Preface and Approval

Most beloved readers in Christ, at your suggestion I have composed this Synopsis of Moral and Pastoral Theology, so that I might complete, by an exposition of Christian Ethics, those things which I have already written concerning Catholic dogmas. For since moral science is indivisibly connected with dogmatic science and depends upon it, it is certainly preferable that, so far as can be done, both should be brought together into one body of doctrine, by which it may appear better that each is joined to the other by a friendly and indissoluble bond.

This Synopsis will not be merely casuistic, but also doctrinal and speculative; for although it is necessary to apply the principles of morals to particular cases, it is more necessary to set forth and prove the principles themselves, so that, from them rightly understood, practical conclusions may be logically deduced, which the wise moderator of consciences will adapt to the penitents committed to him, according to the various circumstances of persons, places, and times.

In handing down moral doctrine, we do not entirely pass over pastoral doctrine; but, with deliberate purpose, we briefly outline the practical manner of acting in the administration of the sacraments with regard to little children, the devout, the dying, spouses, and others of this sort, referring the reader, for a fuller exposition of this matter, to approved authors. Likewise, while there is discussion of the virtues, we declare not only what is strictly lawful or prohibited, but also what is expedient, and by what means virtues of this sort can be cultivated and increased.

We adhere, according to our measure, to the footsteps of St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Alphonsus de Liguori; the former, in the second and third part of the Summa Theologiae, hands down truly golden principles concerning morals and virtues, and also concerning the Sacraments, with no less solidity than clarity; the latter excels before the rest in prudence and sagacity in the application of principles. Moreover, among the moderns, we have often kept before our eyes Suarez, De Lugo, the Salmanticenses, and Billuart; among recent authors, Carriere, Lehmkuhl, Muller, Bouquillon, Ballerini, and Noldin.¹

¹ I have often also used the counsels of friends and colleagues, to whom I here offer a grateful mind.

"But in the choice of opinions, to make my own the words of St. Alphonsus,² it has always been a matter of great care to me to set reason before authority; and before I brought forth my judgment, I was wholly intent in this, if I am not mistaken, that in individual questions I should hold myself indifferently, and strip myself of every cloud of passion."

² Preface to the Moral Theology.

But if anything false or less correct has crept into this Synopsis of ours, contrary to our intention, let the kindly reader pardon me, and let Holy Mother Church pardon me, to whose judgment I humbly subject all those things which I have written or shall write.

I wrote at Baltimore, on the day of Pentecost, May 18, 1902.

Ad. Tanquerey.

Besides certain corrections inserted on various pages according to the kindly observations of learned professors, I have brought back to the balance, with the cooperation of M. E. Lesaunier, professor of moral theology in the Seminary of Issy, the treatise on the Last End. I again ask kindly readers that they be willing to manifest openly to me those things which they judge should be corrected.

Issy, near Paris, on the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, 1922.

Ad. Tanquerey.

How much it profits toward the right formation of clerics in the theological sciences that doctrine be drawn from the purest sources, set forth in a clear and scientific method, and at the same time adapted to the needs and morals of our time, can be hidden from no one. Now with these qualities there is endowed, as has been reported to Us and thoroughly ascertained, the work whose title is Synopsis of Dogmatic and Moral Theology, distributed in five volumes, to which a sixth and last will soon be added, which D. Tanquerey, from the priests of the Society of St. Sulpice and professor of theology in Our Seminary, has written. For in this work the passages of Sacred Scripture have been examined rather diligently, according to the desire of Leo XIII, who greatly wishes that "the use of divine Scripture should flow into the whole discipline of theology and be, as it were, its soul";¹ nor have the testimonies of the Fathers or Councils been neglected, since they themselves also contain revealed truths. And because, according to the precept of the Apostle, the minister of Christ must be able to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict, the author introduces opponents - opponents, I say, especially of our own time, whom it is chiefly important today to refute - and he makes clear how worn out their arguments are, although perhaps wrapped in new concepts and words, and demonstrates how weak they are, arguments for the most part drawn from their own books.

¹ Encyclical Providentissimus, On Sacred Scripture, November 19, 1893, § Illud autem maximi.

As to the moral matter, however, the author takes special pains that, according to the Lord's own words, he may bring forth from his treasure new things and old: old things, namely the very principles which are from eternity and which, while other shifting things are moved, remain unmoved; new things, namely new explanations and new conclusions, by which he explains and judges the new forms of acts, contracts, rights, or duties, which are multiplying day by day in modern times, and solves the questions arising thence. Thus

concerning the right of property, against its modern haters, concerning the condition of workers and the ways of bringing it to a better state, concerning the newest contracts regarding the labor of workers, the author treats many things clearly and opportunely.

Therefore it is not only pleasing to Us that this work, already disseminated in many parts of the Catholic Church, is also held in the hands of students in Our Seminary for the use of the schools, but We also earnestly commend it to the whole clergy of our diocese.

Given at Paris, February 18, 1905.

• Francis Card. Richard,
  Archbishop of Paris.