-
res Ordines vel primam Tonsuram promovere seu ordinare
valeat. Contra faciens ab exercitio pontificalium per annum,
taliter vero promotus ab exsecutione Ordinum sic susceptorum,
donee suo Prcelato visum fuerit, ipso iure sint suspensi."
Iriterdicuntur Episcopi, qui non denunciant Episcopos
illegitime absentes.
Sess. VI, ex cap. 1, de Reform: "Crescente vero con-
tumacia (Episcopi absentis ultra secundum semestre
tempus) ut severiori ss. canonum censurce subiiciatur,
Metropolitanus suffraganeos Episcopos absentes, Metropoli-
tanum vero absentem suffraganeus Episcopus antiquior
residens, sub pozna interdicti ingressus ecclesioz eo ipso
424 CENSUBES
incurrenda infra tres menses per litteras sen nuncium Romano
Pontifici denunciare teneatur."
Sess. XXIII, ex cap. 14, de Reform : " Episcopi quoque,
quod absit, si ab huiusmodi crimine (concubinatus) non
abstinuerint, et a synodo provinciali admoniti, se non emen-
daverint, ipso facto sint suspensi."
Hactenus de Suspensionibus vel Interdictis a Synodo Tri-
dentina inflictis. Sic autem prosequitur et explicit
Constitutio Sanctissimi Patris de qua agimus.
Quae vero censurae sive excommunicationis, sive sus-
pensions, sive interdicti, Nostris, aut Praedecessorum
Nostrorum Constitutionibus, aut sacris canonibus praeter
eas, quas recensuimus, latae sunt, atque hactenus in suo
vigore perstiterunt sive pro Rom. Pontificis electione,
sive pro interno regimine quorumcumque ordinum et
institutorum regularium, nee non quorumcumque colle-
giorum, congregationum, coetuum locorumque piorum
cuiuscumque nominis aut generis sint, eas omnes firmas
esse, et in suo robore permanere volumus et declaramus.
a. Ceterum decernimus, in novis quibuscumque conces-
sionibus ac privilegiis, quae ab Apostolica Sede concedi
cuivis contigerit, nullo modo ac rationeintelligi umquam
debere, aut posse comprehendi facultatem absolvendi a
casibus et censuris quibuslibet Romano Pontifici reser-
vatis, nisi de iis formalis, explicita, ac individua, mentio
facta fuerit: quae vero privilegia aut facultates, sive a
Praedecessoribus Nostris, sive etiam a Nobis cuilibet
Coetui, Ordini, Congregationi, Societati, et Instituto,
etiam regulari cuiusvis speciei, etsi titulo peculiari prae-
dito, atque etiam speciali mentione digno a quovis umquam
CONSTITUTIO APOSTOLIC,® SEDIS 425
tempore hue usque concessse fuerint, ea omnia, easque
omnes Nostra hac Constitutione revocatas, suppressas,"
et abolitas esse volumus, prout reapse revocamus, suppri-
mimus, et abolemus, minime refragantibus aut obstantibus
privilegiis quibuscumque, etiam specialibus, comprehensis,
vel non, in corpore iuris, aut Apostolicis Constitutioni-
bus, et quavis confirmatione Apostolica, vel immemorabili
etiam consuetudine, aut alia quacumque firmitate roboratis
quibuslibet etiam formis ac tenoribus, et cum quibusvis
derogatoriis, aliisque efficacioribus et insolitis clausulis,
quibus omnibus, quatenus opus sit, derogare intendimus
et derogamus.
b. Firmam tamen esse volumus absolvendi facultatem a
Tridentina Synodo Episcopis concessam Sess. XXIV cap.
6, de Reform, in quibuscumque censuris Apostolicae
Sedi hac Nostra Constitutione reservatis, iis tantum
exceptis, quas eidem Apostolicse Sedi speciali modo re-
servatas declaravimus.
Decernentes has Litteras, atque omnia et singula, quse
in eis constituta ac decreta sunt, omnesque et singulas,
quae in eisdem factse sunt ex anterioribus Constitutionibus
PraBdecessorum nostrorum, atque etiam Nostris, aut ex
aliis sacris Canonibus quibuscumque, etiam Conciliorum
Generalium, et ipsius Tridentini, mutationes, derogationes,
ratas et firmas, ac respective rata atque firma esse et fore,
suosque plenarios et integros effectus obtinere; sicque
et non aliter in prsemissis per quoscumque Iudices Ordi-
narios, et Delegatos, etiam Causarum Palatii Apostolici
Auditores, ac S. R. E. Cardinales, etiam de Latere Legatos,
et Apostolicse Sedis Nuntios, ac quosvis alios quacumque
prominentia, ac potestate fungentes, et functuros, sublata
eis, et eorum cuilibet quavis aliter iudicandi et interpretandi
426 , CENSURES
facultate et auctoritate, iudicari ac definiri debere; et
irritum atque inane esse ac fore quidquid super his a quo-
quam quavis auctoritate, etiam praetextu cuiuslibet privi-
legii, aut consuetudinis inductse vel inducendse, quam abu-
sum esse declaramus, scienter vel ignoranter contigerit
attentari.
c. Non obstantibus prsemissis, aliisque quibuslibet ordi-
nationibus, constitutionibus, privilegiis, etiam speciali et
individua mentione dignis, nee non consuetudinibus qui-
busvis, etiam immemorabilibus, ceterisque contrariis qui-
buscumque.
Nulli ergo omnino hominum liceat hanc paginam Nostrae
Constitutionis, ordinationis, limitationis, suppressions,
derogationis, voluntatis infringere, vel ei ausu temerario
contraire. Si quis autem hoc attentare prsesumpserit,
inclignationem Omnipotentis Dei et Beatorum Petri et
Pauli Apostolorum eius, se noverit incursurum.
Datum Romse apud S. Petrum anno Incarnationis Do-
minicaB Millesimo Octingentesimo Sexagesimo Nono, Quarto
Idus Octobris, Pontificatus Nostri anno vigesimo quarto.
M. Card Mattei Pro-Datarius.
N. Card. Paracciani Clarelli
Visa de Curia.
Dominicus Bruti
Loco ^ Plumbi I. Cugnoni.
a. This constitution only affects the censures latce sen-
tentice which belong to the common law of the Church;
it does not touch those which concern the election of
the Roman Pontiff, the internal government of Religious
Orders, colleges, congregations, and religious bodies and
places.
CONSTirUTIO APOSTOLIC^ SEDIS 427
b. Before this constitution was issued, regulars had
permanent faculties for granting absolution from ordinary
papal cases. These are abrogated now, but temporary
and very wide faculties are still granted them for the
same purpose.
c. Custom can not be pleaded against this constitution
unless it arises when the circumstances are altogether-
changed.
BOOK X
IRREGULARITIES
* •
CHAPTER I
IRREGULARITY IN GENERAL
1. Some men are incapable of performing the duties
attached to Orders, or, if not altogether incapable, they
can not perform them with that decency and edification
which their sacred character and the Church require. A
blind man can not administer the sacraments, and one who
has been guilty of great and notorious crimes is not a suit-
able person to exercise such holy offices, and guide others
in the way of virtue. Certain defects, then, and crimes,
partly from the nature of things, partly because the Church
has so ordained, constitute a bar to the reception of Orders.
These are called irregularities, and an irregularity is com-
monly defined to be a canonical impediment which pri-
marily prevents the reception of Orders, and, secondarily,
the lawful exercise of the duties and rights annexed to them.
It is an impediment constituted by law, though it has its
foundation in the nature of things, and so there can be no
irregularity unless it is expressly sanctioned by law. It
does not make the reception of Orders or their exercise
invalid ; it only makes these acts gravely sinful in one who
is under irregularity, and forbids under pain of grave sin
423
430 IR REG ULA R TTIES
the admission of such a one to the clerical state or the con-
ferring of Orders on him. When Orders have been already
received, an irregularity can only produce its secondary
effect and hinder their lawful exercise. Even this effect
has place only in respect of sacred Orders, for, according
to present discipline, laymen may lawfully exercise the
functions of the minor Orders, with the exception of those
of the exorcist.
2. Irregularities are said to be from defect when they
arise from an incapability of exercising the functions of
Orders or from the indecency there would be in exercising
them. They are said to be from crime when the Church
has expressly laid down that the commission of such a
crime shall entail irregularity in the delinquent.
Perpetual irregularity lasts for life unless it is removed
by dispensation, and no dispensation can be granted for
some irregularities arising from defect; temporary irregu-
larity lasts only for a time and either ceases of itself, like
that of age, or ceases by supplying- the defect, as that
arising from want of knowledge.
Irregularity which prevents the reception of Orders, and
consequently the exercise of them, is said to be total; that
which supervenes on the reception of Orders and only
prevents their lawful exercise is partial.
3. As only males and those who are baptized can be
validly ordained, the same two conditions are required
in order to be subject to irregularity. There is nothing
to prevent the same person from being subject to several
different irregularities arising from different defects or
crimes, nor from being subject to several irregularities of
the same species arising from several crimes committed
'against different people, as from several homicides; but
IRREGULARITY IN GENERAL 431
jtherwise only one irregularity is contracted from one and
the same cause though several times repeated, and so a
priest who while under suspension celebrates Mass several
times, only incurs one irregularity.
Whenever there is a doubt either of law or of fact as
to whether an irregularity has been incurred, almost all
authorities agree that in practice it must be held not to
have been incurred.
Irregularities from defect are incurred even by those
who are ignorant of them, but, inasmuch as irregularities
from crime suppose an external and grave sin to have been
committed, ignorance of the law forbidding the act, and
probably ignorance of the irregularity by which the crime
is punished, will excuse from it, unless the ignorance be
crass and supine. For although, primarily, irregularities
are an impediment, they are also of the nature of a penalty,
which the Church is not presumed to inflict on those who
did not know of its existence. If; however, infamy follows
on the commission of crime, irregularity is then certainly
the consequence.
Want of age in those who have not yet reached puberty
and grave fear also excuse from incurring irregularities
arising from crimes.
CHAPTER II
IRREGULARITIES FROM DEFECT
The irregularities arising from defect are commonly
reckoned eight in number. They are: defect of birth,
mind, body, age, sacrament, freedom, lenity, and reputa-
tion. Something must be said about each.
1. Defect of birth arises from illegitimacy, when the
parents are either not married at all, or their marriage in
the eyes of the Church is null and void on account of some
diriment impediment known to both parties. If the im-
pediment was unknown to at least one of the parents, the
marriage is called putative, and the offspring is legitimate.
When there is a doubt concerning legitimacy, as in the case
of foundlings, legitimacy may be presumed until the con-
trary is proved.
This irregularity ceases by legitimation, dispensation,
and solemn religious profession. If the parents at the
time of conception or birth of the child could have been
married, the child is by ecclesiastical law legitimized by
subsequent marriage; otherwise it can only be legitimized
by the rescript of the Pope. A dispensation from this
irregularity may be granted by the Pope, and by delegated
authority by bishops, regular prelates, and others. Solemn
religious profession takes away the irregularity as far as
it is a bar to the reception of Orders, but not so as to enable
the party to accept prelacies in the Order without d)*
pensation.
432
IRREGULARITIES FROM DEFECT 438
2. Defect of mind arises from want of reason, sufficient
knowledge, or assured stability in the Faith.
All who are habitually without the use of reason are
irregular, as well as epileptics. One afflicted with epilepsy
before puberty, but who afterward is free from attacks,
so that he may be judged to have recovered, may be
promoted to Orders. Similarly, if epilepsy comes on after
ordination, the afflicted priest should not attempt to say
Mass while he is subject to attacks, but he may be per-
mitted to do so if in the judgment of superiors all danger
has ceased.
Want of assured stability in the Faith causes irregularity
in the case of neophytes who have been baptized in adult
age. The period during which this irregularity lasts seems
to be left to the judgment ,of the bishop.
3. Any bodily defect which makes it impossible to say
Mass and fulfil the other functions of Orders, or prevents
the person afflicted from exercising the sacred ministry
with decency and edification, constitutes an irregularity.
Thus the^blind, deaf, mute, lame, crippled or maimed in
limb or even necessary fingers, notably deformed, and
those who can not drink wine, are irregular.
In case of doubt the bishop may decide as to whether a
person is irregular, and in such a case he may dispense as
far as is necessary. If the irregularity is certain, only the
Pope or his delegate can dispense. A dispensation from
this impediment is more easily granted after ordination
'.nan before, to enable a priest to exercise his functions.
Want of canonical age is a bar to ordination, as we saw
when treating of the sacrament of Orders, but the irregu-
larity ceases on the attainment of that age.
4. Marriage as a sacrament symbolizes the union of
434 IRREGULARITIES
Christ with His Church, but to represent that union per-
fectly it should be a marriage of one man with one woman.
In a second marriage the representation is less perfect, and
such a bigamous marriage gives rise to the irregularity
from defect of the sacrament.
A man becomes irregular from true bigamy when he has
had two wives in succession, and has consummated mar-
riage with both.
Besides this true bigamy, there is also bigamy by legal
fiction. Thus a man becomes guilty of interpretative
bigamy who consummates an invalid marriage with a
woman who is married but separated from her husband;
or with a widow known by her former husband, or by
another man out of wedlock; or who has carnal inter-
course with his wife after she has been corrupted by an-
other man.
A man becomes guilty of similitudinary bigamy who,
after taking a solemn vow of chastity in religion, or by
receiving sacred Orders, attempts and consummates mar-
riage.
5. Defect of freedom arises from slavery, marriage, or
the duties of an incompatible office, such as that of a
judge or magistrate.
Slavery has ceased to be of practical importance, and a
married man may be ordained provided that his wife
freely consents, takes a vow of chastity, and, if young, so
that there is danger of incontinence, enters into a Religious
Order.
All who hold an office which renders them liable to be
called upon to give in accounts are irregular until they
are free from their obligations.
(j. Defect of lenity may cause irregularity in three ways:
IRREGULARITIES FROM DEFECT 435
a. No one may be promoted to Orders, or, if he has
them already, may exercise them, who freely, knowingly,
efficaciously, and immediately, co-operates in inflicting
death or mutilation on a criminal, justly condemned. On
this account, judges, jurymen, witnesses, and accusers
who freely offer themselves, and executioners, are irregu-
lar; but not those who make a law punishing criminals
with capital punishment.
b. Soldiers who are laymen are irregular if in a just
offensive war they kill with their own hand except in self-
defense, when they enlisted voluntarily. Clerics who
fight of their own accord are irregular if they kill with
their own hand except in self-defense in a just war, offen-
sive or defensive.
c. Clerics in sacred Orders and regulars are irregular,
who exercise the medical or surgical art with cutting or
burning so that they cause death, even inculpably. Doc-
tors and surgeons who are laymen do not incur irregu-
larity unless they are the cause of death by their grave
fault.
7. Loss of reputation, or infamy, is a cause of irregu-
larity. Those who are guilty of certain grave crimes are
declared by canon law to be ipso facto infamous, some-
times together with their children and grandchildren.
Such are those who fight a duel, and their seconds, abduc-
tors of women, those who strike cardinals of the Holy
Roman Church, those who are guilty of real simony,
heretics, and their accomplices.
Any one who, on account of a grave crime, as a matter
of fact, loses his reputation is infamous and irregular.
If, however, afterward by his good conduct he recovers
his reputation in the judgment of the bishop, he ceases
436 IH REGULARITIES
to be irregular; but those who labor under infamy in-
flicted by law or by judicial sentence require a dispensa-
tion which is reserved to the Pope. Superiors of regular
Orders by privilege can dispense their subjects from irregu-
larity arising from any infamy.
CHAPTER III
IRREGULARITIES ARISING FROM CRIME
1. The iteration of Baptism is forbidden by divine and
ecclesiastical law, and irregularity is incurred by an adult
who is knowingly rebaptized, by him who rebaptizes, and
by any cleric who officially assists at rebaptism. The
irregularity, however, is not incurred unless the rebaptism
is public and unconditional.
An adult who receives Baptism from a declared heretic,
except in case of necessity, is also irregular.
2. A cleric who knowingly and with solemnity exercises
the functions of one of the sacred Orders which he has
not received, thereby becomes irregular. So that a sub-
deacon who administers holy communion or Baptism
without necessity contracts irregularity. One, however,
who preaches without leave, or grants a dispensation
without the requisite faculty, does not incur irregularity.
3. A cleric who solemnly and rashly exercises the
functions of one of the sacred Orders while he is under
any sort of censure incurs irregularity. Ignorance, pro-
vided that it be not crass or supine, and whatever excuses
from grave fault, also excuses from the irregularity.
4. All heretics and apostates from the Faith, who be-
long to any heretical sect, are irregular even after repent-
ance and conversion. Catholics who fall into secret heresy
are probably not irregular unless they are proclaimed as
heretics.
437
438 IRREGULARITIES
Descendants to the second degree on the father's side,
and to the first on the mother's, of heretics who belong to
any heretical sect or who die in heresy, are irregular.
This irregularity seems to arise from the infamy which is
attached to heresy, and it ceases on the conversion of the
parents.
Fautors, defenders, and receivers of heretics incur
irregularity after they have been declared guilty by judi-
cial sentence.
5. Whoever, by any unjust and gravely culpable action,
directly or indirectly, physically or morally, are guilty of
homicide, thereby contract irregularity. Even casual
homicide produces irregularity if it is the effect of grave
negligence. If any one is killed in an unjust war, all who
fought on the other side contract irregularity, unless they
were compelled to fight, or abstained from any action
which could be the cause of death.
Whoever, by an unjust and gravely culpable action
mutilates another by cutting off some principal member,
contracts irregularity.
One who causes abortion, or co-operates therein, after
the fetus is for certain animated, also incurs irregularity.
A cleric who is not a priest is made incapable of ascend-
ing to higher Orders if he violate the prescriptions of the
decree S.C.C., May 11, 1904, concerning manual stipends
for Mass.
CHAPTER IV
REMOVAL OF IRREGULARITIES
Several irregularities, especially of those which arise
from defect, cease by the removal of the cause on which
they rest. This is true of the irregularities arising from
defect of age, knowledge, and assured faith in the case of
neophytes.
The other irregularities, except those which the natural
law demands, may b.e removed by dispensation of the
competent authority. The Pope can dispense in all such
irregularities, and he ordinarily does so through the vari-
ous Roman congregations.
Bishops by their ordinary power can dispense their sub-
jects from irregularities arising from secret crime except
voluntary homicide, from doubtful irregularities, and from
the irregularity arising from defect of birth to enable one
who is illegitimate to receive minor Orders. By special
indult they receive still more ample faculties from the
Holy See. Regular confessors by a special privilege can
dispense from those irregularities in which bishops can
grant dispensations to their subjects, and besides, they
receive special faculties for other cases.
All confessors who have ordinary faculties in missionary
countries usually have delegated authority to grant dis-
pensations in irregularities arising from secret crime, ex-
cept voluntary homicide.
439
440 IRREGULARITIES
Note. — Very ample faculties for dispensing in irregu-
larities are usually given to priests in the United States.
Thus, in the archdiocese of St. Louis and in many other
dioceses of this country, the pagella contains the following
words: " Dispensandi a quibuscunque irregularitatibus ,
exceptis Mis quce proveniunt ex bigamia vera, homicidio
voluntario, vet ab exercitio ordinis aut jurisdictionis , dum
quiz ex sententia a Nobis prolata ab Mo suspenditur." Accord-
ingly, whether the irregularity arises "ex delicto" or "ex
defectu," whether it is occult or public, priests having the
ordinary faculties of the diocese have power to dispense in
it. There are only three exceptions. One occurs when
there is true bigamy, i.e., when a person has been twice
married, each marriage being consummated, he incurs an
irregularity from which he can not be dispensed under this
faculty ; and this, whether the bigamy was public or not.
Secondly, when the homicide is voluntary, whether public
or occult, this faculty does not empower a priest to dis-
pense in the irregularity arising therefrom. A third excep-
tion occurs when the irregularity arises from the exercise
of order or jurisdiction, after the cleric has been suspended
from such exercise by the sentence of the ordinary of the
diocese. It may be observed that the word, "jurisdic-
tionis," in the foregoing faculty does not mean mere juris-
diction, since an irregularity is not incurred by the exer-
cise of jurisdiction alone, for example, by absolving from
censures or dispensing in vows, but by an exercise of
Orders. Hence when the term, "jurisdictionis," is here
employed in connection with irregularity, it means the
exercise of an Order for whose exercise jurisdiction is re-
quired, e.g., forgiveness of sins in the sacrament of Penance.
Hence the meaning of this whole clause is that whether a
REMOVAL OF IRREGULARITIES 441
cleric exercises Orders alone, as in saying Mass, or Orders
along with jurisdiction, as in hearing confessions, after
being suspended by the ordinary from either one or the
other, he can not be dispensed from the irregularity thus
contracted by the authority communicated in this faculty.
It is also deserving of notice that while this faculty is very
extensive, having no exceptions but those three indicated
above, yet there are some irregularities which impinge
upon the divine law, and in which this faculty does not
empower one to dispense. (See Putzer, Apost. Fac, n. 103 ;
Gasparri, De Ordinatione, n. 233.) — End of Note.
BOOK XI
INDULGENCES
CHAPTER I
THE NATURE OF AN INDULGENCE
1. In every sin the teaching of the Catholic Church dis-
tinguishes two elements: the guilt and the penalty which
it incurs. The guilt is .the injury committed against God
by the sinner and the displeasure with which God views
the sinful act. If the sin is mortal, it deprives the soul of
sanctifying grace and of God's friendship, so that a state
of enmity exists between God and the sinner. A venial
sin is an injury against God; it is the object of His dis-
pleasure, and is a stain on the soul, but it does not rob the
soul of sanctifying grace or deprive it of the friendship of
God. Besides this guilt a sin deserves and ordinarily
receives punishment at the hands of God. It is a law of
God's justice that wrong-doing entails suffering either in
this world or in the world to come. It is the sanction
which in the nature of things is annexed to the great
moral law. The penalty for mortal sin, as befits the un-
repenting and obstinate enemies of God, is eternal separa-
tion from Him and punishment in the fires of hell; the
penalty for venial sin is temporary punishment in this
world or in purgatory. These two elements in sin are not
443
444 INDULGENCES
only distinct from each other in thought; they may be,
and frequently are, separated in reality. When God
pardons mortal sin, the eternal penalty which it deserves
in hell is also remitted, but we know from revelation that
He frequently exacts from the sinner some temporary
punishment for the serious offense which has been com-
mitted against Him and right order. The guilt of David's
adultery was forgiven on his repentance, but he had to
endure the loss of the child and other punishments. This
is only in keeping with what we might expect at the hands
of a wise Providence and with what observation of the
order of nature teaches us. A man may truly repent of
his sin and he may have the fullest confidence that God
has pardoned it, but he knows that he will have to bear
the sad effects of it till his dying day.
This distinction between the guilt of sin and the penalty
due to it is necessary for the understanding of what is
meant by an indulgence. An indulgence is not the for-
giveness of the guilt of sin; much less is it a permission
to commit sin. It is the remission of the temporal punish-
ment which often remains due to sin after its guilt has
been forgiven. An indulgence, then, can not be gained
for unrepented sin, nor for sin of which the guilt still
stains the soul. If, however, the guilt has been forgiven,
any temporal punishment which remains to be suffered
in consequence of it may be remitted by indulgences and
by other means.
2. As the Catholic Church claims that her divine Founder
empowered her ministers to forgive sin, provided that the
sinner has the requisite dispositions, so she also lays claim
to the power of remitting the temporal punishment due to
sin both by the ministration of the sacraments and by
THE NATURE OF AN INDULGENCE 445
granting indulgences. From the first centuries of the
Christian era her bishops have used the power to condone
temporal punishment due to sin outside sacramental con-
fession, and they have understood that this power was
contained in the general power to bind and loose granted
to the apostles and their successors by Our Lord. As the
Pope has jurisdiction over the whole world, he can grant
indulgences to all the faithful; a bishop can only grant
indulgences to those who are within his diocese, and up
to the limits imposed on him by the- supreme authority of
the Roman Pontiff.
The doctrine of indulgences is intimately connected with
other dogmas of the Catholic faith. When the Church
remits temporal punishment due to sin, she does not
simply condone it outright in the name of God, but she
pays the debt due to sin out of the treasure of the Church.
This treasure of the Church is made up of the satisfactions
of Our Lord and of His saints. Christ and all the mem-
bers of His Church form one mystical body: "For as in
one body we have many members but all the members
have not the same office: so we being many, are one body
in Christ, and every one members one of another." * "One
body and one Spirit: as you are called in one hope of
your calling. One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism. One
God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all,
and in us all." 2 By virtue of this oneness in Christ, there
is among the faithful what is called the communion of
saints. Not only do all get the benefit of the same sacrifice
and sacraments, but the good works of each benefit to
some extent all the rest. The merit, indeed, which every
good action possesses with God, with a view to an eternal
1 Rom. xii. 4. 2 Eph. iv. 4-6.
446 INDULGENCES
reward, is personal and belongs exclusively to the doer of
it; but besides meriting, every good action has also a
power of placating God and satisfying for sin, as well as
a power of impetrating His graces and blessings. The
satisfactory part of the good actions of Christ and His
saints was not required to satisfy for their own offenses,
and it is available to satisfy for the sins of those who
form with them one mystical body. It needs, however,
application to the individual soul, and one of the ways in
which this is done is through indulgences. The dispensing
of the mysteries of God belongs to the prelates of His
Church, and inasmuch as they have jurisdiction over the
faithful in this life, indulgences are applied to them directly
by the power of the keys.
Over the faithful departed who are suffering for their
sins in purgatory the Church has no jurisdiction, but as
we can pray for them, and they are helped thereby, so if
the Church permits it we can gain indulgences and apply
them to the souls of the faithful departed by way of suf-
frage, asking God to accept the satisfaction offered for the
holy souls.
3. A plenary indulgence is one by which all the debt of
temporal punishment due to a person for his sins is re-
mitted, while a partial indulgence, of say forty days,
remits the same amount of temporal punishment which
would have been remitted by undergoing canonical pen-
ance for forty days according to the ancient discipline of
the Church.
Indulgences are local, if they can only be gained in a
particular place, as by visiting some particular church;
they are personal, if they are attached to certain persons
who 'fulfil certain conditions; they are real, if they are
THE NATURE OF AN INDULGENCE 447
attached to a particular object, as to a crucifix or a
rosary.
Again they are temporary, if they can only be gained
within a specified time; if granted without any time limit,
they are perpetuaL
CHAPTER II
CONDITIONS REQUIRED FOR GAINING INDULGENCES
1, There must always be a just cause for granting an
indulgence, otherwise the grantor would not be a faithful
dispenser of the mysteries of God, and he would fail in the
trust committed to him by God. In practice, however,
this does not concern the faithful to whom indulgences are
granted; they may rest assured that there is always a
just cause for the indulgences which the Church offers for
their acceptance.
2. No one can gain an indulgence unless he is a member
of the Catholic Church, and, moreover, he must have the
requisite intention, he must be in the state of grace, and
he must fulfil all the conditions prescribed for gaining the
indulgence.
It is not necessary that the intention be actual; it is
sufficient if it be virtual, so that there was the wish to
gain the indulgence, and it continues to influence the
actions whose performance is required for the purpose of
gaining the indulgence. It will be sufficient to form an
intention in the morning of gaining all the indulgences
which may be annexed to any of the good works done
during the following day. Some authorities hold that
such a virtual intention is not necessary, but that an
habitual, or even an interpretative intention, will suffice.
An habitual intention is one which was formed and which
448
e»
CONDITIONS FOR GAINING INDULGENCES 449
has not been retracted, but which does not influence the
performance of one's actions any longer. An interpreta-
tive intention does not exist in reality, but it would be
elicited if the agent thought of the matter. Inasmuch as
an indulgence is a grant made by the Church to all who
fulfil certain conditions, these authors maintain that all
pious Catholics who value indulgences gain such as are
annexed to their prayers and other good deeds without
any special intention. This opinion, however, though
probable, is not certain, and so it is safer in practice to
follow the other, which requires at least a virtual inten-
tion, especially as it is doubtful whether probabilism can
be used in this matter.
3. The person who gains an indulgence must also be in
the state of grace, for one who is in mortal sin, at enmity
with God, and liable to eternal punishment, is not a fit
subject for the remission of temporal punishment due to
his sins. The Church, too, requires that those who wish
to gain the indulgences which she offers to her children
should be contrite in heart, or, in other words, in the
state of grace, recovered, if they had fallen, by means of
sacramental confession, or at least by an act of perfect
contrition. When several actions, such as visiting a
church, prayer for the Pope, confession, etc., are prescribed
for gaining an indulgence, it is not absolutely necessary
that all such actions be performed while the agent is in
the state of grace ; it will be sufficient if the soul be in the
state of grace when the last condition is fulfilled, and when
the indulgence is applied.
4. Finally, all the conditions laid down by him who
granted the indulgence must be faithfully fulfilled by any
one who wishes to gain it. If the indulgence be annexed
450 INDULGENCES
to the saying of a prayer, the prayer must be said with
the lips; it is not sufficient to repeat it mentally. Deaf-
mutes may obtain from their confessors a commutation of
vocal prayers into other good works, and if one of the
conditions for gaining an indulgence is visiting a church
and praying therein for the intentions of the Holy Father,
they may fulfil this condition by visiting the church and
praying mentally.
The ordinary conditions prescribed for gaining a plenary
indulgence are : prayer for the intentions of the Sovereign
Pontiff, visit to a church, and confession and holy com-
munion.
To satisfy the condition of prayer for the intentions of
the Pope, any form of prayer which is not already of
obligation will suffice. A priest, therefore, could not
satisfy this condition by saying his breviary to which he
is already bound by the law of the Church, but it has been
decided that when indulgenced prayers are prescribed by
a confessor for sacramental penance, the penitent may say
his penance and gain the indulgence at the same time.
The length of prayer for the Pope's intention is not ordi-
narily defined, but authors are agreed that five Our Fathers
and five Hail Marys will suffice. The Pope's intentions
are: the common good of the Church, the propagation of
the Faith, the conversion of sinners, heretics, and schis-
matics, and peace and concord among Christian peoples.
To gain the indulgence it is not necessary to have these
intentions distinctly in mind; it will be sufficient to pray
for the Pope's intentions in general.
The prayers may be said alone or with others alternately,
and they may be said anywhere, unless it is specially pre-
scribed that they are to be said while visiting the church.
CONDITIONS FOR GAINING INDULGENCES 451
Unless some special church is mentioned for the visit,
any Church or public oratory to which the public have
free access may be selected. Semipublic oratories of
religious communities and private chapels will not suffice,
unless by special indult.
5. When confession is prescribed, it must be made
even if the penitent has only venial sins to confess, though
absolution is not necessary. Those who are in the habit
of confessing once a week may gain thereby all the indul-
gences occurring during the week for which confession is
a condition, and some bishops have an indult by which
they can extend this privilege to those of their subjects
who confess every fortnight. Daily communicants may
gain indulgences, even though on some days they omit
holy communion, without fulfilling the condition of
weekly confession.1
It has been specially provided that the Easter com-
munion, though of obligation^ suffices for gaining indul-
gences of which communion is a condition, except the
Jubilee.
When a particular day is designated as that on which
an indulgence may be gained, the natural day from mid-
night to midnight is understood, and per se the conditions
must be fulfilled within that time. However, when an
indulgence is granted for a particular feast, as a rule the
conditions may be fulfilled after the hour of first Vespers,
or midway between midday and sunset of the eve of the
feast. Confession and communion on the eve suffice for
gaining an indulgence on the following day, and by special
indult confession for gaining the Portiuncula indulgence
may be made on or after July 30, and that for the indul-
1 Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, February 14, 19Qfr
452 INDULGENCES
gence granted on the feast of the rosary on or after the
preceding Friday.
The conditions enjoined may be fulfilled in any order.
6. According to the general rule, an indulgence can
only be gained once on the day designated, but not infre-
quently* an indulgence is granted Mies quoties, and then it
may be gained as often as the conditions are fulfilled.
In this case if confession and communion, or in general
any good work which is not capable of being repeated on
the same day, be among the conditions prescribed, such
conditions are only fulfilled once, and the others are re-
peated as often as it is desired to gain the indulgence.
When several indulgences are attached to the same action,
and this can not be repeated, as is the case with holy
communion, all the indulgences may be gained by the
one action. If, however, the action enriched by several
sets of indulgences be capable of being repeated on
the same day, such as saying the rosary, as a general
rule only one set of indulgences determined by him who
wishes to gain them can be gained by performing the
action once. Pius X, however, by a decree dated June
12, 1907, made an exception to this rule in favor of rosa-
ries enriched with the Croisiers' indulgences, which may
now be gained in reciting the rosary cumulatively, to-
gether with other indulgences already granted to the
same rosaries.
It must frequently happen that plenary indulgences
can not be gained in full on account of some obstacle in
the way, such as unforgiven venial sin. In such a case it
is commonly held that according to the intention of the
Church the indulgence takes its effect as far as possible,
and becomes in fact a partial indulgence,
CONDITIONS FOR GAINING INDULGENCES 453
7. Almost all indulgences are now applicable to the
souls in purgatory. In order that they may be applied to
them in fact, the person who fulfils the conditions should
form his intention of offering them to God for the benefit
of certain souls, or for the benefit of the souls in purgatory
in general. It is a controverted point among the theo-
logians whether such application is infallible in its effect
or not. The difficulty is about the divine promise to
accept such offerings, some theologians holding that such
a promise is implicitly contained in the words of Our
Lord: " Whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be
loosed also in heaven" ; others denying this. The negative
opinion seems to be more in accordance with the mind and
practice of the Church.
Similarly, it is a disputed question among theologians
whether one who gains an indulgence for the souls in
purgatory must himself be in the state of grace. Many
hold that he must be, as he must gain the indulgence him-
self before he can apply it to the holy souls. Others do
not see the necessity of this, for such a one only fulfils the
conditions, and on the fulfilment of these the Church offers
to God the corresponding satisfactions. Both opinions are
probable, but the former is safer in practice.
8. Objects to be indulgenced should be solid and not
easily breakable. Hence pictures on paper, and hollow
glass beads, may not be indulgenced; but beads made of
solid glass, or of iron, or wood, may be.
Objects do not lose their indulgences as long as they
remain morally the same. In a rosary the indulgences are
attached to the beads, not to the string, so that even
though the string be changed, or a few beads be lost and
others substituted for them, the indulgences are not lost,
454 INDULGENCES
When a crucifix is indulgenced, the indulgence is attached
to the image, not to the cross.
To prevent the danger, of simony, indulgences attached
to a movable object are lost if its ownership is transferred
to a person different from the one for whom it was indul-
genced. This, however, does not hinder the lending of a
rosary to another so that he may use it to say his beads,
for there is in such an act no intention of transferring the
indulgence.
CHAPTER III
THE JUBILEE
1. A jubilee is a plenary indulgence granted by the
Pope with greater solemnity than usual for a definite
time, together with special faculties for confessors. The
first jubilee was granted by Boniface VIII in the year
1300 with the intention that it should be held thereafter
every hundred years, but subsequent Popes changed the
period into fifty, thirty-three, and finally into twenty-five
years. This is called a greater or ordinary jubilee, to dis-
tinguish it from the less or extraordinary jubilee, which
the Pope grants on some special occasion, as, to celebrate
his election to the papacy. A general jubilee is granted
to all the faithful, usually in the first place at Rome, and
afterward it is extended to the rest of the world ; a particu-
lar jubilee is granted to a particular province or Religious
Order.
2. The conditions prescribed for gaining an ordinary
jubilee are: confession, communion, and prayer for the
Pope's intentions in churches to be visited for the pur-
pose a certain number of times.
Confession is necessary for those who wish to gain the
jubilee even if they are not conscious of mortal sin, and
the annual confession which is prescribed by ecclesiastical
law will not suffice. If a grievous sin is inadvertently
omitted from the jubilee confession, this is nevertheless
455
456 INDULGENCES
sufficient for gaining the indulgence, but of course the sin
which was forgotten must be mentioned in the next con-
fession. If, after going to confession and before fulfilling
the other conditions for gaining the jubilee, mortal sin is
committed, the person should go again to confession to
gain the indulgence.
A good communion distinct from the ordinary Easter
communion is another of the conditions to be fulfilled.
At Rome the four basilicas, St. Peter's, St. Paul's outside
the Walls, St. John Lateran, and St. Mary Major, are
usually designated to be visited a certain number of times,
and during the visits prayer is to be offered up for
the Pope's intention. Outside Rome the churches to be
visited are usually left to be determined by the bishop.
The visits must be made in one day according either to the
civil or the ecclesiastical method of reckoning, or, in other
words, reckoning either from midnight to midnight, or
from the hour of vespers.
For an extraordinary jubilee, besides the above condi-
tions, fasting and almsgiving are also prescribed.
The fast is a strict one, comprising not only abstinence
from flesh meat, but also from eggs and lacticinia. A day
which is not a fasting day by ecclesiastical law must be
chosen, unless the contrary is specially conceded in the bull
of indiction of the jubilee, and then the strict fast must
be observed, nor can advantage be taken of any indult.
Even those who are not bound by the ecclesiastical law of
fasting must fulfil this condition if they wish to gain the
jubilee.
The amount to be given in alms is not generally specified,
and any amount will suffice provided that it is not so small
as not to deserve the name. Religious, wives, children,
THE JUBILEE 457
and servants, may have their obligation fulfilled for them
by superiors, husbands, parents, and masters.
Bishops and confessors receive faculties to commute all
the above conditions for ordinary and extraordinary jubilees
except prayer, confession, and sometimes holy communion.
For the lawful and valid use of this faculty there should
always be a just cause, and some good work of more or less
equal merit should be enjoined in place of that commuted.
3. Regulars who desire to gain the jubilee may choose a
confessor from among those, whether secular or regular,
who are approved by the bishop, or they may confess to
one approved by their superiors. Nuns are sometimes
empowered to choose a confessor for the purpose of gaining
the jubilee from any priests approved by the bishop ; some-
times it is prescribed 'that the confessor chosen must be
one of those who are approved for the confessions of nuns.
Confession may be made to the priest thus chosen as often
as the penitent desires before the fulfilment of the last
condition for gaining the jubilee, but not afterward.
The confessor chosen for the jubilee confession has
special faculties given to him by the bull of indiction.
This should always be carefully studied in order that the
confessor may know the extent of his powers. Ordinarily,
he is empowered to absolve penitents from all censures and
sins, even those that are reserved. The cases of attempted
absolution of an accomplice and a false charge of solicita-
tion are generally excepted, or power to absolve them is
only granted under restriction. The absolution would be
valid if the penitent who came to confession with the in-
tention of gaining the jubilee afterward changed his mind
and gave up the attempt; and probably the reservation
would be removed if a reserved sin were confessed by such
458 INDULGENCES
a penitent, though the confession were sacrilegious, or
inculpably null and void.
Jubilee confessors have also ample faculties granted them
for dispensing from vows or commuting them, though
vows of perpetual chastity, of entering a Religious Order
with solemn vows, and those which have been accepted
by third parties, are usually excepted.
While the greater jubilee is being celebrated at Rome, the
special faculties granted to bishops and priests for the in-
ternal forum are ordinarily suspended, at least with respect
to penitents who can make the journey to Rome.
In the same way during this time other indulgences
granted by the Pope in favor of the faithful who are living
are suspended, though they may all be gained for the faith-
ful departed. Certain special indulgences, as those for the
saying of the Angelus, those granted to the dying, and
for the solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, are
excepted.
APPENDIX A
PROHIBITED BOOKS
The modern law of the Church concerning forbidden books
is contained in the Index published by order of Leo XIII
in the year 1900. It is divided into two parts, the first of
which contains the general constitution of Leo XIII on
forbidden books, first issued in 1897, together with the
constitution of Benedict XIV on the censorship of books ;
the second part consists of an alphabetical list of books
which have been specially condemned. It will be sufficient
for our purpose to say a word on the binding force of this
new Index in English-speaking countries, and then print
the authorized translation of the constitution of Leo XIII
which contains the general laws now in force on the subject
of forbidden books.
All Catholics must admit that if the Roman Pontiff, while
promulgating a new law at Rome, makes known his will
to bind thereby all the faithful throughout the world, there
can be no question but that all are in fact bound by the
new law. The constitution Apostolicce Sedis of Pius IX
was promulgated in this way at Rome for the whole world,
and now without doubt binds all Catholics. In the same
way the constitution of Leo XIII was promulgated in
Rome and the Pope clearly made known his intention to
bind all Catholics throughout the world by its provisions.
Thus in the preamble of this constitution the Pope says:
459
460 PROHIBITED BOOKS
"We have decided to issue the following general decrees
appended to this constitution, . . . and all Catholics
throughout the world shall strictly obey them." Among
these general decrees, No. 45 is couched in these words:
"Books condemned by the Apostolic See are to be con-
sidered as prohibited all over the world, and into whatever
language they may be translated." In the constitution
Romani Pontifices, September 17, 1900, by which Leo XIII
prefaced his new Index, the Pope says: " Hujusmodi igitur
librorum prohibitorum generalem Indicem, jussu Nostro
recognitum et emendatum, ac typis vaticanis impressum, quern
tamquam litteris hisce expresse insertum haberi volumus,
auctoritate apostolica, tenore prcesentiwn, approbamus et
confirmamus, atque ab omnibus ubique locorum integre et
inviolabiliter observari prcecipimus, sub poems in Constitu-
tione Nostra Officiorum ac munerum sancitis." Further-
more, the Sacred Congregation of the Index, May 19, 1898,
answered Affirmative to this question proposed to it:
Whether the said constitution is of binding force even in
English-speaking countries which some think enjoy a tacit
dispensation. From the point of view of canon law and
theology, there can be no question about the matter; the
new Index is certainly of binding force throughout the
world, and therefore also in English-speaking countries.
This was immediately recognized by the bishops of the
province of Westminster, and they at once explained to the
Holy See the great difficulties which beset the observance
of the law in England. To meet these difficulties, by a
rescript of Propaganda, May 31, 1897, the English bishops
were empowered to grant dispensations to those of their
subjects who should ask for it to read forbidden books.
In some of the dioceses the bishops delegate this power of
PROHIBITED BOOKS 461
dispensing to all their priests who have diocesan faculties.
It should, of course, be used with prudence and discretion,
and it does not extend to the natural law which forbids
any one to expose himself to the danger of sin without just
cause.
APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION OF
OUR HOLY FATHER POPE LEO XIII
CONCERNING THE PROHIBITION AND CENSORSHIP OF BOOKS l
LEO, Bishop
Servant of the Servants of God
For cu Perpetual Memorial
Of all the official duties which We are bound most
carefully and most diligently to fulfil in this supreme posi-
tion of the Apostolate, the chief and principal duty is to
watch assiduously and earnestly to strive that the integrity
of Christian faith and morals may suffer no diminution.
And this, more than at any other time, is especially neces-
sary in these days, when men's minds and characters are so
unrestrained that almost every doctrine which Jesus Christ,
the Saviour of mankind, has committed to the custody of
His Church, for the welfare of the human race, is daily
called into question and doubt. In this warfare, many
and varied are the stratagems and hurtful devices of the
enemy; but most perilous of all is the uncurbed freedom
of writing and publishing noxious literature. Nothing
can be conceived more pernicious, more apt to defile souls,
through its contempt of religion and its manifold allure-
1 Authorized translation.
462 PROHIBITED BOOKS
merits to sin. Wherefore the Church, who is the custodian
and vindicator of the integrity of faith and morals, fearful
of so great an evil, has from an early date realized that reme-
dies must be applied against this plague; and for this
reason she has ever striven, as far as lay in her power, to
restrain men from the reading of bad books, as from a
deadly poison. The early days of the Church were wit-
nesses to the earnest zeal of St. Paul in this respect; and
every subsequent age has witnessed the vigilance of the
Fathers, the commands of the bishops, and the decrees
of councils in a similar direction.
Historical documents bear special witness to the care and
diligence with which the Roman pontiffs have watchfully
endeavored to prevent the spread of heretical writings detri-
mental to the public. History is full of examples. Anas-
tasius I solemnly condemned the more dangerous writings
of Origen, Innocent I those of Pelagius, Leo the Great all
the works of the Manicheans. The decretal letters oppor-
tunely issued by Gelasius, concerning books to be received
and rejected, are well known. And so, in the course of
centuries, the Holy See condemned the pestilent writings
of the Monothelites, of Abelard, Marsilius Patavinus,
Wyclif, and Huss.
In the fifteenth century, after the invention of the art
of printing, not only were bad publications which had al-
ready appeared condemned, but precautions began to be
taken against the publication of similar works in the future.
These prudent measures were called for by no slight cause,
but rather by the need of protecting the public morals and
welfare at the time; for too many had rapidly perverted
into a mighty engine of destruction an art which was ex-
cellent in itself, productive of immense advantages, and
PROHIBITED BOOKS 463
naturally destined for the advancement of Christian cul-
ture. Owing to the rapid process of publication, the
great evil of bad books had been multiplied and accelerated.
Wherefore Our predecessors Alexander VI and Leo X most
wisely promulgated certain definite laws, well suited to the
character of the times, in order to restrain printers and
publishers within the limits of their duty.
The tempest soon became more violent, and it was neces-
sary to check the contagion of heresy with still more vigi-
lance and severity. Hence Leo X and afterward Clement
VII severely prohibited the reading or retaining of the books
of Luther. But as, owing to the unhappy circumstances
of that epoch, the foul flood of pernicious books had in-
creased beyond measure and spread in all directions, there
appeared to be need of a more complete and efficacious
remedy. This remedy Our predecessor Paul IV was the
first to employ, by opportunely publishing a list of books
and other writings, against which the faithful should be
warned. A little later the Council of Trent took steps to
restrain the ever-growing license of writing and reading by
a new measure. At its command and desire, certain chosen
prelates and theologians not only applied themselves
to increasing and perfecting the Index which Paul IV
had published, but also drew up certain rules to be ob-
served in the publishing, reading, and use of books;
and to these rules Pius IV added the sanction of his
apostolic authority.
The interests of the public welfare, which* had given rise
to the Tridentine Rules, necessitated in the course of time
certain alterations. For which reason the Roman Pontiffs,
especially Clement VIII, Alexander VII, and Benedict XIV,
mindful of the circumstances of the period and the dictates
4t)4 PROHIBITED BOOKS
of prudence, issued several decrees calculated to elucidate
these rules and to accommodate them to the times.
The above facts clearly prove that the chief care of the
Roman Pontiffs has always been to protect civil society
from erroneous beliefs and corrupt morals, the twin causes
of the decline and ruin of states, which commonly owes its
origin and its progress to bad bocks. Their labors were
not unfruitful, so long as the divine law regulated the com-
mands and prohibitions of civil government, and the rulers
of states acted in unison with the ecclesiastical authority.
Every one is aware of the subsequent course of events.
As circumstances and men's minds gradually altered, the
Church, with her wonted prudence, observing the character
of the period, took those steps which appeared most expe-
dient and best calculated to promote the salvation of men.
Several prescriptions of the rules of the Index, which ap-
peared to have lost their original opportuneness, she either
abolished by decree, or, with equal gentleness and wisdom,
permitted them to grow obsolete. In recent times, Pius
IX, in a letter to the archbishops and bishops of the States
of the Church, considerably mitigated Rule X. Moreover,
on the eve of the Vatican Council, he instructed the learned
men of the preparatory commission to examine and revise
all the rules of the Index, and to advise how they should
be dealt with. They unanimously decided that the rules
required alteration ; and several of the Fathers of the coun-
cil openly professed their agreement with this opinion and
desire. A letter of the French bishops exists urging the
necessity of immediate action in " republishing the rules
and the whole scheme of the Index in an entirely new form,
better suited to our times and easier to observe." A similar
opinion was expressed at the same time by the bishops of
PROHIBITED BOOKS 465
Germany, who definitely petitioned that "the rules of the
Index might be submitted to a fresh revision and arrange-
ment." With these bishops many bishops of Italy and
other countries have agreed.
Taking into account the circumstances of our times, the
conditions of society, and popular customs, all these re-
quests are certainly justified and in accordance with the
maternal affection of Holy Church. In the rapid race of
intellect, there is no field of knowledge in which literature
has not run riot ; hence, the daily inundation of most per-
nicious books. Worst of all, the civil laws not only connive
at this serious evil, but allow it the widest license. Thus,
on the one hand, many minds are in a state of anxiety;
whilst, on the other, there is unlimited opportunity for
every kind of reading.-
Believing that some remedy ought to be applied to these
evils, We have thought well to take two steps which will
supply a certain and clear rule of action in this matter.
Firstly, to diligently revise the Index of books forbidden to
be read; and We have ordered this revised edition to be
published when complete. Secondly, We have turned our
attention to the rules themselves, and have determined,
without altering their nature, to make them somewhat
milder, so that it can not be difficult or irksome for any
person of good will to obey them. In this We have not
only followed the example of Our predecessors, but imitated
the maternal affection of the Church, who desires nothing
more earnestly than to show herself indulgent, and, in the
present as in the past, ever cares for her children in such a
manner as gently and lovingly to have regard to their
weakness.
Wherefore, after mature deliberation, and having con-
466 PROHIBITED BOOKS
suited the cardinals of the Sacred Congregation of the
Index, We have decided to issue the following general de-
crees appended to this constitution; and the aforesaid
Sacred Congregation shall, in the future, follow these
exclusively, and all Catholics throughout the world shall
strictly obey them. We will that they alone shall have
the force of law, abrogating the rules published by order of
the sacred Council of Trent, and the observations, instruc-
tion, decrees, monita, and all other statutes and commands
whatsoever of Our Predecessors, with the sole exception of
the constitution Sollicita et provida of Benedict XIV,
which We will to retain in the future the full force which
it has hitherto had.
General Decrees Concerning the Prohibition and
Censorship of Books
Article I
OF THE PROHIBITION OF BOOKS
The Prohibited Books of Apostates, Heretics, Schismatics,
and other Writers
1. All books condemned before the year 1600 by the
Sovereign Pontiffs, or by oecumenical councils, and which
are not recorded in the new Index, must be considered as
condemned in the same manner as formerly : with the ex-
ception of such as are permitted by the present general
decrees.
2. The books of apostates, heretics, schismatics, and all
writers whatsoever, defending heresy or schism, or in any
way attacking the foundations of religion, are altogether
prohibited.
PROHIBITED BOOKS 467
3. Moreover, the books of non-Catholics, ex professo
treating of religion, are prohibited, unless they clearly con-
tain nothing contrary to Catholic faith.
4. The books of the above-mentioned writers, not treat-
ing ex professo of religion, but only touching incidentally
upon the truths of Faith, are not to be considered as pro-
hibited by ecclesiastical law, unless proscribed by special
decree.
Editions of the Original Text of Holy Scripture and of Ver-
sions not in the Vernacular
5. Editions of the original text and of the ancient Catho-
lic versions of Holy Scripture, as well as those of the Eastern
Church, if published by non-Catholics, even though ap-
parently edited in a faithful and complete manner, are
allowed only to those engaged in theological and biblical
studies, provided also that the dogmas of Catholic faith
are not impugned in the prolegomena or annotations.
6. In the same manner, and under the same conditions,
other versions of the Holy Bible, whether in Latin, or in any
other dead language, published by non-Catholics, are per-
mitted.
Vernacular Versions of Holy Scripture
7. As it has been clearly shown by experience that, if the
Holy Bible in the vernacular is generally permitted without
any distinction, more harm than utility is thereby caused;
owing to human temerity : all versions in the vernacular,
even by Catholics, are altogether prohibited, unless ap-
proved by the Holy See, or published, under the vigilant
care of the bishops, with annotations taken from the Fathers
of the Church and learned Catholic writers.
468 PROHIBITED BOOKS
8. All versions of the Holy Bible, in any vernacular
language, made by non-Catholics, are prohibited ; and espe-
cially those published by the Bible societies,which have been
more than once condemned by the Roman Pontiffs, because
in them the wise laws of the Church concerning the publi-
cation of the sacred books are entirely disregarded.
Nevertheless, these versions are permitted to students of
theological or biblical science, under the conditions laid down
above (No. 5).
Obscene Books
9. Books which professedly treat of, narrate, or teach
lewd or obscene subjects, are entirely prohibited, since care
must be taken, not only of faith, but also of morals, which
are easily corrupted by the reading of such books.
10. The books of classical authors, whether ancient or
modern, if disfigured with the same stain of indecency, are,
on account of the elegance and beauty of their diction, per-
mitted only to those who are justified on account of their
duty or the function of teaching; but on no account may
they be placed in the hands of, or taught to, boys or youths ,
unless carefully expurgated.
Certain Special Kinds of Books
11. Those books are condemned which are derogatory to
Almighty God, or, to the Blessed Virgin Mary or the saints,
or to the Catholic Church and her worship, or to the sacra-
ments, or to the Holy See. To the same condemnation are
subject those works in which the idea of the inspiration of
Holy Scripture is perverted, or its extension too narrowly
limited. Those books, moreover, are prohibited which
PROHIBITED BOOKS 469
professedly revile the ecclesiastical hierarchy, or the clerical
or religious state.
12. It is forbidden to publish, read, or keep books in
which sorcery, divination, magic, the evocation of spirits,
and other superstitions of this kind are taught or com-
mended.
13. Books or other writings which narrate new appari-
tions, revelations, visions, prophecies, miracles, or which
introduce new devotions, even under the pretext of being
private ones, if published without the legitimate permission
of ecclesiastical superiors, are prohibited.
14. Those books, moreover, are prohibited which de-
fend as lawful, duelling, suicide, or divorce; which treat of
Freemasonry, or other societies of the kind, teaching them
to be useful and not injurious to the Church and to society ;
and those which defend errors proscribed by the Apostolic
See.
Sacred Pictures and Indulgences
15. Pictures, in any style of printing, of Our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the angels and saints, or
other servants of God, which are not conformable to the
sense and decrees of the Church, are entirely forbidden.
New pictures, whether produced with or without prayers
annexed, may not be published without permission of eccle-
siastical authority.
16. It is forbidden to all to give publicity in any way
to apocryphal indulgences, and such as have been pro-
scribed or revoked by the Apostolic See. Those which
have already been published must be withdrawn from the
hands of the faithful.
17. No books of indulgences, or compendiums, pain-
470 PROHIBITED BOOKS
phlets, leaflets, etc., containing grants of indulgences,
may be published without permission of competent au-
thority.
Liturgical Books and Prayer-books
18. In authentic editions of the missal, breviary, ritual,
ceremonial of bishops, Roman pontifical, and of other
liturgical books approved by the Holy Apostolic See, no
one shall presume to make any change whatsoever; other-
wise such new editions are prohibited.
19. No Litanies — except the ancient and common
litanies contained in the breviaries, missals, pontificals,
and rituals, as well as the Litany of Loreto, and the Litany
of the Holy Name of Jesus already approved by the Holy
See — may be published without the examination and
approbation of the ordinary.
20. No one, without license of legitimate authority, may
publish books or pamphlets of prayers, devotions, or reli-
gious, moral, ascetic, or mystic doctrine and instruction,
or others of like nature, even though apparently conducive
to the fostering of piety among Christian people ; otherwise
they are to be considered as prohibited.
Newspapers and Periodicals
21. Newspapers and periodicals which designedly attack
religion or morality are to be held as prohibited, not only
by the natural, but also by the ecclesiastical law.
Ordinaries shall take care, whenever it be necessary,
that the faithful be warned against the danger and injury
of reading of this kind.
22. No Catholics, particularly ecclesiastics, shall pub-
PROHIBITED BOOKS 471
lish anything in newspapers or periodicals of this character,
unless for some just and reasonable cause.
Permission to Read and Keep Prohibited Books
23. Those only shall be allowed to read and keep books
prohibited, either by special decrees, or by these general
decrees, who shall have obtained the necessary permission,
either from the Apostolic See or from its delegates.
24. The Roman Pontiffs have placed the power of grant-
ing licenses for the reading and keeping of prohibited books
in the hands of the Sacred Congregation of the Index.
Nevertheless the same power is enjoyed both by the Su-
preme Congregation of the Holy Office, and by the Sacred
Congregation of Propaganda for regions subject to its
administration. For the city of Rome this power belongs
also to the master of the sacred apostolic palace.
25. Bishops and other prelates with quasi-episcopal juris-
diction may grant such license for individual books, and in
urgent cases only. But if they have obtained from the
Apostolic See a general faculty to grant permission to the
faithful to read and keep prohibited books, they must grant
this only with discretion and for a just and reasonable cause.
. 26. Those who have obtained apostolic faculties to read
and keep prohibited books may not on this account read and
keep any books whatsoever or periodicals condemned by the
local ordinaries, unless in the apostolic indult express per-
mission be given to read and keep books by whomsoever
prohibited. And those who have obtained permission to
read prohibited books must remember that they are bound
by grave precept to keep books of this kind in such a manner
that they may not fall into the hands of others.
472 PROHIBITED BOOKS
The Denunciation of Bad Books
27. Although all Catholics, especially the more learned,
ought to denounce pernicious books either to the bishops
or to the Holy See, this duty belongs more especially to
apostolic nuncios and delegates, local ordinaries, and rectors
of universities.
28. It is expedient, in denouncing bad books, that not
only the title of the book be expressed, but also, as far as
possible, the reasons be explained why the book is considered
worthy of censure. Those to whom the denunciation is
made will remember that it is their duty to keep secret the
names of the denouncers.
29. Ordinaries, acting even as delegates of the Apostolic
See, must be careful to prohibit evil books or other writings
published or circulated in their dioceses, and to withdraw
them from the hands of the faithful. Such works and
writings as appear to require a more careful examination,
or concerning which a decision of the Supreme Authority
may seem desirable in order to procure a more salutary
effect, should be referred to the judgment of the Apostolic
See.
Article II
The Censorship of Books
The Prelates Entrusted with the Censorship of Books
30. From what has been laid down above (No. 7), it is
sufficiently clear what persons have authority to approve
or permit editions and translations of the Holy Bible.
31. No one shall venture to republish books condemned
by the Apostolic See. If, for a grave and reasonable cause,
PROHIBITED BOOKS 473
any particular exception appears desirable in this respect,
this can only be allowed on obtaining beforehand a license
from the Sacred Congregation of the Index and observing
the conditions prescribed by it.
32. Whatsoever pertains in any way to causes of beati-
fication and canonization of the servants of God may not
be published without the approval of the Congregation of
Sacred Rites.
33. The same must be said of collections of decrees of the
various Roman congregations : such collections may not be
published without first obtaining the license of the authori-
ties of each congregation, and observing the conditions by
them prescribed.
34. Vicars-apostolic and missionaries-apostolic shall
faithfully observe the ^ decrees of the Sacred Congregation
of Propaganda concerning the publication of books.
35. The approbation of books of which the censorship
is not reserved by the present decrees either to the Holy
See or to the Roman congregations, belongs to the ordi-
nary of the place where they are published.
36. Regulars must remember that, in addition to the
license of the bishop, they are bound by a decree of the
Sacred Council of Trent to obtain leave for publishing any
work from their own Superior. Both permissions must
be printed either at the beginning or at the end of the
book.
37. If an author, living in Rome, desires to print a book,
not in the city of Rome but elsewhere, no other approbation
is required beyond that of the cardinal-vicar and the master
of the apostolic palace.
474 PROHIBITED BOOKS
The Duty of Censors in the Preliminary Examination of
Books
38. Bishops, whose duty it is to grant permission for the
printing of books, shall take care to employ in the examina-
tion of them men of acknowledged piety and learning, con-
cerning whose faith and honesty they may feel sure that
they will show neither favor nor ill will, but, putting aside
all human affections, will look only to the glory of God and
the welfare of the people.
39. Censors must understand that, in the matter of vari-
ous opinions and systems, they are bound to judge with a
mind free from all prejudice, according to the precept of
Benedict XIV. Therefore they should put away all attach-
ment to their particular country, family, school, or insti-
tute, and lay aside all partisan spirit. They must keep be-
fore their eyes nothing but the dogmas of Holy Church, and
the common Catholic doctrine, as contained in the decrees
of general councils, the constitutions of the Roman Pontiffs,
and the unanimous teaching of the Doctors of the Church.
40. If, after this examination, no objection appears to
the publication of the book, the ordinary shall grant to the
author, in writing and without any fee whatsoever, a license
to publish, which shall be printed either at the beginning or
at the end of the work.
The Books to be Submitted to Censorship
41. All the faithful are bound to submit to preliminary
ecclesiastical censorship at least those books which treat
of Holy Scripture, sacred theology, ecclesiastical history,
canon law, natural theology, ethics, and other religious or
PROHIBITED BOOKS 47-')
moral subjects of this character; and in general all writ-
ings specially concerned with religion and morality.
42. The secular clergy, in order to give an example
of respect toward their ordinaries, ought not to publish
books, even when treating of merely natural arts and
sciences, without their knowledge.
They are also prohibited from undertaking the manage-
ment of newspapers or periodicals without the previous
permission of their ordinaries.
Printers and Publishers of Books
43. No book liable to ecclesiastical censorship may be
printed unless it bear at the beginning the name and sur-
name of both the author and the publisher, together with
the place and year of printing and publishing. If in any
particular case, owing to a just reason, it appears desirable
to suppress the name of the author, this may be permitted
by the ordinary.
44. Printers and publishers should remember that new
editions of an approved work require a new approbation;
and that an approbation granted to the original text does
not suffice for a translation into another language.
45. Books condemned by the Apostolic See are to be
considered as prohibited all over the world, and into what-
ever language they may be translated.
46. Booksellers, especially Catholics, should neither sell,
lend, nor keep books professedly treating of obscene sub-
jects. They should not keep for sale other prohibited
books, unless they have obtained leave through the ordi-
nary from the Sacred Congregation of the Index ; nor sell
such books to any person whom they do not prudently
judge to have the right to buy them.
47B PROHIBITED BOOKS
Penalties against Transgressors of the General Decrees
47. All and every one knowingly reading, without au-
thority of the Holy See, the books of apostates and heretics
defending heresy; or books of any author which are by
name- prohibited by Apostolic Letters; also those keeping,
printing, and in any way defending such works ; incur ipso
facto excommunication reserved in a special manner to the
Roman Pontiff.
48. Those who, without the approbation of the ordinary,
print, or cause to be printed, books of Holy Scripture, o"
notes or commentaries on the same, incur ipso facto excom-
munication, but not reserved to any one.
49. Those who transgress the other prescriptions of
these general decrees shall, according to the gravity of their
offense, be seriously warned by the bishop, and, if it seem
expedient, may also be punished by canonical penalties.
We decree that these presents, and whatsoever they con-
tain, shall at no time be questioned or impugned for any
fault of subreption, or obreption, or of Our intention, or
for any other defect whatsoever ; but are and shall be ever
valid and efficacious, and to be inviolably observed, both
judicially and extra-judicially, by all of whatsoever rank
and pre-eminence. And We declare to be invalid and of
no avail, whatsoever may be attempted knowingly or
unknowingly contrary to these, by any one, under any
authority or pretext whatsoever; all to the contrary
notwithstanding .
And We will that the same authority be attributed to
copies of these Letters, even if printed, provided they be
signed by the hand of a notary, and confirmed by the seal
PROHIBITED BOOKS 477
of some one in ecclesiastical dignity, as to the indication
of Our will by the exhibition of these presents.
No man, therefore, may infringe or temerariously ven-
ture to contravene this document of Our constitution, ordi-
nation, limitation, derogation, and will. If any one shall
so presume, let him know that he shall incur the wrath of
Almighty God, and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.
Given at St. Peter's in Rome, in the year of the Incar-
nation of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
ninety -seven, on the twenty-fifth day of January, in the
nineteenth year of Our Pontificate.
A. Card. Macchi.
A. Panici, Subdatary.
Visa.
De Curia: J. De Aquila Visconti.
L.*S.
Registered in the Secretariate of Briefs.
I. Cugnoni.
APPENDIX B
BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE
The Sacred Congregation of the Council, August, 2, 1907,
issued the following decree concerning sponsalia (Espousals,
Betrothal, Engagement), and Matrimony. Hitherto the
Church has imposed no conditions with respect to the
external form as necessary for the validity of sponsalia.
Whether they were solemn or private, public or clandestine,
written or verbal, the Church has always accepted them as
valid and as having their canonical effects. These effects
are two : 1st, the impedient impediment, making the mar-
riage of either of the parties with a third person unlawful,
as long as the sponsalia are not legitimately dissolved, but
not invalid; 2d, the diriment impediment, called publicce
honestatis, absolutely invalidating the marriage of either of
the betrothed with one of the blood relations of the other
in the first degree.
According to the present decree all private and clan-
destine sponsalia are declared canonically invalid, i.e.,
they will not have the canonical effects mentioned
above. To be canonically valid they must be from Easter,
April 19, 1908, contracted in writing, signed by both the
betrothed, and by the parish priest, or the ordinary, or
at least two witnesses. If either or both the parties to
the sponsalia be unable to write, this fact is to be noted
in the document, and another witness is required to sign
478
BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE 479
it, in addition to the parish priest, or the ordinary, or the
two witnesses.
The Church does not prescribe that sponsalia should be
contracted before marriage, for the latter is valid without
the former taking place at all, but she desires that private
and clandestine betrothals should be discouraged, and that
public and solemn engagements should be encouraged.
Private and clandestine espousals are not prohibited or
declared unlawful, but they are canonically invalid, i.e.,
they will not be recognized by the Church, and will not have
any canonical effects.
This new decree unifies the law of the celebration of
marriage throughout the world. It binds no one outside
the Church, except apostates and the excommunicated, and
it binds all within the Church ; it is not local, but personal.
Only those marriages are valid which are contracted before
the parish priest or the ordinary of the place or a priest
delegated by either of these. When it has been impossible
for a whole month to have the presence of the competent
priest or the ordinary of the place, the presence of the priest
is not necessary for the validity. The competent priest
for the celebration of marriage is every priest duly invested
with the care of souls in a specified district, and in mis-
sionary lands every priest who is duly deputed by the
superior of the mission for the general care of souls. The
priest's presence must be willing, and is valid for the
marriage not only of persons living in his district, but of
those from other places also. In cases of imminent danger
of death any priest may validly assist at the marriage.
At all marriages the presence of two witnesses is required
for their validity.
For the licit celebration of marriage among Catholics,
480 BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE
a residence for the space of a month of one of the contracting
parties in the place of the celebration is necessary ; for the
validity of the marriage no residence at all is required.
A peculiarity in the new regulation is that the marriages
must be entered not only in the matrimonial register, but
also in the baptismal register.
The text of the important decree is as follows :
DECREE CONCERNING SPONSALIA AND
MATRIMONY
Issued by the Sacred Congregation of the Council
by the Order and with the Authority of Our
Holy Father Pope Pius X
The Council of Trent (Cap. I, Sess. XXIV de Reform.
Matrim.), made prudent provision against the rash celebra-
tion of clandestine marriages, which the Church of God
for most just reasons has always detested and forbidden, by
decreeing: " Those who otherwise than in the presence of
the parish priest himself or of another priest acting with
the license of the parish priest or of the ordinary, and
in the presence of two or three witnesses, shall attempt to
contract matrimony, the Holy Synod renders them alto-
gether incapable of contracting marriage thus, and decrees
that contracts of this kind are null and void."
But as the same Sacred Council prescribed that said
decree should be published in all the parishes and was not
to have force except in those places in which it had been
promulgated, it has happened that many places in which the
publication has not been made have been deprived of the
benefit of the Tridentine law, and are still without it, and
BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE 481
continue to be subject to the doubts and inconveniences
of the old discipline.
Nor has all difficulty been removed in those places where
the new law has been in force. For often there has been
grave doubt in deciding as to the person of the parish priest
before whom a marriage is to be celebrated. The canonical
discipline did indeed decide that he is to be regarded as the
parish priest in whose parish one or other of the contract-
ing parties has his or her domicil or quasi-domicil. But
as it is sometimes difficult to judge whether a quasi-domicil
really exists in a special case, not a few marriages were
exposed to the danger of nullity; many, too, either owing to
ignorance or fraud, have been found to be quite illegitimate
and void.
These deplorable results have been seen to happen more
frequently in our own time on account of the increased
facility and celerity of intercommunication between the
different countries, even those most widely separated.
It has therefore seemed expedient to wise and learned men
to introduce some change into the law regulating the form
of the celebration of marriage, and a great many bishops
in all parts of the world, but especially in the more populous
States where the necessity appears more urgent, have peti-
tioned the Holy See to this end.
It has been asked also by very many bishops in Europe,
as well as by others in various regions, that provision should
be made to prevent the inconveniences arising from spon-
salia; that is, mutual promises of marriage, privately entered
upon. For experience has sufficiently shown the many dan-
gers of such sponsalia; first as being an incitement to sin
and causing the deception of inexperienced girls, and after-
ward giving rise to inextricable dissensions and disputes.
482 BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE
Influenced by these circumstances, our Holy Father
Pope Pius X desiring, in the solicitude he bears for all the
churches, to introduce some modifications with the object
of removing these drawbacks and dangers, committed to
the Sacred Congregation of the Council the task of examin-
ing into the matter and of proposing to himself the measures
it should deem opportune.
He was pleased also to have the opinion of the com-
mission appointed for the codification of canon law, as
well as of the eminent cardinals chosen on this special
commission for the preparation of the new code, by whom,
as well as by the Sacred Congregation of the Council,
frequent meetings have been held for this purpose. The
opinions of all having been taken, His Holiness ordered the
Sacred Congregation of the Council to issue a decree con-
taining the laws, approved by himself on sure knowledge
and after mature df^liberation, by which the discipline
regarding sponsalia and marriage is to be regulated for the
future and the celebration of them carried out in a sure and
orderly manner.
In execution, therefore, of the apostolic mandate the
Sacred Congregation of the Council by these letters lays
down and decrees what follows.
Concerning Sponsalia
I. Only those are considered valid and produce canonical
effects which have been contracted in writing signed by
both the parties and by either the parish priest or the ordi-
nary of the place, or at least by two witnesses.
In case one or both the parties be unable to write, this
fact is to be noted in the document and another witness is to
BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE 483
be added who will sign the writing as above, with the
parish priest or the ordinary of the place or the two
witnesses.
II. Here and in the following articles by "parish priest"
is to be understood not only a priest legitimately presiding
over a parish canonically erected, but in regions where
parishes are not canonically erected the priest to whom the
care of souls has been legitimately entrusted in any speci-
fied district and who is equivalent to a parish priest; and
in missions where the territory has not yet been perfectly
divided, every priest generally deputed by the superior
of the mission for the care of souls in any station.
Concerning Marriage
III. Only those marriages are valid which are contracted
before the parish priest or the ordinary of the place or a
priest delegated by either of these, and at least two witnesses,
according to the rules laid down in the following articles,
and saving the exceptions mentioned under VII and VIII.
IV. The parish priest and the ordinary of the place
validly assist at a marriage :
a. Only from the day they have taken possession of the
benefice or entered upon their office, unless they have been
by a public decree excommunicated by name or suspended
from the office :
b. Only within the limits of their territory; within
which they assist validly at marriages not only of their
own subjects, but also of those not subject to them;
c. Provided when invited and asked, and not compelled
by violence or by grave fear, they demand and receive the
consent of the contracting parties.
484 BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE
V. They assist licitly :
a. When they have legitimately ascertained the free
state of the contracting parties, having duly complied with
the conditions laid down by the law ;
b. When they have ascertained that one of the contracting
parties has a domicil or at least has lived for a month in
the place where the marriage takes place;
c. If this condition be lacking, the parish priest and the
ordinary of the place, to assist licitly at a marriage, require
the permission of the parish priest or the ordinary of one
of the contracting parties, unless it be a case of grave neces-
sity, which excuses from this permission ;
d. Concerning persons without fixed abode (vagos), ex-
cept in case of necessity it is not lawful for a parish priest
to assist at their marriage, until they report the matter
to the ordinary or to a priest delegated by him and obtain
permission to assist;
e. In every case let it be held as the rule that the marriage
is to be celebrated before the parish priest of the bride,
unless some just cause excuses from this.
YI. The parish priest and the ordinary of the place may
grant permission to another priest, specified and certain,
to assist at marriages within the limits of their district.
The delegated priest, in order to assist validly and licitly,
is bound to observe the limits of his mandate and the rules
laid down above, in IV and V, for the parish priest and the
ordinary of the place.
VII. When the danger of death is imminent and where
the parish priest or the ordinary of the place or a priest
delegated by either of these can not be had, in order to pro-
vide for the relief of conscience and (should the case require
it) for the legitimation of offspring, marriage may be con-
BETROTHAL AND MAIWIAGE 485
tracted validly and licitly before any priest and two wit-
nesses.
VIII. Should it happen that in any district the parish
priest or the ordinary of the place or a priest delegated by
either of them, before whom marriage can be celebrated,
is not to be had, and that this condition of things has lasted
for a month, marriage may be validly and licitly entered
upon by the formal declaration of consent made by the
spouses in the presence of two witnesses.
IX. a. After the celebration of a marriage, the parish
priest or he who takes his place is to write at once in the
"Book of Marriages" the names of the couple and of
the witnesses, the place and day of the celebration of the
marriage, and the other details, according to the method
prescribed in the ritual books or by the ordinary ; and this
even when another priest delegated either by the parish
priest himself or by the ordinary has assisted at the
marriage.
b. Moreover, the parish priest is to note also in the " Book
of Baptisms," that the married person contracted marriage
on such a day in his parish. If the married person has been
baptized elsewhere, the parish priest who has assisted at
marriage is to transmit, either directly or through the epis-
copal curia, the announcement of the marriage that has
taken place, to the parish priest of the place where the
person was baptized, in order that the marriage may be
inscribed in the "Book of Baptisms."
c. Whenever a marriage is contracted in the manner
described in VII and VIII, the priest in the former case,
the witnesses in the latter, are bound conjointly with the
contracting parties to provide that the marriage be inscribed
as soon as possible in the prescribed books.
486 BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE
X. Parish priests who violate the rules thus far
laid down are to be punished by their ordinaries accord-
ing to the nature and gravity of their transgression.
Moreover, if they assist at the marriage of anybody
in violation of the rules laid down in b and c of
V,- they are not to appropriate the stole-fees, but
must remit them to the parish priest of the contracting
parties.
XI. a. The above laws are binding on all persons bap-
tized in the Catholic Church, and on those who have been
converted to it from heresy or schism (even when either
the latter or the former have fallen away afterward from
the Church) whenever they contract sponsalia or marriage
with one another.
b. The same laws are binding also on the same Catholics
as above, if they contract sponsalia or marriage with non-
Catholics, baptized or unbaptized, even after a dispensation
has been obtained from the impediment mixtw religionis
or disparitatis culttis; unless the Holy See decree otherwise
for some particular place or region.
c. Non-Catholics, whether baptized or unbaptized, who
contract among themselves, are nowhere bound to observe
the Catholic form of sponsalia or marriage.
The present decree is to be held as legitimately published
and promulgated by its transmission to the ordinaries,
and its provisions begin to have the force of law from the
colemn feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
next year 1908.
Meanwhile let all the ordinaries of places see that this
decree be made public as soon as possible, and explained
in the different parochial churches of their dioceses in order
that it may be known bv all.
BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE 487
These presents are to have force by the special order of
our Most Holy Father Pope Pius X, all things, even those
worthy of special mention, to the contrary notwithstanding.
Given at Rome on the 2d day of August, in the year 1907.
Vincent,
Card. Bishop of Palestrina, Prefect.
C. De Lai, Secretary.
By a decree of the Sacred Congregation on the Disci-
pline of the Sacraments, May 14, 1909, Pius X declared
and decreed that any priest who, according to art. VII of
the decree Ne temere in a case of imminent danger of death
when the parish priest or the local Ordinary or a priest
delegated by either of them cannot be had, can validly
and lawfully assist at a marriage in the presence of two
witnesses, in the same circumstances can also dispense in
all impediments, even though they be public, which annul
marriage by ecclesiastical law, except those of the priest-
hood and affinity in the direct line ex copula luzita.
APPENDIX C
THE ROMAN CURIA
With wise design the Pontiff Sixtus V, of holy memory,
following in the footsteps of his predecessors and perfect-
ing what had been begun by them, decided to increase the
number and define the limits of the sacred bodies of cardi-
nals, or the Roman Congregations, some of which had
been already instituted for the transaction of certain
matters. He, therefore, by the Apostolic Letters beginning
with the word Immensa, of Jan. 22, 1587, established
fifteen of these Congregations, that, " dividing among
them and the other offices of the Roman Curia the immense
weight of the cares and affairs" habitually brought before
the Holy See, it might be no longer necessary to treat of
and deliberate upon so many things in Consistory, and at
the same time that controversies might be more diligently
gone into and a more speedy and easier solution be given
to the business of those who apply to the Supreme Pontiff
from all sides in the interests of religion and devotion, to
seek justice, to ask favors, or for other reasons.
The utility accruing from these Sacred Congregations
for the maintenance of ecclesiastical discipline, the ad-
ministration of justice, and the relief of the Roman Pon-
tiffs themselves overpowered by daily increasing cares and
affairs, is shown by the history of the Church and is well
known to all.
488
THE ROMAN CURIA 489
But in the course of time the organization of the Roman
Curia, mainly effected by Sixtus V in the above-mentioned
Letters Apostolic, lapsed from its original state. The
number of the Roman Congregations was increased or
diminished according to the necessities of time and circum-
stance, and even the jurisdiction originally attributed to
the different Congregations underwent changes either by
new enactments of the Roman Pontiffs or by the gradual
growth of customs which became accepted. The result is
that to-day the jurisdiction, or competence, of each of them
is not quite clear to all nor is it well apportioned, that
many of the Sacred Congregations have the right to define
the law on the same matters, and that some of them have
been reduced to the transaction of very little business
while others are overcharged with work.
For these reasons many bishops and thoughtful men,
especially the Roman cardinals, both in writing and orally,
and both with Our Predecessor Leo XIII, of happy mem-
ory, and with Ourself, have frequently urged that suitable
remedies should be provided for the inconveniences above
mentioned. And We took pains to make partial provision
in Our Letters Romanis Pontificibus of Dec. 7, 1903,
by those Quce in Ecclesice bonum of Jan. 28, 1904, and
again by those Sacrce Congregationi super negotiis of
May 26, 1906.
But now that there is also the question of the codifica-
tion of the ecclesiastical laws, it has seemed highly fit-
ting that a beginning should be made with the Roman
Curia so that, once this has been organized suitably and in
a manner clear to all, it may be in a position to perform
more easily its work for the Roman Pontiff and the Church
and to be of the greatest possible assistance.
490 THE ROMAN CURIA
Wherefore, after having taken counsel with several of
the Roman cardinals, We have determined and We do
decree that the Congregations, Tribunals, and Offices which
compose the Roman Curia and to which the affairs of the
universal Church are referred for treatment shall, after the
autumn holidays of the current year, that is, after the third
day of November 1908, be only those, besides the usual
sacred consistories, which are defined in the present con-
stitution, and which shall remain divided and constituted
in number, order, and competence by the laws which here
follow :
The Sacred Congregations
The Congregation of the Holy Office
1. This Sacred Congregation, over which the Supreme
Pontiff presides, guards the teaching of faith and morals.
2. To it alone, therefore, belongs the judgment of heresy
and of other crimes which lead to a suspicion of heresy.
3. To it also is devolved all matters concerning indul-
gences, both as regards the doctrine and as concerns
practice.
4. Everything appertaining to the precepts of the
Church, such as the abstinences, fasts, and feasts to be
observed, is now transferred from this Sacred Congrega-
tion and handed over to the Congregation of the Council ;
everything relating to the election of bishops belongs
to the Consistorial Congregation; the relaxation of
religious vows made in religious institutes belongs to
the Congregation assigned for the affairs of religious
societies.
THE ROMAN CURIA 491
5. Although a special Congregation is established for
the discipline of the sacraments, nevertheless the Holy
Office preserves intact its faculty to treat of those ques-
tions which concern what is known as the Pauline Privi-
lege and the impediments disparitatis cultus and mixtce
religionis, as well as those connected with dogmatic teach-
ing on matrimony, as also on the other sacraments.
II
The Consistorial Congregation
1. This Sacred Congregation comprises two distinct
parts.
2. To the first appertains not only the charge of prepar-
ing what is to be done in the consistories but also, in places
not subject to the Congregation de Propaganda Fide, of
founding new dioceses, and chapters both cathedral and
collegiate; of dividing dioceses already constituted; of
electing bishops, apostolic administrators, and coadjutors
and auxiliaries of bishops; of instituting the canonical
investigations or processus concerning those to be elected
and of diligently sifting the acts of these processes; of
ascertaining the knowledge of those who are to be elected.
But when the men to be elected, or the dioceses to be
constituted or divided, are outside Italy, the officials of
the office for public affairs, commonly called the Secretariate
of State, shall themselves receive the documents and draw
up the statement [positionem] to be submitted to the
Consistorial Congregation.
3. The second part embraces all those matters which
concern the government of the different dioceses, not
subject to the Congregation de Propaganda Fide, and
492 THE ROMAN CURIA
which hitherto belonged to the Congregation of the Bishops
and of the Council, and are now transferred to the Con-
sistorial Congregation. To this latter, therefore, for the
future belongs the vigilance over the fulfilment or non-
fulfilment of the obligations by which ordinaries are bound,
the cognizance of the written reports of bishops on the
state of their dioceses, the ordering of apostolic visitations,
the examination of what has been done in them, and after
a faithful exposition made to Us each time, the ordering
of what may seem necessary or opportune ; finally, every-
thing appertaining to the government, discipline, temporal
administration, and studies of the seminaries.
4. It shall be the province of this Congregation, when
conflicts of law arise, to solve doubts concerning the compe-
tence of the Sacred Congregations.
5. Of this Sacred Council the Supreme Pontiff is to be
the prefect. And to it the Cardinal-Secretary of the Holy
Office and the Cardinal-Secretary of State shall always be
attached ex officio, besides the others whom the Supreme
Pontiff may think well to make members of it.
6. The secretary shall always be a cardinal selected for
this office by the Supreme Pontiff ; with him there shall
be a prelate with the title of Assessor who shall also fill
the office of Secretary of the Sacred College of the
Fathers-Cardinals, and under him a sufficient number of
officials.
7. Consulters of this Congregation shall be the Assessor
of the Holy Office, and the Secretary of the Congregation
for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs while in office;
to these shall be added others elected by the Suprem°
Pontiff.
THE ROMAN CURIA 493
III
Congregation on the Discipline of the Sacraments
1. To this Sacred Congregation is assigned the entire
legislation concerning the discipline of the seven sacra-
ments, without prejudice to the authority of the Congrega-
tion of the Holy Office according to the provisions above
defined, and of the Congregation of Sacred Rites regarding
the ceremonies to be observed in the performing, adminis-
tration, and reception of the sacraments, which were
hitherto* decided or granted by other Congregations,
Tribunals, or Offices of the Roman Curia.
2. So also to this Congregation are assigned all those
matters connected with the discipline of matrimony, such
as dispensations in foro externo for the poor as well as for
the rich, sanationes in radice,' dispensations super rato,
the separation of married couples, the restitution of birth-
right or legitimation of offspring ; as well as in the discipline
of the other sacraments, such as dispensations for candi-
dates for Orders, without prejudice to the right of the
Congregation for the Affairs of Religious to regulate the
ordinations of Religious; dispensations concerning the
place, time, and conditions for the reception of the Eu-
charist, the offering of the Holy Sacrifice, the reservation
of the Most August Sacrament, and the other matters of
the same nature.
3. The same Congregation decides, without prejudice to
the right of the Holy Office, questions regarding the dis-
cipline of the sacraments. But when this Congregation
decides that any such questions are to be treated by judicial
494 THE ROMAN CURIA
process, then it shall hand them over to the tribunal of
the Sacred Roman Rota.
4. For this Congregation, as well as for the others that
follow, there shall be a cardinal-prefect who shall preside
over the Sacred Order consisting of a number of fathers-
cardinals to be elected by the Supreme Pontiff, with a
secretary and the other necessary officials and consulters.
IV
The Congregation of the Council
1. To this Sacred Congregation is committed that
branch of affairs which relates to the universal discipline
of the secular clergy and of the Christian people.
2. It is, therefore, its province to provide for the ob-
servance of the precepts of the Church, such as fasts (ex-
cept the Eucharistic fast which belongs to the Congregation
on the Discipline of the Sacraments), abstinence, tithes,
the observance of feasts, with the faculty of releasing the
faithful from these laws on occasion; the government of
everything relating to parish priests and canons and of all
things affecting pious sodalities, pious unions, pious legacies,
pious works, honorariums for masses, benefices or offices,
ecclesiastical property, funds of money, diocesan tributes,
and other affairs of the same kind. It sees also to every-
thing relating to ecclesiastical immunity. To the same
Congregation is reserved the faculty of dispensing from the
conditions required for the obtaining of benefices when the
conferring of these belongs to the ordinary.
3. To it also appertains all that regards the celebration
and recognition of councils and gatherings or conferences
of bishops, as the special Congregation till now in existence
for the revision of councils is suppressed.
THE ROMAN CURIA 495
4. This Congregation, too, is the competent or legitimate
tribunal in all causes relating to the affairs committed
to it which it shall decide are to be treated in a discip-
linary manner or in linea disciplinari, as the phrase goes ;
the others are to be handed over to the Sacred Roman
Rota.
5. To the Congregation of the Council is added and
united as a special Congregation that known as the
Lauretan.
V
The Congregation for the Affairs of Religious
1. This Sacred Congregation decides only those matters
throughout the world which relate to the affairs of Religious
of both sexes, whether bound by simple or solemn vows, and
of those who, although without vows, lead a life in common
after the manner of Religious,- and also of secular third
orders, and whether the matters to be treated are between
Religious themselves or relate to them and others.
2. It, therefore, assumes the regulation of all matters
arising either between bishops and Religious of both sexes
or between Religious themselves. It is also the competent
tribunal in all causes which are treated in a disciplinary
manner, or in linea disciplinari, when a Religious is either
defendant or complainant ; other causes are to be handed
over to the Sacred Roman Rota, without prejudice, how-
ever, to the right of the Holy Office in the causes apper-
taining to that Sacred Congregation.
3. Finally, to this Sacred Congregation is reserved the
concession of dispensations from the common law for
Religious,
496 THE ROMAN CURIA
VI
The Congregation de Propaganda Fide
1. The jurisdiction of this Sacred Congregation is limited
to those regions in which the sacred hierarchy not being
yet constituted the missionary state still exists. But as
there are some regions which, although they possess a
hierarchy, are still somewhat inchoate, it is Our will that
these be subject to the Congregation de Propaganda Fide.
2. Wherefore from the jurisdiction of the Congregation
de Propaganda Fide We decree the transference under the
common law : in Europe, of the ecclesiastical provinces of
England, Scotland, Ireland, and Holland, and of the
diocese of Luxembourg; in America, of the ecclesiastica7
provinces of the Dominion of Canada, Newfoundland, and
the United States. Hence, affairs relating to these places
shall for the future not be treated by the Congregation de
Propaganda Fide, but by the other Congregations accord-
ing to the nature of the business.
3. The other ecclesiastical provinces and dioceses hitherto
subject to the jurisdiction of the Congregation de Propa-
ganda Fide, are to remain under its right and authority.
So too, We decree that to it shall belong all vicariates
apostolic, prefectures, and missions whatsoever, including
those which are at present in a special manner under the
Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs.
4. Still, in order to provide for unity of government,
it is Our will that the Congregation de Propaganda Fide
hand over to the other special Congregations everything
concerning the Faith, or Matrimony, or the discipline of
the sacred rites.
THE ROMAN CURIA 497
5. As regards Religious, the same Congregation takes
upon itself everything affecting Religious, whether singly
or in bodies, considered as missionaries. But all things
affecting Religious as Religious, both individually and as
bodies, it shall remit or leave to the Congregation for the
Affairs of Religious.
6. To it is united the Congregation for the Affairs of
Oriental Rites which are to continue entirely as before.
7. The special prefecture for administration ceases to
exist, and the administration of all the property including
that of the Reverenda Camera Spoliorum is committed to the
Congregation de Propaganda Fide itself.
8. With this Sacred Congregation is joined the Com-
mission for the Union of the Dissident Churches.
VII
The Congregation of the Index
1. For the future it shall be the province of this Sacred
Congregation not only to examine diligently the books
delated to it, to prohibit them if this should seem well,
and to concede dispensations ; but also officially to investi-
gate in the best way available whether writings of any
kind that should be condemned are being circulated; and
to remind the ordinaries how solemnly they are bound to
condemn pernicious writings and to denounce them to the
Holy See in conformity with the constitution Officiorum
of January 25, 1897.
2. As the prohibition of books has very frequently the
scope of defence of the Catholic faith, which is also the
object of the Congregation of the Holy Office, We decree
that in future in all things, and in those alone, relating to
408 THE ROMAN CURIA
the prohibition of books, the fathers-cardinals, the con-
suiters, and the officers of both Congregations, may com-
municate with one another and that all of them in this
matter shall be bound by the same secret.
VIII
The Congregation of the Sacred Rites
1. This Sacred Congregation has the right of examining
and decreeing all things which relate proximately to the
sacred rites and ceremonies of the Latin Church, but not
those which in a broader sense are related to the sacred
rites, such as the laws of precedence and other matters of
that kind which are to be treated either according to judicial
process, or in a disciplinary manner or in linea disciplinari.
2. It is, therefore, especially its province to watch over
the diligent observance of the sacred ritual and ceremonial
in the celebration of Mass, in the administration of the
sacraments, in the performance of the divine offices, in
short over all that regards the worship of the Latin Church ;
to grant opportune dispensations; to bestow insignia and
privileges of honor, both personal and temporary, as well
as local and perpetual, relating to the sacred rites and cere-
monies, and to prevent the introduction of abuses in these
matters.
3. Finally, it has to deal with everything relating in
any way to the beatification and canonization of the saints
or to the sacred relics.
4. To this Congregation are joined the Liturgical
Commission, the Historico-Liturgical Commission, and
the Commission for Sacred Music,
THE ROMAN CURIA 499
IX
The Ceremonial Congregation
This Sacred Congregation retains all the rights hitherto
attributed to it ; hence to it appertain the regulation of
the ceremonies to be observed in the pontifical chapel
and court, and of the sacred functions which the fathers-
cardinals perform outside the pontifical chapel; it also
takes cognizance of the question affecting the precedence
both of the fathers-cardinals and of the legates whom
many nations send to the Holy See.
X
The Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs
This Sacred Congregation concerns itself only with those
matters which are submitted to its examination by the
Supreme Pontiff through the Cardinal-Secretary of State,
and especially with such of them as have some connection
with civil laws and relate to the pacts entered upon with
different States.
XI
The Congregation of Studies
To this Sacred Congregation is committed the regulation
of the studies which are to be gone through in the major
athenaeums known as universities or faculties, which de-
pend on the authority of the Church, including those which
are administered by the members of religious societies.
It examines and approves new institutions ; it grants the
faculty for the conferring of academic degrees, and may
confer them itself in the case of men distinguished for
special learning.
500 the roman curia
Tribunals
I
The Sacred Penitentiaria
The jurisdiction of this sacred court or tribunal is limited
entirely to those things which regard the forum internum,
non-sacramental as well as sacramental. Hence, matri-
monial dispensations of the forum externum being assigned
to the Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments,
this tribunal for the forum internum concedes favors,
absolutions, dispensations, commutations, sanations, con-
donations ; moreover, it examines questions of eonscience
and decides them.
II
The Sacred Roman Rota
As the Tribunal of the Sacred Roman Rota, which in
former times was an object of universal praise, has in these
times through various causes almost ceased to judge, the
result has been that the Sacred Congregations have been
burdened excessively with forensic cases. To meet this
evil, following the lines laid down by Our Predecessors
Sixtus V, Innocent XII, and Pius VI, We not only ordain
" that for the future contentious cases, civil as well as crim-
inal, requiring judicial procedure with trial and proofs,
shall not be received or taken cognizance of by the Sacred
Congregations " (Letter of the Secretariate of State, April 17,
1728) ; but We moreover decree that all contentious cases,
not major ones, which are treated in the Roman Curia,
shall for the future devolve to the Tribunal of the Sacred
THE ROMAN CURIA 501
Roman Rota, which We do by these Letters again call into
exercise according to the Special Law which We place in
the appendix of the present constitution, without preju-
dice, however, to the rights of the Sacred Congregations as
above set forth.
Ill
The Apostolic Segnatura
We have also deemed it well to restore the supreme
Tribunal of the Apostolic Segnatura and by these present
letters We do restore it, or rather We institute it in the
manner determined in the above-mentioned Law, suppress-
ing the ancient organization of the Papal Segnatura of
Grace and Justice.
Offices
I
The Apostolic Cancelleria
1. This office has for president one of the cardinals of
Holy Roman Church, who for the future shall assume
the title of chancellor instead of vice-chancellor. Accord-
ing to very ancient custom he fulfils ex officio the office of
notary in the Sacred Consistories.
2. Henceforth the sole proper function reserved to the
office of the Cancelleria shall be that of forwarding sub
plumbo the apostolic letters concerning the provision of
consistorial benefices, the institution of new dioceses and
chapters, and the transaction of the other greater affairs
of the Church.
3. There shall be only one manner of forwarding these,
that is per viam Cancellarice, according to rules to be given
502 THE ROMAN CURIA
separately, the former methods known as per viam secretam,
de Camera, and de Curia being suppressed.
4. The above-mentioned letters or bulls shall be sent by
command of the Consistorial Congregation concerning
the affairs belonging to its jurisdiction, or by command
of the Supreme Pontiff concerning other affairs, the
terms of the mandate being in each case observed to
the letter.
5. With the suppression of the College of Prelates
known as Abbreviatores majoris vel minoris residential, or
de parco majori vel minori, their office in the signing of
Apostolic Bulls is transferred to the college of Prothono-
taries-Apostolic called participantes de numero.
II
The Apostolic Dataria
1. This office is under the presidency of one of the
cardinals of Holy Roman Church, who shall for the future
have the title of Datary and not that of Pro-Datary.
2. For the future the one special function of the Dataria
is to be that of taking cognizance of the fitness of those
who aspire to non-consistorial benefices reserved to the
Apostolic See; to draw up and forward the Apostolic
Letters conferring these benefices; to dispense from the
requisite conditions for the conferring of these benefices;
to look after the pensions and charges which the Su-
preme Pontiff shall have imposed for the conferring of
them.
3. In the performance of all this it shall observe the
rules special to it which are to be given separately.
TEE ROMAN CURIA 503
III
The Apostolic Camera
To this office belong the care and the administration of
the property and temporal rights of the Holy See, especially
during the periods of vacancy. It is presided over by a
cardinal-chamberlain of Holy Roman Church, who in the
fulfilment of his office during the vacancy of the See shall
be governed by the rules contained in the constitution
Vacante Sede Apostolica of December 25, 1904.
IV
The Secretariate of State
This office of which the supreme ruler is the Cardinal-
Secretary of State, that is, of public affairs, will consist
of three parts. The first part will be concerned with extraor-
dinary affairs, which shall be submitted for examination
to the Congregation assigned for them, the others being
handed over, according to their nature, to the special
Congregations to which they belong ; the second shall deal
with ordinary affairs, and to it, among other things, shall
belong the right of granting all marks of honor, both eccle-
siastical and civil, with the exception of those reserved to
the prelate who presides over the pontifical household;
the third shall occupy itself with the sending of the Apos-
tolic briefs committed to it by the various Congregations.
Over the first part shall preside the secretary of the Congre-
gation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs; over the
second the substitute for ordinary affairs; over the third
the chancellor of the Apostolic briefs. Among the presi-
504 THE ROMAN CURIA
dents of these parts the first is the secretary of the Sacred
Congregation for Extraordinary Affairs, the second the
substitute for ordinary affairs.
V
The Secretariates of Briefs to Princes and of Latin Letters
This double office shall perform as heretofore its
functions of writing in Latin the acts of the Supreme
Pontiff.
But for the future in all Apostolic Letters sent either by
the Cancelleria or by the Dataria the beginning of the year
shall be taken not from the day of the Incarnation of
Our Lord, that is, from March 25, but from the first of
January.
Wherefore the Congregations, Tribunals, and Offices
which We have mentioned shall constitute the Roman
Curia, preserving their own constitutions as in existence
before these Our letters, unless in as far as they may have
been changed by the above prescriptions or according to
the law and to the rules, general or special, added to this
constitution.
The Congregation known as that of the Reverenda Fabrica
S. Petri shall for the future have as its sole care the domestic
affairs of the Basilica of the Prince of the Apostles, in this
observing to the letter the rules laid down by Benedict
XIV in the constitution Quanta cur arum of November 15,
1751.
The Commissions for the promotion of the study of scrip-
ture and of history; for the administration of Peter Pence,
for the preservation of the Faith in the city, remain in their
former state.
THE ROMAN CURIA 505
With the removal of the Congregation for the apostolic
visitation of the city, its right and functions We transfer to
a special commission of fathers-cardinals to be constituted
at the vicariate of the city.
But for all and several of the above-mentioned Congrega-
tions, Tribunals, and Offices let this first of all be a solemn
rule : that nothing grave and out of the ordinary be done
until it shall have previously been made known to Us
and to Our Successors for the time being by the rulers of
the same.
Moreover all sentences whether of grace or justice require
the pontifical approval, exception being made for those for
which special faculties have been granted to the rulers of
the said Offices, Tribunals, and Congregations, and always
excepting the sentences -of the tribunal of the Sacred Rota
and of the Apostolic Segnatura passed by them within their
competence.
To this constitution are added special laws, and rules
both general and special, by which the discipline and the
method of treating affairs in the Congregations, Tribunals,
and Offices are regulated ; which laws and rules We order
to be scrupulously observed by all.
And these are to have force while the Apostolic See is
occupied ; for when it is vacant, the laws and rules laid
down in the above-mentioned constitution Vacante Sede
Apostolica are to hold.
Decreeing the present letters to be of force, valid, and
efficacious, now and in the future, and to have and obtain
their plenary and integral effects, and to be in all things
and for all things of force on behalf of those whom it con-
cerns or shall in any way concern for the time being, and
that any attempt against these made by anybody shall be
506 THE ROMAN CURIA
null and void. Notwithstanding Our rule and that of
the Apostolic Cancelleria regarding the non-abolition of
acquired rights, and the Apostolic Constitution and Ordi-
nances, or statutes based on any other sanction, customs,
and anything else whatsoever, even those calling for special
mention, to the contrary.
Given at Rome at St. Peter's in the year of the Incarna-
tion of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and eight, on
the feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, June 29,
in the fifth year of Our pontificate.
A. Card. Di Pietro, R. Card. Merry del Val,
Pro-Datary. Secretary of State.
Authenticated
I of the Viscounts De Aquila of the Curia.
Loco ►{< Plumbi.
Reg. in the Seer, of Briefs.
V. Cugnoni.
APPENDIX D
DECREE TO BISHOP OF LIVERPOOL
By the courtesy of the Right Reverend Bishop of Liver-
pool we have been favored with the following decree :
Beatissime Pater, Episcopus Liverpolitanus ad pedes
Sanctitatis Tuse provolutus, dubiorum sequentium de modo
neo-conversos ab hseresi reconciliandi solutionem humiliter
petit :
1. Utrum tarn abiuratio hseresis quam neo-conversorum
baptismus conditionatua, qui apud nos, iuxta Decretum
XVI. primse synodi provincialis Westmonasteriensis non
fiat publice sed omnino privatim cum aqua lustrali et
absque cseremoniis, coram Notario vel sacerdote ab Epis-
copo delegato nee non duobus saltern testibus semper fieri
debeant ?
2. Utrum forma absolutionis ab riser esi a sacerdote quern
Episcopus delegaverit adhibenda incipere debeat a verbis
" auctoritate A plica, qua fungor in hac parte absolvo te,"
etc., an potius " auctoritate episcopali, mihi in hac parte
commissa," etc. ? Videtur enim potestas absolvendi in
casibus hseresis ad forum externum Episcopi deductis
apud nos ex potestate Episcopi ordinaria generatim pro-
cedere.
3. Utrum puellae, quae maiores sint duodecim annorum,
minores vero quatuordecim, hseresis abiurationem facere et
absolutionem a censuris recipere debeant? Regula enim
Albitii (Collectanea S.C.P. F., 1680) tantum de pueris loqui
507
508 DECREE TO BISHOP OF LIVERPOOL
videtur "si debba esigere dai giovani avanti Feta di 14
anni la sola professione della fede cattolica." Lex vero
communis puellas maiores duodecim annorum censuris
ligari affirmat.
4. Utrum cserimonise baptismi solemnis adhibendse sint
in baptismo sub conditione iterando puerorum vel puella-
rum minorum septem annorum, (a) quorum baptismus
in hseresi susceptus dubius iudicandus fuerit? (b) quorum
de baptismo in ecclesia catholica forsan collato grave ad-
sit dubium?
5. Utrum professio fidei iuxta regulam Albitii a minori-
bus quatuordecim annorum exigenda sit: (a) Professio
fidei die 20 Julii 1859 Episcopo Philadelphi data, quae
incipit a verbis " Io NN. avendo avanti," etc. ? (b) An
symbolum Apostolorum ? (c) An forsan professio fidei, qua3
ex interrogationibus et responsis in ordine baptismi par-
vulorum constat, nempe "Credis in Deum Patrem, etc. —
Credis in Jesum Christum, etc. — Credis in Spiritum Sanc-
tum, etc. — Credo." ?
6. Utrum neo-con versus dum fidei professionem pro-
nuntiat codicem Evangelii ambabus manibus tangere
debeat ? Bis enim dicit " Evangeli che tocco colle proprie
mani " Quare, etc., etc.
Liverpolii, die 29 Martii, 1906.
Ferta iv, die 3 Junii, 1908
In Congne Generali S. R. U. Inquisitionis propositis
suprascriptis dubiis R. P. D. Episcopi Liverpolitani,
prsehabitis RR. DD. Consultorum votis, Emi ac Rmi Dni
in rebus fidei ac morum Inquisitores Generales, responden-
dum mandarunt:
DECREE TO BISHOP OF LIVERPOOL 509
Ad lum. Affirmative. Attamen quando huius normae
applicatio in particulari aliquo casu iudicio R. P. D. Epis-
copi, absque vero incommodo fieri' nequit, turn eius arbitrio
et prudentise a communi lege et praxi recedere relinquitur,
sed semper ita ut abiuratio in exteriori foro compareat et
probari valeat.
Ad 2um. Affirmative ad primam partem, negative ad
secundam.
Ad3um. Affirmative.
Ad 4um. In utroque casu, si dubium sit rationabile,
baptismus administretur secreto et cum cseremoniis in
Rituali Romano prsescriptis.
Ad 5um. Uti possunt formula breviori iam a S. Officio
adprobata in Philadelphiensi 20 Julii, 1890, uti in Collec-
tanea S.C. de Prop. Frde, n. 1689.
Ad 6um. Sufficit ut neo-con versus dum fidei professionem
pronuntiat, codicem Evangeli una tantum manu tangat.
In sequenti vero feria V, d. 4 eiusdem mensis et anni
SSmus D. N. Pius Div : Prov : Papa X., in audientia R. P. D.
Adsessori S. Officii impertita, habit a de supradictis rela-
tione, resolutiones Emorum Pat rum confirmavit.
Caesar Rossi, S. R. et U. I. Substus Notarius.
APPENDIX E
FIRST CONFESSION AND COMMUNION
A decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments,
August 8, 1910, declared that the obligations of confession
and communion begin to bind at the same time, and that
this time is when a child begins to reason; that is, about
the age of seven. In order that a child may be ready for
his first communion a full and perfect knowledge of Chris-
tian doctrine is not necessary; it is only requisite that he
knows in a measure, according to his capacity, the myster-
ies of the Faith that are necessary, necessitate medii, and
that he knows the difference between the Eucharist and
common bread. The obligation of the precept of confes-
sion and communion, which binds a child, falls especially
on those who ought to have charge of him ; that is, on the
parents, confessor, teachers, and parish priest. It belongs
to the father, or to him who holds the father's place, and
to the confessor to admit a child to his first communion.
510
A SHORT HISTOEY OF MOEAL
THEOLOGY
Ethics has a special place in the Christian religion.
Lactantius, writing under the Emperor Constantine, points
out this fundamental difference between paganism and
the true religion. Pagan religion, he says, is concerned
only with external rites and ceremonies performed in honor
of the gods ; it gives no precepts of righteousness and virtue ;
it does not form and cultivate men's characters.1 On the
other hand, ethics forms an essential part of the Christian
religion. Christ was called Jesus because He came among
us to save us from our sins. This He did not only by
atoning for them, but by His example, His teaching, and
His grace He showed us how to lead good lives and enabled
us to do it. He came to do and to teach, so that not only
His words but His actions, too, were lessons to us in con-
duct. He proposed Himself to us as the Way by which
we should walk; He bade us follow His example; He
taught us to learn of Him meekness, humility, and all
virtues. In Him God, our Creator and Lord, was revealed
to us; He is our first beginning and last end. To Him
we must refer and order our whole lives and our every
action. We are His stewards, and when life comes to an
end each of us will be called upon to render a strict account
to Him, as our judge, of every thought, word, and action of
1 De Divinis Instit., iv, c. 3.
511
512 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
our lives. Heaven will be the reward of the faithful serv-
ant , eternal suffering in hell will be the just punishment
of the wicked.
Before finally quitting the earth Our Lord founded His
Church, a hierarchical society of men; to continue the work
which He had begun for the sanctification and salvation
of the whole human race. His last solemn commission
to His apostles was a command to teach men to observe
all that He had commanded; certain truths had been
revealed to them concerning God, as well as moral rules
for their guidance, but even the truths concerning God were
not merely speculative; they, too, were revealed for the
sanctification and salvation of men. A duty of submission
of the intellect, under pain of eternal damnation, was laid
on all who heard the Gospel preached. The basis of Chris-
tian morality thus rests firmly established on the word of
God, requiring unwavering faith, not on the uncertain and
shifting sands of human opinion. That Gospel contained
not only moral precepts which are obligatory on all, but
counsels also of great perfection which those who had the
moral strength were encouraged to adopt as rules for the
conduct of their lives. The perfect holiness of God Him-
self was held up as the model which they were to imitate
and the lofty ideal at which they were ever to aim.
This revelation of Christ was committed to the Church
as a sacred deposit to be faithfully kept, guarded from all
admixture of error, and diligently preached to men for
their instruction, guidance, sanctification, and salvation.
The Catholic Church has always understood that this was
the object of her foundation by Jesus Christ. That was
her mission, to preach the Gospel, to keep the deposit of
faith, to teach what Christ had revealed, and not to allow
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 513
it to be changed or corrupted even by an angel from heaven.
It is the boast of the Catholic Church that by the assistance
which Christ promised her, through the constant guidance
of the indwelling Spirit of Truth which He sent down upon
her, she has faithfully accomplished her task. In spite of
enemies within and without, in defiance of the hostile
powers of hell and of the unbelieving world, she has per-
sisted through the ages in preaching in season and out of
season the divine revelation which was committed to her
faithful keeping. At first sight it might seem that no his-
tory of such a system of doctrine is possible. History is
the scientific narration of the varying fortunes and changes
which befall the subject of it. What history can there be
of a system of doctrine which has always been the same?
The Christian revelation as taught by the Catholic
Church does indeed always remain the same in itself,
objectively, as it was completed when the last of the
apostles died. This revelation, and nothing else, the Church
was commissioned to keep and to preach to the end of time
for the salvation of men. It is the Church's greatest boast,
as it is her highest claim to our gratitude, that she has
ever preserved unsullied through the ages the divine teach-
ing of Jesus of Nazareth. No man ever taught like Him.
The moral doctrine which He inculcated by word and by
deed is the loftiest ideal of conduct which has ever been
manifested to the world. It cannot be improved upon,
and it is impious to attempt to change it. The Catholic
denies that it has been changed in the Catholic Church.
Non-Catholic historians of Christian morals profess to
discover instances of change, but this is due to their own
philosophical or religious presuppositions. Thus when
the Lutheran Dr. Luthardt discovers in the "Didache\"
514 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
written as he acknowledges at the end of the first century,
"the beginnings of a false view of works," * we reply that
the same view of works appears in the documents that
make up the New Testament, and that it is not false.
Lecky discovered a change of view as to the lawfulness of
taking human life when Christianity became the official
religion of the Roman Empire.2 In proof of this he quotes
Lactantius and one or two other Fathers who held that it
is never lawful to take human life. It would not be difficult
to quote instances of Christian writers up to our own days
who have held the same doctrine, and one might deduce
therefrom an argument to show either that Christian
morality had progressed, or deteriorated, or had remained
stagnant for nineteen centuries, according to the exigen-
cies of one's philosophical system. Harnack discovers
the sources of Catholic monachism in the writings of St.
Methodius.3 The Catholic sees them writ large in the
Gospel of St. Matthew.
These instances will show why the Catholic cannot
accept the accounts of growth, change, and decay which
are given in many so-called histories of Christian morals.
Nevertheless, he allows that there is a progress and de-
velopment which admits of being traced historically.
The Catholic Church has always been explicit on this point.
After teaching that the revealed doctrines of the Faith
were not proposed by God to man's intellect to be im-
proved upon like some philosophical system, but were
committed to the Church as a divine deposit to be faith-
fully kept and infallibly explained, the Council of the
1 History of Christian Ethics, p. 117.
2 History of European Morals, ii, p. 42.
3 History of Dogma, iii, p. 110.
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 515
Vatican could find no better terms in which to describe
true development of that doctrine than those which had
been used by St. Vincent of Lerins in the fifth century.
"Therefore," it says, "let the understanding, knowledge,
and wisdom of each and of all, of individuals as well as
of the whole Church, increase and make much and great
progress through the ages and the centuries; but only in
its own line, that is, in the same truth, in the same sense,
and in the same thought." * Change in Christian dogma
and moral we refuse to accept or to acknowledge; we
readily admit that there has been and ought to be de-
velopment. The precepts of Christian morality have not
always been equally well understood; what was obscure
and uncertain has been made more clear and certain.
The existence of different conditions, circumstances, and
wants, in different ages and countries, necessitated some
change in the adjustment of the teaching to the varying
surroundings. New duties arose from new positive legisla-
tion. Besides, the science of Christian morals is not a
mere exposition of the moral precepts of the Gospel and of
the positive legislation of the Church. Books have been
written containing such an exposition in the very words
of Scripture, like the "Speculum" of St. Augustine, and
the "Scintillse" attributed to Venerable Bede,2 but such
as these are not works of moral theology. The science of
moral theology arranges its subject-matter in an orderly
and logical way ; it shows the grounds and the reasons of
the doctrine, it harmonizes part with part so as to form
a compact and systematic body of doctrine. All this is
the work of time and of many minds, and it admits of his-
1 Vatican, sess. iii, c. 4. 3Migne, P. L. 88, 598.
516 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
torical treatment. In the brief space at our disposal we
propose to trace at any rate the chief stages in the de-
velopment of Catholic moral theology. Our history may
conveniently be divided into three periods; the first will
embrace the age of the Fathers, the second that of the
scholastics, the third will be the modern period.
Section I
The Patristic Period
The end for which Jesus Christ established His Church
was the sanctification and salvation of souls. This end
the Church was to obtain chiefly by preaching the Gospel
which her Founder had revealed and by administering the
sacraments which He had instituted.1 Men were to be
sanctified and prepared for eternity by holy living through
the grace of God communicated to them principally by
means of the sacraments. The Gospels contain a short
summary of the general teaching of Jesus Christ; this is
developed somewhat in certain directions in the other
writings of the New Testament, but the preachers of the
Word soon found it convenient to have by them brief
summaries of the moral teaching of Our Lord by itself.
This need was met by such works as the " Didache, " or
" Teaching of the Twelve Apostles/' composed about the
end of the first century, and the "Pastor" of Hermas, written
a little later. It would be utterly impossible to give even
an outline of the ethical works of all the Fathers of thf>
Church. Together they form a very voluminous and com-
plete course of moral theology, and more than one such
1 Matt, xxviii, 19, 20 ,
A SHOUT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 517
course has been put together by simply printing a con-
secutive selection of their works. Thus in 1791 an Italian
priest, Angelo Cigheri, published at Florence his "Veterum
Patrum Theologia Universa," in thirteen volumes quarto,
of which the three last are devoted to morals. A fairly
complete catalogue of ethical works by the Fathers will
be found in the indices of Migne's "Patrology," arranged
under the separate headings which figure in our modern
manuals of moral theology. All that we can do here is to
select a few typical works which exhibit the gradual develop-
ment of the science of Christian Ethics. The "Didache"
may be looked upon as the first handbook of morals which
has come down to us, and it will be worth while to give
a short analysis of its contents.
This first handbook t)f moral theology begins with the
first general principle of ethics. All righteousness is
summed up in the general precept to avoid evil and do
good. The doing of good consists of the observance of
the two great commandments of love for our God and
for our neighbor. The golden rule is added to the state-
ment of the general first principles of morality. " There
are two ways," we read, "one of life and one of death:
and there is much difference between the two ways. Now
the way of life is this : First thou shalt love God that made
thee; secondly, thy neighbor as thyself; and all things
whatsoever thou wouldest should not happen to thee,
neither do thou to another." The rest of the first chapter
is occupied with a development of the precept of love for
our neighbor, expressed for the most part in the language
of the Sermon on the Mount. The second chapter enu-
merates some of the principal negative duties toward
our neighbor. A similar enumeration occupies the third
518 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
chapter, but here there is an attempt to give the reason
for the different prohibitions, as, for example: "Be not
prone to anger, for anger leads to murder ; neither a zealot,
nor contentious, nor passionate; for from all these things
murders are begotten." In the fourth chapter are set
down the duties toward preachers of the Gospel, of making
peace, of judging righteously, of almsgiving ; duties toward
parents, children, servants ; of avoiding hypocrisy, and not
adding to or taking away from the precepts of the Lord
which they had been taught. The chapter concludes with,
"This is the way of life."
The fifth chapter consists of a long enumeration of sins,
and ends with the prayer, "May ye be delivered, children,
from all these."
In the sixth chapter there is a warning against being
led away from this teaching by any one, for such a one
would not teach according to God. A distinction is drawn
between what is required for perfection and what is morally
possible. The faithful are bidden specially to beware of
what has been sacrificed to idols.
A brief instruction on Baptism occupies the seventh
chapter, and in the eighth Christians are taught to fast
on Wednesdays and Fridays, so that their fasting-days
may be different from those of the Jews, who fasted on
Mondays and Thursdays. They are told to say the "Our
Father" three times a day. The ninth and tenth chapters
give instructions on the celebration of the Eucharist, while
the two following deal with the way in which prophets
and strangers should be received. The thirteenth chapter
prescribes the offering of first-fruits. In the next chapter
the faithful are instructed to meet together on every Lord's
Day, to offer the Eucharistic Sacrifice, after confessing
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 519
their sins, so that their sacrifice may be pure. Enemies,
too, should be reconciled lest the sacrifice be defiled. It
was of this sacrifice that Malachias prophesied. The
fifteenth chapter deals with the election of bishops and
deacons and the respect which is due to them. The duties
of fraternal correction, of prayer and almsdeeds, are en-
joined as they are contained in the Gospel of Our Lord.
The last chapter contains an exhortation to watch, and
inculcates the necessity of faith and perseverance, for
Antichrist will appear and seduce many. The treatise con-
cludes with a short description of the signs of the last day.
The whole of the second Book of the " Pastor" of Hermas
is a document of early Christian moral teaching very similar
to the "Didache, " but more attempt maybe observed in
it to show the connection between one prohibition and
another, and to give reasons and motives for their observ-
ance.
A great advance is observable in the catechetical works
of Clement of Alexandria. They are almost exclusively
devoted to moral teaching, which their learned author
illustrates and confirms by constant quotations from the
Greek classical authors. With an enthusiastic and per-
sonal love for Jesus Christ, and faith in His teaching as
a divine and full revelation of the truth to men, he com-
bines a high esteem for reason and philosophy. According
to Clement, philosophy was the pedagogue of the pagan
world, preparing it for Christ and leading it to Him, as the
law did the Jews. Philosophy is the handmaid of theology,
he says, and the dictates of reason are but the promptings
of the Word which illuminates every man that cometh
into the world. This, of course, is but a development of
ideas which we find in the Scriptures of the Old and New
520 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
Testament, and it is a natural consequence of Christian
teaching concerning God and His relation to man and to
the world. It is a very superficial view which regards the
action of Clement and other Fathers in the use they made
of reason and philosophy as a corrupting influence in Chris-
tian teaching. With them, as with the scholastics in the
Middle Ages, that action was the necessary result of a firm
faith in the Gospel message, and the natural desire to under-
stand it and penetrate its full meaning as far as possible.
It was Fides qucerens intellectum, the moving spirit of
Catholic theology from the beginning. Better than any
lengthy exposition, an extract or two from Clement will
show how far the science of moral theology had progressed
at the end of the second century. The following extract
is taken from an apologetic work entitled " An Exhortation
to the Heathen."
" Wherefore, since the Word Himself has come to us from
heaven, we need not, I reckon, go any more in search of
human learning to Athens and the rest of Greece, and to
Ionia. For if we have as our teacher Him that filled the
universe with His holy energies in creation, salvation,
beneficence, legislation, prophecy, teaching, we have the
Teacher from whom all instruction comes; and the whole
world, with Athens and Greece, has already become the
domain of the Word. For you, who believed the poetical
fable which designated Minos the Cretan as the bosom
friend of Zeus, will not refuse to believe that we who have
become the disciples of God have received the only true
wisdom; and that which the chiefs of philosophy only
guessed at, the disciples of Christ have both apprehended
and proclaimed." *
1 Exhortation to the Heathen, c. 11.
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 521
The next extract from the "Psedagogus," a work contain-
ing instructions for recent converts, shows the place which
reason or conscience holds in Christian ethics.
"Everything that is contrary to right reason is sin.
Accordingly, therefore, the philosophers think fit to define
the most generic passions thus: lust, as desire disobedient
to reason; fear, as weakness disobedient to reason; pleas-
ure, as an elation of the spirit disobedient to reason. If,
then, disobedience in reference to reason is the generating
cause of sin, how shall we escape the conclusion that
obedience to reason, — the Word, — which we call Faith,
will of necessity be the efficacious cause of duty? For
virtue itself is a state of the soul rendered harmonious
by reason in respect to the whole life. Nay, to crown all,
philosophy itself is pronounced to be the cultivation of right
reason; so that, necessarily, whatever is done through
error of reason is transgression, and is rightly called sin." *
The "Stromata," or "Miscellanies," are a collection of
materials for the ethical instruction and training of the
Christian theologian. The philosophical and theological
detail to which Clement descends in the treatment of his
subject may be illustrated by an extract from the fourteenth
chapter of the second Book of the "Stromata," on the
different ways in which an act may be involuntary. The
matter of course belongs to the treatise on Human Acts,
sometimes said to be the last treatise which was added to
our manuals of morals.
"What is involuntary is not matter for judgment. But
this is twofold — what is done in ignorance, and what is
done through necessity. For how will you judge concerning
those who are said to sin in involuntary modes ? For either
1 Psedagogus, i, c. 13.
522 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
one knew not himself, as Cleomenes and Athamas, who were
mad ; or the thing which he does, as iEschylus, who divulged
the mysteries on the stage, who being tried in the Areopagus
was absolved on his showing that he had never been initiated.
Or one knows not what is done, as he who has let off his
antagonist, and slain his domestic instead of his enemy;
or that by which it is done, as he who in exercising with
spears having buttons on them, has killed some one in con-
sequence of the spear throwing off the button; or knows
not the manner how, as he who has killed his antagonist in
the stadium, for it was not for his death but for victory that
he contended; or knows not the reason why it is done,
as the physician who gave a salutary antidote and killed,
for it was not for this purpose that he gave it, but to
save." *
As yet no attempt had been made in the Church to write
a systematic treatise of morals by reducing the various
virtues and vices to logical order under appropriate general
principles. This step was taken by St. Ambrose at the
end of the fourth century. This great Father and Doctor
of the Church composed his work " De Officiis " for the
instruction of the clergy of his church of Milan. He ex-
pressly tells us that he followed Cicero's work with the same
title as his pattern. Cicero wrote his book for the instruc-
tion of his son ; St. Ambrose desired to write for the instruc-
tion of his spiritual children. Although he followed Cicero
closely in the arrangement and treatment of the matter,
yet he never loses sight of what appears to have been the
chief motive that he had in view in the composition of his
work; namely, to demonstrate the superiority of Christian
over pagan ethics.
1 Stromata, ii, c. 14.
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 523
The work is divided, like Cicero's, into three Books. In
the first he treats of what is honorable and dishonorable.
He points out that the philosophic distinction between
ordinary and perfect virtue has its counterpart in the
Gospel, which distinguishes between what is matter of
strict precept and of counsel. Certain elementary duties,
as those toward parents and elders, are touched on, and
then follows a discussion on the four cardinal virtues.
The second Book treats of what is expedient with reference
to eternal life. The third Book treats of what is honorable
and expedient in conjunction, and the author has no diffi-
culty in reconciling these conflicting principles according
to Christian teaching. "For," he writes, "I said that
nothing can be virtuous but what is useful, and nothing can
be useful but what is virtuous. For we do not follow the
wisdom of the flesh, whereby the usefulness that consists in
an abundance of money is held to be of most value, but we
follow the wisdom which is of God, whereby those things
which are greatly valued in this world are counted but as
loss. For this tcaropOco/jLa, which is duty carried out en-
tirely and in perfection, starts from the true source of virtue.
On this follows another, or ordinary duty. This shows by
its name that no hard or extraordinary practice of virtue
is involved, for it can be common to very many." * This
principle of perfection is then applied to the pursuit of gain
and other questions.
A very famous book of morals, somewhat more restricted
in scope than the "De Officiis" of St. Ambrose, is the
"Pastoral Care" of St. Gregory the Great. This, together
with the same author's " Morals" on Job, was a favorite
1 De Officiis, iii, c. 2.
524 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
textbook in the Middle Ages. It lays down the qualities
required in those who have the cure of souls, how they
themselves should live, how they should instruct and ad-
monish those subject to their authority. The book was
brought to England by St. Augustine and translated into
English by King Alfred for the benefit of the bishops and
priests of his kingdom.
A word must here be said on Christian asceticism, which
has been so utterly misunderstood and misrepresented by
such writers as Lecky and Harnack, and whose true re-
lation to Christian morals is so seldom perceived by non-
Catholic authors.
Christ our Lord expressly taught that renunciation of
self, of the world with its riches and pleasures, was in a
certain sense a necessary condition of discipleship. This
renunciation, however, admitted of different degrees, as is
also plain from the Gospels. Some were called only to
spiritual poverty and detachment, and these hoped to
save their souls by remaining in the world without being
of it. Outwardly they lived much like other people, but
their affections were detached from this world and centered
on God and eternity. They went to heaven by the way of
the commandments. Others, on the contrary, voluntarily
embraced the counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience,
given by Our Lord to those who wTere called, and who
felt that they had the spiritual strength to follow the call.
They made a special profession of following the counsels,
and were assigned a place of honor in the Christian assem-
blies, but at first they seem to have lived in the bosom of
their families. They soon, however, began to find it very
difficult to persevere in their adopted form of life while
exposed to the distractions and temptations of the world,
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 525
and this, together with the violence of the persecutions,
drove them into the desert. There they lived at first
solitary lives as hermits, but before long they began to
come together and put themselves under the authority of
some ancient Father of the desert renowned for his prudence
and sanctity. Their aim was to subdue their passions and
ascend the heights of Christian perfection. The task is
notoriously difficult both in theory and in practice, and
many mistakes were made. The Church had not yet
drawn up her minute code of laws for the regulation of
religious life. Those writers, however, who industriously
pick out the mistakes and the exaggerations of indiscreet
fervor, and piece them together to produce a picture of
Christian monachism and asceticism, only succeed in pro-
ducing a caricature. To convince oneself of this it is suffi-
cient to dip into the " Institutes of Monasteries" and the
" Conferences " of Cassian, who was in the middle of a long
life in the year 400. In the twelve Books of his "In-
stitutes" Cassian describes the dress of the monks, their
method of singing the divine office, the training of. postu-
lants and novices, and then he devotes the last eight Books
to a minute account of the nature, causes, and remedies
of the eight principal vices which bar the way to the summit
of Christian perfection. He maps out every portion of the
pilgrim's progress to his heavenly country, and shows what
dangers and obstacles he will meet by the way. In brief,
he says, progress toward perfection begins with the fear of
God, from which arises a salutary sorrow for sin, which
leads to renunciation and contempt of the world; this
begets humility, from which springs mortification of the will,
and by this all vices are subdued and extirpated. Then
all virtues begin to flourish in the soul, which thus
52P) A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
arrives at purity of heart and the perfection of apostolic
charity.1
The vices to be overcome are classed under eight differ-
ent heads by Cassian, and he says that the classification
was admitted by all.2 These principal or capital vices
are typified by the seven peoples whom the Israelites were
commanded by God to extirpate when they came into the
land of promise. Egypt makes the eighth from which
they had been delivered, and which, Cassian says, typifies
gluttony. From this vice the monk is indeed delivered by
his abandoning the world for the desert, but he may not
extirpate it altogether; he should aim only at curbing its
excesses. Gregory the Great adopted in substance the
teaching of Cassian on the capital vices, but by making
pride the queen of all the rest, and placing it in a category
by itself, the other seven became the seven deadly sins which
with their daughter vices were so famous in the literature
of the Middle Ages, and figure in the books of morals and
in the catechisms of Christian doctrine to the present day.
To show how conservative the Catholic tradition has
been even in the expression of doctrine I will give the
following passage in St. Gregory's own words:
"Ipsa namque vitiorum regina super bia cum devictum
plene cor ceperit, mox illud septem principalibus vitiis,
quasi quibusdam suis ducibus devastandum tradit. Quos
videlicet duces exercitus sequitur, quia ex eis proculdubio
importunse vitiorum multitudines oriuntur. Quod melius
ostendimus, si ipsos duces atque exercitum specialiter, ut
possumus, enumerando proferamus. Radix quippe cuncti
mali superbia est, de qua, Scriptura attestante, dicitur:
1 De Coenobiorum Institutis, lib. iv, c. 43. 2 Collatio v, c. 18.
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 527
Initium omnis peccati est superbia CEWws. x. 15). Primac
autem ejus soboles, septem nimirum principalia vitia, de
hac virulenta radice proferuntur, scilicet inanis gloria,
invidia, ira, tristitia, avaritia, ventris ingluvies, luxuria.
Nam quia his septem superbise vitiis nos captos doluit,
idcirco Redemptor noster ad spirituale liberationis prcelium
spiritu septiformis gratise plenus venit.
uSed habent contra nos hsec singula exercitum suum.
Nam de inani gloria inobedientia, jactantia, hypocrisis,
contentiones, pertinaciae, discordise, et novitatum praesump-
tiones oriuntur. De invidia, odium, susurratio, detractio,
exsultatio in adversis proximi, afflictio autem in prosperis
nascitur. De ira, rixse, tumor mentis, contumelise, clamor,
indignatio, blasphemiae proferuntur. De tristitia, malitia,
rancor, pusillanimitas, desperatio, torpor circa prsecepta,
vagatio mentis erga illicita nascitur. De avaritia, proditio,
fraus, fallacia, perjuria, inquietudo, violentise, et contra
misericordiam obdurationes cordis oriuntur. De ventris
ingluvie, inepta lsetitia, scurrilitas, immunditia, multi-
loquium, hebetudo sensus circa intelligentiam propagantur.
De luxuria, csecitas mentis, inconsideratio, inconstantia,
praecipitatio, amor sui, odium Dei, affectus praBsentis sec-
uli, horror autem vel desperatio futuri generantur. Quia
ergo septem principalia vitia tantam de se vitiorum mul-
titudinem proferunt, cum ad cor veniunt, quasi subse-
quentis exercitus catervas trahunt. Ex quibus videlicet
septem quinque spiritalia, duoque carnalia sunt." x
The " Conferences " of Cassian are represented by him as
the teachings of celebrated abbots on various questions of
the spiritual life. They are partly speculative, partly
practical. There are twenty-four in all, each being divided
1 Moralium, lib. xxxi, c. 45.
528 A SHOUT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
into a greater or less number of chapters. These two works
have provided an ample store of moral and ascetical doctrine
for all subsequent Catholic writers on the subjects treated in
them.
A large portion of moral theology is taken up with the
duties arising from the positive legislation of the Church.
In this legislation we have the practical application of
Christian moral principles to the varying requirements
of time and place, and change and variety are here con-
spicuous. With the establishment of the Christian religion
the positive precepts of the Mosaic law ceased to be bind-
ing, but the Church received from her divine Founder
authority to make new laws for the sanctification and
salvation of her children. The apostles used this legisla-
tive authority, as we see from the Epistles of St. Paul,
especially from those to Timothy and Titus, and within
twenty years after the Ascension we find them legislating
in the Council of Jerusalem on the disputed question of
legal observances. The decree which we have in the Acts *
was a true positive law imposing a new obligation on the
faithful concerned, as long as the peculiar circumstances
of the time rendered its observance desirable and necessary.2
This council of the apostles formed the type and pattern
for the ecumenical and provincial councils of the Church
which were to.be held in the future. Innumerable laws and
regulations have been enacted by these, affecting Catholic
life, discipline, and worship. The Bishops, too, as successors
of the apostles have continued in all ages to exercise the
legislative authority committed to them by God and the
Church. The Roman Pontiffs, especially, in the exercise
1 Acts xv. 28, 29.
2 It ceased to bind in the Latin Church about the ninth century..
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 529
of their jurisdiction over the whole Church in succession to
Blessed Peter, have in all ages made wise laws for the peace
and prosperity of the Christian people. As instances of
this action of the Popes in the early centuries may be
mentioned St. Clement's first epistle to the Corinthians
in the first century, St. Victor's decision about the observ-
ance of Easter in the second century, St. Stephen's about
the baptism of heretics in the third, and similar action on
the part of Popes Liberius, Damasus, and Siricius. Sub-
sequently papal decisions became frequent and notorious.
Collections of the decisions issuing from all these sources
of positive law began to be made in very early times. Of
these some have survived the ravages of time. The
"Didascalia of the Apostles" may in the judgment of the
learned be ascribed to the first half of the third century,
and the so-called " Constitutions of the Apostles" together
with the "Canons of the Apostles" to the early part of the
fifth century. The materials of which these collections are
composed are, of course, still more ancient. At the begin-
ning of the fourth century the decrees of the councils were
collected and arranged at first in chronological order in the
East. At the beginning of the sixth century systematic
collections arranged under suitable titles began to appear.
Of these early collections of canons the most celebrated is
that of John the Scholastic. In the West, Dionysius
Exiguus made his translation of Greek canons into Latin
about the year 500. A copy of this collection was pre-
sented by the Pope to Charlemagne when he was in Rome,
and he caused it to be received and approved by the clergy *
of his empire in 802 at the great Council of Aix la Chapelle.
Collections of Church laws continued to grow in number
and in bulk until in the twelfth century the monk Gratian
530 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
issued his "Decretum" which became the most famous
of them all, and still forms the first volume of the " Corpus
Juris Canonici." It contains some 4000 decisions on law
and morals taken from the decrees of Popes, the canons of
councils both general and particular, the opinions of the
Fathers, and even from the civil law.
No attempt of course can be made in this short sketch
to trace the varying phases through which the innumerable
positive laws of the Church have passed. It will be suffi-
cient for our purpose to trace in outline those chief precepts
which bind all Catholics and which are specially known as
the precepts of the Church. They are usually reckoned six
in number: the due observance of Sundays and feast-days,
the days of fasting and abstinence, confession and commun-
ion, the support of pastors, and the prohibition of marriage
within certain degrees of kindred and of its solemnization
at certain times of the year.
The observance of the Sunday and its substitution for
the Sabbath appears to be due to apostolic institution.
There are traces of it in the New Testament; in the "Di-
dache" the faithful are bidden to come together on the
Lord's Day, as it was called even then in honor of the Res-
urrection, and offer the eucharistic sacrifice after confessing
their sins. In the second century the custom of observing
the Lord's Day was universal throughout the Church.
The chief duty to be performed on that day was to hear
Mass. Very soon particular provincial laws began to be
enacted urging the obligation and imposing penalties on
transgressors. At the beginning of the fourth century
the Council of Elliberis in Spain decreed that any one who
might be absent from Mass on three successive Sundays
should be deprived of communion. The Council of Agde
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY £31
it the beginning of the sixth century prescribed that all
were to hear an entire Mass on Sunday and not leave until
after the blessing of the priest on pain of a public repre-
hension by the Bishop.
It was natural that when Sunday became the Christian
Sabbath it should be kept much in the same way as the
Jews kept their Sabbath. While knowing from the teach-
ing of Our Lord Himself that pharisaic exaggeration was
to be avoided in this matter, and from St. Paul that the
sabbatical rest was no longer of obligation, still St. Csesarius
of Aries in the sixth century expressly says that the Doctors
of the Church decreed to transfer all the honor of the Sab-
bath to the Lord's Day. The very necessity of hearing
Mass on that day made a certain abstention from work
also necessary. Tertullian testifies to the Christian custom
of his day in this respect. Constantine prescribed that
judges and artisans in towns should abstain from work
on the Sunday, but that agriculture should be allowed
on account of necessity. The strictness with which
the Sunday repose was observed varied somewhat
according to time and place in the period with which
we are dealing.
Besides the Sunday other feast-days began gradually
to be observed in the same manner by hearing Mass and
abstaining from servile work. Easter and Pentecost were
assigned to movable Sundays, but the days on which re-
nowned martyrs suffered for the Faith, those on which
churches were dedicated, Ascension Day, Christmas Day,
and the Epiphany, were soon added to the list. The letter
of the Church of Smyrna concerning the martyrdom of St.
Polycarp in the middle of the second century expresses the
intention of celebrating the anniversary of the day of mar-
532 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
tyrdom with joy, both in memory of those who had suffered
and as a preparation for those who survived.1
As the Christian Church took over the Jewish Sabbath
but changed the day on which it was observed and rejected
the exaggerations of the Pharisees in its observance, so, too,
it adopted the Jewish practice of fasting at stated times.
As we have seen from the uDidache" the fast of Monday
and Thursday was changed into one on Wednesday and
Friday. The obligation of fasting on all Wednesdays and
Fridays ceased almost entirely about the tenth century,
but the fixing of those days by ecclesiastical authority
for fasting, and the desire to substitute a Christian observ-
ance at Rome for certain pagan rites celebrated in con-
nection with the seasons of the year, seem to have given rise
to our Ember Days. In the time of St. Leo, in the middle
of the fifth century, the Ember Days were a settled institu-
tion, though the time at which they fell varied somewhat
at different times and in different places.
The earliest indication that we have of the fast of Lent is
contained in a short extract from Irenseus which has been pre-
served for us by Eusebius ? Writing to Pope Victor about the
middle of the second century, St. Irenseus says that the con-
troversy in the East was not merely about the proper time
of celebrating Easter but also about the manner of fasting.
"For some think," he says, "that they ought to fast only
one day, some two, some more days ; some compute their
day as consisting of forty hours night and day ; and this
diversity existing among those that observe it is not a
matter that has just sprung up in our times, but long ago
among those before us, who perhaps not having ruled with
1 Cf. A. Villien, Histoire des Commandements de l'Eglise, 1909.
2 Historia ecclesiastica, v, c. 24.
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY C)3'3
sufficient strictness, established the practice that arose from
their simplicity and inexperience, and yet with all these
maintained peace, and we have maintained peace with one
another ; and the very difference in our fasting establishes
the unanimity of our faith." At the time this was written
the Lenten fast was obviously very short, and there was no
uniformity even in its duration. Tertullian, fifty years
later, refers to the Lenten observance as the fulfillment of
the words of Our Lord : "But the days will come when the
bridegroom shall be taken away from them — then shall they
fast in those days."
The first allusion to a period of forty days' fast occurs in
the fifth canon of the Council of Nicaea (325) . In the time
of St. Leo in the fifth century the period was sufficiently
well established to be referred by him to apostolic institu-
tion. The period was six weeks, but omitting Sundays
the actual fasting days were only thirty-six in number.
The four days before the first Sunday of Lent were added
sometime in the seventh century. The fasts assigned to
certain vigils arose from the practice of the early Christians
of assembling on the eve of a feast and spending the night
in prayer, fasting, and reading the Scriptures. By de-
grees matins took the place of the night office, and the
vigil office was moved back to the Saturday morning, as
we see to this day from the morning office of Holy Saturday.
The fast was thus prolonged through the Saturday till af-
ter the morning office of the feast of next day.
The fast which used to be observed on the rogation days
took its rise in France at the close of the fifth century and
by degrees spread to other Churches. The interrupted
fast of Advent was introduced as a preparation for Christmas
toward the end of the fourth century. The manner of
534 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
fasting has varied greatly at different times and in different
places. At first the fast seems to have been absolute and
continuous. During the days of the bridegroom's absence
the faithful neither ate nor drank anything. When the
period was lengthened such a total fast became impossible,
but at least in the East food was restricted on fast days
to one meal of bread, salt, and water, taken in the evening,
or at least not before three in the afternoon. In the time
of St. Gregory fish was allowed at the single meal in the
West. Flesh meat was never allowed on fasting days.
The essence of fasting is still placed by theologians in
the single meal, but many relaxations have crept in by
degrees. The monks while listening to a Collatio of Cassian
before going to bed introduced the practice of drinking an
acidulated liquor called posca. By degrees fruits and lighter
kinds of food in limited quantity were added, and when
about the thirteenth century the full meal began to be
taken at twelve midday, the evening collation became an
established practice.
In the thirteenth century it was an accepted principle
that liquid does not break the fast, and this became the
source of another relaxation. A little wine, or coffee, or
chocolate, was taken sometimes in the morning, with can-
died fruits (electuaria) on occasion. The practice was not
condemned when the Sacred Penitentiary was asked about
it in 1843, provided that the solid food taken then did not
exceed two ounces in weight.
At first all seem to have fasted except children and those
who were sick. St. Thomas' opinion that those who are
still growing are not bound to fast, and that in general the
period of growth lasts till the completion of the twenty-first
year, has prevailed. Exemptions in favor of workmen and
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 535
others were soon admitted, and toward the close of the
Middle Ages dispensations from the law of fasting began
to be granted. The Lenten indult is now an established
custom.
The precept of abstinence from flesh meat which is still
observed on Fridays is a survival of the obligation of fasting
on that day which obtained in the primitive Church. As
we have seen, the " Didactic" prescribed fasting on all
Wednesdays and Fridays, and to this fast all the faithful
except mere children and the sick were formerly bound.
About the tenth century the obligation of the Friday fast
was reduced to one of abstinence from flesh meat, and the
Wednesday fast after being similarly mitigated gradually
disappeared altogether.
While in the East Saturday was observed as a festival in
honor of the creation,1 at Rome and in other Churches
of the West it began in early times to be observed as a fasting
day. On account of the difference of discipline on this
point great difficulties arose in the fourth century, as we
know from the correspondence of St. Augustine and St.
Jerome. St. Ambrose said that he kept festival on Satur-
day when he was at Milan and a fast when at Rome, and
he advised St. Augustine to follow the same rule. About
the eleventh century the Saturday fast was reduced to
an obligation of abstinence, and this is the common law
of the Church to-day, but many countries are dispensed
from its observance. A dispensation from abstinence on
Saturdays, the feast of St. Mark, and on Rogation Days
was granted for England by a rescript of Propaganda,
May 29, 1830.
The Sundays in Lent were never observed as fasting
1 Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 23.
536 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
days, but they early became days of abstinence as they are
to this day, though usually a dispensation is granted to eat
meat on them.
Annual confession and communion was first made a
positive universal law of the Catholic Church in the Fourth
Lateran Council (1215). As we know from the Gospel of
St. John 1 both confession and communion were prescribed
by Our Lord, but He determined neither precept in detail.
The practice of the different Churches in the early ages was
various in respect to both precepts. We will first trace in
outline the history regarding the precept of annual com-
munion.
From the earliest times, as we have seen, Mass was cele-
brated for the assembled faithful on Sundays, and all who
were present appear to have received holy communion.
In some places it was the practice for the faithful to take
home with them consecrated particles and communicate
themselves therewith out of Mass. Many at Rome, in
Spain, and in Africa received communion daily. This was
a common practice at the end of the fourth century, as we
learn from the letters of St. Jerome and St. Augustine.
The latter interprets the daily bread for which we ask in the
Lord's Prayer as holy communion. The Council of Agde
(506) decreed that those who did not communicate at least
on the feasts of the Nativity, Easter, and Whit-Sunday
were not to be reckoned as Catholics. In subsequent
centuries this became a general rule in the Western Church ;
in the East, according to Theodore of Canterbury, the law
was much stricter. The Greeks, he says, both laity and
clerics, communicate every Sunday, and any one who
omits to do so on three Sundays is excommunicated.
1 John vi. xx.
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 537
A synod held 747 at Cloveshoe in England prescribed that
innocent youths and those in whom years had cooled the
ardor of passion should be exhorted to communicate very
frequently. A synod held under St. Patrick in the fifth
century decreed that the Eucharist was to be received at
all events at Easter, and that any one who neglected this
duty was not a member of the Church. Robert Pullen,
an Englishman who wrote in the middle of the twelfth
century, tells us that in his day some communicated more
frequently, others less so, but that even laymen followed the
rule of the Fathers and communicated at least three times
a year. So that when the Lateran Council established the
universal law that all who had come to years of discretion
were bound to communicate at least at Easter, it made
no new rule; it merely enforced by universal statute the
least that was expected of any one who called himself a
Catholic.
The precept of annual confession is intrinsically connected
with that of Easter communion both in the Church's legis-
lation and in its own nature. For, as the Catechism of the
Council of Trent teaches,1 the power of order, although
primarily it refers to the consecration of the Eucharist,
yet also comprises all that is necessary to dispose the faith-
ful to receive the Eucharist worthily and profitably. It
comprises, then, the power to forgive sins, inasmuch as
no one who is conscious of mortal sin may receive holy
communion without previous confession and absolution.
The Council of Trent 2 teaches that the words of St. Paul,
"Let a man prove himself/' have always been understood
in the Church of the necessity of sacramental confession
and absolution before holy communion when there is con-
1 Pt. ii, c. 7, q. 6. 2 Supra, p. 106.
538 A SHOUT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
sciousness of mortal sin. The law of the Lateran concerning
annual confession and communion is thus one law, con-
fession being ordinarily a necessary preparation for holy
communion in those who rarely communicate. That the
Church always understood this is witnessed to by Alcuin
in the eighth century/ by St. Leo in the fifth,2 St. Augustine
in the fourth,3 and St. Cyprian in the third.4 We have
the same conjunction of confession and communion in the
sentence of the "Didache" : "But on the Lord's day do ye
assemble and break bread, and give thanks, after confessing
your transgressions, in order that your sacrifice may be
pure." 5 In all probability the confession here spoken of
should be interpreted as meaning sacramental confession
to a priest. The Council of Trent, then, was justified in
saying that before receiving holy communion it had always
been considered a duty to go to confession when there was
consciousness of mortal sin. In the fifth or sixth century
a practice sprang up which was the forerunner of the Lateran
law of annual confession. At the beginning of Lent public
penance was imposed on those who had been guilty of great
and notorious crimes. In some of the Penitential Books 6
the priest is bidden to invite all who are conscious of mortal
sin, and even all who by any sin whatever have soiled their
baptismal robe, to make humble confession to their own
priest on Ash Wednesday, and accept the penance en-
joined according to the canons. If there was any special
reason for granting absolution at once, that was done,
1 De Psalmorum Usu, P. L. C. i. 499.
2Epist. 108, P. L. liv. 1011.
3 Serm. 278, P. L. xxxviii. 2273.
4Epist. 10, P.L.iv. 254; Epist. 11, ib. 257; De Lapsis, xvi. ib. 479.
5 C. xiv. 6 Schmitz, Bussbiicher, i, 775.
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 539
otherwise absolution was deferred till Maundy Thursday
when, the penance having been performed, the penitent was
absolved and admitted to communion. This was a mitiga-
tion of the earlier discipline of some Churches, especially
in the East, according to which public penance sometimes
lasted for years.1 The name of Shrove Tuesday, and the
custom of receiving ashes on the head on Ash Wednesday,
still remind us of the old discipline of the Catholic Church.
It was natural, then, that when the Church made it obliga-
tory on all to receive holy communion at least every Easter,
it should also impose the obligation of annual confession.
The law indeed does not indicate Easter as necessarily the
time for the annual confession, but in practice it follows the
time for the annual communion. Originally the annual
confession had by law to be made to the parish priest or to
the Bishop of the penitent, but for centuries it has been
lawful to make it to any priest who has approbation for
hearing confessions in the place.
The faithful are bound by natural and divine law ac-
cording to the teaching of St. Paul 2 to contribute to the
support of their pastors. For some centuries the revenues
of the Church derived from the offerings of the faithful and
from other sources constituted one fund, and this was ad-
ministered by the Bishop. The support of the poor, the
maintenance of public worship, as well as the support of
the clergy and other needs were all supplied from the com-
mon fund. According to a decretal of Pope Gelasius
(501) the Church revenues were to be divided into four
portions, one for the Bishop, another for the clergy, a third
for the relief of the poor and strangers, the fourth for the
1 Duchesne, Christian Worship, p. 435.
2 1 Cor. ix, Gal. vi. 6.
540 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLCGY
Church fabrics. In his celebrated answers to St. Augustine,
Gregory the Great tells the first archbishop of Canterbury
that as he was a monk he did not need a separate portion,
and should be content to share in common with his clergy.
For several centuries no positive law of the Church was
needed to compel the faithful to do their duty in this matter.
The Fathers who occasionally urge the obligation are con-
tent to appeal in support of it to the teaching of St. Paul
or to the law of tithes under the Mosaic dispensation. The
Penitential attributed to St. Theodore enjoins that the
custom of the province should be observed relative to con-
tributions to the Church, but that the poor were not to be
subjected to violence for the sake of tithes or other matters.
Positive ecclesiastical laws, however, began to appear both
on the continent and in England in the eighth century.
Thus the seventeenth article of the legatine council held
in England by the authority of Pope Adrian I (785-
787) contained the following provision: " Wherefore also
we solemnly lay upon you this precept, that all be careful to
give tithes of all that they possess, because that is the
special part of the Lord God; and let a man live on the
nine parts, and give alms." At first there was some variety
in the appropriation of tithes, but when the parochial
system was introduced, between the tenth and thirteenth
century, the appropriation of tithes to the parish priest
became the settled rule. In modern times, at least in
English-speaking countries, the offerings of the faithful
constitute almost the only source of Church revenues as
they did in the early ages of Christianity, and their appor-
tionment and distribution are regulated by special laws.1
1 Constitution of Leo XIII, Romanos Pontifices.
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 541
As marriage was raised to the dignity of a sacramenc
by Christ our Lord, and the Church alone has jurisdiction
over the administration of the sacraments, it follows that
Christian marriage is subject exclusively to the laws of
God and of the Church. There are several passages in
the Epistles of St. Paul * which show that the Church was
conscious of her authority in this matter, and that she
used it from the earliest times. St. Ignatius in his letter
to St. Poly carp says that it is proper that Christians should
contract marriage according to the judgment of the Bishop,
and Tertullian asserts that marriages which were con-
tracted without being previously notified to the Church
were in danger of being considered as no better than
adulteries and fornications. The history of the many
laws relating to Christian marriage is too large a sub-
ject to be treated here even in outline. We will confine
ourselves to the impediments of consanguinity and close
time.
The natural and divine law prohibits marriage in the first
degree of the direct line, and most probably in all degrees
indefinitely in the same line. In the collateral line, also, it
most probably forbids marriage at least in the first degree.
With respect to further degrees in the collateral line the
Church adopted the Mosaic legislation, and there are no
traces of her having exercised further the independent
power which she certainly possessed to enlarge or restrict
the limits of kindred before the fourth or fifth century.
The Council of Epaon (517) forbade marriages between
second cousins, Gregory II (721) prohibited marriage
with relations in general, and from the eighth to the elev-
1 1 Cor. v, vii; 2 Cor. vi. 14.
542 ' A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
enth century the prohibition was extended to the seventh
degree according to the canonical mode of reckoning.
The fourth Council of Lateran (1215) restricted the pro-
hibition to the fourth degree, and this law still remains
in force.
As the solemn celebration of marriage is not in keeping
with penitential exercises, a council of Laodicea in the
fourth century forbade the celebration of marriage during
Lent. Subsequently the solemnization of marriage was
forbidden from Septuagesima Sunday till the octave of
Easter, during three weeks before the feast of St. John
Baptist, and from Advent till after the Epiphany. There
was a dispute as to the three weeks before the feast of St.
John Baptist, and Clement III, at the end of the twelfth
century, decided that the period was to be interpreted as
extending from the Rogation Days till the Sunday after
Pentecost. The Council of Trent1 decreed that close time
for the solemnization of marriage was to extend from Ad-
vent till after the Epiphany, and from Ash Wednesday
till after Low Sunday, and this is the modern disci-
pline.
We must not leave this first period in the history of Moral
Theology without saying something about the Penitential
Books which began to appear in the sixth century and sub-
sequently became very numerous. They were intended as a
help to Bishops and priests in their duty of imposing ca-
nonical penances on sinners and reconciling them to God and
the Church. At first they were little more than lists of
sins with the appropriate canonical penance annexed to
each sin. The quality and length of penance assigned were
1 Sess. xxiv, c. 10.
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 543
derived from the councils or from the canonical letters of
St. Basil, St. Peter of Alexandria, St. Athanasius, and other
Fathers of the Church. Afterward chapters were added
containing short moral rules on a great variety of subjects,
the method of receiving and dealing with penitents, and
the method of reconciling them. They are of importance
in the history of Moral Theology as furnishing a standard
by which the malice of various transgressions was measured
according to a great variety of circumstances. They fell
into disuse with the gradual cessation of public penance in
the Church.
Section II
The Scholastic Period
It is not possible to indicate any particular year when
the scholastic period began. We may say that the patristic
period closed with the death of St. Bernard, the last of
the Fathers, in the year 1153. Many of the characteristics
of scholasticism, however, and especially the application of
philosophy to the exposition and defense of theology are
conspicuous in the works of many of the Fathers. In their
work, too, of systematizing theology the schoolmen had
many predecessors among the Fathers, and especially St.
John Damascene and St. Isidore of Seville. Nor is the
common assertion that the Fathers favored Platonism
while the scholastics adopted Aristotelianism quite war-
ranted by facts. Clement of Alexandria especially, and
other Fathers as well, were eclectic as philosophers, and
borrowed what they thought was true from any and every
source. Still we may for practical purposes say that
scholasticism began in the twelfth century. Then it was
544 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
that the growth and development of theology began afresh.
It had been interrupted for seven hundred years by the
necessity of civilizing the barbarians who had broken up
the Roman Empire and settled in its territories. From
this time moral theology has come down to us in two dis-
tinct channels. Peter Lombard may be looked upon as
the fountain-head of the first stream, and St. Raymund of
Pennafort of the second.
Peter Lombard wrote his work on the Sentences between
the years 1145 and 1150. He therein treats of the whole
of theology, both dogmatic and moral. He wished to coun-
teract the rationalizing tendencies which as a pupil of Abelard
he had noticed in the schools of Paris. To the various and
erroneous views which the spirit of rationalism had intro-
duced, Peter opposed the traditional doctrine handed down
in the writings of the Fathers. After much consideration,
as he tells us, he found a guiding principle for the distribu-
tion and ordering of the subject-matter of theology in a
sentence of St. Augustine. Christian revelation, contained
in the Holy Scriptures, has for its subject-matter either
things or signs. Under signs come the sacraments, and
things are either such as we have fruition of, or such as we
use, or such as we both use and enjoy by fruition. Under
the first head comes God, one in nature and three in person.
Under the second come all created things, the angels, man,
his end, fall, and redeeming grace. Under the third, the
incarnation, faith, hope, charity, the seven gifts of the Holy
Spirit, the Ten Commandments. The whole matter of
theology is thus systematically arranged in four Books.
Each Book is divided into Distinctions, devoted to some
special point on which the traditional doctrine is laid down
by quoting appropriate extracts (Sententice) from the
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 545
works of the Fathers. Apparent or real differences of
opinion are noted and as far as possible reconciled with
each other. Although Hugo of St. Victor, Robert Pullen,
and other theologians had previously composed similar
books of Sentences, yet the work of Peter Lombard soon
eclipsed them all in the welcome that it received. It re-
mained the recognized textbook of theology until the end
of the sixteenth century, when its place was taken by the
"Summa" of St. Thomas. Nearly all the great scholastics
wrote Commentaries on the " Sentences" of Peter Lom-
bard, developing, illustrating, defending, and sometimes
correcting the doctrine which they found there, especially
from the speculative point of view. In these Commentaries
and in the Summas of scholastic theology we have a most
abundant and valuable source of the speculative side of
Christian ethics.
To meet the more practical and concrete needs of the
confessor, St. Raymund of Pennafort composed his " Summa
de Pcenitentia et Matrimonio," about the year 1235. He,
also, merely collected and systematized the abundant
material which had been left by his predecessors. He had
no more intention of introducing changes into the traditional
doctrines of Christianity than had Peter Lombard. But as
his aim was not speculative but practical, he drew his mate-
rial especially from Gratian's " Decretum," from the decisions
of Popes and the councils of the Church, as well as from the
Fathers. The work "De Pcenitentia" is divided into three
Books. In the first Book sins against God are treated of,
in the second sins against one's neighbor, and in the third
irregularities, dispensations, purgations, sentences, pen-
ances, and remissions. Each Book is divided into Titles,
which contain an orderly and logical exposition of some
546 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
particular subject. Thus in the first title on Simony,
the sin is defined, the origin of the name is explained, the
different kinds of simony are indicated, with the penalties
incurred and the dispensations which may be obtained.
Then follows a discussion of doubtful questions and cases.
Finally some rules of law on the matter are laid down and
explained.
The work of St. Raymund was the first of those innumer-
able handbooks written for the training and use of the con-
fessor especially from the practical and casuistical point
of view. Although in the treatment of the different titles
the work of St. Raymund leaves little to be desired, yet it
lacks something in orderly arrangement and incompleteness.
These defects were soon made good by others. A Friar
Minor, of Asti, in the north of Italy, composed the "Summa
Astensis" in the year 1317. In the Roman edition of 1728
it fills two volumes folio, and in its aim, in the matter which
it contains, and in the method of treatment, it differs little
from the handbooks of moral theology which are published
at the present day. The matter is divided into eight Books.
The first Book treats of divine and human law and contains
the doctrine of the Ten Commandments. The second treats
of virtues and vices, beginning with several titles devoted
to human acts, voluntary and involuntary actions, to ex-
pounding in what the goodness or malice of actions con-
sists, and merit. The cardinal and theological virtues and
the sins opposed to them are explained in detail. The third
Book contains the doctrine on contracts and last wills;
the fourth that on the sacraments in general, and on Bap-
tism, Confirmation, and the Holy Eucharist. The treatise
on Penance and Extreme Unction in the fifth Book contains
also the doctrine on prayer, fasting, almsdeeds, restitution,
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 547
and indulgences. That on Orders in the sixth Book treats
also of churches and sacred vestments, ecclesiastical burial,
parishes, prebends, tithes, of the various grades of the
clergy and of religious and their obligations. Censures
and ecclesiastical penalties occupy the seventh, and Mat-
rimony the eighth Book.
The dogmatic treatment of moral theology reached its
high- water mark in the second part of the "Summa"
of St. Thomas of Aquin. That marvelous production of
genius has never been surpassed or even equaled as an
exposition of the general principles of Christian ethics.
Neither has the casuistic treatment of morals in general
made much progress since the thirteenth century. Of
course there have been numerous changes in discipline dur-
ing the last six centuries, and these require to be noted in
new moral treatises as they occur. There have also been
some changes in theological opinion. As an illustration
of such a change we may instance that concerning the use
by superiors of knowledge gained from confession. St.
Thomas and scholastic theologians commonly held that a
superior who knew from confession of a dangerous occa-
sion of sin to one of his subjects might use his authority
to remove his subject out of the danger, provided that
thereby he violated no principle of justice nor made known
to others the sin which had been confessed to him. This
opinion is now quite obsolete and it has been virtually
condemned by the Holy See.1 But in spite of some such
changes in detail, the general assertion remains true that
moral theology to-day is substantially what it was in the
thirteenth or at the beginning of the fourteenth century.
1 Supra, p. 232.
548 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
There is, however, one important exception to this general
statement. That exception is due to the express formula-
tion at the end of the sixteenth century of the doctrine of
probabilism.
We must, however, be on our guard against exaggerating
the importance of probabilism and confounding it with
moral theology in general. After all, probabilism is only
concerned with the solution of doubtful questions. There
is an immense body of moral doctrine which is certain
and where probabilism or other similar theory of morals
does not enter. There are also, it must be confessed, many
doubtful questions, especially connected with the applica-
tion of general rules to particular cases, and it is in the
solution of these doubtful and disputed questions that
probabilism is concerned. All Catholic divines state or
take for granted the doctrine that it is sinful to act with a
doubtful conscience, without making up one's mind that
the action which is contemplated is morally right. This
is the teaching of Holy Scripture: "All that is not of
faith," i.e. done with the conscientious conviction that
it is right, "is sin," says St. Paul.1 But if this be so,
what are we to do in doubtful matters, where perhaps
divines themselves disagree, and some teach that an action
is right, while others assert that it is wrong ? In such cases
we can only act, according to the doctrine of St. Paul, if
we are able to make up our mind that the action is lawful
and honest. How can this be done?
Before the close of the sixteenth century, when Bar-
tholomew a Medina published his "Exposition" on St.
Thomas, there was no commonly recognized method for
forming one's conscience in doubtful matters. The
1 Rom. xiv. 23,
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 549
"Summa Astensis" devotes the last title of the second
Book to the subject of " Perplexities of Conscience." The
author distinguishes perplexities of law from perplexities
of fact. The former, he says, occur when there are two
apparently contrary opinions about the lawfulness of an
action, the latter when a man believes that in avoiding one
sin he must perforce commit another. He has much to
say about perplexities of fact, but about perplexities of
law, which alone concern us here, he simply observes that
they can be removed in whatever state a man may be, but
he does not tell us how this may be done. He refers indeed
to Alexander of Hales, who wrote before St. Raymund of
Pennafort, and who in the article of his "Summa" devoted
to the subject of " Conscience" tells us that a perplexity of
law is to be removed by the unction of the Holy Spirit,
who teaches concerning all things.1 St. Raymund gives a
more satisfactory rule and says shortly that a perplexity
arising from a difference among Doctors is to be solved by
reducing the contrary opinions to agreement, for there is
no real but only apparent contradiction in law. This
puts us on the right track; it tells us that for the solution
of doubtful cases the theologians of the time followed the
ordinary rules of legal interpretation, the chief among which
was the rule of law which guided Gratian in the composition
of the "Decretum" and Peter Lombard in his work on the
Sentences, and which the Roman lawyers had expressed by
saying that it is meet to make one law agree with another —
Conveniens est jura juribus concordare.2
Although this was the chief rule of law to be followed
when authorities differed, it was by no means the only one,
1 Summa, ii, q. 120.
2 L. unica, C, de inofficiosis dotibus,
550 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
Later authors, such as Angelus de Clavasio (1480), Sylvester
Prierias (1516), and Navarrus (1500) give lists of the differ-
ent rules of law to be applied to the solution of doubtful
cases in different circumstances. We may take them from
Navarrus, as they are substantially the same in all the
authorities of the time. When there are different opinions
among Doctors, says Navarrus in effect, that opinion should
be preferred which is confirmed by custom, or grounded
on a text of law, or which rests on an invincible argument.
If none of these rules serves, then the common opinion should
be followed, and that may be called a common opinion
which six or seven approved authors adopt, though there
may be fifty others who blindly follow each other like sheep
against it, for weight and not number is mainly to be con-
sidered in such questions. If that rule does not suit the
case, then the opinion should be chosen which is backed
by more numerous authorities and reasons; then that
which is more lenient, or which favors marriage, a last will
and testament, liberty, a private individual against the
State, the validity of an act, or the defendant in an action
at law. If in none of these ways one opinion is better than
the other, then that should be adopted which the greater
number of theologians follow if the matter belong to the-
ology, or canonists if it belong to canon law, or civilians if
it belong to civil law. To these rules Navarrus adds the
note that in the forum of conscience it is sufficient to choose
as true the opinion of a man of virtue and learning.1
Sylvester Prierias tells us that all were agreed that when
Doctors differed, a man might follow the opinion of one
Doctor even though he was drawn to follow him by affection
1 Manuale confessariorum, c. 27, n. 288.
A SHORT IIISTOliY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 551
without subtle investigation into the grounds on which
his opinion rested.
While the Fathers of the Church, such as Gregory
Nazianzen, and the schoolmen with St. Thomas solved
particular cases of doubt in favor of liberty by applying
the rule of probabilism that a doubtful law cannot impose
a certain obligation, yet up to the time of Medina it was
commonly held that in doubtful cases a man was bound to
follow the opinion which seemed to him the better grounded
or the more probable. The Dominican Bartholomew a
Medina (1577) was the first to show that if it were a ques-
tion of obligation, not of mere counsel, this was illogical.
The more probable opinion may be the safer and better
opinion, but we are not usually bound to take the safer or
better way; we are at least allowed to take that which
is good and safe. And a probable opinion is safe, for good
and wise men see no sin nor danger of sin in it, else it would
not be probable. So that a probable opinion may be
followed even by one who knows and holds that the con-
trary opinion is more probable.
By these and other arguments Medina put probabilism
on a firm basis, and the doctrine was at once received on
all hands. It was the logical deduction from principles
which all admitted, and so theologians of all schools ac-
cepted it at once, though some of them do not seem at first
to have realized its far-reaching consequences. Dr. Hall,
who published his work "De Quinquepartita Conscientia"
in 1598, accepted and defended the new principle, but he
placed it side by side with the older methods of forming
one's conscience which he copied from Navarrus. Of these
methods he remarks that they are so many different ways
of forming a probable opinion. He did not fully realize, as
552 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
it seems, that the new principle was universal, and rendered
the use of the old rules to a great extent unnecessary in
the forum of conscience. The same may be said of Azor,
who published the first volume of his " Institutiones
Morales" in the year 1600. Other theologians, however,
such as Vasquez, Suarez, Salon, Laymann, soon realized the
significance of the new method, and proceeded to explain,
develop, and on certain points to limit its application. It
was seen that it can only be applied where the sole question
is whether an act is sinful or not ; it may not be applied
where an end must be attained and may not be placed in
jeopardy, or where the validity of an act is in question, or
where there is question of the certain right of another.
Section III
The Modern Period
Almost the whole modern period from the opening of
the seventeenth century is occupied with the controversy
about the right system of moral theology. Modern re-
search has confirmed the historical accuracy of the account
of the origin of this dispute which Fr. Antony Terill or
Bonville prefixed to his work "Regula Morum," published
in 1676. Fr. Terill, S. J., was a learned and acute theo-
logian who taught theology at the English College of the
Society at Liege, now represented by Stony hurst and St.
Beuno's. Besides his "Regula Morum" he published
another work, "De Conscientia Probabili," in 1668. He
was a good and conscientious man and had ample means
of knowing the facts to which he testifies. According to
Fr. Terill, until about the year 1638 practically all Catholic
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 553
theologians of all schools accepted and taught probabilism.
The only exception was the not very notable Italian Jesuit
Comitolus, who published his "Responsa Moralia" in 1608.
Comitolus taught probabiliorism and attributed the doctrine
of probabilism quite falsely, to what he calls the shameful
lapse of Armilla. The opinion of Comitolus passed almost
unheeded, and there was peace and comparative harmony
in the schools of morals. This peace began to be broken
when the friends of Jansen were planning the publication
of his famous book "Augustinus." The first of the five
propositions which were extracted from that book and
condemned by Innocent X in 1653 asserted that there were
some laws of God which could not be observed even by the
just, do what they would, and that God did not give grace
to enable them to observe these laws. This heretical and
blasphemous proposition, which made God a tyrant who
gave orders which He knew could not be obeyed, was
altogether out of harmony with the prevailing system of
moral theology, and its Jansenist supporters began to
attack probabilism in order to make an opening for their
own rigoristic doctrine. According to Caramuel, who was
at Louvain at the time and who wrote a book against
them in 1639, they began to teach covertly that the use of
probabilism was something new; that he who leaves the
safe way and follows probabilism can not but be condemned
by God; that opinions which are styled probable among
us are not probable with God. The war between probabil-
ism and antiprobabilism had broken out, a wTar conducted
with the greatest heat and passion for two hundred years,
and not even yet quite ended. The Louvain Doctors after
the condemnation of "Augustinus" by the Holy See re-
taliated by issuing their propositions against probabilism
554 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
in 1655. The strategy was the same as led Dollinger and
Reusch to publish their work on "Moralstreitigkeiten,"
after the definition of Papal Infallibility. The war, how-
ever, was soon carried into France where Jansenism had
won the support of a few proud spirits of the highest in-
tellectual gifts. Among these Pascal was pre-eminent,
and he struck the hardest blow which probabilism has ever
sustained by publishing his "Lettres Provinciales " in 1656.
The book is unfair and misrepresents the doctrines which
it attacks, but its wit and style gave it at once a place in
the classical literature of the world. It was condemned
by Alexander VII at Rome in 1657, but by non-Catholics
it is still regarded as the last word on the subject of Catholic
and especially Jesuit moral theology.
Although the rise of Jansenism was the occasion of the
outbreak of war, there were other causes also which con-
tributed to the heat of the combat. Fr. Terill laments
the disastrous laxity of opinion on moral questions which
was conspicuous in many of the probabilist authors of the
day. Many of these wrote books, not to expound the
truth, but to attract attention to themselves and acquire
notoriety. The means they employed for this purpose was
the ventilation of new opinions in morals. By making
use of the weak argument from similar cases they broached
hitherto unheard of doctrines which were industriously
collected by the casuists. The fact that somebody or other
had said in his book that an opinion was probable and that
it had not been condemned by the Holy See was held suffi-
cient to merit for it a place among probable opinions in
moral theology. Fr. Terill, himself a strenuous defender of
probabilism, raised his voice against the inrush of laxity.
He did much by his writings to improve the theory by
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 555
stating and explaining it more accurately than had been
done hitherto. He insisted that in order to be accepted as
a rule of conduct it was not sufficient that an opinion should
have some slight degree of probability, or should only be
probably probable; it should be well grounded, seriously
and solidly probable in the judgment of experts, of men of
virtue and learning. The common method of proving prob-
abilism by saying that one who acts on a probable opinion
acts prudently, was objectionable on the theoretical side,
and Terill improved it by making use of reflex principles,
such as, "A doubtful law is not promulgated and can not
bind." This eminent English Jesuit thus tried to stem the
tide of laxity in an age of immorality by stating the theory
of probabilism more accurately and limiting its use to its
proper sphere. Other theologians with the same laudable
end in view threw probabilism overboard altogether.
This was especially the case with the theologians of the
great Order of St. Dominic. A member of this Order
had first formulated probabilism, as we have seen, and, as
Salon testifies, other Dominicans were conspicuous as being
the first to accept and teach it. The most famous Domin-
ican theologians of the time, Ledesma, Banez, Alvarez,
Ildephonsus, and others were all probabilists. No anti-
probabilist Dominican was heard of till the year 1656.
In that year a general Chapter of the Order was held at
Rome and all the members were urged to adopt the stricter
opinion in morals. From that time onward the chief
Dominican theologians have almost without exception been
probabiliorists. Among others are the well-known names
of Mercorus, Gonet, Contenson, Natalis Alexander, Con-
cina, Billuart, and Patuzzi, the adversary of St. Alphonsus
Liguori.
556 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
From the strife of parties different moral systems be-
gan to emerge. Jansenist rigorism, which required direct
moral certainty against the law to justify a departure from
its observance, and which was not satisfied even with a
most probable opinion in favor of the lawfulness of an ac-
tion, was condemned by Alexander VIII in 1690. Laxism,
which was satisfied with even a slightly probable opinion
as a rule of conduct, had been condemned by Innocent XI
in 1679. Probabiliorism and probabilism together held
possession of the field. At the beginning of the eighteenth
century a few theologians such as Amort, Rassler, and
Mayr, defended equiprobabilism. This system required
an opinion in favor of liberty to be equally probable with
that in favor of the law before allowing it to be used as a
rule of morals. It would not allow any one to follow an
opinion in favor of liberty which was distinctly less prob-
able than that which favored the law.
These three systems still have their defenders, and the
last has acquired strength from the adhesion to it of St.
Alphonsus in the later portion of his life. St. Alphonsus
Liguori is recognized as the Doctor of moral theology
as St. Thomas is of dogmatic. By his writings he drove
out of the Church the last remnants of rigorism, and firmly
established that common doctrine in moral theology which
it has been the aim of the author to expound in these volumes.
In spite, however, of general agreement, there are some
points of detail which are still matter of controversy among
moral theologians.
St. Alphonsus was ordained priest in 1726 when he was
thirty years of age. He had been taught the probabiliorist
system of morals, but in the course of fifteen years of study
and experience in the confessional he came to the conclu-
A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY 557
sion that the system was false and harmful to souls. He
then adopted probabilism, and mainly using recognized
probabilist authorities, especially of the Society of Jesus,
whom he acknowledged to be his masters in this branch of
learning, he composed his chief work, the "Theologia
Moralis." The first edition appeared in 1748, and a second
and much enlarged edition was issued in 1753. In 1755
St. Alphonsus published an elaborate dissertation on prob-
abilism in which he proved the doctrine and refuted the
objections commonly brought against it. He became
bishop of St. Agatha of the Goths in 1762, and published
another dissertation in which he appeared to adopt a new
system of moral theology. While admitting that it is
lawful to follow a solidly probable opinion, he denied that
when in favor of the law there is an opinion which is cer-
tainly and notably more probable than its opposite, this
latter can be really and solidly probable. The question is
one of fact. If this proposition be considered from the
practical and concrete point of view, its practical truth
may be admitted, and St. Alphonsus probably understood
it in this sense. Furthermore, it may be admitted that the
doctrine has its value in deciding when an opinion is solidly
probable or not, and this was what St. Alphonsus intended.
He wished to exclude laxism from his system, and he in-
vented this formula for the purpose. Moderate probabil-
ists secure the same end by stressing solidly when they
require a solidly probable opinion for a lawful rule of action.
Considered theoretically and logically, the formula of St.
Alphonsus is open to attack, as it is not true that a greater
probability, even if notable and certain, does necessarily
deprive the opposite opinion of all solid probability. On
this point there is still some difference of opinion between
558 A SHORT HISTORY OF MORAL THEOLOGY
simple probabilists and equiprobabilists, but the dispute
has little to do with practical morals. The dissertation
of St. Alphonsus was not inserted in the " Moral Theology "
of the saint till it reached its sixth edition, and his change
of formula made little change in the doctrine of his work.
It remained substantially what it always had been — a
great work on moral theology written by a moderate proba-
bilist.
Moral theology is still what St. Alphonsus left it. There
is general agreement in the schools, a common doctrine which
all accept ; it only remains to apply this to the social and
political conditions which we see growing up around us.
In this modern period of moral theology the sufficiency
of attrition without any strictly so-called initial charity
on the part of the penitent as a proximate disposition for
the remission of sin in the sacrament of Penance may be
considered as established. The changed conditions in our
modern capitalist society have had their effect on moral
questions, for morality must always take account of altered
circumstances. Perhaps the chief result in this direction
is that a practical solution has been attained of the long
controversy about the lawfulness of taking interest for a
loan of money. The lawfulness of the practice is now ad-
mitted ; the only moral question is concerning the amount
which may be exacted. The doctrine of the just price is
applicable here; money, like other commodities, has in
our modern capitalist society its just price.
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Nicole, P., (1695), Notes to Lettres provinciates ; Essais.
Patuzzi, V., (1769), Theologia Moralis.
Rassler, C, (1730), Norma recti.
Reginaldus, V., (1623), Praxis fori poznitentialis.
Reuter, J., (1762), Theologia moralis.
Salmanticenses, Cursus theologian moralis.
Salon, M., (1620), De Justitia.
Sanchez, T., (1610), Disputationes de matrimonio.
Sayrus, G., (1602), Clavis regia.
Suarez, F., (1617), Opera, Vives, Paris.
Tamburini, T., (1675), Theologia moralis.
Terillus, A., (1676), De conscientia probabili; regula morum.
Vasquez, G., (1604), Commentarii in S. Thomam.
Villien, A., Histoire des Commandements de VEglise, Paris, 1909.
Viva, D., (1710), Trutina iheologica.
Wernz, F. X., Jus Decretalium, Rome.
Zech, F. X., Rigor moderatus circa usuras.
INDEX
Volumes I and II
Abduction, impediment of mar-
riage, II, 322.
Abortion, I, 312; penalty for, 314;
II, 408, 438.
Absolution, form of Penance, II,
175 ; of absent penitent, 164, 175 ;
oral, 175 ; and knowledge of sins,
176 ; of dying, 176 ; of reserved
cases, 204; of bishops' cases, 207;
of complex, 213 ; of censure, 373.
Abstinence, I, 566; in U.S., 567;
gravity of precept, 572 ; who
bound to, 572.
Acceptation of persons, I, 387.
Accession, title to property, I, 374.
Act, external and confession, II, 166.
Actions, good, I, 21, 52; bad, 21;
indifferent, 21, 43, 89; valid
and invalid, 21 ; voluntary, 22 ;
meritorious, 54.
A cunctis, prayer, I, 565.
Administrator of will, I, 509 ; duties
of, 511.
Adoption, impediment of marriage,
II, 304 f.
Adultery, I, 328; impediment of
marriage, II, 314 f. ; and murder,
316.
Adults for Baptism, II, 56 ; con-
verted, how baptized, 56 ; in
U.S., 56 f.
Advocate, I, 590; duties of, 590,
592 ; in marriage cases, 591 ; II,
281 ; toward client, I, 591.
Affinity, impediment of marriage,
II, 301 ; multiple, 302 ; with own
consort, 303.
Age in marriage, II, 258 ; diriment
impediment, 295.
Agency, 1, 544; kinds of, 545; lia-
bility in, 546 ; ceases, 547.
Agents 'provocateurs, I, 201.
Alienation of Church property, I,
360, 365; II, 410.
Alluvion, I, 375.
Almsgiving, I, 190; how much to
be given, 191 ; gravity of ob-
ligation, 191.
Altar, when polluted, II, 134; when
desecrated, 135.
Altum dominium of Church property,
I, 359.
Ambition, I, 156.
Amendment, purpose of, II, 161 ;
qualities of, 161.
Anger, I, 159.
Animals, property in wild, I, 372.
Antonelli, I, 313.
Apostasy, I, 176; punished by
excommunication, II, 389.
Approbation for confessor, II, 178 ff. ;
may be limited, 180; not to be
presumed, 180.
Arbitrator, I, 588.
Astrology, see Divination.
Attention, in Mass, I, 262 ; in divine
office, 610; while administering
sacraments, II, 27.
Attrition, I, 38; in Penance, II,
155, 158.
Auction, I, 533.
Augury, see Divination.
Austin and legal obligation, I, 127.
Avarice, see Covetousness.
Backbiting, I, 458.
Bailment, I, 539.
Bankrupt and discharge, I, 438, 451.
Banns of marriage, II, 264 ; reasons
for, 265 ; obligation of, 265 ;
dispensation from, 266 ; some-
times not obligatory, 266.
Baptism, nature of, II, 47 ; effects
of, 47 f. ; necessary for salvation,
48; of desire and of blood, 48;
matter and form of, 50 f. ; minis-
ter of, 52 ; ceremonies of, 53 ;
where administered, 53 f . ; of
adults, 54, 64 ; of converts, 56 ;
of infants probably baptized,
563
564
INDEX
Baptism — (continued).
57 ; sponsors in, 59 ; dispositions
for, 62 ; when to be given, 63 ;
parents and children with ref-
erence to, 63 ; when repeated,
63; of heretics, 64; of fetus, 64
ff. ; doubtful, and marriage, 313.
Benefice, I, 618; our missions not,
619.
Bequest to charity, I, 504; in U.S.,
505 ; to pious causes, 506.
Bestialitas, I, 334.
Bet, I, 559 ; morality of, 560.
Betrothal, nature of, II, 251 ; form
of, 252 ; of children under age,
253 ; under condition, 254 ; effects
of, 256, 290; and consent of
parents, 257 ; dissolution of,'
260 ff . ; does not give marital
rights, 263.
Bigamy, II, 297; and irregularity,
434.
Bishops, legislators, I, 86 ; and
Papal law, 95; dispensing power,
112; dispense vows, 253; duties
of, 621 ; privilege of portable
altar, II, 130.
Blackstone and legal obligation, 1,
127.
Blasphemy, I, 238.
Boasting, I, 157.
Bona vacantia, I, 371.
Books, forbidden under censure, II,
390 ; law of Church concerning, 459.
Booty in war, I, 322.
Breviary, I, 605 ; gravity of ob-
ligation, 606 ; Roman, 606 ;
calendar, 607 ; order in saying,
608; how said, 608, 609; when
said, 608; obligation ceases, 611.
Bulla cruciata, I, 114.
Burial, ecclesiastical, II, 385; and
excommunicates, 410.
Cabalistic signs, I, 221.
Calumny, I, 458.
Candles for Mass, II, 137.
Canons, I, 623; duties of, 623;
advice of, 625.
Capellmann, I, 313.
Capital, I, 516.
Capital punishment, I, 305; be-
longs to public authority only,
306.
Carriers, I, 543.
Cassel, Dr. G., I, 514, 518.
Catholics, duties of, to ecclesiastical
superior, I, 297.
Celibacy of clergy, I, 600; source
of obligation, 601.
Censure, ecclesiastical penalty, II,
367 ; conditions for, 369 ; Church
has power to inflict, 370; who
incurs, 371 ; absolution of, 373 ;
in particular, 387.
Ceremonies in administering sacra-
ments, II, 37 ; in Baptism, 53.
Cesarian section, I, 315.
Cessation from divine offices, II,
384.
Chalice, when desecrated, II, 135;
material of, 137.
Character in sacraments, II, 18 ;
in Baptism, 47 ; in Confirmation,
67; in Orders, 242.
Charity, I, 179 ; commanded, 180 :
whom it embraces, 180 ; when of
obligation, 181 ; easy, 181 ; well-
ordered, 182 ; ordinarily does
not bind under serious incon-
venience, 184 ; lawful to expose
life for another's, 184; order of,
in goods and objects, 185; to
enemies, 186 ff.
Charms, I, 221.
Chastity, I, 653 ; sins against
vow of, 654; effects of vow of,
654.
Children, duties of, to parents, I,
270 ; when bound to support
parents, 271, 353; obedience to
parents ceases, 271 ; when emanci-
pated, 271 ; in U.S., 272 ; some-
times emancipated earlier, 272.
Chiromancy, see Divination.
Choice, I, 20.
Chrism, II, 68.
Church (corporation), right to own
property, I, 358 ; property, 365 ;
(building), pollution of, II, 132;
reconciliation of, 132 ; desecra-
tion of, 134.
Circumstances, source of morality,
I, 50 ; aggravating and changing
species, 51 ; of sin and confession,
II, 165.
Clandestinity in marriage, II, 288,
323; Tridentine law of, 324 ff . ;
new law of, 332.
Clerics, property of, I, 361 ff. ;
superfluity from benefice, 362 ;
holiness of, 598; perfection of,
INDEX
565
Clerics — (continued)*
599; dress of, 603; negative
obligations of, 613 ; women ser-
vants of, 614 ; and habit of sin,
636; dismissed from seminaries,
637.
Codicil, I, 503.
Collectivism, I, 349.
Commanded acts, I, 21.
Communicatio in sacris, I, 172.
Communion, Easter, I, 578, 627 ;
in U.S., 628 ff . ; fasting, 89; II,
110; exceptions to fasting, 111;
frequent, 108.
Complicis absolutio, II, 205, 213 ;
quinam sit, 214; in articulo
mortis, 214.
Conception, taking means to pre-
vent, I, 313.
Concupiscence, I, 34 ; antecedent
and consequent, 34; neutrality
under attacks of, 36.
Confession, annual, I, 576 ; to
whom made, 577 ; in Penance,*
II, 163 ; oral, 163 ; to absent
priest, 164; integral, 164, 168;
of circumstances of sin, 165 ;
of effect of sin, 166 ; of habit,
166 ; and time of sin, 168 ; general,
169 f . ; to military chaplains,
186 ; on board ship, 187 ; of
religious, 188 ; of nuns, 189 ;
seal of, 228.
Confessor, on board ship, II, 187
of religious, 188; of nuns, 189
ordinary and extraordinary, 190
duties of, 216 ff. ; as spiritual
father, 216 ; as physician of
souls, 217 ; as counselor, 221 ;
as judge, 223 ; questions penitent,
224 ; corrects mistakes, 226.
Confirmation, a sacrament, II, 67
matter of, 67 ; form of, 68
minister of, 70 ; subject of, 72
how far necessary, 73 ff . ; pre-
requisite for Orders, 246.
Congregations, Roman, power of,
I, 86 ; of sacred Rites, 85 ; of
Propaganda, 86.
Consanguinity, impediment of
marriage, II, 298; multiple, 300.
Conscience, I, 57 ; certain, dubious,
probable, 58 ; right and erroneous,
58 ; strict, lax, scrupulous, 58 ;
antecedent and consequent, 58;
certain, 59; must be morally
Conscience — (continued).
certain, 60 ; binds in name of God,
61; doubtful, 63; probable, 68;
and natural law, 116; and civil
law, 125.
Consent, I, 21, 135; to injustice,
420 ; in contract, 479 ; in mar-
riage, II, 270.
Conspiracy in injustice, I, 427.
Consulters, diocesan, in U.S., I, 624.
Contracts, and law of place, I, 93 ;
nature of, 475 ; defect of form,
477 ; consent in, 479 ; fictitious,
480 ; when made, 480 ; mistake,
481 ; fraud in, 482 ; uberrimce
Jidei, 482 ; duress, 482 ; undue
influence, 483 ; capacity to make,
484; of imbeciles, 485; matter
of, 487 ; immoral, 488 ; illegal,
489 ; consideration in, 491 ; ob-
ligation of, 492 ; who bound by,
492 ; of convict, 485 ; confirmed
by oath, 492 ; conditional, 493 ;
discharge of, 495 ; of marriage,
II, 268.
Contrition in Penance, II, 154 ;
necessary, 155 ; qualities of, 156 ;
at death, 159.
Contumacy required for censure, II,
' 369.
Contumely, I, 160, 462.
Convert, confession of, II, 149.
Convict and contract, I, 485.
Co-operation, in another's sin, I,
203; when lawful, 203; in in-
justice, 418; in unjust action
sometimes lawful, 422 ; negative,
422; by command, 419; by
counsel, 418.
Copyright, I, 346 ff.
" Corners," I, 537.
Corporations, right to form, I,
351 ; to possess property, 352 ;
and contract, 486.
Corpus juris, I, 120.
Covetousness, I, 157.
Craniotomy, I, 312, 314.
Creditor, secured, I, 431.
Cremation, directions in will not
enforceable, I, 510; Church for-
bids, II, 385.
Crime, impediment of marriage, II,
313 ff.
Criminal, obligations of, I, 594 ;
assault, 329 ; escape of, 307.
Crystal-gazing, I, 220.
566
INDEX
Cunningham, Dr. W., I, 517.
Cursing, I, 239.
Custom, and use, I, 107; kinds of,
108; qualities of, 108; abroga-
tion of, 109!
Damnification, simple, I, 388, 408.
Dancing, I, 205.
Debt, barred by time, I, 127 ; order
of payment, 429, 431 ; in U.S.,
430; (in marriage), II, 269, 361 ff.
Decalogue, I, 207.
Defects in thing sold, I, 522.
Defendant in criminal trial, I, 593.
Degradation, II, 384.
Denunciation of fault of another,
I, 196.
Deposit, I, 539; and religious
poverty, 652.
Deposition, II, 384.
Desire, malice of bad, 1,149.
Despair, I, 178.
Detraction, I, 458 ; sometimes law-
ful to make known secret sin of
anothej, 460; listening to, 461.
Difference of religion, impediment
of marriage, II, 308, 312; and
doubtful baptism, 313.
Discharge in bankruptcy and res-
titution, I, 438, 451.
Disparitas cultus, see Difference of
Religion.
Dispensation, I, 111; cause of, 111;
who can dispense, 112; in what,
112 ; dependent on will of superior,
114; interpretation of, 114; ex-
tent of, 114; ceases, 114; from
abstinence, 573 ; from divine
office, 611 ; of prohibitory im-
pediments of marriage, II, 291 ;
of diriment impediments in dan-
ger of death, 308; of diriment
impediments, 339 ff . ; who grants,
340 ; tax for, 341 ; canonical
cause for, 341 ff . ; subreption
and obreption in, 342 ; petition
for, 345 f. ; execution of, by con-
fessor, 347 ; execution of, by
ordinary, 348; in radice, 350 ff.
Divination, I, 217 ff. ; malice of,
218.
Divine office, see Breviary.
Divine right, I, 297.
Divining rod, I, 219.
Divorce, II, 281 ff.
Doctor, duties of, I, 596.
Domicil and quasi-domicil, I, 93 ;
II, 326 ; of minors, servants, 330.
Doubt, I, 63 ; negative and positive,
63 ; speculative and practical,
64 ; sin to act in, 64 ; how to act
in, 64.
Dower of widow, I, 356.
Dreams, I, 219.
Drunkenness, I, 162 ; sometimes
lawful, 162 ; sins committed in,
163.
Dueling, I, 316; penalty of, 317;
illegal, 318 ; excommunication
for, II, 398.
Duress, I, 40; in contracts, 482.
Earnest to bind contract, I, 493 ;
after breaking promise of mar-
riage, II, 263.
Ecclesiastical superiors, duties to,
I, 297.
Education of child, I, 275 ; in"
Catholic school, 276.
Effect of sin and confession, II,
166.
Elicited acts, I, 20.
Emancipation of minor, I, 354.
Embryotomy, I, 312.
Employers' liability, I, 292.
Enclosure, religious, I, 654 ; censures
for breaking, II, 405.
End of man, I, 17 ; end does not
justify bad means, 26, 49, 465 ;
source of morality, 46.
Enemies, to be loved, I, 186 ; rec-
onciliation of, 188.
Engagement, see Betrothal.
Envy, I, 160.
Epieikeia, I, 103.
Error, distinguished from ignorance,
I, 30 ; in contract, 481 ; impedi-
ment of marriage, II, 318.
Estate, I, 344.
Eucharist, as sacrifice, see Mass.
Nature of sacrament, II, 79 ;
effects of, 80 ; matter of, 82 ;
form of, 83 ; conditions for valid
consecration of, 84 ; for lawful
consecration, 85 ; minister of,
86 ; when administered, 87 ;
where administered, 88 ; when it
falls, 93 ; particles found, 93 ;
reservation of, 94 ; how reserved,
96 ; when renewed, 97 ff. ; neces-
sity of, 101 ; not under both kinds,
102; when of obligation, 102, 105;
INDEX
567
Eucharist — {continued).
age for first communion, 102 ff.
imbeciles and criminals, 105
dispositions of soul for, 106 ff.
frequent communion, 108 ; bodily
dispositions for, 109; Religious
presuming to administer, 406.
Euthanasia, I, 164.
Evil, effect when imputed, I, 24,
27 ; gravity of malice, 27 ; in-
trinsically and because forbidden,
44; less may be urged on an-
other, 201.
Excommunicates, tolerated or not,
II, 376.
Excommunication, II, 376 ff. ;
effects of, 377.
Executor of will, I, 509 ; duties of,
510.
Exemption of Regulars, I, 94, 131.
External acts, I, 20.
Extreme Unction, II, 233; matter
of, 234; form of, 235; minister
of, 236 ; ministered by Religious;
236; subject of, 238; Religious
presuming to administer, 406.
Faith, I, 165 ; virtue and act of,
166; necessity of, 167; explicit,
167; when of obligation, 168;
profession of, 169 ; concealing, 171.
Fare on railway, I, 389.
Fasting, I, 573 ; when obligation
begins, 574 ; excuses from, 575 ;
before communion, 89; II, 110.
Fault, theological, I, 408 ; juridical,
409.
Fear, grave, slight, reverential, I,
37 ; effect on voluntary action, 38 ;
and positive law, 39 ; impedi-
ment of marriage, II, 320; may
be purged, 321.
Finding, title to property, I, 371,
372.
Firm, I, 548; liability of, 549.
Fixtures, I, 552.
Flattery, cause of injustice, I, 421.
Form of sacrament, II, 21 ; change
in, 22 ; see name of each sacra-
ment.
Fornication, intrinsically wrong, I,
327.
Fraternal correction, I, 194 ; when
of obligation, 195 ; order in, 195 ;
differs from paternal correction,
196; of material sin, 197.
Fraudulent preference by bankrupt,
I, 433, 434.
Freemasons, excommunicated, II,
399.
Free will, I, 18.
Fruition, I, 20.
Fruits, natural and industrial, I,
374; whose property, 401.
Fungible, I, 512; money, 514.
"Futures," I, 560.
Gambling, I, 558 ; morality of, 559 ;
forbidden to clerics, 614, 616.
Gaming, see Gambling.
Gift, I, 498 ; to pious causes, 499.
Gluttony, I, 161.
God's name, irreverent use of, I, 236.
Grace, sacramental, II, 18 f. ; first
and second, 19.
Guardians of minors, I, 284 ; rights
and duties of, 286.
Hatred of abomination and enmity,
I, 188.
Hereditary taint, I, 35.
Heresy, I, 175; a crime, 176;
punished by excommunication,
II, 389.
Heretics, subject to Church, I, 93 ;
disputes with, 172 ; worship of,
172; communication with, 172;
formal and material, 175 ; re-
ception of, 176 ; may not receive
sacraments, II, 44 ; subject to
impediments of marriage, 286;
and law of clandestinity, 335 ;
excommunicated, II, 389 ; in-
cur irregularity, 437.
Hiring, I, 540.
Holydays, I, 564 f.
Homicide, when justifiable, I, 308;
in defence of another, 310;
casual, 312 ; punished by ir-
regularity, II, 438.
Honestas publica, see Public Pro-
priety.
Hope, I, 177.
Human acts, I, 18, 22 ; human
means to be used, 225.
Humility, I, 155.
Hunting, forbidden to clerics, I, 613.
Husband, and step-children, I,
283; in U.S., 283; duties to
wife, 288.
Hypnotism, I, 222.
Hypocrisy, I, 157, 465.
568
INDEX
Idolatry, I, 216.
Ignorance, I, 30; vincible and in-
vincible, 31 ; affected, 31 ; crass
or supine, 31 ; of law, fact,
penalty, 31 ; antecedent, con-
sequent, concomitant, 32 ; when
sinful, 33 ; excuses from penalty,
122 ; and impediment of crime in
marriage, II, 317; excuses from
censure, 372; and irregularity,
431.
Illegitimate children and parents, I,
283.
Illusions, I, 35 n.
Imbecility, impediment of marriage,
II, 319.
Immunity, II, 404.
Impediment of marriage, II, 285 ;
who subject to, 286 ; and civil
authority, 286 ; and heretics,
286; prohibitory, 288; prohibi-
tion of Church, 288 ; close time,
289; betrothal, 290; vow, 290;
diriment, 293 ff . ; see name of
each ; dispensation from, 308 ;
doubtful, 336.
Imperfection, I, 133.
Impotence, impediment of marriage,
II, 293 ; differs from sterility, 295.
Impurity, nature of, I, 324 ; malice
of, 325, 338 ; indirectly voluntary,
326 ; consummated sins of, 327 ;
non-consummated sins of, 335 ;
looks, 336 ; talk, 336 ; reading, 337.
Incest, I, 328 ; species of, 329 ;
and confession, II, 167 ; and
dispensation for marriage, 347.
Indulgences, selling, punished, II,
405 ; nature of, 443 ; power to
grant, 444 ; by wt.y of suffrage,
446 ; kinds of, 446 ; conditions
for gaining, 448 ; how often
gained, 452; objects enriched
by, 453.
Infidelity, I, 174.
Inheritance, I, 353.
Injury, I, 387; kinds of, 387;
requires restitution, 398.
Injustice, I, 386 ; modes of co-
operation in, 418.
Innocent, killing of, I, 311.
Insurance, I, 554 ; when contract
void, 555.
Intention, I, 20 ; does not change
nature of external action, 48,
412; of God's glory, 52; in ad-
Intention — (continued).
ministering sacraments, II, 28;
external, 29 ; must be definite, 30 ;
contradiction in, 31.
Interdict, II, 382 ff . ; in particular,
421.
Interest, I, 518; in U.S., 519.
Internal acts, I, 20.
Interpretation, rules for, I, 101.
Interstices in Orders, II, 247, 25C.
Intestacy, I, 508.
Irregularity, II, 429; who subject
to, 430 ; from defect, 432 ; from
crime, 437 ; removal of, 439 ff.
Jesuits denj^ that the end justifies
bad means, I, 49, 314, 465.
Jubilee, II, 455 ff.
Judge taking bribe, I, 488, 585 ;
duties of, 584 ; condemning the
innocent, 586 ; when law unjust,
587 ; unjust sentence of, 588 ;
and divorce, II, 281.
Jurisdiction, kinds of, II, 182 ;
of confessor, 182 ff . ; delegation
of, 183 ; ceases, 183 ; Church
supplies, 184 ; doubtful, 185 ;
for strangers, 186 ; of military
chaplains, 186 ; on board ship, 187.
Jury, I, 588.
Justice, I, 340 ; species of, 341 ;
sins against, 386.
Kissing, I, 337 ; malice of, 338.
Knights of Pythias, forbidden, II,
400.
Landlord, I, 552.
Law, I, 81 ; promulgation of, 82 ;
differs from precept, 83 ; divine
and human, 83 ; ecclesiastical
and civil, 83 ; power of making,
84 ; the Pope makes, 85 ; sub-
ject-matter of, 88 ; and heroic
acts, 90 ; and internal acts, 90 ;
subjects of, 92 ; imbeciles and
children, 92 ; drunken people,
93 ; baptized persons, 93 ; heretics,
93 ; domicil and quasi-domicil
in relation to, 93 ; strangers and,
94 ; acceptance of, 95 ; obliga-
tion of, 97 ; moral, penal, mixed,
97 ; obligation of affirmative
and negative, 98 ff. ; interpreta-
tion of, 101 ; excuses from ob-
serving, 104 ff. ; cessation of,
INDEX
569
Law — (continued) .
107 ; become useless, 109 ; dis-
pensation of, 111 ; natural, 116
ff. ; positive divine, 118 ff . ;
ecclesiastical, 119 ff . ; binding
English Catholics, 121 ; bind-
ing Catholics in U.S., 121 ; penal,
122 ff. ; voiding, 123 ff . ; civil,
125 ff. ; formally distinct laws, 142.
Lawyer's fees, I, 592; lawyers and
divorce cases, II, 281.
Laxism, I, 70.
Lease, I, 551.
Legacy, I, 503.
Letters requiring secrecy, I, 473.
Liberality, I, 158.
Life must be preserved, I, 304.
Ligamen, see Previous Marriage.
Limitation Acts, I, 380 ; in U.S., 381.
Loan for consumption, I, 513 ;
for use, 540.
Lots, casting, I, 219.
Lottery, I, 557.
Lust, I, 158.
Lying, I, 464; malice of, 465 ff . ;
not merely against justice, 467.
Magic, I, 221.
Malice, objective and subjective, I,
140.
Mandate, I, 540.
Manslaughter, I, 312.
Market overt, I, 527.
Marriage, cases in civil courts, I,
587, 591 ; II, 281 ; banns of, see
Banns. Contract of, II, 268 ;
kinds of, 269; debt, 269; not
obligatory, 270 ; under condition,
271 ; minister of, 273 ; matter
and form of, 273 ; and civil
authority, 273 ; sacrament of
living, 274 ; and nuptial blessing,
274 ff . ; how celebrated in Eng-
land, 276 ; unity of, 278 ; in-
dissolubility of, 278 ff . ; im-
pediments of, 285 ; see Impedi-
ment, and separately under each
name ; mixed, 309 ; revalida-
tion of, 349 ; quid licitum in
matrimonio, 362 ; morosa de-
lectatio de copula, 365 ; copula
adulterina, 365 ; attempted by
priests or Religious punished by
excommunication, 408 ; after
divorce of, before non-Catholic
minister in U.S., 410.
Married women and contract, I,
484.
Martyrdom called Baptism of blood,
II, 49.
Mass, of precept, I, 258 ; where to
be heard, 259; in U.S., 260;
presence required for, 261 ; in-
tention and attention at, 262;
what excuses from, 263 ; said in
sin, II, 33; nature of, 113; ends
of, 114; essential parts of, 114;
minister of, 115; for whom of-
fered, 116; first and second
intention in, 118; application of,
119 ff . ; obligation of applying,
121 ; stipends for, 123 ; founded,
125 ; time for saying, 126, 127 ;
twice in day, 126 ; on Christmas
night, 129; where said, 130; on
board ship, 131 ; requisites for
saying, 136 ; server for, 138 ;
rubrics in, 140; in Church not
one's own, 141 ; not to be inter-
rupted, 141.
Masters and servants, I, 289 ; duty
of masters, 291.
Matter of sacrament, II, 21 ; re-
mote and proximate, 21 ; change
in, 22 ; only probable, 23 ; union
with form, 24 ; see under name of
each sacrament.
Menstrua, I, 332.
Mental reservation, I, 467.
Merit, I, 52; condign and congru-
ous, 54.
Minister of sacraments, II, 27;
attention of, 27 ; intention of,
28; faith and holiness of, 32 v
when in sin, 34, 45 ; of Baptism,
52; of Confirmation, 70; of
Eucharist, 86 ; of Mass, 115; see
under name of each sacrament.
Minor, right to property, I, 352 ;
emancipated, 354 ; contracts of,
485.
Missionary rector and curates, I, 630.
Missioner forbidden to trade, I, 617 ;
II, 416.
Mistake in contract, I, 481.
Mixed marriage, II, 309; how cele-
brated, 310 ff.
Money, a fungible, I, 514; capital,
516; price of, 516.
Monopoly, I, 535 ; when wrong, 536.
Morality, what, I, 41 ; norm of, 42 ;
in will, 43 ; sources of, 45.
570
INDEX
Moral theology, its task, I, 5, 18,
119, 588 ; short history of, 510.
Morose pleasure, malice of, I, 150;
in past sins, 151 ; in the un-
married, 152; in evil as cause
of good, 152; in married, II,
365.
Morphia, I, 163.
Motus primo-primus, I, 19.
Murder, see Homicide. Impedi-
ment of marriage, II, 315.
Mutilation, I, 303.
Mutuum, I, 512.
Natural, acts, I, 21.
Necromancy, see Divination.
Negligence, slight, I, 27, 409, 410;
degrees of, 539.
Neophyte, not subject for Orders,
II, 246.
Notary public, I, 592.
Novel reading, I, 337.
Nuns, confessors of, II, 189 ff . ;
enclosure of, I, 654 ; II, 405.
Nuptial blessing, II, 274 ff.
•Oath, I, 240 ; conditions for, 241 ;
breach of, 242 ; interpretation of,
243; missionary, 244; under
fear, 244 ; ceases to bind, 244.
Obedience, I, 657 ; vow of, 658 ;
sins against, 659 ; solemn and
simple vow of, 659 ; canonical,
634; II, 249.
Object and morality of act, I, 45.
Obligation of law, I, 97 ; on what it
depends, 97 ; grave or light, 98 ;
time for fulfilling, 100.
Occasions of sin, II, 220; and con-
fession, 220 ; proximate, I, 99.
Occult compensation, I, 452.
Occupation as title to property, I,
370.
Oddfellows, forbidden, II, 400.
Offerings of faithful, I, 363 ff . ; at
Easter, Christmas, 368.
Oils, kinds of holy, II, 68.
Omission, sin of, I, 28 ; its guilt
when contracted, 29.
Onanismus, II, 363.
Opinion, I, 63 ; probable, 69.
"Options," I, 560.
Ordeals, I, 225.
Orders, sacred, open to married
men, I, 602 ; sacrament of,
II, 241 ; major and minor, 241 •
Orders — {continued) .
matter of, 242; minister of, 244;
subject of, 246 ; knowledge re-
quired for, 246 ; when conferred,
247; title for, 249; impediment
of marriage, 307.
Ovaries, removal of, and marriage,
II, 295.
Ownership, I, 344; absolute and
qualified, 344; objects of, 345;
and vow of poverty, 649.
Parent, duty to children, I, 274 ;
authority over children, 281 ;
and children's property, 282;
and illegitimate children, 283 ;
consent to child's marriage, II,
257.
Parish priests not legislators, I, 87 ;
dispensing power of, 113; duties
of, 626, 630; none in U.S., 628;
nor in England, 630 ; residence
of, 630; preach, 631; catechize,
632; visit flock, 632; and Mass
for people, 633 ; and marriage
law, II, 252, 326, 332.
Parochial, system, I, 626 ; sacra-
ments, 627.
Partner in injustice, I, 421.
Partnership, I, 548; dissolved, 550.
Passion and sin, I, 35.
Pastors, support of, I, 580.
Patriotism, I, 270, 298.
Patron saint, I, 565.
Pauline privilege, II, 280.
Pawnbrokers, I, 541.
Peculium of Religious, I, 652.
Penalty, when incurred, I, 123 ;
ecclesiastical, II, 384.
Penance, see Satisfaction. Virtue
of, II, 143 ; sacrament of, 144 ;
a judicial process, 145 ; effects of,
145 ; necessity of, 146 ; remote
matter of, 148 ; proximate matter
of, 149 ; unformed sacrament of,
159 ; form of, 175 ; minister of,
178.
Peregrini, see Strangers.
Perjury, I, 241.
Perpetuities, rule against, I, 504.
Picketing in strike, I, 428.
Planchette, I, 220.
Pleasure as motive not sinful, I, 50.
Pledge, I, 540.
Poaching, I, 373.
Policy in insurance, I, 554.
INDEX
571
Pollutio, I, 330; ejus malitia, 331;
in somno, 332 ; apud mulieres,
332 ; apud impuberes, 333 ; fre-
quens ex causa levi, 333 ; con-
jugis, II, 363.
Pollution of church, II, 132.
Poor not to be denied spiritual
rights, I, 581 ; alms due to, 190.
Pope, legislator, I, 85 ; dispensing
power, 112; constitutions of, 120;
dispenses in ratified marriages,
II, 279; intention of, 450.
Porro, I, 315.
Possession, principle of, I, 65.
Possessor in good faith, I, 400 ; in
bad faith, 404 ; in doubtful faith,
406.
Poverty, religious, I, 648 ; effects of
vow of, 649 ; sins against, 651 ;
administration of property not
against, 652.
Prayer, I, 209 ff . ; necessity of, 209 ;
conditions for being heard, 210;
to whom and for whom, 211; £<Jr
Pope's intention, II, 450.
Precedence, I, 130.
Precept, I, 83 ; of Church, 563.
Premium, I, 554.
Prescription, I, 376 ; conditions for,
377 ; when right extinguished by,
380; in U.S., 380 ff.
Presumption (conjecture), I, 66;
(vice), 156; against hope, 178.
Previous marriage, II, 296 ; second
marriage unlawfullv contracted,
297.
Price, I, 522; just, 523 f . ; in
special cases, 524.
Pride, I, 154 ; malice of, 155.
Priests without charge, I, 634 ;
bound to diocese, 634 ; qualifi-
cations for ordination, 635 ; II,
246; and Mass, I, 637.
Principle of double effect, I, 25.
Privilege, I, 129 ; personal and real,
129 ; interpretation of, 130 ; ceases,
130; of canon, 130; of forum,
131; II, 393; of religious, 131.
Prize, got by unjust means, I, 411 ;
in war, 321.
Probable opinion, I, 69; intrinsic
and extrinsic, 69, 74; in ad-
ministering sacraments, II, 31.
Probabilism, and Church, I, 70, 73 ;
not ideal of Christian life, 74 ;
limitation of, 75.
Prodigality, I, 158.
Profession, religious, I, 646 ; sol-
emn, dissolves ratified marriage,
II, 279.
Prohibition of marriage, II, 288.
Promise, I, 496 ; obligation of,
497; ceases, 497.
Property, private, I, 349 ; who
may own, 350 ; of minors, 352 ;
of married women, 354 ; of
Church, 358, 363 ff. ; immediate
owner of Church, 359 ; alienation
of Church, 360 ; of clerics, 361 ff. ;
title to, 370 ; in wild animals,
372; found, 372.
Propositions condemned by Holy
See, teaching, II, 397.
Prosecution, when to be under-
taken, I, 593.
Puberty, II, 295.
Public propriety, impediment of
marriage, II, 306.
Pupil, duties of, I, 296.
Pusillanimity, I, 155.
Rape, I, 329.
Raptus, see Abduction.
Rash judgments, I, 456.
Recidivists, II, 218 ff.
Referee, II, 588.
Reflex principles for forming con-
science, I, 65.
Regulars, and ordaining bishop, II,
245; exemption of, I, 94, 131.
Relatives, duties of, I, 284.
Relics, and images of saints wor-
shiped, I, 214; false, 214, 215;
extracting from catacombs, II,
407.
Religion, virtue of, I, 208.
Religious, and contractual capacity,
I, 484; state, 638; end of, 640;
obligations of, 640 ; who may
become, 643 ff . ; profession, 646 ;
confessors of, II, 188 ; on jour-
ney, 189 ; dismissed suspended,
419.
Religious prelates, legislators, I,
86; dispersing power of, 113.
Remedies for sin, II, 218.
Reputation, property in, I, 346.
Reserved cases, IT, 192; of Pope,
192 ; of bishops, 193 ff . ; of reli-
gious, 202 ; conditions for, 202 ;
who incur, 202 ; absolution of, 204
ff . ; censure, 373.
572
INDEX
Residence of bishops, I, 621 ; of
parish priests, 630.
Restitution, I, 398; roots of, 399;
for damage done, 408 ff. ; when
cause uncertain, 412; for spiritual
damage, 413 ; in another kind
of good, 414; for slander and
detraction, 414, 461 ; for bodily
injury, 415 ; for loss of chastity,
416; for adultery, 416; made
to whom, 424 ; how much, 426
in solidum, 427 ; order in, 428
manner of, 435 ; by post, 435
time and place of, 436; excused,
437 ; by confessors, II, 226.
Revenge, I, 159.
"Rigging " market, I, 561.
Right, I, 343 ; in re and ad rem, 343 ;
inalienable, 388.
Rigorism, I, 70.
"Rings," I, 537.
Robbery, I, 387.
Rubrics in Mass, II, 140.
Rule of religious, obligation of, I,
641.
Sabbath day, I, 257.
Sacrament, nature of, II, 15 ; of Old
and New Law, 16 ; confers grace
ex opere operato, 16 ; seven in
number, 17 ; require dispositions,
17; unformed revive, 18; neces-
sary, 20 ; matter and form of,
21 ; administered conditionally,
25 ; minister of, 27 ; obligation
to administer, 35 f . ; how ad-
ministered, 37 ; denied to un-
worthy, 37 ; simulation of, 40 ;
recipient of, 41 ; dispositions for
receiving, 41 ff. ; schismatic
minister of, 45 ; asked for from
bad priest, I, 204.
Sacramentals, II, 16.
Sacred, objects, I, 226 ; vessels to
be handled by clerics, 230.
Sacrifice, nature of, II, 114.
Sacrilege, I, 226 ff . ; kinds of, 227,
229; personal, 227; local, 228;
real, 229 ; and confession, II, 167.
Sadness at good, I, 152.
Sale, of property of another, I, 401 ;
of goods, 520 ff . ; defects in thing
sold, 522 ; when property passes,
525 ; title to goods, 527 ; ex-
ecution of, 528; of real estate,
530; by auction, 533; of dan-
gerous or immoral objects, 205 ;
of drink to the drunken, 205.
Satisfaction in Penance, II, 171 ;
works enjoined as, 172; accepted
by penitent, 172; how fulfilled,
173 ; commuted, 174.
Scandal, I, 198; kinds of, 198;
malice of, 198; passive to be
avoided, 200.
Scapulars and pious objects, I, 216.
Schismatics excommunicated, II,
391.
Schoolmasters, duties of, I, 296.
Schools, non-Catholic, I, 276; in
U.S., 280.
Scrupulous conscience, I, 76 ; evils
of, 76; signs of, 77; causes of,
77; remedies of, 78.
Seal of confession, II, 228; who
bound by, 229; matter of, 231;
how broken, 231.
Secret, commissions, I, 545 ; societies
forbidden under excommunica-
tion, II, 399.
Secrets, I, 470 ; cease to bind, 471 ;
privileged, 473.
Separation a toro et mensa, II, 281.
Servants, duty to master, I, 289 ;
and master's property, 290 ; rights
of, 291 ; contract, how dissolved,
295.
Servile work, I, 264; what excuses,
266.
Simony, I, 231; kinds of, 233;
malice of, 233 ; penalties of, 234 ;
II, 405.
Simulation of sacrament, II, 40.
Sin, I, 133 ; kinds of, 134 ; con-
ditions for, 134; mortal and
venial, 136 ff . ; venial, disposes to
mortal, 139 ; deliberation to
commit, 140 ; species of, 141 ;
numerical distinction of, 143 ;
total object in, 143 ; of thought,
149 ; capital or deadly, 154 ;
making known secret, 460 ; for-
given directly and indirectly, II,
146 ; venial, how confessed, 150 f. ;
doubtful as matter of confession,
151 ff . ; of superiors, 168; guilt
and penalty of, 443.
Slander, I, 458.
Slavery, I, 348; impediment of
marriage, II, 319.
Sloth, I, 161.
Smegma, I, 331.
INDEX
573
Socialism, see Collectivism.
Sodomia, I, 333.
Soldiers and war, I, 321.
Solicitation, malice of, I, 200.
Sollicitaiio, in confession, II, 210;
poence contra, 211 ; onus con-
fessarii, 212; falsa accusatio, 205,
213; denuncianda sub poena, 411.
Sons of Temperance, forbidden
society, 11, 400.
Specification, I, 375.
Spells, I, 221.
Spiritism, I, 220.
Spiritual relationship, impediment
of marriage, II, 303; manifold,
304.
Sponsors in Baptism, II, 59 ; who
may be, 60 ; by proxy, 61 ; in
Confirmation, 73.
State and labor questions, I, 294.
Stipends for Mass not simony, I, 234 ;
whose property, 368 ; obligation
arising from, II, 123 ; amount of,
125 ; collecting, 406 ; unlawful
dealing with, 409 ; penalty of
irregularity incurred, 438.
Stolen fees not simony, I, 234;
whose property, 368.
Stolen goods, sale of, I, 402 ; res-
titution for, 405 ; partner in, 421.
Strangers, and marriage, II, 330 ;
and law, I, 94.
Strikes, I, 294 ; picketing in, 428.
Stuprum, see Criminal Assault.
Subject of sacraments, II, 41 ; dis-
positions of, 41 ff. ; of baptism,
62 ; see name of each sacrament.
Suicide, unlawful, I, 302 ; indirect,
303.
Sunday, to be kept holy, I, 257;
servile work on, 264 ; trading on,
265 ; judicial proceedings on,
265 ; civil law regarding, 265.
Supernatural acts, I, 21.
Superstition, I, 215 ff.
"Superstitious uses," I, 504.
Suspension, II, 380 ff . ; ex informata
conscientia, 381 ; sometimes not
a censure, 381 ; in particular,
418; Religious dismissed, 419.
Suspicion, I, 63.
Table-turning, I, 220.
Tempting God, I, 224.
Tenant's improvements, I, 375;
obligations and rights. 552.
Ten commandments, see Decalogue.
Theater-going, I, 206; forbidden
to clerics, 614 ; under censure, II,
420.
Theft, I, 389 ; malice of, 390 ; grave
matter in, 390 ff . ; in U.S., 391
ff . ; when matter coalesces, 396 ;
of what is specially prized, 397 ;
sacrilegious, 229.
Theological virtues, I, 165 ff.
Title (to property), I, 370, 527; by
occupation, 370; accession, 374:
prescription, 376 ; (for ordination),
II, 249.
Tonsure of clerics, I, 604 ; II, 242.
Trading forbidden to clerics, I,
615 ; in itself not sinful, 616 ;
gravity of prohibition, 617 ; spe-
cially forbidden to missionaries,
II, 416.
Treasure of Church in indulgences,
II, 445.
Treasure-trove, I, 372.
Trusts and bequests, I, 504; (con-
bines), 537.
Truth, right to, I, 467; require-
ments of, 469.
Undue influence, I, 483.
University, non-Catholic, I, 277 ;
in U.S., 278 ff.
Use, I, 21 ; custom, 107.
Usury, I, 515; laws against, 519.
Vagi, I, 94; II, 331.
Vainglorv, I, 157.
Value, I,' 523.
Vendors and purchasers, I, 531.
Vengeance, belongs to public au-
thority, I, 159, 308.
Vestments for Mass, II, 138.
Violence, I, 40.
Visitation of diocese, I, 622.
Vocation to priesthood, I, 635 ; to
religious life, 642.
Voluntary actions, I, 23 ; divisions
of, 23 ; obstacles to, 30.
Vote at elections, I, 298.
Vow, violation of, a sacrilege, I,
228; nature of, 246; kinds of,
247 ; mistake in, 247 ; from fear,
248; time for fulfilling, 248;
obligation of, 249 ; who bound by,
250; sometimes binds to part
of obligation, 250 ; ceases, 251 ;
annulment of, 251 ; who can
574
INDEX
Vow — {continued) .
annul, 252 ; dispensation from,
253; reserved, 254; chastity
commuted, 255 ; commutation of,
255; religious, 638; prohibitory
impediment of marriage, II, 290
f. ; diriment impediment, 307.
Wage of workmen, I, 292 ff.
Wager, see Bet.
War sometimes lawful, I, 319 ;
conditions for just, 320; what
allowed in, 321 ; booty in, 322 ;
restitution for unjust, 428.
Warranty, I, 521.
Wife, subject to husband, I, 287 ;
proper ty rights of, 354 ff . ; can
make will, 357.
Will, I, 500 ; origin of power to
make, 500 ; formalities of, 501 ;
in U.S., 501 ; nuncupative, 502 ;
who may make, 506 ; in U.S.,
507 ; under fear, 507 ; of married
women, 507 ; freedom of testa-
mentary disposition, 508; how
revoked, 508 ; execution of, 509 ;
obligation to make, 508 ; probate
of, 510.
Wish, I, 20.
Witchcraft, I, 221.
Witness, I, 594 ; one sufficient evi-
dence of fact, 595 ; for marriage,
II, 331.
Worship, I, 212; kinds of, 212;
objects of private, 213; object a
of public, 213.
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A copy of "Catholic. Books in English" now in print in America and Europe
will be sent on receipt of 50 cents. Bound in cloth, it contains over 5,000 titles
and over 300 illustrations of authors. Supplements will be issued from time to
time to make the catalogue as complete as possible, and these will be furnished
free of charge to those ordering "Catholic Books in English."
fill IBBHlSi nlB"*3 UNIVERSITY
3 1197 21030 2904
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