Moral Theology: Its Method and Masters
Comitolus, Paulus
Drawn from the authors' own words; every quotation links to its place.
Jesuit · 1544–1626
In the Index: Comitolus, Paulus
Dates differ: Prümmer 1544–1626; Haringer 1546–1626.
Life
Born Perugia, 1545 (he died aged 81; Prümmer 1544, Haringer 1546); died 18 February 1626. [Hurter, vol. III, col. 887-888]
- Jesuit of Perugia, interpreter of Scripture and professor of moral theology. [Hurter, vol. III, col. 887-888]
- Praised by Gury for learning and elegance of style, but he attacked probabilism with little success; Ballerini calls him 'a man of anomalous intellect and of zeal inclined toward stricter things'; Vázquez opposed him sharply. [Hurter, vol. III, col. 887-888]
- Wrote Responsa moralia in seven books (Lyons, 1609; Cremona, 1611; Rouen, 1709), with a doctrine of contracts (Lyons, 1615), and a Catena on Job from 24 Greek Fathers (1586; corrected ed. Venice, 1587). [Hurter, vol. III, col. 887-888]
- Haringer marks him rigid (+*); a note in Haringer's index (Gury-Ballerini, 1884) calls the classing of him among the enemies of probabilism a calumny begun by Nicolius (see his row). [Haringer's index of writers, p. XV; Haringer's index of writers, p. XV]
Sources: H. Hurter, S.J., Nomenclator literarius theologiae catholicae, 3rd ed. (Innsbruck, 1903-1913), read on archive.org; Haringer's index of writers, as printed in Gury-Ballerini (1884), on this site. Each fact names where it was read; the links go to the page or entry itself.
In Prümmer's Catalogue and Haringer's Index
- “Comitolus, Paulus, S.J., Italian (1544-1626), among other things wrote Responsa moralia in septem libros digesta. He attacked Probabilism, whence he is called by Ballerini "a man of anomalous intellect and of zeal inclined toward stricter things." Cf. Hurter, Nomenclator III, 888.” — Prümmer, Catalogue of authors
- [+*: rigid] “Comitolus Paulus, Italian, S.J. (Counsels or Moral Replies) , born 1546, died 1626.” — Haringer's index of writers (Gury-Ballerini) (p. XV, sign read on the page)
the scan's text layer reads "**"; the page has the dagger and asterisk (read at 300 dpi). The editor's footnote (a) on the page: "Per calumniam Nicolius probabilismi osoribus Comitolum accensuit. Quem errorem incaute e Nicolio transcripsit Thyrsus Gonzalez, et ab hoc alii deinceps."
His Moral System, as Our Authors Report It
Every report quoted in the author's own words and linked to its place; point at a name to see his words. Haringer's signs give St. Alphonsus's judgment as Haringer found it in St. Alphonsus's works (his notice, Gury-Ballerini, 1884, p. XI); a sign on a writer the 1884 editor added to the list is the editor's own, and is said to be his.
Our authors disagree. Probabilist: Haringer. Probabiliorist: Slater, Merkelbach. Against probabilism: Concina, Prümmer.
| Probabilist | |
|---|---|
| “By calumny Nicolius counted Comitolus among the enemies of probabilism”Haringer's index: it was a calumny to count him among the enemies of probabilism | Haringer, Index of writers, note 1 |
| Probabiliorist | |
| “The only exception was the not very notable Italian Jesuit Comitolus, who published his “Responsa Moralia” in 1608. Comitolus taught probabiliorism and attributed the doctrine of probabilism quite falsely, to what he calls the shameful lapse of Armilla.”Slater, after Terill: the one exception before 1638; he taught probabiliorism, and his opinion passed almost unheeded | Slater, Short History, ¶ 87 |
| “Yet certain persons continued to think otherwise, as Dr. Navarrus Azpicuelta, Ant. Corduba and Fabri from the Order of Friars Minor, Palacios, also P. Comitoli and A. Bianchi from the Society of Jesus, all probabiliorists”Merkelbach: against the probabilists of his time he was a probabiliorist | Merkelbach, Summa II, excursus on the moral systems |
| Against probabilism | |
| Counted among them by one of our authors | Concina, Compendium II, diss. II, ch. IX, n. XII |
| “He attacked Probabilism”Prümmer: he attacked probabilism (Ballerini: of zeal inclined to stricter things) | Prümmer, Catalogue of authors |
| Rigid in his opinions | |
| “Comitolus Paulus, Italian, S.J. (Counsels or Moral Replies) , born 1546, died 1626.”Haringer marks him +*, giving St. Alphonsus's judgment of him (rigid) | Haringer's index, Index of writers, p. XV |
Where Our Authors Discuss Him
Each read in its full passage; the words quoted are the author's own. Where several authors say the same thing, one is quoted and the others follow “in nearly the same words”; point at a name to see his words.
| “Comitoli alone — whether you regard elegance of writing, or doctrine and erudition — prevails over six hundred Probabilists.”Concina answers La-Croix’s slighting of Comitoli: he alone outweighs six hundred probabilists | Concina, Compendium II, diss. II, ch. IX, n. XIII |
No article in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913).