§ II. On the Privilege of Exemption

1193. • Exemption is a privilege by which either some place or some person (physical or moral), or place and person together, within the territory of some ordinary jurisdiction, is withdrawn from the same.

Some exemptions are granted by the Supreme Pontiff, others by Bishops; some are from episcopal jurisdiction, others from parochial or even from lower jurisdiction; some are personal, others local, others personal and local at the same time.

The exemption of Regulars is a) granted by the Pope, b) from episcopal jurisdiction, c) from parochial jurisdiction, d) personal and local at the same time.

1194. • Generally it comprehends the following.

I. Neither the church of regulars, to which parochial care of souls or, as among us, quasi-parochial care is not annexed, nor the house, whenever twelve subjects dwell in them (under whose name lay brothers and novices also come), nor oratories, whether public or private, united to their houses, nor chapels and altars of laymen or lay confraternities erected in their churches, are subject to visitation of the Ordinary.²

II. Generals and Provincials enjoy quasi-episcopal jurisdiction, or they can do in their subjects what Bishops by law can do in their diocesan subjects. Local Superiors possess the same jurisdiction, provided nevertheless that it has not been legitimately limited by Superiors of a higher order, and all their subjects are exclusively subject to the jurisdiction of all these in odious things.³

But under the name of subjects come not only professed persons, both priests and lay brothers, but also in favorable things: 1) Novices. 2) Candidates from the time in which they are tried for the religious state, although they have not yet received the habit. 3) Familiars, that is, all secular persons actually serving convents of regulars, even for wages, provided they live inside their cloisters as constant table companions and under obedience to the Superiors (although only by reason of service). But whether residential students also are to be counted as familiars, setting aside privilege, which for example has been granted to Benedictines, Sulpicians, etc., is disputed. Therefore jurisdiction over these is doubtful by a doubt of law. See n. 1394. q. 5°.

1195. • By force of this quasi-episcopal jurisdiction, and of special privileges, the following things belong to the Superiors of regulars.

A) The General by himself or through his Visitors, and Provincials, can and must visit individual houses, persons, and churches subject to them, the visitation of Bishops being excluded, except in the cases indicated n. 1194. I.

B) The General against individual professed persons, and Provincials, and, at least with their consent, local Superiors against their subjects, similarly professed, are able to bring all those censures which can be inflicted on persons.²

C) Superiors can dispense with their subjects in those things and in that mode in which Bishops by law can do this with diocesan subjects, especially:

1° As to servile works on Sundays and feast days. H. A. Tr. XX. 106.

2° In fasting, both as to the one refection and as to abstinence. Ib.

3° In the Divine Office: a) after the likeness of Bishops, in particular cases, for a brief time, and, as is clear of itself, from a just cause, which Doctors say is present in doubt concerning moral inability to recite. Besides:

b) To a subject occupied with sacred studies, preaching, or hearing Confessions, or impeded by infirmity or the ministry of the sick, they can impose in place of the Office a certain number of psalms to be assigned by them (that is, by the Superiors), not fewer than seven, or six with division, with seven Pater and two Credo.³

4° As to prohibited books, Superiors, after the likeness of Bishops, can in a particular case of great necessity permit their reading and retention to their subjects.

5° As to irregularities.

They can dispense with their own: 1) in all occult irregularities, as Bishops with diocesan subjects. Besides, they can dispense in irregularity from voluntary homicide, but in the forum of conscience only and provided it was not committed after entrance into Religion. Thus from the Constitution of St. Pius V, Dum ad Congregationem, July 15, 1571. See Ferraris V. Irregularitas III. 18. 2) In all irregularities from defect in which dispensation can and is usually made. St. Alphonsus enumerates most of these.¹

6° As to any inabilities and penalties contracted from delict, as of privation of office, benefice, voice, place, etc., and this although they were reserved to the Pope.²

7° As to vows.

a) Except the vow of passing to a stricter Religion, they can directly irritate all the rest of the vows of the professed, even those to whose emission either they themselves, or a predecessor, or a subaltern Superior consented (n. 389).

b) The personal vows of novices can be suspended while they prejudice governance and the exercises of probation or are an impediment.

c) By themselves or through others, even outside Confession, they can relax by dispensing or commuting all vows of subjects, except those of the three pilgrimages; yet these, as was just said under a), they can irritate.

D) As to Orders to be received, see the Treatise on Order.

E) As to the diocesan Synod and conferences of cases of conscience, Regulars who are subject to general chapters, by force of personal exemption, are not held to come to diocesan synods, except those who have care of parochial or other secular churches, even annexed ones.³ - Similarly, unless they exercise parochial or quasi-parochial care, they are not obliged to assist at conferences of cases of conscience; and not even those regulars who are subject to the jurisdiction of Bishops, because the convent lacks the number of twelve subjects, can be compelled to this. Nor is it permitted to the Bishop to add to approval of Regulars for hearing Confessions of the faithful the condition that they assist at these conferences.⁴ For England and Scotland see Const. Romanos Pontifices, May 8, 1881.

F) As to temporal goods.

a) In administering them they do not depend on Bishops.¹ (y) p. 484.

b) Churches of regulars, to which parochial or, as here, quasi-parochial care of souls is not annexed, owe them no Cathedraticum (n. 631).

c) If an inheritance is left to an Order with the burden of pious works (under which also Masses come) to be fulfilled either within or outside the Order, Bishops cannot inquire concerning their fulfillment; and the same must be said of Masses, whether founded or manual, even in churches of regulars to which care of souls is annexed.²

G) As to the administration of the Sacraments.

a) It belongs to Superiors to approve confessors of their respective subjects, and to administer the Sacraments to them or take care that they be administered.

Under the name of subjects come the same ones who were enumerated above n. 1194. II.

b) Those making a journey with permission of Superiors can confess to a suitable companion of the Order, although not approved, or, if this one is lacking - and if you except Capuchins, who nevertheless from the concession of Benedict XIV, Const. Quod communi, March 30, 1742, can confess to a priest approved by the Ordinary if they are staying in places where neither a convent nor hospice, nor any brother confessor of the same Order, is found - to any priest similarly suitable, whether secular or regular, even not approved by the Ordinary of the place.³ - But the response which could be opposed, of the S. C. C. to the Bishop of Hildesheim, dated Nov. 18, 1769, is in no way contrary, since there the speech is concerning religious who had companions of their own Order at hand, as is clear from the acts of the same Congregation.

c) Confessors of regulars:

1. Can absolve their own, and, unless it is a question of a case brought before the contentious forum before their entrance, also novices, candidates who are being tested for the novitiate, and familiars from cases which Bishops have reserved to themselves in their dioceses.⁴ Concerning residential students recall the things said n. 1194. II.

2. As to censures and cases reserved to the Pope:

1° Regulars are numbered among those impeded from going to Rome, and therefore can ordinarily be absolved by their Prelates from any such things.¹

2° To the doubt: "Whether Regular Prelates after the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis enjoy the same privileges which they had before, that is, whether they can absolve their priests from papal cases simply reserved in the said Constitution?" The S. Penitentiary on Dec. 5, 1873 responded: "Negatively, with other faculties preserved, which flow from particular Rescripts granted for a time." The reason of the Response is that privileges of absolving had been abolished in the said Constitution; but the Tridentine faculty (Sess. 24. c. 6. Ref.) belonged to Regular Prelates only by privilege.²

Yet Regular Prelates can absolve, as before, from special censures which regard the internal governance of their Order, likewise from censures reserved by ordinary right (n. 1733-1735), because in these nothing was changed by the Supreme Pontiff through the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis. Concerning striking a cleric, see n. 1753. q. 2°. under 2°.

1196. As to exemption from parochial jurisdiction, where it exists by law, and insofar as in fact it is in force.

A) In the things in which regulars are exempt from episcopal jurisdiction, in the same things a fortiori they are exempt from parochial jurisdiction.

B) The following must be specially designated from Craisson³ and Van de Burgt, de Eccl.

1° In their churches or houses, not only the professed, but also novices, candidates, and familiars can receive Paschal Communion, Viaticum, and Extreme Unction. Yet strangers do not enjoy this privilege if they fall ill in one of their houses. But if they have died there, they cannot be buried in the churches unless they have chosen burial in them, in which case nevertheless, and unless a contrary custom exists, the fourth of funeral things (emoluments, for example from candles) is owed to the Pastor.

2° First Communion is not necessarily to be received from the Pastor or in one's own parish. The statutes of Bishops and diocesan customs must be consulted.

1196. B) 3° Although processions cannot generally be made by regulars and by confraternities which are erected in their churches outside the cloisters without permission of the Bishop, nevertheless that permission suffices without the consent of the Pastor. If the church lacks a cloister, the procession can be made without permission of the Bishop near the walls of the church, or by going out from one door of the church and entering by another. Through the Octave of Corpus Christi, the procession can be made outside the limits of the convent, without the permission of either the Pastor or the Bishop having been sought.

4° Regulars, simply approved for Confessions, can through the whole year, even in Paschal time, hear Confessions of secular persons; likewise hear the sick, but, once their Confession has been heard, they must make the Pastor more certain, at least by a writing left with the sick person; which can be prescribed to them by the Bishop (who nevertheless cannot prohibit either) under penalty of suspension from hearing Confessions. Thus from the S. C. C., Sept. 22, 1668, and from Clement X, Const. Superna.

5° Likewise they can distribute the Eucharist in their churches, even against the will of Pastors, except, outside the case of contrary custom, only on Easter day.

6° The Pastor cannot compel that his subjects satisfy the precept of hearing Mass in the parochial church; for they can fulfill the precept also in churches of Regulars.

7° All functions of Holy Week (the blessing of the font excepted) can freely be performed by regulars in their churches. Yet on Holy Saturday they cannot ring the bell before, or on Thursday in the Supper of the Lord after, the more worthy church, unless there is a custom or the churches are very distant.

8° In their churches they can perform all blessings, except those of the Baptismal Font, nuptial blessing, of the houses of laymen on Holy Saturday, and, as De Herdt well proves (Pr. Rit. c. 9. n. 5), of women after childbirth.

9° Funeral Masses and, in the case in which someone has chosen it among regulars, burial, are not of strictly so-called parochial rights; but the fourth of funeral things must be paid, as above 1°. (z) p. 484.

10° The Pastor cannot prevent regulars in their churches from celebrating, preaching, and announcing the feasts, vigils, and fasts of the following week at an hour pleasing to themselves.

1197. A. As to the foundation and abandonment of houses. - 1) They cannot erect a regular house or a hospice broadly so called, or one which has a church or public oratory, except with the consent of the Ordinary, and, per se, also of the Pope. Const. Romanos Pontifices, May 8, 1881. - There is no need of the consent of the Pastor: he is only to be heard if the future church of the Regulars would be parochial, or would be erected with prejudice to strictly and exclusively parochial rights:¹ nor is there need of the consent of Religious having a convent within the space of 560 Florentine ells from the house to be built, if it is a question either 1° of a house to be founded in some city, or 2° even in the country, but with those religious unjustly contradicting them, or 3° of the vicinity of other convents than those of Mendicant Friars, as is clear from the decision of the Rota dated June 22, 1615. Outside these cases they are regularly to be heard, unless it is otherwise clear that they will not suffer grave detriment from the new foundation.²

2. They can erect hospices strictly so called [above 1)] without permission of the Ordinary.³

3. By common law they are free to abandon their houses and churches, even against the will of the Ordinary, and, if they had been built from their own revenues or alms, once abandoned, all things pertaining to them in the name of the Order remain in their dominion, and they can freely dispose of these.⁴

1198. B. Concerning preaching. - 1) Approved by Superiors, they can preach: a) in their own churches, with permission of the Ordinary having been sought and not expressly denied; b) in others' churches, with it obtained, a moderate and discreet examination having preceded, if this seemed good to the Ordinary (Clement X, Const. Superna), or even in a place where the Ordinary is not actually present, with permission of the Pastor alone, if while passing through they were staying for only a brief time in some place in which the Bishop is not present.

2. Similarly any priest, whether secular or regular of another Order, needs the permission of the Bishop for preaching in churches of regulars.

3. If the Bishop himself preaches in some place, he can prohibit sermons from being given at the same time in other churches, even of regulars. Likewise, that on some day they preach, so that the whole people may gather at the Cathedral.

4. They cannot: a) publicly, without permission of the Ordinary, commend to hearers needy persons or families, unless nevertheless there is danger in delay, or it is a question of a church to which parochial or quasi-parochial care of souls is annexed; b) publicly, by express name, rebuke someone, or preach concerning a determined time of Judgment or Antichrist, or revelations of this kind; c) as to publishing indulgences, see n. 1192. 7°.

5. The Bishop can suspend some regular (not all of some convent as to preaching in their own churches), "for reasonable causes, although occult, yet concerning preaching," from preaching, Clement X, Const. Superna.

Note. 1° By the rigor of law the Ordinary cannot prescribe that regulars preach in their churches to which parochial or quasi-parochial care of souls is not annexed; nor 2° compel them to accept secular preachers or preachers of other Orders in their churches;¹ nor 3° prohibit them from preaching in their churches at the same hour at which a sermon is to be had in the parochial church, if he himself is not present at that sermon, H. A. XX. 124-128.

C) Concerning hearing the Confessions of the faithful, see the things to be said in the Treatise on Penance.

1199. D) Concerning the celebration of Masses. -

1° Except the cases related n. 1196 under 6°, 7°, 9°, 10°, in which they are not subject to Bishops, in the remaining things they are held to observe both diocesan statutes and special ordinances of Bishops concerning the celebration of Mass, and as to these things they are subject to them even as Apostolic delegates, H. A. XX. 75.

Yet notwithstanding the statute of the Bishop that it is not permitted to any wandering and unknown priest to celebrate Mass without his permission, nevertheless Regulars, after examining letters of their Superiors and of promotion to the priesthood, will be able to grant this in their churches to religious, even unknown, of their own or another Institute, with no permission sought from the Ordinary. N. Rev. Th. T. XI. p. 867 sq.

2° Concerning the tax and table of Masses, see the things said n. 637.

1200. E) Concerning the distribution of Holy Communion.

1° Concerning the forbidden distribution of Holy Communion on Easter day, see n. 1196. 5°, and concerning First Communion, ib. 2°.

2° Although Bishops cannot generally restrict distribution of Holy Communion to certain days in any week, nevertheless they can assign Communions to some one of their diocesan subjects in particular.¹

3° Regulars cannot without permission of the Bishop or Pastor carry the Eucharist publicly through the streets to the sick, unless a contrary custom is in force. Secretly? Canonists dispute in the case in which it is not a question of Viaticum.²

F) Concerning Viaticum, Extreme Unction, and Burial.

They cannot minister Viaticum and Extreme Unction to outsiders outside the case of necessity without permission³ of the Pastor.⁴ Yet they can keep Sacred Oil in their churches for the use of the professed, novices, and familiars. They can bury the same in their churches, and likewise other faithful who have chosen burial in them, with the fourth of funeral things preserved, as was said n. 1196. 1°. But it is not permitted to induce them to this by means of a vow, pact, or irrevocable promise.⁵

G) Concerning exposition of the Most Holy Sacrament.

1° Public exposition is not permitted to regulars except by permission of the Bishop, or by right of legitimately prescribed custom. But public exposition is that which is made with the Sacrament uncovered and with doors open. Therefore the permission of the Bishop is not required if it is made either with the Most Holy veiled, or with secular persons excluded.⁶

2° But once the permission of the Ordinary has been obtained, the consent of the Pastor is not required; and not even the permission of the Ordinary is needed through the Octave of Corpus Christi, whether among the solemnities of Masses or at Vespers.⁷

H) Concerning Blessings, see the things said n. 1196 under 8° and those to be said in the Treatise on the Sacraments in general, n. 1247.

1201. I) Concerning Processions. - The Bishop can bind regulars to be present at them, provided he calls them not by public edict, but personally through some messenger, and excepting those who perpetually live in stricter enclosure, or are exempted by privilege or by force of their Rule.

1202. K) Concerning Indulgences (see n. 1192. 7°), Most Holy Relics, and Images.

1° Relics cannot be exposed for public veneration unless with previous recognition by the Bishop (n. 327. 4)).

2° No unusual image at all can be placed in a church unless approved by the Bishop [n. 328. 2) c)].

3° The Relics of those not yet Beatified cannot be recognized for public cult, nor can images, nor "anything else whatever bearing before itself and indicating veneration and cult, be placed in oratories, or public or private places, or churches." Those who act contrary can be punished by the Ordinary [n. 328. 2) a)].

L) Concerning acts of homage to be furnished to Bishops.

Bishops can exercise pontificals and use a baldachin in churches of regulars, and they are to be received reverently.¹ On the contrary, in churches of regulars no one else can exercise pontificals except with the consent of the Ordinary.

M) Concerning parochial or quasi-parochial care of souls. In those things which pertain to it, regulars are subject to the jurisdiction, visitation, and correction of Bishops. How far this jurisdiction extends and how visitation is to be made, see H. A.³

It is also permitted "to Bishops to divide missions," even those over which Regulars have been placed, the form of the Holy Council of Trent (Cap. 4, Sess. 21, de ref.) being preserved, "as to missions which are truly and properly so-called parishes; but as to the rest," even without this being preserved, yet from sufficient causes and with the right of appealing preserved, if the matter demands, from the episcopal decree to the Holy See only in devolutive: nor in the division of a mission is the Bishop held "to prefer" religious sodales themselves to others in putting a Rector over the mission which is newly erected. Const. Romanos Pontifices, May 8, 1881.

N) Concerning the Statutes of diocesan and provincial Synods. Regulars are held to these: 1° as to directive force, when their observance is necessary for avoiding scandal. 2° As to coercive force: a) By reason of a quality not exempt in the exempt, for example of a duty dependent on the Bishop, and insofar as dependent, as of Pastor or quasi-Pastor, confessor, preacher, etc. b) As to the publication and observance of interdict. See n. 1695. I. 1°. II. 1°. c) As to the observance of feasts prescribed by the Bishop in his diocese, yet with their rite preserved as to Masses and the other divine offices. d) As to statutes concerning things to be observed and avoided in the celebration of Masses, as above n. 1199. 1°, 2°,¹ and generally as to those decrees which by common law, whether ordinary or delegated, also affect Regulars. Const. Romanos Pontifices, May 8, 1881.

1202. O) Concerning the coercive power of Bishops, to which regulars are subject:

1° Those transgressing their precepts in an exempt place, when these have been legitimately brought for places of this kind.

2° Those gravely delinquent in the preaching of the word of God, in hearing Confessions, in the administration of any Sacrament.

3° Those gravely offending Bishops, or impeding their jurisdiction, or delinquent concerning the enclosure of nuns.

4° Regulars a) living outside cloisters in a permanent manner (that is, without permission of the Superior, or in a place so far away that they cannot be punished by the Superior except after a long time; but not transitorily, for example for the cause of preaching or hearing Confessions, etc.) can be visited, punished, and corrected by the Bishop as delegate of the Apostolic See. Yet Regulars who dwell in residences of missions and there live under the discipline of the prefect of the province are exempt from the jurisdiction of the Ordinary, however small the number with which they cohabit. Const. Romanos Pontifices, May 8, 1881. b) Others than Superiors, living within cloisters and perpetrating a notorious delict outside them, or within them but with scandal of the people, must be punished by their Superior within a time to be defined by the Bishop; but if after repeated admonition of the Bishop they are not punished by the Superior, they can be punished by the Bishop. But if the Superior has sent the delinquent unpunished outside the diocese, he must be chastised by him under penalty of privation of office, within the time prescribed by the Bishop, wherever he may be; and if this is neglected, he must be punished by the Bishop of the place to which he has been sent.

5° Regulars in a cause of heresy and in other matters pertaining to the Tribunal of the Holy Office (what these are, see, if you wish, Craisson²) are subject also to Bishops, as delegates of the Apostolic See.³

6° "It is lawful ... for Regulars to appeal" from the interpretation which Bishops have given of synodal decrees, "only in devolutive as to the interpretation of decrees which by common law, whether ordinary or delegated, also affect Regulars: but as to the interpretation of other decrees, also in suspensive." Const. Romanos Pontifices, May 8, 1881.

In what cases a Bishop can compel disobedient regulars through censures will be said in the Treatise on Censures.

P) Various matters.

1° All controversies concerning precedence relative to processions in which regulars intervene, and in accompanying the bodies of the dead, the Bishop can decide for that act.⁴

2° As to confraternities. Excepting those which Generals of Orders erect by right granted to them by the Supreme Pontiff, they cannot be erected or aggregated without permission of the Ordinary; they are subject to his visitation, and it belongs to him to make, examine, correct, and renew their statutes. Except if the statutes had been confirmed by authority of the Holy See, or made by force of a contract. Craisson.⁵

3° As to the printing of books, they are subject to the Ordinary.⁶ Yet he will refuse permission unless it is clear to him concerning permission granted by the Regular Superior.