170. Excommunication on Account of Abduction

"Whether those who abduct girls, betrothed by their parents to a gentile man, against their will, and bring them to the house of the bridegroom, incur the penalty of excommunication?

R. Either the betrothals were entered by the parents before the girls obtained the use of reason, and it is not established that after the use of reason they confirmed and ratified them; since these betrothals are altogether void, surely those who offer counsel, aid, or favor to the abduction of these virgins are excommunicated by the law itself, according to chapter 6, session 24, de Ref. Matr., Council of Trent. But otherwise, if the betrothals were either first entered with their consent, or afterward confirmed, and therefore are reputed firm and valid; for those who drag the bride by force to the bridegroom are not subjected to the penalties of abductors, although she is unwilling and refusing." S. C. de P. F., Apr. 17, 1784, Collect. n. 1418; I. M. 1024, 1212.