On the Constitution *Apostolicae Sedis*

"The doubt having been proposed whether Orientals are subject to the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis, published by Pius IX, of happy memory, under date of 12 October 1869, the Supreme Congregation of the Holy Office, with the subsequent approval of the Holiness of Our Lord, declared as follows on Wednesday, 15 July of the current year:

"I. Through the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis, nothing was changed concerning censures and their reservations for the faithful of the Oriental rites.

"II. The same faithful are subject to all censures enacted by the Apostolic See in matters of dogma and in Constitutions in which provision is implicitly made concerning them, namely, where the matter itself shows that they are included, insofar as there is question not of a merely ecclesiastical law, but the natural and divine law is declared.

"The aforesaid Supreme Congregation furthermore wills that, through the Most Reverend Apostolic Delegates, these provisions be notified to all patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops of the Oriental rite included in their respective delegation, and that they be reminded: 'that those faithful are subject by name not only to the censures, but also to the Apostolic reservations enacted in the Constitution Sacramentum Poenitentiae of Benedict XIV and in the Constitutions against those enrolled in the Masonic sect and other similar sects.'" Encyclical Letter to the Apostolic Delegates among the Orientals, Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, 6 August 1885.

"It was declared in the Holy Office, 22 March 1879, that excommunication is contracted by those who enter marriage before a heretical or schismatic minister in sacred orders." M. E., vol. 7, part 2, p. 222.

According to the declaration of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, 12 July 1878, all those incur an excommunication latae sententiae reserved in a special manner to the Supreme Pontiff who, even if they do not adhere to heresy in mind, enroll themselves, even in name only, in a heretical or schismatic sect, whatever its name may be, for whatever cause this may be done. Cf. On the Theological Virtues, no. 367.

"In the faculty of the Sacred Penitentiary, no. 3, the faculty of absolving from censures incurred because of heresy is granted, and an exception is made there in these words: excepting public heretics, or those publicly dogmatizing: 1. Are public heretics who are not dogmatizers included in the aforesaid exception? 2. Likewise, are those included who dogmatize not publicly but privately, namely, now with one listening, now with another, now with a few others, and so on; yet in such a way that, when the reckoning has been made, the number of dogmatizers is found to be very excessive?—To 1. Negative.—To 2. Affirmative, if it is notorious that the heretic spreads false dogmas in the aforesaid manner." Sacred Penitentiary, 3 March 1880.

"In the faculty granted by the Sacred Penitentiary, under no. 3, it is read: of absolving ... excepting public heretics, OR those publicly dogmatizing, from any, etc. It is asked: does the word or explain who the heretics are who are excepted? Or are public heretics excepted, and those who publicly dogmatize?—Response. Through the faculty of the quinquennial form of the Sacred Penitentiary, the power can be granted of absolving heretics, even public ones, provided that they are not dogmatizers." Sacred Penitentiary, 26 March 1894.

"It is not necessary that those who have defected from the Catholic faith, and afterwards desire to return to it, first make a public abjuration; but it is sufficient that they abjure privately before a few, provided, however, that they keep their promises and in fact abstain from communicating with heretics in spiritual matters or from doing anything which is a profession of heresy. The same is to be held concerning those who privately abjure the heresy in which they were educated from the beginning." Holy Office, 28 March 1890; A. S. S., vol. 32, p. 696.

"Whether those knowingly reading periodical publications bound into volumes, having a heretical author and defending heresy, incur the excommunication mentioned in the Bull Apostolicae Sedis of 12 October 1869, among the excommunications reserved in a special manner to the Roman Pontiff, article 2.—Response. Affirmative." Holy Office, 13 January 1892.

"1. Whether those knowingly reading newspapers defending heresy incur the excommunication of the second article of the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis, reserved in a special manner to the Supreme Pontiff?—2. Whether those reading either books properly so called, by any author, or newspapers containing heresy, fall under the censure of the Index renewed and confirmed as above by Pope Pius IX, of holy memory?—Response. To 1. Negative.—To 2. Negative." Sacred Congregation of the Index, 27 April 1881; Holy Office, 21 April 1880.

"Whosoever, having been elected by the vote of the people to the office of parish priest or vicar, dare either to seize the pretended possession of the Church or of its rights and goods, and to discharge the duties of the ecclesiastical ministry, shall by that very fact incur major excommunication peculiarly reserved to the Holy See and the other canonical penalties; and all such persons are to be avoided by the faithful according to the divine admonition, as strangers or thieves, who come only to steal, kill, and destroy." Sacred Congregation of the Council, 23 May 1874.

"Concerning the so-called Italian Catholic Society for the vindication of the rights belonging to the Christian people, and especially to the Roman people, in which the theory that the Roman Pontiff can be elected by the people is professed and propagated: 1. Whether each and every person enrolling in the aforesaid Society, or promoting it, or in any manner favoring or adhering to it, incurs by that very fact the penalty of major excommunication?—2. And, in the affirmative, whether an excommunication of this kind is reserved to the Roman Pontiff?—Response. Having considered all that was set forth, and having examined the nature and purpose of a society of this kind, and having obtained the decision of the Holy Father: To the first: Affirmative. To the second: They incur an excommunication latae sententiae reserved in a special manner to the Roman Pontiff." Sacred Penitentiary, 4 August 1876.

"The chapter Cogentes affects only legislators and other authorities who coerce lay judges, either directly or indirectly, to bring ecclesiastical persons before their tribunal contrary to canonical provisions.—Nevertheless, in those places in which the privilege of the forum has not been derogated by the Supreme Pontiffs, if there is no way there to pursue one's rights except before lay judges, each one is bound first to seek permission from his own Ordinary, so that he may summon clerics in the manner of laymen; and the Ordinaries shall never deny it, especially when they themselves have vainly devoted their effort to reconciling the controversies between the parties. It is not lawful, however, to summon bishops before that forum without the permission of the Apostolic See. And if anyone has dared to bring before a lay judge or judges either a cleric without the permission of the Ordinary, or a bishop without the permission of the Holy See, it shall be within the power of those Ordinaries to punish him, especially if he is a cleric, with penalties and censures ferendae sententiae, as a violator of the privilege of the forum, if they judge this expedient in the Lord." Holy Office, 23 January 1886.

"Whether by acts proceeding from the Apostolic See are designated only acts which proceed immediately from the Holy Father, or also acts which proceed mediately from the Holy Father, or also those which proceed from the Sacred Roman Congregations?—Response. Negative to the first part; affirmative to the second." Holy Office, 13 January 1892.

The absolution of an accomplice is reserved in a most special manner to the Holy See, so that it is excepted even in a general and most ample grant of absolving from all cases, even those under a censure reserved in a special manner to the Supreme Pontiff. Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, 4 April 1871.

The absolution of an accomplice which is treated here concerns the first absolution of the accomplice, namely, one who has not yet been absolved by another confessor from the sin of complicity. By a decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, 29 May 1867, it was declared that a confessor is free to absolve an accomplice who has already been absolved by another confessor from the dishonorable sin of complicity; counsel, however, must always be given to the confessor in question that, unless necessity compels him, he abstain from hearing the sacred confessions of the accomplice, even though already absolved from the sin of complicity.

Under the prohibition of absolving an accomplice in a base matter are included not only touches, but all grave and externally committed sins against chastity, even those which consist in mere conversations and looks that involve complicity. Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, 28 May 1873.

"Whether a confessor who pretends to absolve his male or female accomplice in a base sin, according to the mind of the Bull Apostolicae Sedis, no. 10, for example, by reciting some prayer, or by pronouncing other words, or even by remaining silent, in such a way that by signs or gestures of the hands he seems truly to release the penitent from sins, incurs the excommunication reserved in a special manner to the Supreme Pontiff which is treated in the aforesaid Bull.—Response. Confessors pretending to absolve an accomplice in a base sin do not escape the reserved excommunication in the Bull Sacramentum Poenitentiae of Benedict XIV." Sacred Penitentiary, 1 March 1878.—Consequently, neither do those escape excommunication who pretend to absolve and do not absolve. Holy Office, 5 December 1883.

"Whether he incurs the censures enacted against those absolving an accomplice in a base sin, who indeed absolves an accomplice, but an accomplice who did not declare the sin of complicity in confession.—Response. The deprivation of jurisdiction for absolving an accomplice in a base sin, and the excommunication annexed to it, insofar as the confessor has absolved him, are ordered to the base sin itself in which that same confessor was an accomplice." Sacred Penitentiary, 16 May 1877.

"Confessors do not escape the excommunication reserved in the Bull Sacramentum Poenitentiae who absolve, or pretend to absolve, an accomplice who indeed does not confess the sin of complicity from which he has not yet been absolved, but conducts himself thus because the confessor, either directly or indirectly, induced the penitent to do so." Sacred Penitentiary, 19 February 1896.

"Whether those who absolve an accomplice in a base matter with crass and supine ignorance incur this excommunication or not?—Response. In the case proposed, they incur it." Holy Office, 13 January 1892.

Thieves who steal the fruits of benefices are not included under the censure of article 11, reserved in a special manner to the Supreme Pontiff. Holy Office, 9 March 1870.

On the contrary, the followers of the clerical-liberal society, or society for the emancipation of the clergy, incur it; they devote their effort to the popular election of sacred ministers; and although they are rightly numbered among schismatics, the Sacred Congregation of the Council taught in the Instruction to all the Ordinaries of Italy, 24 January 1878, that they are to be condemned under this article 11 also, as under article 6. Cf. no. 1166.

Cf. nos. 799, 800.

"1. Can a physician asked by duelists attend the duel with the intention of bringing the combat to a swift end, or merely of binding and treating wounds, without incurring the excommunication simply reserved to the Supreme Pontiff?—2. Can he at least, without being present at the duel, remain in a nearby house or place, close at hand and ready to furnish his services if the duelists need them?—3. What of a confessor under the same conditions?—Response. To 1. He cannot, and the excommunication is incurred.—To 2 and 3. Insofar as this is done by agreement, likewise he cannot, and the excommunication is incurred." Holy Office, 28 May 1884.

"The American or Irish Society called the Fenians is included among the societies forbidden and condemned in the Constitutions of the Supreme Pontiffs, and especially in the most recent one of His Holiness, published on 12 October 1869, beginning Apostolicae Sedis." Holy Office, 12 January 1870.

"1. Whether the society called the Independent Order of Good Templars is subject to the excommunication enacted against secret societies in the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis?—And, in the negative: 2. Whether it is forbidden under grave sin to enroll in that society?—Response. To 1. Deferred.—To 2. Affirmative, or the faithful are to be deterred from enrolling in this society." Holy Office, 9 August 1893; Apostolic Prefect of Norway.

"It cannot be doubted that Catholics who attend dances and other entertainments customarily held by members of the Masonic society, and by them as such, are made guilty of grave sin. The Pontifical Constitution forbids, under the penalty of excommunication incurred by the fact itself and reserved to the Holy See, that any favor whatsoever be furnished to the Masonic sect or to another society of the same kind; and therefore this is to be held as a certain rule for judging whether and when Catholics have in fact fallen under the aforesaid excommunication: namely, that one must carefully weigh the benefit and advantage which the condemned society and its adherents, as such, derive or can derive from intervention and attendance of this kind on the part of those Catholics. Hence it is to be held that Catholics are bound by the censure in the case in which their presence and participation in gatherings of this kind in fact brings some benefit to the same sect or to its followers." Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, 15 July 1876.

"1. Are occult chiefs and leaders of the Masonic sect to be denounced according to the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis, when they are publicly known as Freemasons, but are not publicly known as chiefs or leaders of this Masonic sect? 2. Does the obligation of denunciation cease in those regions in which the Freemasons, and therefore their chiefs, are tolerated by the civil government and cannot be punished by ecclesiastical authority or restrained in any way?—Response. To 1. Affirmative.—To 2. Negative." Holy Office, 19 April 1893.

"Denunciations are to be made to him who by reason of his pastoral office must watch and guard lest the sheep entrusted to him encounter wolves or be infected by pestilence; such is anyone who holds an episcopal or quasi-episcopal office in the missions, namely, a vicar or Apostolic Prefect, or one deputed by them for this purpose." Instruction of the Holy Office, 1 February 1871.

It was declared, with the approval of Our Most Holy Lord, that Orientals are included in the Pontifical Constitutions enacted against clandestine sects, also with respect to the penalties inflicted in those Constitutions. Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, 1867.

The following proposition was proscribed by Pius IX: "The Apostolic Constitutions by which clandestine societies are condemned, whether or not an oath to preserve secrecy is required in them, and their followers and supporters are punished with anathema, have no force in those regions of the world where associations of this kind are tolerated by the civil Government." Encyclical Quanta cura, 8 December 1864.

"Ecclesiastical penalties have been enacted by very many Roman Pontiffs against those who should enroll in the society which they call the Freemasons and should take an oath in their conventicles to preserve secrecy.

"A doubt arises whether those who, although they repent of the oath taken, nevertheless, by communicating with the others adhering to the same sect, or by attending their conventicles, or in any other way, persevere in openly exhibiting themselves as true devotees of the same Society, can lawfully be admitted by a confessor to participation in the Sacrament of Penance or of the Most Holy Eucharist.—Response. According to what was set forth, it is not lawful." Holy Office, 5 July 1837.

"Let the bishop employ the faculties which are customarily granted to Ordinaries by the Sacred Penitentiary, by force of which both he and other confessors delegated by him can absolve those who enrolled in forbidden sects, whether they are notorious or not; provided that they separate themselves entirely from the respective sect, and at least before the confessor abjure or detest it, scandal having been repaired in the best manner possible and the other things to be imposed by law having been imposed, according to the aforesaid letters of the Sacred Penitentiary." Holy Office, 5 August 1898.

"In this diocese, as also in very many others, departure is granted to them from wholly immemorial custom for grave causes recognized and approved by the bishop, according to the Council of Trent, without any account being taken of the Constitution of Pius V. Whether that particular and immemorial custom is to be regarded as abrogated by the aforesaid new Constitution, or whether it can be continued.—Response. Affirmative to the first part; negative to the second: namely, with respect to the departure of nuns from enclosure, the Constitution Decori of Saint Pius V is to be observed, notwithstanding a contrary custom." Holy Office, 22 December 1880.

"1. Can a bishop, by his own authority, permit women who desire to enter as pensioners to be received into monasteries subject to enclosure?—2. Likewise, can the Ordinary, by his own authority, transfer some nun temporarily or perpetually from one monastery to another, even of the same order, when a just cause intervenes?—3. Finally, can the Ordinary, by his own authority, transfer some nun when she has been elected superior of another monastery, or when he judges such a transfer with this office to be useful and expedient?—Response. Negative in all cases." Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, 16 July 1884; M. E., vol. 3, part 3, p. 181; Bizzarri, pp. 208, 423, ed. 1885.

"Whether those collecting alms of a greater amount for Masses, if they have those Masses celebrated in the same place where they collected them for a smaller amount, incur this censure or not?—Response. Affirmative to the first part.—Negative to the second." Holy Office, 13 January 1892.

1. "How is one to answer a person asking whether an offered office of deputy in the national assembly, which the Italians call the Parliament, can be accepted?—Response. Affirmative, under the following conditions: 1. That, in taking the oath of fidelity and obedience prescribed by law, the deputies-elect add the limitation: saving the divine and ecclesiastical laws. 2. That a limitation of this kind be made expressly in the recitation of the formula of the oath itself, with at least two witnesses hearing it. 3. That the deputies-elect be disposed in mind, and declare, that they will never lend favor and vote to wicked and unjust laws; indeed, that if laws of this kind are proposed, they will openly condemn them."

2. "How may bishops conduct themselves when asked to favor the election of good deputies?—Response. Nothing prevents bishops and Ordinaries, on the occasion of elections, whenever they have been requested to do so, from recalling to the minds of the people that each of the faithful, according to his abilities, is bound to prevent evils and to promote goods." Sacred Penitentiary, 1 December 1866; A. S. S., vol. 2, p. 675.

3. "Ecclesiastical censures according to the Apostolic Letters of 26 March 1860 are incurred by those who formally cooperate in, or adhere to, the rebellion against the Pontifical Dominion. Therefore, in order to ascertain in the forum of conscience whether anyone has incurred the censures, the conscience of each person must be examined by the confessor." Sacred Penitentiary, 10 December 1868, ad 26; A. S. S., vol. 3, p. 565.

There is, however, a more recent letter of the Holy Office to the bishops of Italy; and at present, from among the many other Declarations subsequently published on this matter, it ought to be the norm for all.

"In several dioceses of Italy the opinion has become prevalent that participation at the political ballot boxes is lawful, because the Sacred Penitentiary, when consulted on the subject, replied only non expedire.

"To remove every ambiguity, the Holy Father, having heard the opinion of these Most Eminent Lord Cardinals, General Inquisitors, my colleagues, has ordered it to be declared that the non expedire contains a prohibition. And in communicating this declaration to Your Excellency, I have the duty to add that the Holy Father, in the present circumstances, firmly maintains this prohibition.

"It will be useful for Your Excellency to know the replies given by the Penitentiary in 1883 to the bishops by whom it was consulted, both concerning the sin which is committed and concerning the censures which are contracted in taking part in political elections. Concerning the sin, namely, whether one who went to cast a vote for the election of deputies was to be regarded as guilty of grave fault, the reply was: In particular cases, he shall be guided according to what his conscience and prudence dictate to him, all the circumstances having been considered. Concerning the censures: Whether or not one incurs the censures for political elections depends upon the circumstances of the fact and upon the dispositions of mind of the electors; circumstances and dispositions to be weighed according to the norms given on the subject by good authors.

"And humbly kissing Your Excellency's hands, I declare myself with most profound esteem.—Rome, 30 July 1886. R. Card. Monaco."

"Whether under these words (Those communicating with one excommunicated by name by the Pope, etc.) are also included those excommunicated by the Roman Congregations, at least when approval of the Supreme Pontiff is added to their Decrees?—Response. Negative." Holy Office, 16 June 1894.

"1. What part of the Tridentine censure confirmed by the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis is still in force? This is the same as to ask whether one sinning in a matter touched upon both by the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis and by the Council of Trent falls under a double excommunication, one reserved in a special manner to the Roman Pontiff by force of the aforesaid Constitution, the other simply reserved by force of the Council of Trent? And consequently, whether usurpers of ecclesiastical goods are bound by a double excommunication?—2. Whether those who buy ecclesiastical goods usurped by usurpers fall under the excommunication reserved in a special manner to the Roman Pontiff by force of article XI of the aforesaid Constitution?—3. Whether at least under the excommunication simply reserved to the Roman Pontiff, enacted by chapter 11, On Reformation, session 22 of the Council of Trent?

"Response. To 1. Negative. Namely, usurpers of ecclesiastical goods are bound by only one excommunication, reserved in a special manner to the Roman Pontiff.—To 2. There is not the least doubt that those buying ecclesiastical goods usurped by usurpers fall under an excommunication reserved to the Roman Pontiff; for, even setting aside the question whether the aforesaid purchase is in some manner touched upon by article XI of the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis, no one can doubt that it is included under the most clear provision of chapter 11, On Reformation, session 22 of the Council of Trent.—To 3. Provision was made in the preceding." Holy Office, 8 July 1874.

"Whether the major excommunication latae sententiae inflicted by various Pontiffs, and lastly by Pius VI in the Constitution Inter caetera of 31 July 1779, is still in force against those who occupy and retain the goods and alms of the Holy Land.

"Response. The Constitutions of the Supreme Pontiffs against those occupying and retaining alms and goods belonging to the places of the Holy Land remain entirely in force, but not the censures latae sententiae, except those which are included in chapter 11, session 22, On Reformation, of the Council of Trent; and therefore the formulas customarily distributed by the Commissaries are to be reformed." Holy Office, 28 June 1876.

It is tolerated that parish priests receive an increase of their congrua, although it proceeds from usurped goods of another church. It is likewise tolerated that municipalities receive from the Government the revenues of suppressed ecclesiastical moral bodies, every effort having been made so that the advantage of the Church may be cared for as far as possible. Sacred Penitentiary, 14 December 1899; M. E., vol. 11, p. 490 ff. Cf. nos. 244, 1331, 1548.

"The Sacred Penitentiary, by special and express Apostolic Authority, communicates to the Ordinary N. N. the following faculty, to endure for one year:

"The Christian faithful who, without the permission of the same Church, acquired immovable goods, rents, or rights taken away from the Church—or alienated those acquired—or acquired them by emphyteusis—or freed those acquired by emphyteusis—who, as patrons, claimed ecclesiastical benefices and chaplaincies—who redeemed pious legacies, or rents, or irredeemable rights—or profited, to the harm of the Church, from the redemption of rights by their nature redeemable—who did not pay tithes—and the heirs and all successors of all the aforesaid;

"Whenever, for any of the aforesaid causes, they paid or owe to the Government or other sellers not more than thirty thousand lire (30,000), and, if there is question of tithes, provided that the debt does not exceed this sum, and, if there is question of emphyteusis or another similar contract, provided that the rent or payment, computed according to civil law, corresponds to a capital sum which likewise does not exceed thirty thousand lire;

"By special favor, to admit them to a composition which appears equitable, especially with the following conditions and rules observed.

"1. Let the matter be carried out with the knowledge of the other Ordinaries, if any of them have an interest, and with the consent of those who respectively represent the pious causes, and of others having a canonical interest.

"2. In determining the amount of an equitable composition, let there be consid ered: a) the real value of the lands or rights at the time when the composition is entered into; b) the purchase price; c) the present condition of the petitioners; d) that by which the petitioners themselves have become richer, to the detriment of the Church; e) the pious obligations, of which, if they exist, principal account is to be taken.

The faculty is moreover given to the Ordinary of remitting those same obligations, wholly or in part, if they have not been satisfied, and also of reducing them for the future, according to their means, either temporarily or perpetually, according to the diverse nature of the causes and circumstances; the Most Holy Lord supplying from the treasury of the Church, insofar as Masses and other suffrages are concerned.

"3. The composition can be more favorable if the price paid or the rent assumed, without fault of the purchaser or emphyteuta, exceeds the present value of the lands; likewise for those who were compelled to redeem them, and for the heirs of those who unjustly possessed ecclesiastical goods or rights, as above, but founded or assisted other pious causes.

"4. Those also are to be exhorted to composition to whom it was granted to retain the aforesaid goods or rights at the pleasure of the Church, under the conditions otherwise designated and subscribed; this manner of providing for the consciences of the faithful is no longer granted.

"5. When there is question of lands on which a church is situated, or of movable sacred things, the Ordinary shall admonish the petitioners orally concerning the obligation by which they are bound to do, under the direction of the Ordinary for the time being, what they can for the preservation of sacred edifices and churches; never to convert or assign sacred things to profane uses; and to notify their heirs and successors of this in due manner.

"6. No document of the completed composition is to be delivered to anyone; but if it is altogether demanded, the bishop himself can declare to those who have entered into composition, in writing, only this: that they are exempt and released from every obligation of conscience toward the Church by reason of the lands, rents, etc.

"7. By these letters power is also given to the same Ordinary to provide in this same manner for those who shall petition to acquire, sell, free, claim, and redeem goods and rights of this kind; and, if there is question of tithes, with the computation established above for rents and payments deducted; without others besides the petitioners and their heirs and successors being relieved thereby, and, as regards patrons, the right of patronage being entirely relinquished, and without prejudice being considered to have been done to the rights of those invested, if there are any.

"8. The faculty is also granted to the same Ordinary of permitting those who have pious legacies or obligations of Masses imposed upon goods to redeem them by giving a sum which, when the fruits are calculated at five percent, furnishes sufficient annual revenue for the complete fulfillment of those obligations; and under this law, that if the aforesaid sum is paid by public securities (commonly called consolidato), the securities themselves are to be reckoned not according to their nominal value, but according to the price which they actually have in commerce on the day of payment.

"9. Furthermore, the same Sacred Penitentiary grants to the aforesaid Ordinary the faculty, either by himself or through another suitable ecclesiastical person to be subdelegated by him for this in individual cases, of absolving by Apostolic authority the petitioners guilty in the foregoing, after they have entered into composition as above, from the censures and ecclesiastical penalties into which they have thereby fallen in any manner, with a suitable salutary penance and reparation of scandal in the best manner possible, according to the prudent judgment of the one absolving.

"10. In this Indult there is not included the faculty of permitting the imposition of mortgages, nor of reducing the rent of a temporary or excessively burdensome emphyteusis; concerning these matters recourse is to be made to the Holy See in individual cases.

"Likewise, there is not included the faculty of dispensing ecclesiastics from the irregularity into which they have fallen because of violated censures.

"11. Those who, because of poverty, cannot enter into a composition can be absolved by the Ordinary with the obligation that, if they come into a better condition, they satisfy the Church and meanwhile remove scandal.

"Likewise, those who cannot immediately pay the composition determined can be absolved if they assume the obligation of paying it at a suitable time, scandal meanwhile having been removed.

"12. The sums of money received from the composition, even small ones, the Ordinary himself shall endeavor to invest, as soon and as securely as possible, for the benefit of the pious causes to which they belong by law, in bearer securities (valori al portatore) which competent men have recognized as secure, and to preserve them at the pleasure of the Holy See; nor shall he alienate them without its permission or exchange them, unless necessity is urgent and time is lacking for recourse to the Holy See.

"But if the aforesaid sums belong to a pious cause of another diocese, they are to be transmitted to its Ordinary.

"If they belong to religious, the permission of the Holy See is required in individual cases in order that they may be delivered to them.

"But if the sums belong to a pious cause already extinct, or to a church in which divine offices can no longer be celebrated, the Ordinary shall expend their fruits for the good of another pious cause, especially for poor churches, priests, and clerics, as he shall judge better in the Lord; the Masses nevertheless having been celebrated and the other suffrages having been discharged, if any were prescribed.

"13. Concerning lands or rights whose value exceeds thirty thousand lire, recourse is to be made to the Holy See in individual cases.

"14. The Ordinary shall admonish confessors that, if they are called to penitents placed in danger of death and guilty in the foregoing, they should prudently urge composition; but if this cannot be obtained, either because time does not suffice or for other reasonable causes, it will be sufficient if the sick person imposes it upon his heirs, or seriously promises that he will enter into it if he recovers; scandal having been removed.

"15. At the time of Lent or sacred missions, or when the Paschal precept is urgent, the Ordinary can grant to confessors approved by him the faculty of absolving those who cannot immediately enter into composition, provided that they seriously promise that, within two months after receiving absolution, they will have recourse to the Ordinary in order to obtain composition, scandal meanwhile having been removed.

"Any things whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding.

"Given at Rome, in the Sacred Penitentiary, 15 April 1892."

"Generally speaking, purchasers of goods belonging to merely lay pious causes do not need composition, unless by reason of obligations imposed upon those goods some right belongs to the Church; in which case the Ordinary shall employ the faculties of this Sacred Penitentiary concerning compositions." Sacred Penitentiary, 14 December 1898.

"To the doubt whether the confessors of Rome, as was formerly customary, can absolve from all censures reserved by law to the Ordinary, even after the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis, the Sacred Congregation, with the assent of the Supreme Pontiff, replied: the customary practice can be observed." Holy Office, 1 December 1875.

"Clerics constituted in sacred orders, or male or female religious, who, after making a solemn vow of chastity, presume to contract marriage, so-called civil marriage, in places where the Tridentine law concerning clandestinity is in force, incur an excommunication latae sententiae reserved to bishops or Ordinaries." Holy Office, 22 December 1880.

"Whether a cleric constituted in sacred orders, or a male or female religious, incurs this censure or not if, besides the impediment of the solemn vow of chastity, he or she has other impediments, for example, of affinity or consanguinity? - Response. Such a person incurs it." Holy Office, 13 January 1892.

"Those who commit the same acts against persons making denunciations before bishops, or against witnesses, or the officials of bishops, or writings pertaining to a matter of the Holy Inquisition in their possession, are not subject to the excommunication reserved to no one in article 2." Holy Office, 28 January 1892.

"1. Whether the very law of the Apostolic Beneplacit was promulgated as though anew through the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis, although this Constitution was principally directed toward limiting censures latae sententiae, so that by its own force it generally binds all, and would bind them even if the Constitution Ambitiosae, which it otherwise declares ratified and confirmed, or another similar Constitution, had not preceded it? And, in the affirmative: 2. Whether by force of the derogatory clause placed at the end of the new Constitution, ancient privileges duly obtained from the Apostolic See, namely, of alienating without the Apostolic Beneplacit, etc., are to be considered revoked? - 3. Whether this derogation must also be extended to particular customs contrary to the law enacted concerning the Apostolic Beneplacit, even though immemorial? - 4. Whether the very law of foundation of some pious place or ecclesiastical institute falls, insofar as, concerning goods bequeathed, it excludes the Apostolic Beneplacit together with the consent of the bishop or Ordinary, or permits the alienation of those goods without such consent and Beneplacit (which Monacelli deduces in his Formulary from the chapter Tua nos); or whether that law of foundation can remain in force, at least with respect to institutes which are under the immediate protection of kings (Council of Trent, session 22, chapter 8, On Reformation), and which have been distinguished by a royal title or endowed by their royal founders with royal liberty or the faculty of doing with their goods whatever they please for their own necessities and those of the institute itself, by common decree? - Response. To 1. Affirmative. - To 2. Insofar as the privileges in question are general, affirmative; insofar as they are special and personal, negative. - To 3. Affirmative. - To 4. Nothing was changed by the recent Constitution with respect to the foundations of pious places and other ecclesiastical institutions, which are therefore to be judged as they were judged before the promulgation of this Constitution." Holy Office, 22 December 1880; A. S. S., vol. 15, p. 539.

"Whether any confessor can absolve a priest who has solicited in the act or place of sacramental confession? - Response. Since solicitation, provided that it was simple, is reserved to the Holy See by no law, nothing prevents the soliciting priest, if otherwise rightly disposed, from being absolved by any confessor." Holy Office, 15 September 1859; Collectanea of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, no. 945.

"The censure reserved to no one, inflicted upon those who print or cause to be printed without the approval of the Ordinary books treating of sacred matters, is to be restricted to the book of the Sacred Scriptures, as well as annotations and commentaries upon them; but it is by no means to be extended to any books whatsoever treating of sacred matters in general, that is, matters pertaining to religion." Holy Office, 22 December 1888.

"But as to whether those who abduct unwilling girls betrothed by their parents to a pagan man and convey them to the house of the bridegroom incur the penalty of excommunication, understand it thus: Either the betrothals were entered into by the parents before the girls possessed the use of reason, and it is not evident that after obtaining the use of reason they confirmed and ratified them; since these betrothals are altogether invalid, certainly those who furnish counsel, aid, or favor for the abduction of these maidens are excommunicated by the law itself according to chapter 6, session 24, On Reformation of Marriage, of the Council of Trent. It is otherwise, however, if the betrothals were either first entered into with their consent or afterwards confirmed and consequently are regarded as firm and valid; for those who forcibly drag the bride to the bridegroom, although she is unwilling and resisting, are not subject to the penalties of abductors." Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, 17 April 1784; Collectanea, no. 1418.

"When the doubt had been proposed to the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Inquisition whether, after the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis, published by Our Most Holy Lord Pius IX on 12 October 1869, the censures latae sententiae threatened against ecclesiastics and missionaries engaging in commerce in the East Indies in the Constitutions of Urban VIII, Ex debito, 22 February 1633, and Clement IX, Sollicitudo, 17 July 1669, still remained in force, the Most Eminent Fathers, General Inquisitors, in the Congregation held on Wednesday, 4 December 1872, after considering that the reservation or exception made at the paragraph But the censures of the aforesaid Constitution could give occasion to questions, judged that Our same Most Holy Lord should be petitioned graciously to declare that the above-mentioned Constitutions of the Supreme Pontiffs Urban VIII and Clement IX still remained in force, and that the declaration was to be notified by this Sacred Congregation through circular letters, as is done by the tenor of the present letters, to all missionaries existing in the East Indies and America. His Holiness furthermore judged that assent was to be given to the same opinion in all things. Meanwhile I pray God, etc." Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, 29 March 1873.

"Whether the declaration of His Holiness of 4 December 1873 (which precedes here) also embraces Chinese missionaries? - Response. Affirmative; and according to the mind. The mind is: 1. That for those words simply reserved to the Pontiff there be substituted the other words of Clement IX, namely: From which excommunication latae sententiae, incurred by the fact itself, no one can be absolved, except one placed at the point of death, unless profits of this kind have first been restored (Clement IX, in the Constitution Sollicitudo pastoralis, 17 June 1669, section 4). - 2. That the same prohibition and penalty, according to the mind of the same Clement IX, affect not only European missionaries, but also any ecclesiastical men whatsoever who, under the name of missionaries or under any other title, have been sent for a time or shall dwell in those regions in any manner." Holy Office, 17 January 1883.

It was declared in the Holy Office, 11 May 1892, that this censure is not contracted by Ordinaries who, for the free status of those to be ordained, rely upon instructions and faculties for proving the free status of spouses. Nor is it contracted by those conferring tonsure. Holy Office, 18 April 1888.

"In conformity with the instructions received, this Sacred Congregation of Propaganda for Oriental Affairs, in the General Meeting held on the 27th of last month, had to consider the use of the designation in partibus infidelium, which until now has been given to non-residential churches and bishops. Everything having been carefully weighed, the Sacred Assembly judged that the following determinations should be made:

"1. The formula in partibus infidelium is entirely abolished.

"2. In its place another is substituted, expressing the ancient name of the region where the see of the bishop is situated; that is, for example, N. N., Archbishop of Corinth in Achaia. But just as the use of the old formula was optional, so it will be within the liberty of each one to use the new one, or to designate the bishop from the see alone, saying, for example, N. N., Archbishop of Corinth, without anything more.

"3. When it is necessary or desired to distinguish by a common designation non-residential bishops and churches from residential bishops or churches, instead of calling them in partibus infidelium, let them be called in common, as has most often been practiced until now, Titular Bishops or Titular Churches.

"The Holy Father, to whom resolutions of this kind were submitted in the audience of the 28th of the same month, deigned to strengthen them with his sanction, charging this Sacred Congregation to bring them officially to the knowledge of the various Pontifical Dicasteries." Encyclical Letter of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, 3 March 1882.

"Since, according to the Council of Trent, session 6, chapter 5, On Reformation, it is lawful for no bishop to exercise Pontificals in another diocese except by the express permission of the Ordinary, some have doubted whether among the Pontificals of which the aforesaid Synod speaks are included solemn Masses and Vespers which a visiting bishop is accustomed to celebrate at Rome and elsewhere while seated on a faldstool and not using the pastoral staff, but with Pontifical ornaments. Hence it was asked of the Sacred Congregation of Rites: Can a visiting or Titular Bishop, without consulting the diocesan Ordinary and, in a titular church, the Cardinal Titular, celebrate Pontifical Mass and Vespers in the aforesaid manner, that is, seated on a faldstool, not using the pastoral staff, but with Pontifical ornaments? - Response. Negative, also according to Decree no. 2283, Ascoli, 10 April 1728, to VII and VIII." Sacred Congregation of Rites, 4 December 1903.

"In order that the celebration of manual Masses may be fulfilled with due solicitude, that dispersions of offerings and forgetfulness of obligations assumed may be avoided, the Sacred Congregation of the Council has enacted several provisions, even in very recent times. But amid so great a changeableness of affairs and fortunes in our age and the increasing malice of men, experience has taught that even greater precautions must be employed, lest the pious wills of the faithful be frustrated, and that a matter most grave among all be carefully and sacredly guarded. For this reason the Most Eminent Fathers of the Sacred Congregation, after taking counsel once and again, judged that certain provisions should be enacted, which Our Most Holy Lord Pope Pius X carefully weighed, approved, and ordered to be published, as follows.

"First, the Sacred Congregation declares that by manual Masses in the present Decree are understood and regarded all those which the faithful request to be celebrated after offering a manual stipend, to whomever or in whatever manner they deliver this stipend, whether directly or in wills, provided that they do not constitute a perpetual foundation, or one of such a kind and such duration that it ought to be regarded as perpetual.

"Likewise numbered among manual Masses are those which indeed burden in perpetuity the patrimony of some private family, but are constituted in no church, which Masses can be satisfied anywhere by any priests, at the judgment of the head of the family.

"Those, however, are equivalent to manual Masses which, being constituted in some church or annexed to benefices, cannot for one reason or another be applied by the proper beneficiary or in the proper church; and therefore, either by law or with an indult of the Holy See, must be entrusted to other priests so that they may be satisfied.

"Now concerning all these the Sacred Congregation decrees:

"1. No one can seek and receive more Masses than he can probably celebrate within the limits of time established below, either by himself or through priests subject to him, if there is question of a diocesan Ordinary or regular Prelate.

"2. The useful time for fulfilling obligations of manual Masses is one month for one Mass, six months for one hundred Masses, and another longer or shorter period of time, more or less, according to the greater or smaller number of Masses.

"3. No one is permitted to assume so many Masses that he himself probably cannot satisfy them within one year from the day the obligation was received; always saving, however, a contrary will of the offerers, who may demand a shorter time for the celebration of the Masses, either explicitly or implicitly because of some urgent cause, or may grant a longer time, or of their own accord give a greater number of Masses.

"4. Since in the Decree Vigilanti of 25 May 1893 it was established, 'that henceforth each and every beneficiary and administrator of pious causes everywhere, or those in any manner bound to fulfill obligations of Masses, whether ecclesiastics or laymen, at the end of each year shall deliver to their proper Ordinaries, in the manner to be defined by them, the obligations of Masses which remain and which they have not yet satisfied'; to remove ambiguities the Most Eminent Fathers declare and establish that the time prescribed by these words is to be understood in such a way that, for founded Masses or Masses annexed to some benefice, the obligation of depositing them runs from the end of that year within which the obligations ought to have been fulfilled; but for manual Masses the obligation of depositing them begins after one year from the day the obligation was received, if there is question of a large number of Masses; saving the prescriptions of the preceding article for a smaller number of Masses, or a different will of the offerers.

"The conscience of all whom it concerns is gravely burdened concerning the entire and perfect observance of the prescriptions established both in this article and in the preceding ones.

"5. Those who have an excessive number of Masses concerning which they are permitted freely to dispose (without detriment to the will of the founders or offerers concerning the time and place of the celebration of the Masses) can entrust them, besides to their proper Ordinary or the Holy See, also to priests acceptable to them, provided that they are certainly and personally known to them and are above every exception.

"6. Those who have delivered Masses with their offerings to their proper Ordinary or to the Holy See are relieved of every obligation before God and the Church.

"Those, however, who have entrusted to others for celebration Masses received from the faithful, or in any manner committed to their trust, remain bound by the obligation until they have obtained certification of the completed celebration; so that if, through the loss of the offering, the death of the priest, or any other cause, even a fortuitous one, the matter has come to nothing, the one entrusting them must supply it from his own resources and is bound to satisfy the Masses.

"7. Diocesan Ordinaries shall immediately enter in order in a book, together with the respective offering, the Masses which they accumulate according to the provisions of the preceding articles, and shall take care, to the extent of their ability, that they be celebrated as soon as possible, yet in such a way that the manual Masses are first satisfied, and then those which are equivalent to manual Masses. In their distribution, moreover, they shall observe the rule of the Decree Vigilanti, namely: 'they shall first distribute the Mass intentions among priests subject to them whom they know to be in need of them; then they shall entrust the others either to the Holy See, or to other Ordinaries, or even, if they wish, to priests outside the diocese, provided that they are known to them and above every exception'; the rule of article 6 concerning the obligation always remaining in force, until they have required certification of the completed celebration from the priests.

"8. It is altogether forbidden for anyone to deliver obligations of Masses and their offerings, received from the faithful or from pious places, to booksellers and merchants, to administrators of journals and newspapers, even if they are religious men, and also to sellers of sacred utensils and vestments, even though they are pious and religious institutes; and, in general, to anyone whatsoever, even ecclesiastical men, who request Masses not expressly in order that they may celebrate them, either by themselves or through priests subject to them, but for any other end whatsoever, though it be a most excellent one. For it is evident that this cannot be done without engaging in some kind of commerce with Mass offerings, or diminishing the offerings themselves; the Sacred Congregation judged that both must be altogether guarded against. Therefore, henceforth anyone who presumes to violate this law, either by knowingly delivering Masses as above or by receiving them, besides the grave sin which he shall commit, shall incur the penalties established below.

"9. According to the things established in the preceding article, it is decreed that the stipend assigned by the faithful for manual Masses, and the proper offering according to the following articles for founded Masses or Masses annexed to some benefice (which are celebrated as equivalent to manual Masses), can never be separated from the celebration of the Mass, nor converted to other things or diminished, but must be delivered to the celebrant entire and in its own kind; declarations, indults, privileges, and rescripts, whether perpetual or temporary, granted anywhere, under any title or form, or by any authority, and contrary to this law, having been abolished.

"10. Therefore it is unlawful and altogether prohibited to sell or buy books, sacred utensils, or any other things, and to enter into subscriptions (as they call them) with journals and newspapers, by means of Masses. This holds not only if there is question of Masses to be celebrated, but also if there is question of Masses already celebrated, whenever it passes into use and custom and tends toward the support of some commerce.

"11. Likewise, without a new and special permission of the Holy See (which will not be given unless true necessity has first been established, and with due and suitable precautions), it is not lawful to deduct anything from the offerings of Masses which the faithful are accustomed to give to more celebrated Shrines, in order to provide for their adornment and ornamentation.

"12. But anyone who shall dare, in any manner or under any pretext, to violate the provisions established in the preceding articles 8, 9, 10, and 11, if he is of the priestly order, shall be subject to suspension a divinis reserved to the Holy See and incurred by the fact itself; if he is a cleric not yet initiated into the priesthood, he shall likewise be subject to suspension from the orders received, and moreover shall be rendered incapable of obtaining higher orders; but if he is a layman, he shall be bound by excommunication latae sententiae reserved to the Bishop.

"13. And since in the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis it was established that there are subject to excommunication latae sententiae reserved to the Supreme Pontiff 'those collecting alms of a greater amount, and deriving profit from them, by causing Masses to be celebrated in places where Mass stipends are customarily of a smaller amount,' the Sacred Congregation declares that nothing has been taken away from this law and sanction by the present Decree.

"14. Nevertheless, lest a sudden innovation be harmful to certain pious causes and religious publications, it is permitted that subscriptions by means of Masses already entered into be extended until the end of the year from which they were instituted. Likewise, it is granted that indults for the reduction of Mass offerings which are found to have been granted to some for the benefit of Shrines or other pious causes remain in force until the end of the current year.

"15. Finally, with respect to Masses annexed to benefices, whenever they are entrusted to other priests for celebration, the Most Eminent Fathers declare and establish that the offering ought to be none other than the synodal offering of the place in which the benefices were erected.

"For Masses founded in parishes and other churches, however, the offering which is given ought to be none other than that which is found to have been fixed in perpetuity in the foundation or in a subsequent indult of reduction; always saving, however, the rights, if there are any, legitimately recognized either for the fabrics of churches or for their rectors, according to the declarations given by the Sacred Congregation in the case of Munich, 25 July 1874, and of Hildesheim, 21 January 1898.

"For in the case of Munich, 'in view of the fact that the offerings of Masses from certain legacies took the place in part of the parish priest's congrua, the Most Eminent Fathers judged that it was lawful for the parish priest, if he could not satisfy them himself, to entrust those Masses to another priest, assigning the ordinary offering of the place, whether for read or sung Masses.' And in the case of Hildesheim it was declared that 'in legacies of Masses founded in some church, there can be retained for the benefit of the ministers and servants of the churches that portion of the revenues which at the beginning of the foundation, or in another legitimate manner, had been assigned to them independently of the special work to be furnished for the fulfillment of the legacy.'

"Finally, it shall be the duty of the individual Ordinaries to take care that in individual churches, besides a schedule of perpetual obligations and a book in which the manual Masses delivered by the faithful are listed in order with their offering, there be in addition books in which the satisfaction of the aforesaid obligations and Masses is recorded.

"It shall likewise be their duty to watch over the full and complete execution of the present Decree, which His Holiness commands to be inviolably observed by all, anything whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding.

"Given at Rome, from the Sacred Congregation of the Council, 11 May 1904." - Cf. no. 627.

"... Our Most Holy Lord Pope Leo XIII ... establishes and decrees that henceforth anyone of the clergy who, in order to lend assistance in any manner to civil wars and political contests, abandons his proper place of residence without a just cause recognized by legitimate ecclesiastical authority, or lays aside clerical dress, even though he has not taken up arms and has by no means shed human blood; and still more one who of his own accord enrolls in the military in a civil war, or presumes to direct military actions in any manner, even if he continues to retain ecclesiastical dress; shall immediately and by that very fact remain suspended from the exercise of orders and grades, and from every ecclesiastical office and benefice; and shall moreover be rendered incapable of obtaining any ecclesiastical offices or benefices in the future, until he has been restored by the Apostolic See; any power of dispensing for this purpose being taken away from the respective Ordinaries of the dioceses, even if they enjoy the most ample, whether customary, as they are called, or extraordinary, faculties of rehabilitating clerics; anything whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding." Sacred Congregation of the Council, 12 July 1900; M. E., vol. 12, p. 294.

"Whether, after the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis, the excommunication latae sententiae reserved to no one, enacted by Clement XI through a Brief of 21 August 1711 against those who dare or presume, without the prior permission of the then Patriarch of Aquileia, but now of the Archbishop of Udine, to remove, carry away, lend, etc., books, quires, or leaves existing in the then Patriarchal, but now Archiepiscopal, Library of Udine, still remains in force. - Response. Affirmative." Holy Office, 7 September 1898.

"Our predecessor of happy memory, John XXI, by the Letters Vineam Domini Sabaoth, commanded the Canons of the Vatican Basilica never to enter that Basilica unless vested in choir dress. Nicholas III, likewise Our predecessor, confirmed that command by the Bull Civitatem sanctam Ierusalem. The Roman Pontiffs Eugene IV, by the Letters Si universis; Nicholas V, by the Letters Quanto prae ceteris; and Paul V, by the Letters Super Cathedram, not only confirmed the same command, but also willed it to be observed under the penalty of excommunication incurred by the fact itself by those acting contrary to it.

"We, desiring to testify Our benevolence to those same beloved sons, the Canons of the Basilica of Saint Peter, and to the other clergy serving there, by the tenor of the present letters revoke, suppress, and abrogate the aforesaid command not to enter that Basilica unless clothed in choir dress, and also the penalty of excommunication enacted against transgressors.

"We nevertheless admonish that no one ever dare to enter the Choir without choir dress; and at the same time We exhort all to be present in choir in good time, so that they may take part in the choral functions from their very beginning.

"Furthermore, We are pleased to use this occasion earnestly to encourage, if there is need, those same beloved sons, the Canons, beneficiaries, and all the clerics of the same Basilica, to recite the divine Office worthily, attentively, and devoutly, but especially to guard against all haste, than which nothing is more hostile to attention and devotion, nothing more contrary to the edification of the faithful who hear.

"Given at Rome, at Saint Peter's, on 31 January 1904, in the first year of Our Pontificate. - Pope Pius X."

It was declared in the Holy Office, 22 March 1881: 1. that regular prelates, by force of their privileges, cannot absolve their subjects from censures enacted by the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis, whether reserved to the Roman Pontiff in a special manner or simply; but 2. that they can absolve from censures reserved to bishops, even if occult; 3. that, with respect to the faculty of those same prelates to absolve their subjects from censures reserved to the Roman Pontiff which are not contained in the aforesaid Constitution and which pertain to internal governance, nothing was changed by the same Constitution; 4. that religious prevented from going to Rome cannot be absolved by their regular superiors from censures contained in that Constitution and reserved to the Supreme Pontiff, but must have recourse to the Holy See for the necessary faculties.