Case II: Churching of Women After Illegitimate Childbirth

Bertha, an unmarried young woman, gives birth to an illegitimate child. Some months after its birth she brings it to the parish church to have it baptized. After its Baptism she requests the parish priest to church her. But he, already sorely troubled by the scandal the girl has brought on the parish, indignantly refuses to church her. In fact, he tells her the Church refuses to bless a woman after an illegitimate birth, that the churching of women is intended solely for decent legitimate mothers, and that to church her would be to transgress the command of Our Lord, about throwing pearls before swine. Some days afterwards, however, he began to think that perhaps he had been too severe, that perhaps he ought to have churched the unfortunate woman, that scolding her now could do no good, since the evil was done, and a bitter price already paid, and the unhappy girl was not likely to repeat her experience. He now asks whether he ought to have churched the woman, since she desired to be churched; or was it lawful for him to have refused her? Had she a strict right to the blessing, or was it within his discretion whether he would church her or not, or would it have been unlawful to church her?

ANSWER. The Roman Ritual has nothing to say regarding the churching of women after an illegitimate birth. There are three decrees of the Congregation of Rites concerning the churching of women after a legitimate birth, in Gardellini's collection. In 1631, the Congregation of Rites answered: “as to the blessing of women after childbirth, this is a parochial duty and pertains to the parish priest himself.” Again, when it was urged, in the same year, that the churching of women was not de praecepto, but only ad bene esse, and therefore might be performed by any priest, the Congregation of Rites answered that the churching of women belonged to the rights of the parish priest, exclusively. The same answer was given again in 1703. i

Since the Roman Ritual says nothing about the churching of women who have given birth to illegitimate offspring, and since nothing can be found in the decrees of the Roman Congregations concerning the same, we will consider the origin and nature of the ceremony of blessing women after childbirth. The rite has its origin in the prescription of the Old Law, concerning the purification of women after childbirth.

In the book of Leviticus, ch. 12, we read: "Neither shall she (a woman after childbirth) enter into the sanctuary until the days of her purification be fulfilled.... And when the days of her purification are expired, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, a lamb of a year old for a holocaust, and a young pigeon or a turtle, for sin, and shall deliver them to the priest; who shall offer them before the Lord, and shall pray for her."

"It is evident from the words of the law," says O'Kane (Rubrics, ch. x.) "that it could not apply to the Blessed Virgin in whom there were none of the effects of ordinary childbirth, since not only in conceiving, but in giving birth to the divine Infant, she still remained a pure and perfect virgin. Yet we know from St. Luke that she did not avail herself of the exemption, but humbly complied with the requirements of the law. A desire of imitating the humility of the Blessed Virgin, induced the custom among Christian mothers of abstaining from entering the church for some time after childbirth. They then asked the blessing of the priest at the church door, and made their first visit one of thanksgiving to God for their safe delivery."

The Jewish rite was intended only for legitimate wives and mothers, united in lawful wedlock. From which we infer that it was the intention of the Church, from the beginning, to confer this rite only on lawfully married women, after legitimate childbirth. Moreover, if we consider where this blessing occurs in the Roman Ritual, namely, immediately after the Sacrament of Marriage, as if pertaining to the same matter, and not among the other blessings of the Ritual, we seem to gather that it was intended by the Church only for women who have given birth to legitimate children in lawful wedlock.

Wherefore Catalanus, in his Commentary on the Roman Ritual, de bened. mulier. n. 17, says:

“It remains that, at the end of this commentary concerning women to be purified after childbirth, we note also this: the blessing after childbirth is granted only to a woman who has given birth from marriage, and not to one who has given birth from fornication, especially from adultery, or from intercourse otherwise condemned. Thus the doctors commonly teach plainly, and it is also read as enacted in synods and Rituals.”

Baruffaldi, commenting on the Roman Ritual, is of the same opinion (ad Rit. Rom. comm. de bened. mulier. tit. 43, n. 18).

De Herdt also, in his work on the Liturgy, arrives at the same conclusion. He says: "Only those women who bring forth children in lawful wedlock, have a right to this blessing; so much so that women who beget children in adultery or fornication should not be permitted to receive this special blessing, but rather should be made to do public penance."

“Only women who have given birth from legitimate marriage have a right to this blessing; so that there cannot be admitted to it those women who have notoriously borne offspring from adultery or fornication; public penance should rather be imposed upon them.” (De Herdt, S. Liturg, juxta Rit. Rom. bened. mulier. n. 11.)

This question was proposed to the Congregation of the Council, on the 18th June, 1859. The Congregation returned the following answer:

“Women who have given birth from legitimate marriage alone have a right to the blessing after childbirth.”

As is evident from the text, the sacred Congregation speaks only of the right—jus—of legitimately married women, to this blessing. The Congregation says nothing as to the permissibility of giving the blessing to unmarried women, after an illegitimate childbirth. It is quite clear that an unmarried woman has no strict right or just claim to be churched, after giving birth to an illegitimate child. But the question is not one of right; the question is one of the lawfulness of churching women after an illegitimate birth, not whether the priest committed a sin or acted unjustly in refusing to church Bertha, but whether he would have committed a sin or transgressed the law of the Church, if he had churched her.

Although the Roman Ritual may have taken occasion to speak of the churching of women from the Sacrament of Matrimony, still it remains true that the Ritual makes no distinction between legitimate and illegitimate childbirth, but simply describes the ceremony of blessing a woman after childbirth. Indeed it may even be urged that a woman has more need of this blessing after an illegitimate birth, than has a woman after a legitimate birth. For the nature and purpose of the ceremony is to purify the woman after confinement, that she may be clean again to enter the sanctuary of the Lord. And certainly a woman who has brought forth a child unlawfully, has more need of being purified before entering the church, than the woman who has borne a legitimate child. And if the blessing were to be omitted in the case of a notoriously illegitimate childbirth on account of the scandal it would occasion, still exception should be made for the poor woman who has brought forth her child in secret, and who was led into sin by deception or human frailty. In some countries, as in Belgium, for instance, in the case of a notorious illegitimate birth, the mother may not be churched except by the archpriest or dean, in order to enable the archpriest or the dean to discover, if possible, the identity of the father of the child, in order to institute legal proceedings against him. In some dioceses in Ireland, women who have given birth to illegitimate children are prohibited from being churched; in other dioceses they are restricted. In the diocese of Cashel and Emly there is this statute, dating from 1782:

“No woman who has given birth outside marriage is to be purified before a month has elapsed; if she has given birth again and in the same manner, she is to be purified only after two months have elapsed; one giving birth outside marriage a third time is never to be purified.” (O'Kane, Rubrics, p. 214.)

To conclude. Women who give birth to illegitimate children have no strict right to be churched, according to the decree of the sacred Congregation of the Council, June 18, 1859.

Further than this there is no general law of the Church concerning the churching of women, except that it belongs to the rights of the parish priest. If, therefore, there exist no diocesan statute, prohibiting the churching of women after an illegitimate childbirth, the parish priest is at liberty to do whatever he judges best in any particular case.

In the case before us we are inclined to think that the pastor was too harsh with Bertha. The poor woman had evidently suffered a great deal already, and the blessing might have helped her to regain her self-respect. There is danger that she may go wrong altogether, now that she feels herself so dishonored and she has need of great kindness and forbearance to help her rehabilitate herself in the esteem of the community. She would seem to be worthy of praise, rather than of contumely for desiring to receive the blessing post partum, and in the majority of such unfortunate cases kindliness will produce better results than severity.