Chapter XXXV: Part 35

[1609] For the varying legislation on this subject the reader may refer to C. Beneventan. ann. 1693 Tit. XVIII. c. iii. (Collect. Lacens. I. 44).—Synod. Bahiens. ann. 1707 Lib. III. (I. 854).—C. Tarracon. ann. 1717 c. XXXI. (I. 779).—C. Avenionens. ann. 1725 Tit. XXXVII. c. iii. (I. 554).—Synod. Firmanens. ann. 1726 Tit. IX. (I. 599).—C. Ebredunens. ann. 1727 c. v. No. 5 (I. 626).—Synod. Nat. Hungar. ann. 1822 De Discip. renov. 3 (V. 940).—C. Baltimor. IV. ann. 1840 Decr. X. (III. 72).—Conv. Episcc. Mediolan. ann. 1849 Sess. III. No. 18 (VI. 717).—C. Turon. ann. 1849 Decr. XI. i. (IV. 268-9).—C. Avenionens. ann. 1849 Tit. VI. c. v. No. 16 (IV. 348).—C. Remens. ann. 1849 Tit. XII. c. ii. (IV. 129).—C. Albiens. ann. 1850 Tit. I. Decr. v. No. 1 (IV. 411).—C. Burdigal. ann. 1850 T. IV. c. xii. No. 3 (IV. 588).—C. Bituricens. ann. 1850 Tit. VI. (IV. 1122).—C. Tolosan. ann. 1850 Tit. IV. c. iv. No. 126 (IV. 1069).—C. Senonens. ann. 1850 Tit. IV. c. iv. (IV. 904).—C. Aquens. ann. 1850 Tit. V. § 2. c. ix. No. 1 (IV. 985).—C. Rothomag. ann. 1850 Decr. XI. No. 3-5 (IV. 525).—C. Lugdunens. ann. 1850 Decr. XVIII. No. 1-3 (IV. 475).—Synod. Thurlesiens. ann. 1850 Decr. XVII. No. 14 (III. 785).—Conv. Epp. Lauretan. ann. 1850 Sect. I. v. (VI. 778).—Conv. Epp. Siciliæ Tit. II. c. i. No. 9 (VI. 815).—C. Auscitan. ann. 1851 Tit. IV. c. i. No. 147 (IV. 1200).—C. Quebecens. I. ann. 1851 Decr. XIV. (III. 615).—C. Westmonasteriens. I. ann. 1852 Decr. XXIV. No. 4 (III. 939).—C. Quebecens. II. ann. 1854 Decr. XIV. No. 20 (III. 652).—C. Armacens. ann. 1854 Decr. XXIII. (III. 852).—C. Portus Hispaniæ ann. 1854 Sect. II. No. 5 (III. 1100-1).—C. Ravennat. ann. 1855 P. IV. c. iv. No. 3 (VI. 198).—C. Seti. Ludovici II. ann. 1858 Decr. VII. (III. 318).—C. Viennens. ann. 1858 Tit. V. c. vi. (V. 197).—C. Strigonens. ann. 1858 Tit. VI. No. 9 (V. 53).—C. Venetic. ann. 1859 P. II. c. xvii. No. 10-11 (VI. 317).—C. Urbinatens. ann. 1859 P. II. Tit. vii. No. 148 (VI. 51).—C. Pragens. ann. 1860 Tit. I. c. vi. No. 1 (V. 426).—C. Coloniens. ann. 1860 Tit. II. c. xxxiv., xxxviii. (V. 378-80).—C. Cincinnatiens. III. ann. 1861 Decr. IX. (III. 226).—C. Coloniens. ann. 1863 Tit. IV. c. iv. (V. 670).—C. Quitens. ann. 1869 Decr. IV. No. 2 (VI. 403).—C. Ultrajectens. ann 1865 Tit. VIII. c. iv. (V. 905).—C. Pl. Baltimor. II. ann. 1866 Tit. III. c. vi. No. 164 (III. 446).—C. Halifaxiens. ann. 1868 Decr. XVIII. (III. 751).

[1610] De Sacerdotum Cœlibatu Doctrina Varsoviæ, 1801 pp. 62-3.

[1611] See previous note for warnings of this kind. The council of Ausch, in 1851, even ventures to allude to the grave inconveniences which may arise from the residence of a sister or aunt, if young, and if there is not also the mother or a female servant in the house.

[1612] Helsen, Avis à l’Archevêque de Malines, Monseigneur Sterckx, sur les abus du Célibat des Prêtres, 4to. Bruxelles, 1833.

[1613] Helsen, pp. 19-20.

[1614] Ibid. pp. 74-5.

[1615] Helsen, pp. 13, 16, 18, 100.

[1616] The comparative strength of the ecclesiastical militia is an important element in considering the condition of the church and its influence on the laity. I have already quoted statistics with regard to France, Belgium, and Austria, and will here append those for some of the other states and cities of Europe as given by Prof. von Schulte in his work on the Newer Catholic Orders (N. Y. Nation, Aug. 1st, 1872, p. 75).

Prussia, one ecclesiastic for every 584 Catholics, of all ages.

Bavaria, one for every 300 Catholics.

Germany at large, one for every 481.

Aix-la-Chapelle, one for every 110.

Cologne, one for every 313.

Münster, one for every 61.

Trèves, one for every 56.

Paderborn, one for every 33.

In the old Kingdom of Naples, by the census of 1842, there were 55,167 ecclesiastics in a population of 6,145,492, making a proportion of one to 112 (Penka, Uberior Cœlibatus Sacerdotalis Expositio, Cracoviæ, 1846).

[1617] In Italia libido non est probrosa.—P. Dens Theolog. No. 100 de jure et justitia. (ap. Helsen, p. 10). Dens died in 1775.

[1618] L’Esaminatore, Firenze, 15 Settemb. 1867.

[1619] Prota, Matrimonio Civile, Napoli, 1864, p. 44.

[1620] L’Esaminatore, 15 Oct. 1867.

[1621] Panzini, Pubblica Confessione, pp. 101, 357.

[1622] Report to the Italian Committee of the American Episcopal Church (The Episcopalian, Phila., Sept. 11th, 1867).

[1623] C. Baltimor. I. ann. 1829 Decr. XXV. (Collect. Lacens. III. 30-1).—C. Baltimor. V. ann. 1843 Decr. IX. (III. 90).—C. Australiens. I. ann. 1844 Decr. XII. (III. 1051).—C. Thurlesens. ann. 1850 Decr. XII. 41 (III. 782).—C. Rothomagens. ann. 1850 Decr. XVII. 3 (IV. 530).—C. Tolosan. ann. 1850 Tit. III. c. i. No. 70 (IV. 1054).—C. Casseliens. ann. 1853 Tit. III. (III. 837).—C. Tuamens. ann. 1854 Decr. VIII. (III. 860).—C. Quebecens. II. ann. 1854 Decr. IX. § 7 (III. 639).—C. Port. Hispaniæ ann. 1854 Art. IV. No. 1, 2 (III. 1098).—C. Halifaxiens. I. ann. 1857 Decr. XIV. (III. 745).—C. Viennens. ann. 1858 Tit. III. c. vii. (V. 169).—C. Coloniens. ann. 1860 Tit. II. c. XV. (V. 351).—C. Pragens. ann. 1860 Tit. IV. c. vii.; Tit. V. c. viii. (V. 508, 543).—Synod. Ultraject. ann. 1865 Tit. IV. c. viii. (V. 830).—C. Plen. Baltimor. II. ann. 1866 App. X. (III. 553).

[1624] Helsen, Abus du Celibat, p. 85.

[1625] C. Tuamens. ann. 1817 Decr. XVII. (Collect. Lacens. III. 765).—C. Australiens. I. ann. 1844 Decr. XII. (III. 1052-3).—C. Remens. ann. 1857 c. VI. No. 27 (IV. 211).

[1626] Instruct. S. Inquisit. Roman. Feb. 20, 1867, No. 7, 11-14 (Collect. Lacens. III. 553-6).

[1627] For an extract from a modern manual of the confessional “de agendi ratione confessarii erga conjugatos et conjugendos,” see Bouvet, De la Confession et du Célibat des Prêtres, Paris, 1845, pp. 290-6. It will be remembered what excitement was aroused in the British House of Commons a few years since, when a member produced and read a very much less objectionable form prepared for use by “Anglican priests.”

[1628] Bouvet, p. 516.

[1629] Lasteyrie, Hist. of Auricular Confession, II. 38-45.

[1630] Wahu, op. cit. p. 423.

[1631] Sauvestre, op. cit. p. 144. It is by this policy that the church renders itself responsible for the evil committed by its members. No human organization is without its share of the weak or vicious, and there is no lack of scandals in the Protestant denominations; but in these there is a wholesome jealousy which usually seeks at once to cast out and punish the offender. Thus, when, in July, 1867, the Rev. Mr. Wendt, at an orphan institution near Philadelphia, was discovered to be tampering with the virtue of the children under his charge, those who were most nearly connected with the management of the asylum were the first to take steps for his prosecution, and, as soon as the necessary legal proceedings could be had, he was undergoing a sentence of fifteen years’ solitary confinement, without a voice being raised in palliation of his crime.

[1632] Op. cit. pp. 138-44.

[1633] One result of this is that there is a large number of priests, summarily deprived by their bishops of the ministry, who seek the great cities to hide their poverty or find some miserable means of support. As all requests for dispensation to marry are refused, they mostly live in concubinage and their offspring go to swell the ranks of the dangerous classes. See Chavard, Le Célibat des Prêtres, pp. 542-48.

[1634] Wahu, op. cit. pp. 154-55.

[1635] Syllab. Dec. 1864 No. xix., xlii., liv., lv.

[1636] Clement. PP. VIII. Instruct. super aliquibus ritibus Græcorum, A. D. 1595, § V. No. 27.—Benedict. PP. XIV. Bull. Etsi Pastoralis, A.D. 1742, § VII. No. 16, 27, 28 (Concil. Collect. Lacens. II. 449, 517).