Question XXIV: Whether parents or guardians can annul all the vows of their children under the age of puberty

It is TO BE NOTED first, that there is a threefold vow. One is Personal, which regards the person alone, as vows of chastity, of religion, and of fasting. Another is purely Real, which is fulfilled by things alone, or expenses, as a vow of almsgiving. The third is Mixed, which is fulfilled jointly by the labor of the person and by expense, as a Vow of pilgrimage.

It is TO BE NOTED secondly, that there is a threefold limit of age. The first is infancy, in which there is no use of reason, which commonly lasts until the seventh completed year, as all concede with D. Bonav. in 4. dist. 36. ex 2. quaest. 2. and it is proved leg. si infanti, §. vet. iuncta leg. potuit, Cod. de inre deliber. et leg. in sponsal. contrahendis fine, ff. de sponsal. an age is imposed on betrothals, so that it not be before the completed seventh year, because before that the completed use of reason is not presumed, as D. Bonaventure notes, quaest. 2. fundamento secundo.

Although however the use of reason comes to some sooner, and to others later; yet the law prescribes from what happens for the most part, as S. Bonaventure notes, loco cit. in corpore, and therefore in doubt one must stand by the legal presumption. Thus Sanchez also notes, lib. 1. de matrim. disp. 16. num. 10. citing Ioan. Andr. cap. iuvenis de sponsal. num. 9. where Anchar. num. 4. Naevo num. 19. Henricus cap. accessit. de despons. impuber. among the Theologians however he cites only Lopez 2. part. Instruct. de matrim. cap. 37. fol. 1019.

The SECOND limit of the question is impuberty: it begins from the use of reason up to the term which is called puberty, which in females is in the twelfth completed year; in males truly in the fourteenth completed year.

But why the female matures sooner, Sanchez says lib. 4. summa, cap. 35. num. 3. she is learnedly taught by Tiraquel. lib. 6. connubiali, num. 38. Guttier. authent. sacramenta puberum, num. 1. et 2. Cod. si adversus venditionem, Sfortia Oddone Tract. de restit. in integr. part. 1. quaest. 2. art. 4. S. Bonaventure indeed learnedly hands this down, dist. citata 36. quaest. 1. ad ultimum.

The FIRST reason is, because the resolution of the physical quality occurs sooner owing to the wider passages of the female.

The SECOND, because it is harder to act than to undergo.

The THIRD, because nature, imperfect in the woman, desires the man, as matter desires form; whence, on account of the greater desire arising from the indigence of nature, there is a greater acceleration.

BEFORE this age, however, man and woman are called wards, and are called impuberes. It is established from the lege final. Cod. quando tutor. and cap. Puella, 20. quaest. 2.

The THIRD limit is from puberty up to the twenty-fifth completed year, by which they are called minors leg. 1. Cod. si minor se maiorem dixerit. These years, both of puberty and of minority, must all be completed from moment to moment; so is minority of age regulated, leg. 3. §. minorem, ff. de minoribus. It is computed moreover from the day of birth, as Couar. notes, 4. decret. 2. part. cap. 8. §. 2. and Mandosius de aetate minori cap. 1. num. 25.

The FIRST opinion therefore is that of Vivaldi in candelabro 3. part. cap. 14. num. 99.: that a Father can annul all the real vows of his sons and daughters while impuberate, yet not all the personal ones, but only those prejudicial to himself.

BUT D. Bonaventure holds the opposite universally, loco cit. whom Palac. follows, 4. dist. 38. disput. 23. col. 23. Azor. Tom. 1. lib. 11. cap. 17. quaestio 7. Philiarc. Tom. 1. part. 2. lib. 3. cap. 18. Sayrus lib. 6. cap. 10. num. 24. Suarez Tom. 2. de relig. tract. de voto, lib. 6. cap. 6. num. 4. Sanchez lib. 4. summae, capite 35. numero 8. Bassaeus V. Votum 5. num. 13. and the rest among them.

I ASSERT with this opinion, which is common to all, except Vivaldo.

It is PROVED first from cap. 30. Numer. cap. mulier 32. quaest. 2. and the Council of Toledo 10. cap. 6. and it is reported in cap. 1. 20. quaest. 2. and the Council of Tribur cap. 24. and it is reported in 2. 20. quaest. 2.

It is PROVED by reason by D. Bonaventure, because the impuberes, from the weakness of their state, are subject to the governance of their life by their parents and tutors, lest they imprudently govern themselves in the grave business of vows. So it is proved also by others after him.

It is CONFIRMED by D. Bonaventure in 3. dist. 20. quaest. 3. ad ultimum, because a tutor can better the condition of his ward, where the power of the ward is lacking.