VI. On Pastors

What about pastors and their residence? - Here a pastor is called a cleric to whom the actual care of souls has been entrusted, in the internal forum and in a certain part of the diocese legitimately erected as a parish, even if he is removable or for a time takes the place of his Bishop; hence his office is the office of shepherd. When the care of souls is habitually in the hands of another, e.g., in the hands of a Chapter, he who actually exercises this care is properly called a vicar. - Pastors are held to make the profession of faith before the Bishop or his vicar general, within two months from taking possession of the benefice, unless they made it in the conferral itself of the benefice, from Trent s. 24, c. 22 de R. But now from S. C. C., March 1, 1910, before entering possession of the benefice it is to be made. They are furthermore held to take the oath according to the formula prescribed by Pius X in the Motu Proprio Sacrorum Antistitum. Cf. vol. 1, n. 364.

The pastor has the right to administer baptism, extreme unction, and viaticum, as well as to assist at weddings, to receive tithes and funeral emoluments; likewise he has the right to bless homes on Holy Saturday and to undertake public processions. Pastor consultors are to be used for the revision of acts in administrative removal from office and a benefice with care of souls, S. C. Consistorial, decree Maxima cura. "Insofar as pastors receive a supplement from the Government in compensation for tithes, and it equals the tithes which they formerly received, the remainder which is provided by the faithful is to be expended for pious causes, at the judgment of the Ordinary." S. Penitentiary, November 20, 1902.

The first obligation of a pastor is personal residence. Otherwise he cannot fittingly feed his flock. Therefore non-resident pastors are not excused from grave fault and from restitution of fruits, as Trent declared, s. 23, c. 1 de R. "The same things altogether, even as regards fault, loss of fruits, and penalties, concerning lower curates ... the Sacred Synod declares and decrees (as for Bishops); yet in such a way that whenever it happens that they are absent, the cause having first been known and approved by the Bishop, they leave a suitable vicar approved by the Ordinary himself, with due assignment of pay. But they are not to obtain permission for departing, to be granted in writing and gratis, beyond the time of two months, unless from a grave cause." Trent s. 24, c. 13 de R.; L. 123, 126-128; Ithur. Cas. 45, n. 56, 58; Benedict XIV, Notification 17; St. Thomas 2. 2, q. 185, a. 5; Quodl. 3, a. 17; E. M.

You will resolve: "For the proportion of time of absence they do not make their fruits their own." Trent ibid. And these, neither residing materially nor formally, nor fulfilling their office through another, lose them before every sentence of a judge. For "they are held for no other reason than the contract entered into between themselves and the church, from which the fruits of benefices are given to them under the condition of residence; when this has not been fulfilled, even without fault, such pastors in no way acquire such fruits." L. 127.

Therefore they are held to restitution, although they received them in good faith, unless however they also consumed them in good faith and did not thereby become richer. - He who does not reside materially, but fulfills his office through another suitable person, loses the fruits after the conciliar two-month period, but by no means loses them within the conciliar two-month period of absence. He who resides materially but not formally, if through no other priest he discharges his offices, does not make the fruits his own by natural law itself. If he provides these through another, whether he loses them by canon law is not sufficiently established. St. Alphonsus, 127, affirms it, because residence is not understood unless formal; Garcias and Reiffenstuel deny it, because, in its proper meaning, not to reside is to be absent. And D'Annibale, ed. 3, p. 1, n. 304; p. 3, n. 174, says this is "more equitable and truer." Restitution is to be made to the fabric of the church, or to the poor of the place. Trent l. c.

Note: For absence through two months, whether continuous or interrupted, an equitable cause is required, but not a grave one, if nevertheless no harm follows to the parish from it, and with the time of plague excepted. Gregory XIII, October 12, 1576. Yet he who departed without an equitable cause, not beyond the two-month period and without harm to the parish, is held only by light fault. But it would be grave to be absent even for two or three days, even if no one actually were sick, with no vicar left, if other priests are lacking in that place. Beyond the two-month period the Ordinary can indeed give permission, but from a grave cause, and not for much time, but for two or three months. The S. C. C. has often judged as legitimate a permission given by Ordinaries to the sick for four months. D'Annibale l. c. 173; St. Thomas, Quodl. 12, a. 28. "Commonly the doctors say from declarations of the S. C. that a pastor is not reputed to reside if he does not by himself exercise the more principal offices, namely the administration of the divine word, of the sacraments, etc." L. 127. Cf. Ithur. Cas. 45, n. 61, 62. Yet he can be assisted by vicars, if the parish were large and he could not conveniently accomplish all things by himself, especially in those things which have greater inconvenience, such as going to the sick at night, preaching, teaching children, hearing confessions, etc. But he must use coadjutors as if associates, and therefore he himself also must provide these things when a just impediment ceases, especially if he has been requested; otherwise he is not without grave fault. If a pastor alone is not sufficient for undertaking his offices, he must join other priests to himself. But he must renounce the parish, or at least must assume a coadjutor, if because of old age and chronic infirmity he cannot discharge parochial offices.

Trent s. 21, c. 4 de R.; C. 5, 6 de Cler. aegrot.; C. un. e. t. in 6; C. Apostolici ministerii of Innocent XIII, n. 9 ff. - Pastors must live in the house of their own church, if it is there; but if it is not there, they must reside in another house which is within the limits of the parish, at least morally, namely one which is so near the parish church that he can conveniently serve it, and to which the parishioners can easily have recourse to him for receiving the sacraments. L. 124; Ithur. Cas. n. 45, n. 57. As is established from several decisions of the S. C. C., a pastor is not excused from residence within the limits of the parish because of bad air, or infirm health, or old age, or because the parish is scanty, or because only three or four inhabitants remain. D'Annibale l. c. n. 172. - Trent s. 7, c. 3 de R.

Is the aforesaid permission in writing altogether required, so that it is not valid if it is had orally? - Lessius and others deny it, and St. Alphonsus does not think this opinion improbable, while La Croix judges it probable. The reason is that although Trent requires permission in writing, nevertheless it is not established that it requires this formality for the validity itself of the act. L. 123.

Can a pastor, having a just cause for departing, be absent during the said two months without the express permission of the Bishop? - The first opinion affirms it, and Lessius, La Croix, Azor, and others think it probable. The reason is that from Trent any honorable cause suffices for an absence of two months; nor is the permission and approval of the Bishop required for such an absence, but only for absence beyond the two-month period, for which the Bishop must approve the gravity of the cause. Besides, absence through a two-month period is regarded by the Council as small matter, for it comprehends it by the word aliquantisper, for a little while. Therefore, to be absent for two months from a just cause, without the Bishop's permission, would at least of itself not exceed a venial sin. And indeed Trent s. 23, c. 1 de R. had established that Bishops are so held to personal residence that they cannot be absent except from those four causes indicated above, and approved by the Supreme Pontiff, or by the Metropolitan, or by the older Suffragan Bishop. Likewise it had established that Bishops can be absent for three months, even when the aforesaid causes do not exist, provided however that this be done from an equitable cause and without harm to the flock, because this brief absence is not judged contrary to the debt of residence, with no leave to be sought required. Moreover, speaking of lower curates, it says that the things which it had previously established as regards Bishops are to be applied to them. The Council of Trent indeed applies some restrictions for lower curates; but as regards fault and penalties incurred ipso facto it adds nothing. Nor at least expressly does it add that leave is to be sought in that conciliarly conceded two-month period. Therefore it seems these things must be judged from what has been said. For this reason, from the mere text of the Council only this can be deduced as certain: that both Bishops and pastors sin gravely if they are absent for a notable time beyond the permitted months.

The second opinion denies it, and St. Alphonsus follows this. The reason is that although a grave cause is not demanded from the Council for departing during the two-month period, nevertheless it is absolutely required that the cause be recognized and approved by the Bishop, from those words: whenever it happens that they are absent, the cause first having been known and approved by the Bishop. All the more because the pastor is prohibited by the Council from departing unless first the vicar who is left has been approved by the Bishop, L. 123. Yet since that quandocumque, whenever, could be referred to the time outside the two-month period conceded by the Council itself, and the cause to be known by the Bishop is certainly nothing other than that grave cause by which a pastor can be absent even outside the two-month period, and not that equitable cause by which he can depart during the two-month period from the Council itself, hence an entirely valid argument does not seem to be taken from it; nor from the fact that, although the vicar can be chosen by the pastor himself, nevertheless he must be approved by the Bishop, if he should leave in the service of the parish a steward or suitable vicar already previously approved by the Bishop, and who actually would already be found there. Nevertheless the S. C. C. has constantly responded that express permission of the Bishop is necessary, even if he wishes to be absent for a week and for two days. Benedict XIII also declared the same in the Roman Council, tit. 17, c. 6. But for absence through two days or three days, from custom received in many places, no permission is required. Therefore the statutes of each diocese are to be attended to, Benedict XIV, Notification 17, n. 12. "Moreover, says the same St. Alphonsus, 123, a pastor will licitly be able to be absent for a short time without permission, if some necessity occurs which does not allow delay for approaching the Bishop, provided he leaves a suitable vicar.... Likewise from smallness of matter a pastor will be able to be excused at least from mortal sin, if he departs for a moderate time, as the doctors commonly say, provided he does not leave the sick in the article of death. But how much this moderate time is ... they commonly admit that a pastor who is absent without permission for 6 or 7 days does not sin gravely, provided however that a suitable vicar has been left; indeed Cont. Tournely, Cabassut, Sanchez, etc. extend this up to 15 and 20 days." E. M.

What are the grave causes excusing pastors from residence beyond the permitted two-month period? - They are those same four which excuse Bishops from Trent, namely Christian charity, urgent necessity, due obedience, and evident necessity of the Church or of the republic. L. 125; Ithur. Cas. 45, n. 58-60.

What about the visitation of the parish; about the care of the poor and the sick? - The pastor is held by the obligation of visiting the parish, insofar as he must know his sheep. "By divine precept," says Trent s. 24, c. 1 de R., "it has been commanded to all to whom the care of souls has been committed to know their sheep." Hence pastors must make books of marriages, of those baptized, of those confirmed, of the state of souls, and of the dead. As regards marriages to be noted, those things are to be observed which are contained in the Decree Ne temere concerning Marriage, § IX. And from the same Trent l. c. one of the duties of the care of souls is "to bear paternal care of the poor and of other miserable persons." Moreover, from the Roman Ritual, On the Visitation and Care of the Sick, "the pastor ought first of all to remember that the care of the sick is not among the least parts of his duty. He ought altogether to have special care of them, since for them the work of a pastor is especially necessary." He is furthermore held to carry out the dead and render them their due rites, and if they were poor, entirely gratis. - Trent s. 24, c. 1 de R. M.; L. 160; Monitor Ecclesiasticus v. 24, p. 354 ff.; E. M.

From the Decree Ne temere of the S. C. C., August 2, 1907, § IX, 2, the pastor is held to write the contracted marriage in the book of marriages and of the baptized. And if someone was baptized elsewhere, he is held to transmit notice of the marriage to the pastor of that place, so that the marriage may be entered into the baptismal book.

Parochial attestations: "Pastors are not to omit demanding a baptismal testimony from those contracting marriage, if this was conferred on them in another parish. The notice of the celebrated marriage to be transmitted to the baptismal pastor is to carry with it the written names and surnames of the spouses and of their parents, the age of the contracting parties, the place and day of the wedding, and the names and surnames of the witnesses who were present, and is to have the subscribed name of the pastor with the parish seal added. The inscription is accurately to indicate the parish, diocese, town or place of baptism of the spouses, and those things which pertain to writings being safely transmitted by public carriers. If perhaps it should happen that the baptismal pastor, in receiving the notice of marriage, discovers that one or the other of the contracting parties is already bound by another marriage, he shall indicate the matter as quickly as possible to the pastor of the attested marriage." S. C. de Sacram., March 6, 1911. - It is lawful for pastors to write out authentic copies of baptismal attestations from the parochial book at the petition of the faithful, the customary taxes having been received, yet they are to be recognized and approved by the respective Ordinaries, and are not to be consigned in the registers of another parish and diocese, unless by the command of the Bishop or of his delegate, who is to recognize the authenticity of those copies together with the promoter fiscal. S. C. C., July 3, 1909.

Emigration: A committee of emigration is to be constituted in each diocese of Italy for workers migrating to foreign nations. The pastor must have a special and almost continual care of them, both before they set out and after they have set out and when they return to their homeland, according to the norms handed down in the Letter of the Secretary of State, Uno degli argomenti, September 8, 1911.

What about correction and admonition? - Pastors are held under grave obligation to correct and admonish their sheep who are in mortal sin, or in the proximate danger of it, even with risk to their own life, and not only in their extreme, but also in their grave spiritual necessity; if however 1. there is hope of amendment; and 2. although there is no hope of amendment, nevertheless the omission of admonition would turn to the common harm and would make others more bold for sinning. The reason is that not only from charity, but also from justice, by reason of the office and stipend which is given to them, they are most strictly obliged to come to the aid of subjects constituted in spiritual necessity. They are furthermore held to inquire whether anyone is in such necessity. For the salvation of each sheep has been committed to the pastor. But if pastors are held to the office of correction, much more Bishops are. - Trent s. 6, c. 3, 4 de R.; s. 13, c. 1 ff. de R.; St. Thomas 2. 2, q. 33, a. 3, 2 ad 4; 4 d. 19, q. 2, a. 1; L. l. 2, n. 40.

What about prayer and the celebration of Mass? - The pastor is held frequently to pray for his subjects, that he may implore for them the graces necessary for salvation. For as Bishops are held to this by divine law, since they have the care of souls in all its fullness, so also pastors are held to it, to whom the Church commits, from obligation, the care of souls to be exercised, and without a limitation which would exempt them from the burden of praying and celebrating for the flock. But specifically the pastor is held to celebrate Mass: 1. as often as the people must hear it, Trent s. 23, c. 4 de R.; 2. as often as it is necessary to bless marriages, in both cases under grave obligation; 3. several times in the week, though how often is not established. Yet it is established that the Bishop can compel them under grave obligation twice or three times, if the parish is populous and other Masses are not celebrated in it; not likewise at funeral rites, unless an alms has been given. - L. l. 6, n. 314; Benedict XIV, Instruction 44, n. 9; de Syn. l. 12, c. 7, n. 7.

Must a pastor also apply Mass for the people? - Pastors must celebrate for their sheep on all Sundays and feast days on which the faithful must hear Mass, although in some places it is permitted that servile work can be done, indeed although those feasts have been abrogated or transferred, just as then, with the Constitution Universa of Urban VIII, September 5, 1642, and the Decree of Clement XI, December 6, 1708, they were in their full force; unless perhaps the divine office, of which the principal part is Mass, has been transferred with solemnity to the Sunday day. Nor do contrary custom, even immemorial, nor the small revenues of the parish, nor the infirmity of the pastor excuse. Nevertheless, if the pastor is so poor that he does not have fruits suitable for support, he can, with the Bishop's consent, accept an alms, while celebrating for the people during the week. This is established from Innocent XII, Brief Nuper; Benedict XIV, C. Cum semper oblatas, August 19, 1744; Pius IX, C. Amantissimi, May 3, 1848; L. l. 6, n. 313, 325; E. M.

Note: Not only pastors are held to this obligation, but also vicars deputed by the Bishop to parochial care with a certain assignment of fruits, whether perpetual or temporary and removable, and likewise curates appointed as stewards, and also vicars deputed by the Bishop, while the parish is vacant, to the care of souls until the election of a new rector of the church; and all these whether they are seculars or regulars. But ecclesiastical superiors, secular or regular, chaplains of monasteries, or of prisons, or of hospitals, etc., are not held to make the sacred rite for subjects. Nor likewise are coadjutors of pastors and missionaries in places of missions held, provided it is not a question of places in which parishes have already been erected and missionaries have been sent to those places to take the place of legitimate pastors. Nor is it established that military chaplains in Spain are held. S. C. of the Council, May 22, 1909. As regards prelates of regulars, the question was twice proposed before the Holy See, and it remained without solution. - If from one parish two have been made, each pastor is held. If someone has two parishes, he will have to apply in each, whether by himself, if he has the faculty of binating, or through another, or on another day, if he does not have it, unless perhaps they have been united by an extinctive union. The same thing must be said of a pastor-canon on the day on which he must celebrate the conventual Mass. Benedict XIV l. c.; Leo XIII, C. In Suprema, 4 Ides of June 1882; S. C. de P. F., March 23, 1803; Giraldi, Expos. Iur. Pont. p. 2, s. 85, tom. 3.

Bishops and Abbots nullius are also held to apply Mass for their sheep, only one Mass, if they govern several dioceses or abbeys united equally principally. But those who are also pastors of some parish must apply in this parish through a vicar. Likewise apostolic vicars, in those places where dioceses have been constituted and they discharge the office of legitimate pastor. Not likewise capitular vicars. Trent s. 23, c. 1 de R.; C. cited In Suprema; S. C. de Prop. F., March 23, 1863; S. R. C., November 12, 1831.

If a feast has only been transferred to the Sunday day, as in France the feasts of Epiphany, Corpus Christi, etc., Mass will have to be applied on that day on which the office is celebrated, S. C. C., June 15, 1841; but if only the office is transferred, Mass will have to be applied on that day on which the feast is celebrated, S. C. C., April 24, 1875, e.g., the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Thursday of Holy Week. But if on that day another feast also is celebrated, satisfaction is made for both by the application of one Mass, just as by the hearing of it. Pius IX, C. Amantissimi, May 3, 1858.

The obligation of applying Mass for the people is personal, nor does any custom to the contrary have force, S. C. C., September 27, 1874. Yet if the pastor or Bishop is sick, or impeded by another just and legitimate cause, he can and is held to celebrate for the people through another, S. R. C., July 22, 1848, the stipend having been paid to him; and if he cannot substitute another for himself, he himself is afterwards held to apply as many Masses. S. C. C., December 14, 1859. But the pastor satisfies his obligation by a read Mass, since no prescription is found that it must be a solemn or sung Mass; nevertheless he must celebrate it in his own parish, and not in another church, any custom whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding. S. C. C., September 15 and November 17, 1629. But a pastor legitimately absent from his parish on a feast day satisfies his obligation by celebrating Mass for his people in the place where he is staying, provided that another priest celebrates in the parish and explains the word of God. S. C. C., December 14, 1872. Bouix, de Paroch. p. 550 ff.; Ferraris v. Parochus, a. 3, n. 1; E. M.

238 bis. Note: On the feasts very recently suppressed by the Motu Proprio Supremi disciplinae of Pius X, namely Corpus Christi, the Purification, Annunciation, and Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph Spouse of the same Blessed Virgin Mary, St. John Apostle and Evangelist, and the Patron of each place or diocese, the obligation remains of making the sacred rite for the people. S. C. C., August 8, 1911.

1. "When some suppressed feast falls on a Sunday day, or on a day impeded by a feast of a higher rite, those having the care of souls are not held to apply Mass for the people on the day to which the same feast is transferred."

2. "When some feast is transferred, as regards office and Mass, as to its proper place onto another day, in churches in which choral service is provided in alternate weeks, the obligation of common choir and distributions, if there are any, are not transferred to the same day, unless, as regards distributions, the express will of the founders, a particular statute, or legitimate custom stands in the way." S. C. C., December 13, 1913.

A pastor-canon on those feast days on which, as a canon, he must celebrate the conventual Mass, which is to be applied for benefactors, can and must through another supply the obligation which he has as pastor of applying it for the people. Benedict XIV, C. Quum semper oblatas, August 19, 1744; S. C. C., August 24, 1867.

To supply pious legacies abolished in France, it has been established in a perpetual manner that in individual years, on one of the Sundays of the month of November, in all churches of France, a Requiem Mass be celebrated for the aforesaid end. Pius X, July 6, 1910.

What about preaching? - From Trent s. 5, c. 2 de R., "all Bishops ... and all other Prelates of churches are held by themselves, if they have not been legitimately impeded, to preaching. Archpriests also, parish priests, and whosoever obtain the care of souls, by themselves, or through other suitable persons if they have been legitimately impeded, at least on Sundays and solemn feast days, are to feed the peoples committed to them, according to their own and those people's capacity, with salutary words, by teaching those things which it is necessary for all to know for salvation, and by announcing to them, with brevity and easiness of speech, the vices which they must decline and the virtues which they must follow." St. Alphonsus, l. 3, n. 269, after relating these words, says: "Hence I do not doubt that the aforesaid precept obliges both Bishops and pastors gravely and absolutely.... Yet the doctors commonly admit smallness of matter in such a precept.... Hence it seems not improbably held that pastors do not sin gravely who sometimes omit preaching; otherwise, however, they say, if they omit it for one whole continuous month, or for three discontinuous months in the year. All the more because in Trent, said s. 5, c. 2, at the end, it is said that if the pastors themselves, having been admonished by the Bishop, have failed in their office for the space of three months, they are to be compelled by censures, etc., to fulfill their office. From this it seems that in this matter its smallness has a greater latitude." - Trent s. 24, c. 4, 7 de R.; Ithur. Cas. 45, n. 63; Ferraris v. Parochus, n. 2, n. 72; E. M.

Pastors are especially held to observe those things which have been prescribed concerning preaching in the last part of the Motu Proprio Sacrorum Antistitum of Pius X. Cf. 245 bis.

Note: If a pastor is sick temporarily, he can be excused. But by no means is he excused because such a custom flourishes in that place, or because few hearers are present, or because frequent sermons are held in nearby churches. Constitution Apostolici ministerii of Innocent XIII, cited by Benedict XIV, Instruction 10, n. 3. - A pastor who reads pious books to the hearers does not discharge his duty of preaching, because reading is not preaching. Yet he is not held to holding a formal sermon to the people. S. C. C. apud Benedict XIV, Notification 10, n. 3; Trent s. 5, c. 2 de R.; Ithur. Cas. 45, n. 67, 69. - It will belong to the prudence of the Bishop to dispense over this matter on more solemn feasts. S. C. C., April 1, 1876. Benedict XIV, Instruction 27; S. C. Bishops and Regulars, July 31, 1894; A. S. S. v. 27, p. 162.

Are pastors held under grave obligation to catechize? - R. In the affirmative. Thus it is established from Trent s. 5, c. 2 de R. But expressly as regards the instruction of children it has that Bishops, "at least on Sundays and feast days, will take care that in individual parishes children be diligently taught by those to whom it will pertain the rudiments of faith and obedience toward God and parents; and if there is need, they will compel even by ecclesiastical censures, privileges and customs notwithstanding." S. 24, c. 4 de R. Cf. also ibid. c. 7; Benedict XIV, C. Etsi minime, February 7, 1742. But pastors are held still more in particular to instruct and prepare boys and girls for receiving the sacraments of penance, confirmation, and first communion. A. S. S. v. 37, p. 425 ff.; A. S. S. v. 13, p. 513; v. 15, p. 236; E. M.

241 bis. Note: The Supreme Pontiff Pius X, in the Encyclical Letter Acerbo nimis, April 15, 1905, by his supreme authority constituted and strictly commanded that the things which follow be observed and executed in all dioceses: "I. All pastors, and generally as many as have the care of souls, on Sundays and feast days through the year, with none excepted, for the space of a whole hour, are to instruct boys and girls from the catechism booklet concerning those things which each one must believe and do in order to obtain salvation.

II. The same, at fixed times of the year, are to prepare boys and girls for rightly receiving the Sacraments of Penance and Confirmation, by continuous instruction through several days.

III. Likewise, and altogether with special zeal, on all ferias of Lent, and on other days after the Paschal feasts if there is need, by suitable instructions and exhortations they are so to instruct young boys and young girls, that they may first receive holy things from the altar holily.

IV. In all and individual parishes a society is to be canonically instituted, which is commonly named the Congregation of Christian Doctrine. By it pastors, especially where the number of priests is small, will have lay helpers in handing on catechesis, who will devote themselves to this teaching, both from zeal for the glory of God and in order to gain the sacred indulgences which the Roman Pontiffs have most generously granted.

V. In larger cities, and especially in those where universities of studies, lyceums, and gymnasia are open, schools of religion are to be founded for instructing in the truths of faith and the institutions of Christian life the youth who attend public schools, where no mention of religious matters is introduced.

VI. But since, especially in this time, more advanced age no less than childhood needs religious instruction, all pastors and the rest who have the care of souls, besides the customary homily on the Gospel, which is to be had on all feast days in the parochial Mass, at that hour which they judge more opportune for the attendance of the people, except only that hour in which children are instructed, are to institute catechesis for the faithful, in speech indeed easy and accommodated to their capacity. In this matter they will use the Tridentine Catechism, in that order, of course, that within the space of four or five years they treat the whole matter which is concerning the Creed, the Sacraments, the Decalogue, Prayer, and the precepts of the Church."

What about the administration of the sacraments? - Pastors are held, by themselves, to minister the sacraments personally, not only when the time of precept and of grave necessity is pressing, but also, as regards the sacraments which can be repeated, as often as the sheep ask duly, or not unseasonably, unless they are legitimately impeded, or can provide for them through another without inconvenience and offense of those asking. Trent s. 21, c. 4 de R. Cf. 360 ff. - "Pastors are held under grave obligation diligently to examine midwives, whether they know the things necessary for baptizing.... For it belongs to them by office to be present to women giving birth, and not rarely there occurs to them the occasion of ministering baptism in necessity." L. l. 6, n. 117. The same is established from the Roman Ritual on Baptism. - Pastors are held to be present at marriages, and to provide all things, as far as is in them, so that they be done rightly. Roman Ritual on the Sacrament of Matrimony; L. l. 6, n. 54. - Cf. A. A. S. v. 2, p. 218, VI; E. M.

What about the vicars of pastors? - Vicars of pastors, since they take the place of pastors, either as regards the whole parochial office or only as regards part of it, are held by the same obligations as pastors themselves, yet with due proportion; and besides, they owe reverence and obedience to the pastor himself. - Trent s. 21, c. 4 de R.; L. l. 1, n. 335 in fine.

Can a vicar depart, at least for a short time, without the pastor having been warned? Can he delegate another priest? Can he, when the pastor has died, undertake all sacred functions as before? - R. To the first: In the negative, because the reason of right order, and also of necessity, requires that the pastor himself not depart from the parish without the vicar being warned, who could supply for the pastor if the case should occur. Therefore a fortiori, if the question is about the vicar, since he is constituted under a certain guardianship of the pastor.

R. To the second: In the affirmative, since he is delegated to the whole class of causes. Cf. v. 1, n. 254. For the vicar in the present case is constituted by the Bishop himself, that he may assist the pastor in all things and supply for him. But from the Decree Ne temere, at present the vicar of the pastor cannot assist at marriage and betrothal unless delegated by the pastor himself or by the Ordinary, "that he may assist at marriages within the limits of his territory." - Nor likewise is the vicar held to apply Mass for the people. Plenary Council of Latin America 275; St. Thomas Quodl. 12, a. 31.

R. To the third: In the affirmative. The reason is that vicars receive every delegation from the Bishop himself. Therefore, notwithstanding the death of the pastor, the vicar can undertake all sacred functions just as before. - E. M.

The Vicar of the Pastor, or the pastor's coadjutor or cooperator, is not to be confused with the curate vicar, who exercises the whole actual care of the parish, as its true pastor, whose habitual care resides with a moral body, with a Chapter or monastery, which however cannot involve itself in the exercise of that actual care. Therefore canons and regulars with whom there is only habitual care of souls also need the approval of the Bishop of the place in order licitly and validly to hear confessions.