§ 6. On Rape

I. Notion. Rape, as it is taken here, is the violent abduction of any person whatsoever, for the sake of satisfying libido (St. Alphonsus III, 444).¹ It is called:

1. Abduction; to this, under the moral respect, detention in the place where the person is staying is equivalent.

2. Violent. Violence, however, can be physical or moral, and can be inflicted either on the one abducted, or on those under whose power the person is, or to whose custody the person has been committed, or on both parties. Hence if some woman of full age goes away spontaneously, for example with a lover, without the knowledge of her parents, it will not properly be rape but flight (St. Alphonsus III, 444); otherwise if she is a minor (cf. can. 2353).

3. Of any person whatsoever, whether male or female, whether married or unmarried, whether virgin or corrupted (St. Alphonsus, loc. cit.).

4. For the sake of satisfying libido, whether through intercourse or through another shameful act. Rape is had even if intercourse or another shameful work does not follow; likewise even if the abducted person afterward consents to the sin of lust. But rape, as it is here taken, that is, as a sin of lust, is not had if a person is abducted for the sake of another end, for example, in order to enter a valid marriage.

¹ Although rape - as will be clear from what is to be said - does not in its own concept involve consummated lust, nevertheless it is customarily treated in this place.

II. Morality. From what has been said, it follows that rape is opposed not only to chastity but also to justice, with respect either to the abducted person, or, if that person is a minor, to those under whose power the person is, or to both (St. Alphonsus III, 444). If a minor consents to his or her own abduction, injury persists with respect to those to whose care the minor is subject.

III. Penalties. 1. One who, with a view to marriage or for the sake of satisfying libido, has carried off an unwilling woman by force or deceit, or a woman of minor age who indeed consents but without the knowledge or against the will of her parents or guardians, is held ipso iure excluded from legitimate ecclesiastical acts and furthermore is punished with other penalties according to the gravity of the fault (can. 2353).¹

2. A layperson who has been legitimately condemned for the crime... of rape of impubescent persons of either sex... is held ipso iure excluded from legitimate ecclesiastical acts and furthermore is punished with other penalties according to the gravity of the penalty (can. 2354, § 1). A cleric is to be punished from § 2 of the same canon with various penalties according to the gravity of the fault.

General Note 1. It is clear that several of the species of sins explained can concur in one and the same act, as if someone has intercourse with a married blood-relative.

General Note 2. Insofar as acts of immodesty and of non-consummated lust contract the species of sins contained in consummated lust and explained above, we shall speak below.

¹ When it constitutes a diriment impediment of marriage, it is explained in the treatise on that sacrament.