Chapter II. On the Jubilee

1061. • According to many, the word Jubilee is derived from the Hebrew iobel, which signifies fiftieth, because among the Hebrews the year of Jubilee recurred in the fiftieth year; or, according to others, from the same word signifying the sound of a trumpet by which the fiftieth year was announced. According to still others, Jubilee is derived from iubal or iobal, which signifies to sprout, because in the fiftieth year the land was not cultivated and the inhabitants fed upon fruits springing up spontaneously.

In imitation of the Jubilee of the Old Testament, the ecclesiastical Jubilee was instituted, which is now celebrated at Rome and throughout the world with a most full indulgence of sins, great joy, and solemnity. After its first institution by decree of Boniface VIII in the year 1300, it was held every fiftieth year; by decree of Urban VI, however, every thirtieth year; finally, by the statute of Paul II, it began to be celebrated every twenty-fifth year.

1062. Definition. - A Jubilee is a solemn plenary Indulgence which the Supreme Pontiff sometimes grants to all the faithful with the obligation of performing certain pious works, at the same time giving Confessors a special power of absolving from reserved sins and censures and of commuting most vows.

Hence a Jubilee differs only accidentally from an ordinary plenary Indulgence, namely, by reason of the solemnity and the privileges attached to it, and also by reason of the most abundant and extraordinary graces which accompany it. For the marvelous and astounding effects which a Jubilee is accustomed to produce demonstrate these altogether special graces, even if solemn assemblies of the faithful are not held and the divine word is not preached.

1063. Division. - A manifold Jubilee is distinguished:

1. A greater Jubilee, which regularly occurs every twenty-fifth year, which is called a Holy Year. It is also called an ordinary Jubilee because it is fixed and determined by law.

2. A lesser Jubilee, which is customarily granted by individual Supreme Pontiffs after the elevation of each and in other particular circumstances, and is called an extraordinary Jubilee.

3. General, which is granted to the whole world, as the greater Jubilee always is, and sometimes also the lesser Jubilee; but it is customarily granted to the City, or to Rome alone, before it is granted to the world.

4. Particular, which is granted to some province, city, or particular place, such as the most celebrated Jubilee granted to the Church of Anicium whenever the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin falls upon the sacred day of Parasceve.

An entire year is ordinarily granted at Rome for gaining the greater Jubilee, and in the following year it is customarily granted by extension to all other regions of the Christian world. But only fifteen days or three weeks are granted to individual parishes for gaining the Jubilee. Nevertheless, the Bishop can for just causes prolong that time. The lesser Jubilee is also first held at Rome, but for a few weeks, and then is extended to the whole world, so that during the course of the year it can be held for a time to be determined by the Bishop.

1064. • I. For a general Jubilee, whether greater or lesser, the following conditions are required: 1. a fast of three days, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday; 2. some alms according to the means of each; 3. visitation of Churches, praying piously for the intention of the Supreme Pontiff. Formerly it was placed in the Indult: Those who have taken part in the procession or have visited the Churches. Now a procession is not enjoined as a condition of the Indulgence. 4. Confession of sins performed with sincere sorrow. 5. Communion made in the state of grace. Thus from many Constitutions, especially that of Benedict XIV, Bull Inter praeteritos, 3 December 1749, for the Jubilee of the Holy Year. See the compendium of this Bull in St. Alphonsus, no. 536.

II. For a particular Jubilee, attention must be given to the tenor of the Indult granted; ordinarily only three things are required, namely, confession, Communion, and visitation of some Church.

1065. Questions. - QUESTION 1. Can children, the elderly, the sick, or others who cannot fast gain the Jubilee without fasting?

Reply. Negatively, unless they obtain a commutation of the fast into another work. The reason is that fasting is expressly prescribed as a condition for gaining the Indulgence. For it is not enjoined as a precept from which necessity excuses, but is assigned as a counsel with the promise of an Indulgence. Confessors approved for the Jubilee, however, enjoy the faculty of a commutation of this kind. Thus Laymann, book 5, tract 8, chapter 8, no. 12; Voit, no. 663.

QUESTION 2. Can the enjoined fasts be satisfied through fasts otherwise due, for example, if the Jubilee is held during Lent or the Ember Days?

Reply. Of itself, negatively, with St. Alphonsus, book 6, nos. 536 and 538. The reason is that by one payment a double burden cannot be satisfied, and the Pontiff, when he imposes a fast, always intends to impose a special obligation concerning a matter not yet commanded.

Nevertheless, if the Pontiff determines, or permits to be determined, for gaining the Jubilee a time in which a fast must already be observed by precept of the Church, such as the time of Lent or the Ember Days, by that very fact he is considered to dispense the faithful from the obligation of obtaining a commutation of the fast into another work. St. Alphonsus, no. 536. This doctrine is confirmed by a recent Decision of the Sacred Penitentiary ¹.

¹ Questions proposed to the Sacred Penitentiary on the occasion of the Jubilee granted by Pius IX in the year 1863:

1. Whether Bishops who determine the time of Lent for gaining the Jubilee in their Diocese ought to commute the prescribed fasts into other pious works, abstinence being observed in places where, by Pontifical faculty, they are accustomed to dispense from it?

2. Whether Bishops in whose Diocese the Jubilee falls during Paschal time can declare to the faithful that a single Communion, namely, the Paschal Communion, suffices for obtaining the grace of the Jubilee, with that which is prescribed by the Pontiff omitted?

3. Whether Bishops can assign different times for the various places of a Diocese to obtain the Indulgence of the Jubilee during the course of the year?

4. Whether Confessors, during the time of Jubilee, can absolve those who cooperated in the usurpation of Pontifical territory, notwithstanding the reservation made in the Bull of 26 March 1860?

The Sacred Penitentiary, after a report of the foregoing was made to our Most Holy Lord Pius IX, according to the mind of the same Most Holy Lord, replied on 20 January 1865:

To 1: Through the Lenten fast, even if there is necessity of using milk foods, the double burden is satisfied.

To 2: Affirmatively.

To 3: Affirmatively, from a new Indult of His Holiness.

To 4: Negatively, and recourse must be had to the Ordinaries of the places, who will provide according to the instructions.

1066. • QUESTION 3. Can the visitation of Churches be commuted for those impeded?

Reply. Affirmatively. Thus Nuns, those detained in prisons, the sick, and any others impeded from visiting a Church for a grave cause can obtain from a Confessor a commutation of this work into another. Thus Benedict XIV established in the Bull Inter praeteritos, and the other subsequent Supreme Pontiffs.

QUESTION 4. Can confession and Communion be commuted?

Reply. Negatively, at least generally speaking. The reason is that Bulls speaking of works to be commuted do not speak of confession or Communion, at least for adults. Indeed, they are expressly excluded by Benedict XIV in the Bull cited, section 1, where it is said that the faculty of commuting pious works is not understood to be given concerning confession and Communion, except for children, or the prayer necessary in the visitation.

Nevertheless, as it seems, if someone intending to communicate on the last day were prevented from Communion by an unforeseen occurrence, he could obtain a commutation of Communion or a prolongation of the Jubilee. Thus commonly, says Bouvier, little work on Indulgences and the Jubilee, chapter 3, section 4.

1067. • QUESTION 5. Can children not yet refreshed by Communion gain the Jubilee with it omitted?

Reply. Negatively, unless they obtain a commutation. For it is gathered from the Bull of Benedict XIV, ibid., and of Leo XII for the Jubilee that, with the Bishop's permission, they can gain the Jubilee when Communion is commuted into another pious work. Bouvier, ibid.

1068. • QUESTION 6. Does Paschal Communion suffice for gaining the Jubilee if the Jubilee is celebrated during Paschal time?

Reply. Affirmatively, unless a special Communion for acquiring the Indulgence of the Jubilee is required in the Bull or Rescript of the Pontiff. This is evident from the Declaration of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences on 14 December 1841, as will be said below at the end of this appendix, no. 1086.

QUESTION 7. Are those who have only venial sins bound to confess?

Reply. Altogether affirmatively. Formerly a great controversy was conducted concerning this, but it fell after the express Declaration of Benedict XIV, ibid., section 77. Absolution, however, is not necessarily required, since no mention is made of it.

1069. • QUESTION 8. Does a confession made on the vigil of the first day of the Jubilee suffice?

Reply. Negatively. The reason is that all the works must be performed within the interval of time established for gaining the Jubilee. Nevertheless, confession can be begun either on the vigil or before, provided it is completed during the time of the Jubilee. Bouvier, ibid. Nevertheless, confession could be made in that part of the vigil which follows first Vespers, because the first day, according to ecclesiastical custom, is usually reckoned from first Vespers; and this is constantly observed in the ordinary Jubilee of the City, as is evident from the Bull Peregrinantes of Benedict XIV, section 4. Moreover, the days for performing the enjoined works, as is evident from section 6 of the same Constitution, can be taken either as natural or ecclesiastical, namely, from first Vespers of one day until the full evening twilight of the following day.

QUESTION 9. What quantity of alms must be given?

Reply 1. If in the Bull it is said, He who shall have given alms, any quantity suffices, provided it is not so small that it appears to be almost nothing.

Reply 2. If it is said, As much as shall have seemed fitting to each according to his means, then the quantity ought in some way to bear proportion to the means of each; hence to give a small coin would suffice for a poor person, but not for a rich person. Thus sufficiently commonly; St. Alphonsus, no. 528.

1070. • QUESTION 10. Must the poor, Religious, and children under parental authority give alms, and if so, how?

Reply 1. All are bound either to give alms in some way, at least through another, or to substitute another pious work determined by the Confessor. The reason is that, where the obtaining of some favor is in question, impossibility of fulfilling the condition does not excuse from it, as impossibility of fulfilling a precept does, as was already said above. Laymann, chapter 8, no. 12; Lacroix, nos. 1428-1430.

Reply 2. The poor can satisfy by giving the smallest thing, for example, a penny or a small piece of bread, etc. But it is more prudent to commute this work into another for them, as Lacroix expressly says, ibid., and Laymann, ibid.

Reply 3. Religious and children under parental authority satisfy if some alms are given by their Superiors in their name and with their knowledge. Wives can likewise satisfy through their husbands, and servants through their masters.

1071. • QUESTION 11. Must all the works enjoined be completed in one week?

Reply 1. Affirmatively as to the fasts. This is clearly proved from the formula which reads thus: Those who shall have taken part in the procession or visited the Churches, and shall have fasted on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of one of the two weeks, and likewise shall have confessed their sins, been refreshed by Holy Communion, and given alms..., etc. From these things it is plainly evident that the three fasts are to be performed in the same week.

Reply 2. Negatively, however, as to the other works. The reason is that in the cited formula, which is customarily employed, it is said only that the fasts are to be performed in the same week, but not the remaining works, as will be evident to one attending to the grammatical order. Moreover, otherwise an absurdity would follow, namely, that if a procession were enjoined, and indeed only one, for example, at the beginning of the Jubilee, no one could gain it in the second week.

Nevertheless, St. Alphonsus and several others affirm, relying both upon the text of the Indult and upon the custom of the faithful. But from each the contrary can deservedly be maintained.

Furthermore, the difficulty vanishes, and the mind of the Church is most clearly evident from the Bull of Pius IX granted for the Jubilee after his elevation, 20 November 1846, where it is said: 1. For the City: Those who, from the sixth day of December until the twenty-seventh day of the same month, shall have visited twice within those three weeks the Basilicas, etc., and shall have prayed devoutly there for some space of time, and within the same weeks shall have confessed their sins and reverently received the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, etc. 2. For the World: Those who... shall have visited twice during the space of three weeks the designated Churches or one of them, and shall have devoutly performed the other works, etc.

1072. • QUESTION 12. Can travelers gain the Jubilee, and if so, how?

Reply. 1. The time of the Jubilee can be prolonged for them until their return, and one is not bound to delay his journey unless he can conveniently do so. 2. If they are found on a journey when the Jubilee begins in their own place, they can likewise gain it there after their return. 3. If they pass through places where the Jubilee is being celebrated, they can gain it there. Thus St. Alphonsus, no. 538, commonly with others. This is evident from the Bulls for the Jubilee. Consult the Bull of Pius IX just cited.

1073. • QUESTION 13. Can the Jubilee be gained several times?

Reply. It seems that this must be denied unless it is found specially expressed in the Bull or Rescript of grant ².

² This was said less exactly. For Benedict XIV, Constitution Inter praeteritos, no. 84, hands down as a general canon that this holds when the Jubilee is granted for a short time, for example, two weeks, but otherwise if the Jubilee of the Holy Year is in question. We, he says, have judged it opportune to declare Our mind concerning this controversy proposed elsewhere. For, considering that the matter here is by no means a Jubilee of two weeks, but a Jubilee which endures for an entire year; that the matter does not concern enjoined works which can be fulfilled several times in a day;... but concerns visits, not few in number, to Basilicas which are separated and distant from one another and which can be made only on many distinct days, We have by no means doubted to declare that the Holy Indulgence can be acquired several times during the Holy Year by repeating the enjoined works.

It is added in the same place: But since other favors and graces are joined to the Indulgence of the Jubilee,... We have declared that one who has once become a participant in them the first time he obtained the Jubilee cannot again become a participant in them if, after the first acquisition of the Jubilee, he again incurs censures, commits reserved cases, or needs new commutations or dispensations from Vows. By these words the question raised elsewhere is sufficiently clearly resolved: Can one who has already obtained the Jubilee, but did not then become a participant in favors and graces of this kind because he did not need them, afterward enjoy them if perhaps he later needs them? For in the Constitution the discourse is most expressly about those who perhaps need to become participants AGAIN, those who AGAIN incur censures and commit reserved cases, and finally NEW commutations of Vows, etc. And the Sacred Penitentiary also, in a Response of 1 June 1869, when it denied that the Jubilee could be gained several times with respect to absolution, expressly limited this to absolution from censures and reserved matters into which one already absolved had FALLEN ANEW. Therefore, for anyone who has not yet been a participant in these graces, the exception that he obtained the Jubilee the first time certainly does not hold; for it must be denied that, besides the Indulgence, he in any way became a participant in those graces the first time.

QUESTION 14. Through an INVALID confession during the Jubilee, are censures and the reservation of sins removed?

Reply 1. More probably affirmatively, if the confession was inculpably null.

Reply 2. Probably affirmatively, even if the confession was culpably null, provided the penitent did not omit the reserved sins themselves through sacrilegious silence. See the Salmanticenses, On Penance, chapter 13, no. 41; Lugo, On Penance, disputation 20, no. 110, etc. ³.

³ Compare what was said above concerning this question, no. 580, question 9.

1074. • QUESTION 15. Does one sin gravely who, after he has been absolved from reserved matters, does not fulfill the other prescribed works?

Reply. Negatively, with the common opinion. The reason is that such an obligation does not appear to have been imposed either from the nature of the Jubilee or from a precept of the Pontiff or Confessor. Thus St. Alphonsus, no. 557; Lugo, disputation 20, no. 100; the Salmanticenses, chapter 13, no. 57, against some.

QUESTION 16. Can one who confessed during the time of the Jubilee and forgot to confess his reserved sins afterward be absolved by any Confessor?

Reply 1. Affirmatively, if the Confessor had the express intention of absolving from all sins, even reserved sins.

Reply 2. More probably affirmatively even if the Confessor did not think about this, because by force of the Jubilee the penitent acquired the right to be absolved by any Confessor. Thus more commonly with St. Alphonsus, no. 537, question 4; Lacroix, no. 1449, etc.

But if someone began confession within the Jubilee, he can afterward be absolved from all reserved sins. Laymann, Navarre, etc.

1075. • QUESTION 17. During the Jubilee, is it lawful to choose as Confessor anyone approved by the Ordinary?

Reply. Affirmatively, and this faculty particularly regards Nuns and their Novices, and indeed Regulars themselves. Thus Benedict XIV declared after Gregory XIII and Alexander VII. St. Alphonsus, no. 536.

Except, however, the case of an accomplice. For Benedict XIV declared that outside the point of death a Priest can never, even during the Jubilee, absolve his accomplice in a shameful sin, Bull Inter praeteritos.

QUESTION 18. How far does the extraordinary power concerning the absolution of sins extend?

Reply. Unless otherwise and expressly declared, all Confessors have the faculty of absolving from any sins whatsoever, even those reserved to the Apostolic See in the Bull Coenae or otherwise reserved in any manner; and also from sins reserved to the Bishop, even if this is not expressed.

1076. • QUESTION 19. Can a Confessor absolve from all reserved censures?

Reply. Affirmatively, and there belongs to him full power of absolving from any censures whatsoever, whether imposed by law or by a man, in any manner and for any cause, even those reserved to the Ordinaries of places, or to the Pope and Apostolic See, or contained in the Bull Coenae, and otherwise reserved in any way. Observe, however, that the faculty of absolving from censures of the Bull Coenae does not include the faculty of absolving from heresy. St. Alphonsus, etc.

1077. • QUESTION 20. Can a Confessor grant DISPENSATIONS from vows?

Reply. Negatively; for, says Benedict XIV, the faculty of dispensing is not included in the faculty of commuting. Not a few Theologians assert that one who confessed during the time of the Jubilee can afterward receive from any Confessor a commutation of vows, although he did not request the aforesaid dispensation then. This opinion is called probable by St. Alphonsus. Ibid., no. 536.

QUESTION 21. Does the faculty of absolving from censures include the faculty of absolving from irregularities?

Reply. Negatively. Thus the common opinion against some who consider irregularities from delict to be comprehended under the name of censures. There are, however, several examples of a grant of this kind.

Two things should be noted here.

1. During the Jubilee of a Holy Year, or greater Jubilee, all other Indulgences, both plenary and partial, granted for the living are suspended for the entire year, but not those which are granted for the deceased. Indeed, by the grant of Benedict XIV, all Indulgences, even those which otherwise were not applicable to the deceased, can be applied to them in this year. See the Bull of the same Pontiff already cited several times.

The following are excepted from the suspension of Indulgences for the living: 1. Indulgences for the dying; 2. Indulgences for the prayer Angelus; 3. Indulgences for the visitation of the Most Holy Sacrament solemnly exposed; 4. Indulgences for those who accompany the Most Holy Sacrament carried to the sick; 5. all Indulgences granted by someone other than the Pope. These things are deduced from the Constitutions of Benedict XIV and Leo XII.

2. No order is necessarily required in performing the works, provided the last work is performed in the state of grace. But if someone falls into mortal sin after confession, he is not bound to repeat the visitations of Churches, the fasts, or the alms; nevertheless, he is bound to confess again. Thus Benedict XIV in the Bull just cited.

1078. • Doubt 1. By a Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences issued on 12 June 1822, it is granted that a sacramental confession made within a week before a feast can avail for gaining an Indulgence.

QUESTION 1. Do the words, within a week, signify only the eight days immediately preceding the feast; or the entire and complete week which runs before the feast, so that, for example, a confession made on Sunday would avail for gaining an Indulgence on Saturday of the following week, on which day the feast would fall, although thirteen days would then have intervened between the confession and the feast?

QUESTION 2. Does a confession made on the eighth day before the feast, by force of this Indult, avail only for gaining one Indulgence; or can other Indulgences also be gained through this confession which occur within the aforesaid time and for the gaining of which sacramental confession would otherwise be required?

Doubt 2. QUESTION. When confession is prescribed as a condition sine qua non in the Bull or Brief by which an Indulgence is granted, is it necessary that sacramental absolution be given to the penitents for gaining the Indulgence?

The Sacred Congregation appointed over Indulgences and Sacred Relics judged on 15 December 1841 that the response should be:

As to the first Doubt:

To 1: Affirmatively as to the first part; negatively as to the second.

To 2: Negatively as to the first part; affirmatively as to the second.

As to the second Doubt: The response is negative. In testimony whereof, etc.

1079. • 1. The Bishop of Saint-Flour in France asks whether the Indulgences which are gained in contemplation of the stations of the Way of the Cross cease if the Crosses or tablets are removed for whitewashing the walls, for

adorning the same walls with painting, or for another cause, although afterward both the Crosses and the tablets are restored to their places?

2. What if not all but only some are removed for the aforesaid causes? What if all the Crosses with the tablets are removed for about a month, as very often happens for whitewashing the walls?

3. What if, in the first erection, the Crosses and tablets adhere to one another in such a way that no symmetrical order exists? Can they be moved from place to place within the bounds of the same Church so that they are equally distant, without the Indulgences being lost; and in what cases is a new canonical erection required?

From the Secretariat of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, on 21 March 1836, the response to the proposed doubts is:

To 1: They do not lose the Indulgences.

To 2: They enjoy the Indulgences, notwithstanding, etc.

To 3: Affirmatively; and the Indulgences do not cease unless the material perishes.

1080. • QUESTION. For gaining the Indulgences granted for the visitation of the fourteen stations of the Way of the Cross, is the recitation of six Paters, Aves, and Glorias required in addition to the visitation of the aforesaid stations?

RESPONSE. For obtaining the Indulgences granted for the visitation of the fourteen stations of the Way of the Cross, nothing else is required than to pass from one station to another while meditating upon the Passion of the divine Redeemer Jesus Christ, insofar as the multitude of persons visiting the aforesaid stations, or the capacity of the place in which they are erected, permits. The matter is thus evident from the Bull Inter plurima of Benedict XIII, 3 March 1726, confirmed by another Bull, Exponi nobis, of Clement XII, dated 16 January 1731, and by a Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences dated 3 April 1731, and also by the Brief of Benedict XIV which begins Cum tanta, dated 30 August 1741. Hence it is that We adore Thee, O Christ; Our Father; Hail Mary, etc.; and Have mercy upon us, O Lord, are only a praiseworthy custom introduced by pious faithful of Christ into the exercise of visiting the stations of the Way of the Cross. In testimony whereof, etc. 22 September 1829.

1081. • QUESTION 1. Does a Priest satisfy the obligation of celebrating Mass for a deceased person by observing the rite of the feria or of any Saint, even if it is not semidouble or double?

QUESTION 2. Must one who has a personal privilege for four Masses in each week celebrate in vestments of black color on days not impeded, so that he can gain a plenary Indulgence for the souls of the deceased?

QUESTION 3. Must one who celebrates at an altar privileged for every day always use black vestments on days not impeded in order to obtain the Indulgence of the privilege?

QUESTION 4. For gaining the plenary Indulgence granted to the prayer, O good and most loving Jesus, is it necessary to add another prayer for the intention of the Supreme Pontiff?

QUESTION 5. For Indulgences applicable to Crosses, Rosaries, etc., is any rite necessary besides the sign of the Cross made by the Priest who has received this faculty?

QUESTION 6. Does the granted Indulgence adhere only to the figure of Christ made of bronze, wood, or any other material, such that it can be transferred from one Cross to another without danger of losing the Indulgence conferred upon it?

The Sacred Congregation appointed over Indulgences and Sacred Relics judged that the responses to the foregoing Doubts should be as follows, 11 April 1840:

To 1: Affirmatively.

To 2: Affirmatively.

To 3: As in the second.

To 4: Negatively. Nevertheless, afterward Pius IX, by a Decree issued on 31 July 1858, declared that some prayers must be recited for the intention of the Church in order to gain the Indulgence granted to the prayer O good and most loving Jesus.

To 5: Negatively. Nevertheless, according to a Declaration of the Sacred Congregation on 11 April 1864, a formula and sprinkling with blessed water are required for blessing chaplets of St. Dominic and of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

To 6: Affirmatively.

1082. • By which the members of the Confraternity of St. Mary of Mount Carmel are henceforth exempted from the inscription of their names in the registers of the aforesaid Confraternity so that they may be able to gain its Indulgences. At the petition of the Reverend Father General of the Discalced Carmelites, from an audience of His Holiness on 30 April 1832, Our Most Holy Lord Pope Gregory XVI, in view of the particular circumstances and with prior sanation as to the past, benignly assented to all things according to the petition, those things nevertheless which are customarily to be observed in other respects being observed according to the form of the preceding grants, anything whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding. The present grant is to remain in force in perpetuity without any issuance of a Brief.

1083. • 1. For gaining the Indulgence or fruits of the prayer Sacrosanctae, etc., must this prayer necessarily be said on bended knees, or, at least in a case of legitimate impediment, can it be recited while walking or sitting?

**2. Must small habits or scapulars necessarily be worn immediately upon the body so that they physically touch it, or can they be retained over the clothing?**

3. Do the Indulgences attached by Pius V of holy memory to the recitation of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary avail for the Roman Office alone, or for the various Offices of the Blessed Virgin Mary composed by episcopal authority after the pattern of the Roman Office?

4. Does one who recites the hymn Veni Creator, etc., not according to the correction of the meter but according to the former meter, gain the Indulgences? Is the variation of the doxology of the hymn Veni Creator within and outside Paschal time of the essence of the work for gaining the Indulgences?

In France, the hymn Veni Creator has a doxology proposed by episcopal authority; can those who recite the aforesaid hymn with that doxology make its Indulgences their own?

5. The antiphon Regina caeli, which is customarily said during Paschal time in place of the prayers Angelus Domini, is recited in some places with versicles and responses different from those given in the Roman Breviary; does the recitation of the aforesaid antiphon with this change give an equal right to the Indulgences?

These Doubts having been maturely considered by the Most Eminent Fathers appointed over sacred Indulgences in a general Congregation held at the Vatican on 5 March 1855, and the vote of the Consultors having been heard, on 16 July 1855 they were of the opinion that the rescript should be:

1084. • To the question: Can gold or silver rings surrounded by ten knobs, which certain pious persons use for reciting the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin, be blessed with the Indulgences attached?

The Most Eminent Cardinal Castracane, Major Penitentiary, replied by mandate of His Holiness Gregory XVI: Negatively.

1085. • QUESTION 1. Are local Indulgences, that is, those which are attached to a certain place, for example, to a Church or altar, null and of no value, so that the faithful would strive in vain to gain them as long as the Bishop of that place has not permitted them to be published?

Reply. Negatively as to the nullity of the Indulgences. Nevertheless, the publication of the Ordinary must be awaited after he has reviewed them, so that the faithful may know whether the Indulgences are plenary or partial and what conditions are assigned for acquiring them.

QUESTION 2. Are personal Indulgences, privileges, and faculties, that is, those granted to some private person, for example, an Indulgence granted to someone for the point of death, a personal Indult of a privileged altar, or the faculty of blessing chaplets of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the application of Indulgences, likewise null and of no value as long as the Bishop has not reviewed them and permitted them to be put into effect?

Reply. Negatively.

1086. • QUESTION 3. Are Indulgences which the Supreme Pontiffs have granted to all the faithful of the whole world in Bulls or Rescripts already published and cited by most approved authors null and of no value, so that the faithful cannot gain them unless they have first been promulgated by the Ordinaries of the places in their respective Dioceses?

Reply. Negatively.

QUESTION 4. Supposing the necessity of that promulgation, can any Bishop promulgate in his Diocese those Indulgences concerning which the third Doubt treats, provided he finds them related by authors worthy of faith, for example, Ferraris or La Raccolta?

Reply. Affirmatively from the things explained above, and in the case concerning which the said Doubt treats. Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 31 August 1844, for all these questions.

1087. • QUESTION 5. Must one who obtains various faculties from the Apostolic See, namely, of a personal privileged altar, of erecting stations of the Way of the Cross, or of blessing Crosses and Medals, exhibit the said faculties to the Ordinary, even if no mention was made of this in the Rescripts of the grants?

Reply. Affirmatively as to the erection of the Way of the Cross; negatively with respect to the other faculties, unless it is otherwise provided in the grants obtained. Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 6 February 1844.

1088. • QUESTION 1. Does the recitation of the confession, that is, the Confiteor, made in the Sacrament of Penance suffice for the prescribed recitation of it when the blessing with an Indulgence at the point of death is to be imparted?

Reply. Negatively, according to the practice and Rubrics, unless necessity urges.

QUESTION 2. Is it necessary to recite the Confiteor three times when sacred Viaticum and Extreme Unction are administered and the Indulgence at the point of death is imparted?

Reply. Affirmatively, according to the practice and Rubrics.

QUESTION 3. Can a sick person gain the plenary Indulgence at the point of death several times from several Priests having the faculty of imparting it?

Reply. Negatively, in the same point of death.

QUESTION 4. Does a Priest validly confer the plenary Indulgence at the point of death if, because a book is lacking, he omits the formula prescribed by the Supreme Pontiff?

Reply. Negatively, because the formula is not merely directive but preceptive. 5 February 1841.

1089. • QUESTION 1. What is the efficacy of a privileged altar?

Reply. By the Indulgence attached to a privileged altar, if the intention of the grantor and the use of the power of the keys are considered, there is to be understood a plenary Indulgence which immediately frees a soul from all the punishments of Purgatory; but if the effect of the application is considered, there is to be understood an Indulgence whose measure corresponds to the good pleasure and acceptance of divine mercy. Sacred Congregation, 28 July 1840.

QUESTION 2. Must one who celebrates at an altar privileged for every day always use black vestments on days not impeded in order to obtain the Indulgence of the privilege?

Reply. Affirmatively. Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 11 April 1840. But one who celebrates for a deceased person gains the Indulgence of the privileged altar even though he reads the Mass of the occurring feast when the day is impeded. Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 11 March 1851.

The privilege inheres in the altar, not in the stone, which can be substituted for another as necessity or convenience may require (Sacred Congregation, 20 March 1839); thus, if the altar is demolished, the privilege does not perish, but revives when the altar is rebuilt under the same title. Indeed, the privilege does not perish if the altar is erected under the same title but in a different place in the Church. Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 30 August 1847.

1090. • Angers. In the general sessions of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences held on 29 February 1864, the Bishop of Angers proposed the following Doubts for resolution:

I. Can the privilege of a privileged altar, whether real or personal, be applied to the souls of several deceased persons in the Mass of any day?

II. Can the Apostolic faculty granted to the Ordinary of Angers, that in all the parish Churches of the Diocese of Angers Masses of Requiem be celebrated with chant three times in each week when Offices of double rite occur, only certain ones being excepted,

be freely put into practice; or must the Masses of Requiem be deferred to other days of the week on which a semidouble rite occurs? III. Can a Priest enjoying the personal privilege of an altar celebrate and gain the Indulgences in a week when a double feast recurs, or must he await semidouble feasts in order to gain them?

The Sacred Congregation judged that the response should be as follows, 20 August 1864:

To 1: Negatively.

To 2: Affirmatively, insofar as semidouble feasts do not occur in the week.

To 3: As to the second.

1091. • It is asked: Do those visiting Churches of the Order of St. Francis on the second day of August gain a plenary Indulgence toties quoties, as often as they enter them and pray there for a short time; and is it required that Communion be received in the same Church?

The Sacred Congregation replied on 22 February 1847: Affirmatively to the first part; negatively to the second part.

1092. • Since Confessors need a special faculty to absolve these persons, it must be sought either from the Sacred Penitentiary or from the Ordinaries, to whom most ample faculties for this purpose were granted by Apostolic Letters of 11 April 1869. The norm to be observed in the use of these faculties is sufficiently evident from the following Responses or Declarations of the Sacred Penitentiary given on 1 June 1869.

1093. • QUESTION 1. By force of the faculties granted through the Apostolic Letters of 11 April, can Confessors approved by the Ordinaries absolve those who carried into effect the invasion or rebellion of the territories of the Holy See, and those who commanded, adhered to, and cooperated with them; and also those who promoted unjust laws or contributed their labor to their execution?

Reply. Affirmatively, provided the penitents exhibit signs of true repentance, have repaired the scandal, or at least are prepared to repair it as soon as possible in the best manner they can, and have sincerely promised obedience to the Holy See and to its commands to be issued concerning the matter. Public officials, however, whose office appears to involve some cooperation in acts condemned by the Holy See, or to be opposed to divine and ecclesiastical laws, are not to be absolved unless they have first resigned the office; and insofar as they cannot resign it, the officials themselves are to consult the Ordinary of the place, who is to decide and provide according to the Letters of the Sacred Penitentiary of 26 July 1867, which Letters must be followed in every respect.

1094. • QUESTION 2. Can those Clerics who composed petitions concerning the abdication of the temporal Dominion of the Holy See, or subscribed to them, be absolved by Confessors, and how?

Reply. Affirmatively, after a retraction has first been made and sufficiently published according to the Letters of the Sacred Penitentiary of 28 May 1863.

1095. • QUESTION 3. Can violators of personal and local Ecclesiastical immunity and of enclosure be absolved by Confessors?

Reply. Affirmatively, after satisfaction has been made to the injured party and the injury done to the Church has been repaired in the best manner possible.

1096. • QUESTION 4. Can those who acquired or possess immovable ecclesiastical goods sold by the treasury, commonly called the State Domain, be absolved, and how?

Reply. Penitents who retain goods of this kind are not to be absolved unless they first deliver to the Ordinary of the place, or to other ecclesiastical men designated throughout the Diocese by the Ordinary himself according to his prudence, a written instrument signed by them, or subscribed before witnesses, to be transmitted as soon as possible to that same Ordinary and carefully preserved in the Diocesan Chancery or elsewhere, by which they declare that they subject themselves and their heirs and successors to the following obligations or conditions:

1. To retain those same goods at the will of the Church and thereafter to obey its commands.

2. To preserve the goods themselves and to administer them profitably.

3. To fulfill the pious works attached to those goods.

4. To assist, from the fruits of those goods, the Persons or Pious Places to which they belong by right ⁴.

⁴ In other rescripts it reads: And to expend the revenues of those goods which, after a proportion has been made, exceed the price paid, either in favor of the persons or Pious Places to which the said goods belong by right, or in satisfaction of the price paid in the purchase, insofar as the purchaser may wish to seek its recovery and with the consent of the Ordinary.

The conditions prescribed in this entire paragraph for those who retain goods purchased without permission are customarily prescribed likewise for those who purchased goods of this kind with permission. But today this faculty is not granted so easily unless extraordinary circumstances are present and with the recommendation of the Ordinary. To obtain this faculty, recourse is made to the Sacred Penitentiary, which, for this grant, sends it to the Ordinary of the Diocese; he imparts this faculty under the aforesaid conditions, which are to be accepted and subscribed by the same persons and carefully preserved in the episcopal Chancery.

5. To admonish their heirs and successors, by a signed written instrument, concerning obligations of this kind, so that they too may know to what they are bound.

1097. • QUESTION 5. Can those who acquired immovable ecclesiastical goods and afterward sold them to others, and those who cooperated in contracts concerning those same goods, be absolved, and under what conditions?

Reply. Affirmatively, after the profit unjustly received from them has been deposited in the hands of the Ordinary so that he may preserve it in favor of the Pious Places which suffered losses; after the scandal has been repaired; after the new purchasers and other accomplices have been admonished to take counsel for their own conscience; and after the obligation has been imposed upon each to abide by the commands of the Holy See to be issued concerning the matter.

1098. • QUESTION 6. Can those who acquired movable ecclesiastical goods be absolved, and what must be enjoined upon them?

Reply. Affirmatively, after some alms have been imposed upon them in favor of the Pious Places to which the said goods belong, insofar as they purchased them at a price which, in the judgment of the Ordinary or Confessor, was less than just. But if the matter concerns things which are not consumed by use, or which can be preserved by being kept, or ecclesiastical furnishings and sacred vessels, the obligation is to be imposed upon the Penitents of having recourse as soon as possible to the Ordinary of the place, so that he may provide concerning those same things according to the Indult already granted to the Ordinary himself by the Sacred Penitentiary ⁵.

⁵ The Sacred Penitentiary is accustomed, namely, to grant Bishops the faculty: 1. of permitting those who have recourse to them lawfully to acquire provisions, fruits of the earth, and movable things belonging to Churches or Pious Places and usurped by the Government, after scandal has prudently been removed and some alms have been expended, especially in favor of the Churches or persons to whom the things themselves belonged, to be assessed by the Ordinary or by the Confessor, insofar as they purchased them at a price which, in the judgment of that Ordinary or Confessor, was less than just; 2. of providing under the same conditions, and after their absolution with a suitable salutary penance, for those who have already purchased those same things.

But if the matter concerns things which are not consumed by use, the purchasers are to be bound to deliver a list of them to the Ordinary, and to be prepared to restore them whenever required to the Churches or Pious Places upon receipt of the price paid, and to take care according to their ability that ecclesiastical furnishings, vessels, and sacred utensils be transferred to the uses of other Churches or Oratories and not appropriated to profane uses. The case in which the things purchased exceed the value of five hundred scudi is excepted.

1099. • QUESTION 7. Can those who leased ecclesiastical goods unjustly occupied or sold by the treasury, commonly called the State Domain, be absolved, and how?

Reply. Affirmatively, after the obligation has been imposed upon the Penitents of having recourse as soon as possible to the Ordinary of the place, so that he may provide concerning the goods leased according to the Indult likewise already granted to the Ordinary himself by the Sacred Penitentiary ⁶.

⁶ The Sacred Penitentiary is accustomed to grant the Ordinaries of places the faculty of permitting the faithful to lease, or to retain already leased, ecclesiastical goods occupied by the Government, after some alms have been imposed upon them in favor of the persons or Churches to whom those same goods belong by right, insofar as they leased them at a price which, in the judgment of the Ordinary or Confessor, was less than just; and with the obligation of doing as much as they can under the direction of the Ordinary for the preservation especially of sacred edifices and

churches which were attached to those goods; and after prior absolution with a salutary penance, insofar as they leased them illicitly, and after the scandal has been removed and repaired.

Although it is most desirable that leases of this kind be made for a short time, nevertheless, the Sacred Penitentiary declares that it is no obstacle if, because the Government so commands, the lease is made for more than three years, since a contract of lease of this kind is null by the law itself, and the Apostolic Indult is granted to the lessee only for the peace of his conscience and is entirely revocable at the will of the Holy See.

1100. • QUESTION 8. Can those who received ecclesiastical goods in emphyteusis from the Government be absolved, and how?

Reply. Penitents of this kind are not to be absolved unless they first deliver to the Ordinary of the place, or to other ecclesiastical men designated by the Ordinary as above in Doubt 4, a written instrument by which they declare that they subject themselves and their heirs and successors to the following obligations or conditions:

1. To preserve those same goods and to administer them profitably.

2. Not to use any privilege or law, whether enacted or to be enacted, concerning redemption from the rent.

3. To retain the goods themselves at the will of the Church and thereafter to obey its commands concerning the restitution of those goods.

4. To fulfill the pious burdens attached to those goods, insofar as they are not fulfilled from elsewhere.

5. In the meantime to pay the annual rent, and to increase it according to the paths of justice and according to the valuation of experts of a timorous conscience, if one too small was imposed in the stipulation of the contract.

6. To admonish their heirs and successors concerning obligations of this kind by a written instrument, so that they too may know to what they are bound.

1101. • QUESTION 9. Can those who not only received ecclesiastical goods in emphyteusis from the Government but also redeemed them from payment of the rent be absolved, and how?

Reply. Provision is to be made for Penitents of this kind as in the preceding response to Doubt 4.

1102. • QUESTION 10. Can those who redeemed Censuses and ecclesiastical rights redeemable of themselves be absolved, and how?

Reply. Affirmatively, provided they first pay into the hands of the Ordinary whatever amount short of the capital sum they paid to the Government, so that he may preserve it in favor of the Pious Places to which the censuses or redeemed rights belonged.

1103. • QUESTION 11. Can those who redeemed rents, ground-rents, payments, or other ecclesiastical rights not redeemable of themselves be absolved, and how?

Reply. They can be absolved, provided they first deliver a written instrument, as in the response to Doubt 4, by which they declare that they subject themselves and their successors to the following obligations and conditions:

1. To retain the estates thus invalidly enfranchised at the will of the Church and thereafter to obey its commands.

2. To preserve those same estates and to administer them profitably.

3. To preserve the Pious Places unharmed at any time concerning the complete receipt of the rent, ground-rent, and payment and concerning any other rights which belonged to those Pious Places; and also to fulfill according to law the pious burdens attached to the estates, insofar as they are not fulfilled from elsewhere.

4. To admonish their heirs and successors concerning obligations of this kind by a signed written instrument, so that they too may know to what they are bound.

1104. • Moreover, we read the faculties granted for absolving those who incurred censures in the foregoing matters as follows: The Sacred Penitentiary, by special and express Apostolic authority, the circumstances set forth having been considered, grants to all Venerable Fathers in Christ, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Ordinaries of places in Italy the following... faculties, which they may lawfully use for the flock committed to them, either by themselves or through suitable ecclesiastical Persons specially deputed for this purpose.

To absolve by Apostolic Authority from Censures and ecclesiastical Penalties each and every penitent who voted for laws concerning the usurpation of goods and other rights belonging to the Church and to Pious Places and the suppression of Regular Orders, or adhered to the same laws, or cooperated in their promulgation or execution; provided, however, that they have first exhibited signs of true repentance and have retracted an illicit oath, insofar as they made one; a suitable salutary penance being enjoined upon each according to the measure of his faults, together with reparation of the scandal given in the best manner possible and the imposition of the other things to be enjoined by law.

Public Officials, however, who were newly created or assumed for executing the said laws, or who, through the exercise of an office which they previously held, culpably cooperate, according to the rules handed down by approved Authors concerning theft and rapine, with the aforesaid laws or usurpations, or with their maintenance or consummation, are not to be absolved unless the obligation of resigning the Office has been imposed upon them. But the remaining Officials, whose office in the judgment of prudent men does not appear to involve culpable cooperation of this kind, insofar as they cannot resign it without grave detriment to themselves or their own family, may be tolerated, but under the condition that they abstain altogether from praising, approving, counseling, or promoting the said usurpations; indeed, that according to their abilities they take care to delay and mitigate them in favor of the Church and ecclesiastical Persons, directing themselves by the counsel of a pious and learned Confessor. 26 June 1867.

1105. • But with respect to Patrons of Benefices, by grant of the Sacred Penitentiary of 23 January 1868, Bishops have the faculty of permitting the Patrons to pay to the Government what is demanded from them for the said Benefices and, with scandal removed, to obtain those same goods according to the norm of the law, under the following conditions:

1. To retain those goods at the will of the Church and thereafter to obey its commands;

2. To preserve those goods and to administer them profitably;

3. To expend the fruits in equitable satisfaction of the sum paid to the Government by the patrons, if they wish it to be recovered, and in the restoration of those same Benefices. So that this restoration may be obtained more easily, the Sacred Penitentiary grants by Apostolic Authority the appropriate faculties, so that for a time the Ordinary may suspend the nomination and provision of the said vacant Benefices, and, as it shall seem to him after all things have been considered, may reduce for a time, or even suspend altogether, the pious burdens attached to them. Yet in such a way that, if Mass obligations are in question, some number of Masses to be celebrated annually is imposed upon the patrons, the remainder being supplied from the treasury of the Church. But when the restoration has been made, the patrons are to present someone to whom the totality of the fruits, with all the burdens according to the foundation, may pass;

4. To inform their heirs and successors concerning an obligation of this kind by a written instrument, so that they too may know to what they are bound.

1106. • The faculties granted to Ordinaries for absolving, either by themselves or through suitable ecclesiastical persons, those who incurred censures because of the invasion of or rebellion against the Pontifical Territory are as follows:

1. To absolve by Apostolic Authority from censures and ecclesiastical penalties each and every penitent who cooperated in the rebellion of the Pontifical Territory, or adhered to it, or in any way offered their labor or favor, or voted for the union of Italy under one king, or violated ecclesiastical immunity; provided, however, that they have first exhibited signs of true repentance, have repaired the scandal given in the best manner they can according to the prudent judgment of the Ordinary or Confessor, and have promised under oath obedience to the Holy See and to its commands to be issued concerning the matter; a suitable salutary penance being enjoined upon each according to the measure of his faults, together with the other things to be enjoined by law. Excepted, however, are the leaders, chiefs, and instigators of the rebellions and public officials, and also those who violated ecclesiastical immunity by laying hands upon Cardinals, Bishops, or other ecclesiastics constituted in dignity; for all of these recourse must be had in individual cases to the Sacred Penitentiary.

2. To absolve under the aforesaid conditions and exceptions Ecclesiastics, if any were culpable in the foregoing matters, but only after they have entered some religious house and there devoted themselves to spiritual exercises for at least a month; and mercifully to dispense with them by Apostolic Authority concerning an irregularity contracted in any manner from violation of the said censures; a suitable salutary penance being enjoined upon each, together with the things to be enjoined by law; the persons excepted in no. 1, however, always being excepted.

3. Likewise to absolve, under the conditions expressed in no. 1, from censures and ecclesiastical penalties, soldiers who took up arms and fought against the Pontifical Territory, provided, however, that they are prepared in mind to desert the unjust military service as soon as they can without danger to life, and meanwhile to abstain from all acts of hostility against the subjects and soldiers of the legitimate Prince and from acts against ecclesiastical goods, rights, and Persons; a suitable salutary penance being likewise enjoined upon each according to the measure of his faults, together with the obligation of repairing damages according to law if they inflicted any upon a certain person by their own private action, and the other things to be enjoined by law. Excepted, however, are the commanders and officers who could have withdrawn and deserted the military service without danger to life or of another most grave penalty, and, as above, those who violated Ecclesiastical Immunity by laying hands upon Cardinals, Bishops, or other Ecclesiastics constituted in Dignity; for all of these recourse must be had in individual cases to the Sacred Penitentiary.

1107. • A Doubt was proposed by the Bishop of Bayonne: Does the obligation not to mix fish with meat on days of Lent extend to all who by force of an Indult can eat meat, or only to those who fast?

On 23 June 1875, in the General Congregation of the Holy Roman and Universal Inquisition held before the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Cardinals, General Inquisitors, the above-written Doubt having been proposed and the vote of the Lord Consultors having first been received, the same Most Eminent and Most Reverend Fathers commanded that the rescript be: Affirmatively as to the first part; negatively as to the second part; and that the Decree of 24 March 1841 be given, namely, to the Doubt: Does the law against mixing permitted and forbidden foods also regard those who are not bound to a single meal, such as youths before they have completed their third septennium, and others reasonably excused from it because of incapacity or labor? The Most Eminent Fathers decreed: It is not lawful ⁷.

⁷ Namely, that those also who are in any way exempted from the law of fasting which prescribes a single meal are forbidden to eat meat with fish at the same repast. The reason is by no means obscure. For the eating of meat on fast days is granted under this express condition: that whoever wishes to use this Indult not mix meat with fish at the same repast. But even those who for a just cause are excused from observing a single meal can eat meat only by force of the Indult. Therefore, they too are bound to observe that condition.

Section III. On the wearing of the habit and tonsure. 33

Section IV. On the recitation of the canonical Hours or the divine Office. 36

Point I. On the obligation of reciting. 37

V. With respect to the duties of Canons while the see is vacant. 74

Appendix I. On the privileges of Clerics. ibid.

I. On the privileges of Clerics in common. ibid.

II. On the privileges of Bishops. 75

Article II. On the ceremonies of Baptism. 164

Appendix. On the Caesarean operation. 165

Chapter II. On the matter of the Sacrament of Penance. 288

Chapter III. On the form of the Sacrament of Penance.

Appendix. On the conditional form. 302

Article II. On the purpose of amendment. 342

Chapter II. On confession. 358

Article I. On the necessity of confession. 359

Article II. On the qualities of confession. 360

Section I. On the necessity of integrity. 362

Point I. On the necessity of integrity in general. ibid.

Point II. On doubtful sins. 366

Point III. On the circumstances of sins. 371

Point IV. On forgotten sins. 379

Section II. On causes excusing from integrity. 380

Point I. On causes excusing from integrity in general. ibid.

Point II. On the confession and absolution of the dying. 389

Appendix I. On the examination of conscience. 392

Article III. On the repetition of confession. 395

Appendix II. On general confession. 402

I. On the necessity or advisability of general confession. ibid.

II. On the manner of making a general confession. 404

Appendix III. A norm for conducting a general confession by means of questions. 406

Chapter III. On satisfaction. 408

Article I. On the imposition of penance. ibid.

Article II. On the fulfillment of penance. 414

Appendix. On penances more usefully imposed. 420

Article III. On reserved cases. 469

Section I. On the reservation of cases, or on the principle and nature of reservation. ibid.

Section II. On the absolution of reserved cases. 515

Appendix I. On the absolution of one's own accomplice in a shameful sin. 537

Appendix II. On solicitation in confession. 543

Chapter II. On the office of the Minister: 1. in confession; 2. after confession. 559

Article I. On the office of the Minister in confession. ibid.

Section I. On the duties of the Confessor. ibid.

Point I. On the office of a Father. 560

Point II. On the office of a Physician. 562

Point III. On the office of a Teacher. 564

Section I. On the knowledge of the Confessor. 565

Section II. On the obligation of instructing penitents. 569

Point IV. On the office of a Judge. 572

Section I. On instructing the cause, or on the obligation of questioning penitents. ibid.

Section II. On rendering sentence, or on granting, deferring, or denying absolution. 575

Section II. On the manner of acting with various kinds of penitents. 592

Point I. On those who are situated in an occasion of sin. 593

Point II. On habitual sinners and recidivists. 601

Point III. On pious penitents. 622

Article II. On the office of the Minister after confession. 623

Article III. On the dissolution of betrothals. 691

Chapter II. On the proclamation of banns. 708

Article I. On the necessity of banns. ibid.

Article II. On the circumstances of banns. 710

I. The circumstance of time. ibid.

II. The circumstance of place. 711

III. The circumstance of persons, namely, minors, soldiers, vagrants, and servants. 712

Article III. On dispensation from banns. ibid.

Article IV. On the revelation of impediments. 714

Chapter III. On the nature and properties of matrimony. 715

Article I. On the nature of matrimony. ibid.

Article II. On the properties of matrimony, namely, on its unity and firmness. 727

Section I. On the unity of matrimony. ibid.

Section II. On the firmness of matrimony. ibid.

Point I. On the firmness of matrimony with respect to the bond. 728

Point II. On the firmness of matrimony insofar as it regards the bed, and on divorce from the bed. 737

Chapter IV. On the matter and form of matrimony. 745

Chapter V. On the Minister and subject of matrimony. 746

Article I. On the Minister. ibid.

Article II. On the subject of matrimony. 749

Chapter VI. On the impediments to matrimony. 751

Article I. On impediments impeding matrimony. ibid.

I. The prohibition of the Church. 759

II. Time. 761

III. Betrothals. 762

IV. A vow. ibid.

Article II. On diriment impediments. 764

Chapter I. On censures in general. 922

Article I. On the nature, division, and conditions of censures. 922

I. On the nature of a censure. 922

II. Division of censures. 923

III. Conditions of censures. 924

Chapter I. On irregularities in general. 1036

Chapter II. On irregularities in particular. 1038

Article I. On irregularities from defect. ibid.

I. From defect of mind. ibid.

II. From defect of body. 1039

III. From defect of birth. 1040

IV. From defect of age. ibid.

V. From defect of freedom. ibid.

VI. From defect of Sacrament. 1041

VII. From defect of lenity. ibid.

VIII. From defect of reputation. 1042

Article II. On irregularities from delict. ibid.

I. Repetition and improper reception of Baptism. 1043

Conditions required for the Jubilee. 1059

More recent decisions of the Roman Curia concerning Indulgences. 1066

Another Appendix: Responses of the Sacred Penitentiary, by which a norm is prescribed for absolving those who have incurred a censure both because of the invasion of Pontifical Territory and because of the usurpation of ecclesiastical goods. 1072

Third Appendix. 1079

Fourth Appendix. ibid.

Therefore, the Sacred Congregation did not wish to disapprove that Decree; but it gave the aforesaid Response to the twofold doubt proposed by the same Bishop, whether, those inconveniences having been removed, both those entrusting and those accepting Masses to be celebrated as above would act illicitly.

The conclusion which Father Ballerini hands down in this note against the opinion of Father Gury was determined by Our Most Holy Lord Leo XIII on 17 March 1879.

The Sacred Congregation of the Council had been asked: Does the act commonly called civil marriage produce the impediment of public propriety? On 13 March 1879, the Sacred Congregation replied: Negatively; and the Most Holy Father was to be consulted so that he might deign to declare and establish it. The Most Holy Father thus established and decreed: ...Our Most Holy Lord Pope Leo XIII, having heard the entire relation of the matter in an audience on the seventeenth day of the same month and acceding to the vote of the Sacred Congregation, by the present decree declares and establishes that the aforementioned act, commonly called Civil Marriage, in places where the decree of the Council of Trent, session XXIV, chapter 1, On the Reformation of Marriage, has been promulgated, whether the faithful performing the act itself intend, as is fitting after ecclesiastical marriage has already been duly celebrated or with the intention of celebrating it as soon as possible, to perform a merely civil ceremony; or intend to enter betrothals concerning a future marriage; or finally, from ignorance or in contempt of ecclesiastical laws, intend to contract a present marriage, does not produce the impediment of the justice of public propriety....

Since Father Ballerini in this note presents the history of the controversy concerning the question whether incestuous intercourse had between the petitioners must necessarily be expressed in a petition for a dispensation concerning any prohibited degrees whatsoever, and there teaches the reader how great is the weight of Declarations of the Sacred Congregations, from the responses which exist concerning the same question we transcribe here one which was given after the death of Father Ballerini and confirms certain preceding ones.

I. In the General Congregation of the Holy Roman and Universal Inquisition held before the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lords Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, General Inquisitors in matters of faith, the following doubt was proposed: For the validity of dispensations which are granted concerning any prohibited degrees whatsoever of consanguinity, affinity, spiritual and legal relationship, and also public propriety, whether directly by the Apostolic See or by Pontifical Delegation, is it necessary to express incestuous intercourse had by the spouses before the obtaining or execution of the aforesaid dispensations, and also to express the design and intention with which they entered upon intercourse in order to obtain a dispensation more easily?

The same Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lords, the vote of the Lord Consultors having first been received, decreed that the response should be: The Decrees of the Holy Office, Wednesday, 8 August 1866, and of the Sacred Penitentiary, 20 July 1869, are to be followed, namely:

II. The Most Eminent Fathers decreed that dispensations which are granted concerning any prohibited degrees whatsoever of consanguinity, affinity, spiritual and legal relationship, and also public propriety, whether directly by the Apostolic See or by Pontifical Delegation, are surreptitious and valid nowhere and in no manner if, before the execution of those dispensations, whether before or after obtaining them, the spouses perpetrated the guilt of incest and, whether questioned or even not questioned, maliciously or even ignorantly concealed the incestuous intercourse entered upon between them, whether it was publicly known or occult, and concealed the design and intention with which they entered upon that intercourse in order to obtain the dispensation more easily. It suffices, however, that one of the spouses disclose this offense of his or the aforesaid wicked intention. This indeed is not only commonly handed down by approved authors but is also confirmed by the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XIV in the Constitution which begins Pastor bonus.

The Sacred Penitentiary replied on 20 July 1869:

After the Constitution Pastor bonus of Benedict XIV, there can no longer be any doubt about the nullity of a dispensation obtained when incestuous intercourse was concealed, or when the depraved intention of obtaining the dispensation more easily was entertained in perpetrating it.