appendix — Gury-Ballerini, Compendium of Moral Theology (8th ed., 1884)
Appendix. On the Current State of Regulars in France
Very many Monasteries, both of men and of women, were numbered in France as the eighteenth century was drawing to its end. But by the monstrous disturbance of all things which followed, all were dissolved. When the storm had quieted, many houses of Nuns were restored. Several others were founded under various forms sanctioned by the Bishop. Afterwards some Convents of men also were restored, and we now see them multiplied day by day. But several doubts have arisen, which must be weighed by us. Difficulties occur especially concerning Nuns. Hence:
- Questions. - QUESTION 1º. Do Nuns in France emit SOLEMN VOWS?
Resp. Negatively. For because of the difficulties of the times after the French disturbance, they preserved the faculty of possessing and acquiring goods, notwithstanding the vow of poverty. Thus it was declared several times by the Holy See. Therefore the vow of poverty which they emit is not solemn 1. Therefore the other two also cannot be solemn; for according to the nature of solemn Profession and the laws of the Church, one vow cannot be solemn without another. Therefore the vow of chastity does not constitute a diriment impediment of marriage until it shall please the Supreme Pontiff to restore to Nuns the solemnity of vows, or to establish that a simple vow is a diriment impediment.
1 ** This conclusion does not follow necessarily from the premises. For the Apostolic See can dispense so that, although bound by the solemn vow of poverty, they can possess, as is clear from the Response of the Sacred Penitentiary immediately subjoined. See what was said above in the note to n. 155.
- Response of the Sacred Penitentiary directed to the Bishop of Limoges, in the year 1820.
The Sacred Penitentiary, after diligently weighing the things set forth, responded to the Venerable Father in Christ, the Bishop of Limoges: That a solemn vow is that which is accepted by the Church as such, and renders the one vowing incapable, perpetually and immutably (with ordinary law considered and pontifical dispensation excluded), of contracting marriage and of acquiring or retaining ownership of things, as Father Pirhing speaks, with the other treaters of the sacred Canons, in the 3rd of the Decretals, tit. 54, § 1. Since therefore (as the things premised by the Bishop-orator signify) now the Nuns of the Gauls, in order to accommodate themselves to civil laws, emit the vow of poverty in such a way that they by no means abdicate dominion over their things, but retain them as their own, and intend to dispose of the same, when there shall be need, according to the civil laws, therefore this vow of theirs, whether it be quinquennial or perpetual, certainly is not solemn, nor is it accepted as such by the Church. But if a vow of poverty of this kind is not solemn, neither can the remaining two vows of chastity and obedience be considered solemn; since according to the nature of solemn religious profession, and the discipline of the Church, one vow cannot be solemn without another.
- QUESTION 2º. Can Nuns in France nevertheless gain all the Indulgences of the Religion in which solemn vows are emitted elsewhere?
Resp. Affirmatively. This is clear from the following response of the Sacred Penitentiary directed to D.D. Bouvier.
Most Blessed Father,
The Bishop of Le Mans, prostrate at the feet of Your Holiness, humbly asks a response to the following doubts:
1º Whether Nuns suppressed at the time of the French disturbance, afterwards restored, but transferred from other dioceses into that of Le Mans, nevertheless are truly Nuns enjoying their ancient privileges?
2º Whether Convents of Nuns recently founded according to the proper rules of the approved institute, with the authority of the Bishop alone, enjoy the spiritual privileges of their Order and other communicated privileges?
Most of the Monasteries now existing in the Gauls were not restored or founded. The Sacred Penitentiary judged that it should be responded to the Venerable Father in Christ, the Bishop-orator: that Nuns who before the French disturbance emitted solemn religious Profession are true Religious, and that they, as also the other Sisters of the Monasteries of France, can gain all the Indulgences which were conceded to the Religion or institute of other Nuns emitting solemn vows, according to the respective institute or rule; and this by Indult of the Holy Father Pius VII, and again confirmed by the Most Holy Lord Pope Gregory XVI. Given at Rome, in the Sacred Penitentiary, on the 3rd day of February 1841.
- QUESTION 3º. Can a Bishop in France dispense Nuns from vows?
Resp. 1º Affirmatively, as to Nuns pertaining to an Order in which solemn vows were formerly emitted, at least for the vows of poverty and obedience. For from an Apostolic Indult the Bishop, with attention given to the present circumstances of the times, can dispense from those vows as one delegated by the Holy See. A fortiori he can dispense from the same vows pious Congregations sanctioned by him or by his predecessors, and not yet approved by the Holy See.
I said, at least for the vows of poverty and obedience: because the vow of chastity, even simple, if it has been perpetual and absolute, is reserved to the Pope, and can still be kept among seculars. Nevertheless the case must be excepted in which a woman, in vowing, did not wish explicitly or implicitly to oblige herself except insofar as she would remain in the Monastery, or wished to oblige herself at the judgment of the Bishop, or also if the constitutions of the Congregation seem to be understood in this way; because then that vow would not be absolute nor perpetual.
Resp. 2º Negatively, if there is question of recent Congregations which are governed by a Superiorissa General; but recourse must be had to the Holy See. For if the Bishop could dispense these Nuns from vows, various Bishops having Communities of the same Order in their diocese would enjoy the same faculty as to them, and a conflict of jurisdiction would follow from this. Hence Bishops cannot dispense from vows the Nuns called of the Sacred Heart, etc.
Nor can a Bishop release Nuns from the bond of vows, although they emit only simple vows and do not depend on a Superiorissa General, if this Congregation has been approved by the Holy See.
QUESTION 4º. Is the vow of entering Religion reserved to the Pope in France?
Resp. Negatively. This is clear from the response of the Sacred Penitentiary to the Most Illustrious D.D. Bouvier, Bishop of Le Mans, on the 2nd day of January 1836 2.
2 ** This seems to be understood of the vow of entering a Congregation which, by reason of circumstances of time and place, is not held by the Holy See as a religious order properly so called.
- QUESTION 5º. Must the laws of enclosure, as to Monasteries of Nuns in France, be rigorously observed, and do those violating enclosure incur canonical penalties?
Resp. to the 1st. By common Law those laws do not urge rigorously. For since Nuns in France are not now held as properly Religious, by that very fact they are not subject to strict enclosure. Therefore enclosure is to be observed there only from the Rule, which remains the same, and also from the authority of the Bishops, who prescribe it. This is clear from the response of the Sacred Penitentiary to D. Gely, Canon of Nantes, on the 23rd day of January 1821. Nevertheless the law of enclosure in monasteries in which, by force of the constitutions, it ought to exist, cannot be cast aside without fault per se mortal; because it seems commonly to be apprehended so, and the Bishops are judged to wish to oblige so, since this discipline has always been held supremely necessary. Thus Bouvier, on the second precept of the Decalogue, at the end.
Resp. to the 2nd. From what has been said it must also be deduced that the spiritual penalties laid upon Nuns departing from the monastery, or upon outsiders entering their monastery, have no place in the present circumstances of things. - P. X. Gautrelet, Traite de l'etat religieux, t. 1, 2nd part, ch. 2.
- QUESTION 6º. Does the obligation of the divine Office urge for Nuns in France?
Resp. Negatively, per se or by reason of the law of the Church. For since Nuns in France, with attention given to the present circumstances of things, are to be numbered only among Congregations, they do not seem rigorously to be obliged per se to the divine Office under grave sin, unless from the constitutions of the Order they are gravely bound to it, which is very rare 3. For although they may have pertained to an Order formerly (or even now elsewhere) approved by the Church for solemn Profession, now they no longer pertain to it. But the rigorous obligation of reciting the Hours does not urge except Religious women professed in an approved Order. Therefore, etc. Nor should the Church be judged to wish to impose so great an obligation upon those women whom it now does not acknowledge as strictly Religious. - P. X. Gautrelet, Traite de l'etat religieux, t. 2, c. 3, art. 2.
3 ** This ought to be all the rarer, because if they are not bound by ecclesiastical law, it does not appear how this grave obligation could flow from the Constitutions alone, or who imposed it or could impose it.
- This doctrine can be confirmed by the following response of the Holy See.
Postulate of the Bishop of Perigueux concerning the obligation of reciting the Breviary for Nuns in France.
Most Blessed Father,
The Bishop of Perigueux in the Gauls, prostrate at the feet of Your Holiness, most humbly asks from You the solution of the following doubt.
From several responses of the Sacred Penitentiary it is plain that Nuns in France are not truly and properly Nuns, but only congregations of pious women, and that their vows are not solemn. Hence it seems to many that those Nuns who by force of their Rule are held to the recitation of the divine Office, such as Carmelites, Poor Clares, Nuns of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, etc., are not held to it under grave sin, since the gravity of this obligation seems not to reach any but Nuns emitting solemn vows. Others judge otherwise; because although they do not emit solemn vows, they seem to have taken upon themselves the obligations attached by law to the Rule which they have professed. In this variety of opinions, the Bishop-orator most humbly asks from Your Holiness:
Whether Nuns, with attention given to their condition in the Gauls, are held under grave sin to the recitation of the divine Office; or whether, since their vows are not solemn, they are not held to it more gravely than to any other point whatever of their Rule?
The Sacred Penitentiary, having maturely weighed the things set forth by the Venerable Father in Christ, the Bishop of Perigueux, judged that it should be responded, as it responds:
That Nuns bound by solemn vows are held under grave sin to recite the Office daily from custom already prescribed; but since concerning Nuns in the Gauls it has several times been responded that they neither emit solemn vows nor are Nuns strictly such, but only societies of pious women, therefore they are held by no other obligation than that which results from the respective constitutions. Given at Rome, in the Sacred Penitentiary, on the 26th day of November 1852.
- QUESTION 7º. Are the vows of Religious men in France now to be held as solemn?
Resp. Affirmatively. Thus the Collator of Le Puy (Conferences du Puy), P. Gautrelet, Traite de l'etat religieux, t. 1, c. 6, art. 3, etc., against some.
Proof. It must be admitted that vows of this kind can be given, unless it is shown that something now stands in the way, either from the civil power or from the ecclesiastical power; for if nothing stands in the way on either side, the integral right of emitting solemn vows conceded by the Church to strictly Religious Orders is preserved; but absolutely nothing stands in the way on either side. Therefore...
1º Nothing stands in the way on the part of the civil power. For 1º the civil law, whatever it may be, cannot affect the vow of poverty either directly, since it is a wholly spiritual thing, which by its nature cannot be subject to secular power; or indirectly, since religious poverty, in whatever manner it may have been promised, can in no way injure the political regime. 2º This is also clear from the absurdities which would follow from it. For if this were admitted, solemn vows could not be emitted in regions which are subject to infidel or heretical Princes, which nevertheless is contrary to the constant practice and doctrine of the Church; indeed religious Profession would be impossible in the whole Church if legislation of this kind were admitted everywhere. Moreover a Religious, for example of the Society of Jesus, frequently changing domicile, today would be Professed in Italy, and therefore incapable of dominion, but tomorrow in France he would not be, etc., etc. But these things cannot be said. Therefore, etc. 2º Nothing also stands in the way from the ecclesiastical power. For if anything stood in the way on this side, it would be some law, or Decree, from which the express will of the Supreme Pontiff derogating from the condition of Religious would be clear. But no Apostolic Constitution, no Decree, nor any Declaration of any Congregation can be brought forward from which such a will of the Supreme Pontiff would become known. Therefore... - Indeed from authentic testimony it is clear that the Religious of St. Benedict of Solesmes emit solemn vows; therefore such vows can be given and are in fact given. Therefore the power of the Church does not stand in the way of the efficacy of the solemnity of vows. - See the note of R. P. Gueranger, Abbot of the monastery of Solesmes, against the opposite opinion of D. Carriere, in the public sheet l'Ami de la Religion, t. 106, 7 September 1840.
- It will be enough for us to report these few things: the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, to the proposed question: Whether license should be conceded to the Superior of the monastery of Solesmes to admit to solemn Profession all subjects living with him for 4 years? responded: Affirmatively, for those who emitted SIMPLE VOWS, and for those actually existing in the monastery who completed 18 months in the novitiate, at the judgment of the Superior with his Chapter..., when two years and a day have been completed from the public reception of the cappa, they shall emit Profession...
Therefore the vows of the Regulars of the aforesaid Order assisting at choir are solemn; therefore the same must be said of the Regulars of other Orders.
- Objections. - Obj. 1º The civil law in reality stands in the way of solemn Profession; for the law establishes that all citizens are capable of entering into contracts and receiving successions. Therefore, etc.
Resp. 1º The civil law can in no way stand in the way, neither of solemn vows nor of perpetual vows; because the matter of a vow, since it is merely spiritual, cannot be touched by civil law, not even indirectly; for otherwise the civil power could annul the laws of the Church, which is repugnant. - See P. Gautrelet in the cited work, and P. de Ravignan, in the work on the Institute of the Society of Jesus. Hence Pius VI protested against the civil Constitution of the Gallican Clergy, by which it was declared that the Government in no way recognized the SOLEMN vows of Religious (Brief Quod aliquantum, 10 March 1791). And very recently Pius IX, among the usurpations which he detests in certain places of America, sets down this, namely that Religious families can admit no one to the pronouncing of solemn vows without the permission of the Government (Allocution in Consistory, 15 December 1856).
Resp. 2º The law must be regarded as having merely external effects, and thus all things are put in order. Moreover, the legal capacity for possessing, conceded to all citizens, is a right of nature; but private citizens can renounce this right. For who, for example, can be compelled to contract?
- Obj. 2º It is not permitted by law to renounce a succession not yet opened; therefore a Religious before Profession cannot renounce at least future goods, for example a paternal inheritance while the father is still living; but neither could he do this after solemn Profession, namely when the inheritance has been opened, since he has been made incapable of any disposition whatever. Therefore by this law solemn Profession is impossible.
Resp. 1º A Religious can always, even after solemn Profession has been made, with the consent of the Superior, accept inheritances or legacies for the monastery, as the statutes of Canon Law permit, although he can accept nothing for himself. Except a few Orders in which the constitutions specially stand in the way.
Resp. 2º A Religious before solemn profession, notwithstanding civil law, can dispose of future goods for others, for example for brothers. For by natural law he can renounce goods having true value here and now; but the hope of a future inheritance has true present value: therefore a Religious can validly renounce the hope, either by an internal act, or even by a testament drawn up before Profession, establishing that all goods pertaining to him at the time of death come to such and such persons, or to his natural heirs according to the course of civil law, and (with this understood) according to an intention predetermined before the emission of vows. But then the external declaration of this renunciation cannot be held as an act of ownership, but only as a manifestation of a disposition had beforehand.
- Obj. 3º The vows of all Nuns have been declared simple by the Holy See; therefore from analogy the same must also be said of the vows of Religious men.
Resp. 1º It is not true that all the vows of Nuns in France have been declared simple. For from the response of the Sacred Penitentiary related above n. 179, it is clear that Nuns who before the French disturbance had vowed solemnly were afterwards also true Religious. But from the various mentioned responses compared with one another, it is evidently plain that according to the manner of speaking of the Holy See the words: True Religious, and solemnly Professed, sound the same.
Resp. 2º From the fact that in various responses the Holy See speaks only of Nuns, it can deservedly be conjectured that Religious men are not comprehended in these Decrees. Indeed the Declaration approved by Gregory XVI expressly decrees that the decrees issued concerning this matter pertain only to Nuns.
Resp. 3º The condition of Religious men and Nuns in political disturbances is not the same. For the difference consists chiefly in this, that women can much more with difficulty provide for themselves, if they are cast out from the monastery, than men, most of whom are Priests, Missionaries, or professors of various sciences, etc. But the reason of disparity which seems to urge most of all is this, that the observance of perfect enclosure has become more difficult, since it is not acknowledged by the civil power, and consequently receives no protection from it. But enclosure for Nuns has a special connection with solemn Profession. This reason, however, is not valid for Religious men.
END OF THE TREATISE ON PARTICULAR STATES.