§ I. On Preliminary Notions

The preliminary notions to be presented here are contained chiefly in book 2 of the Code, which is entitled On Persons.

I. Christian. By Baptism a human being is constituted a person in the Church of Christ with all the rights and duties of Christians, unless, as regards rights, there stands in the way an obstacle impeding the bond of ecclesiastical communion, or a censure imposed by the Church (can. 87).

II. Major, minor, infant.

1. A person who has completed the twenty-first year of age is a major (can. 88, § 1).

2. One who has not yet completed the twenty-first year of age is a minor (can. cit.). A minor, if male, is considered pubescent from the completed fourteenth year; if female, from the completed twelfth year (can. 88, § 2).

3. One who is impubescent, before the full seventh year, is called an infant, or child, or little one, and is considered not master of himself; but when the seventh year has been completed, he is presumed to have the use of reason. All who are habitually destitute of the use of reason are assimilated to an infant (can. 88, § 3).

III. Inhabitant, temporary resident, traveler. A person is called an inhabitant in the place where he has domicile; a temporary resident, in the place where he has quasi-domicile; a traveler, if he is staying outside the domicile and quasi-domicile which he still retains; a vagus, if he nowhere has domicile or quasi-domicile (can. 91).

IV. Place of origin. The place of origin of a child, even a neophyte, is that in which, when the child was born, the father had domicile, or, in the absence of domicile, quasi-domicile; or, if the child is illegitimate or posthumous, the mother had it (can. 90, § 1). If there is question of a child of vagi, the place of origin is the very place of birth; if of an exposed child, it is the place in which he was found (can. 90, § 2).

V. Domicile, quasi-domicile. These imply a certain stable residence in some territory, and are distinguished: 1. into proper or voluntary, and legal or necessary, according as it is constituted by personal residence or by the residence of another; 2. into parochial and diocesan, according as it is had in a parish or quasi-parish, or in a diocese, vicariate, or prefecture, but not in a parish or quasi-parish (can. 93, § 1). These things noted, let there be:

1. Acquisition of domicile and quasi-domicile:

a) Proper domicile is acquired by residence in some parish or quasi-parish, or at least in a diocese, apostolic vicariate, or apostolic prefecture; and this residence is either joined with the intention of remaining there perpetually, if nothing calls one away from it, or has been prolonged to a completed ten years (can. 92, § 1). Therefore proper domicile is acquired: 1. when both the fact of residence and the intention described are simultaneously present; 2. by the very fact that someone has resided somewhere for ten completed years. The intention of remaining perpetually can be evident both from the declaration of the inhabitant and from facts disclosing the intention, for example, from the transfer of family, the transfer of the greater part of goods, etc.

b) Proper quasi-domicile is acquired by residence as above, which is either joined with the intention of remaining there at least for the greater part of the year, if nothing calls one away from it, or has actually been prolonged to the greater part of the year (can. 92, § 2), that is, as the Instruction of the Holy Office¹ signified, for at least six months. Therefore quasi-domicile is acquired: 1. as soon as both things concur simultaneously, namely, both the fact of residence and the described intention; 2. by the very fact that someone has resided somewhere for the greater part of the year.

c) As regards legal domicile, these things hold: "A wife not legitimately separated from her husband necessarily retains the domicile of her husband; an insane person, the domicile of the curator; a minor, the domicile of the one to whose power he is subject" (can. 93, § 1). A professed religious acquires domicile in the place of the religious house to which he is ascribed.

Note. A minor who has passed beyond infancy can obtain proper quasi-domicile; likewise a wife not legitimately separated from her husband can obtain it, and one legitimately separated can obtain even domicile (can. 93, § 2). A wife maliciously deserted by her husband cannot obtain a proper and distinct domicile unless she has obtained perpetual separation, or separation for an indefinite time, from an ecclesiastical judge.²

2. Effects of domicile and quasi-domicile:

a) By either domicile or quasi-domicile each person obtains his own pastor and Ordinary (can. 94, § 1).

b) The proper pastor or Ordinary of a vagus is the pastor or Ordinary of the place in which the vagus is actually residing (can. 94, § 2).

c) Of those also who have only diocesan domicile or quasi-domicile, the proper pastor is the pastor of the place in which they are actually residing (can. 94, § 3).

3. Loss of domicile and quasi-domicile: domicile and quasi-domicile are lost by departure from the place with the intention of not returning (can. 95).

These things suffice here; more in the treatise on marriage.

¹ June 7, 1867.

² Commission for the Interpretation of the Code, July 14, 1922 (A.A.S. 1922, p. 526).