Moral Theology: Its Method and Masters
Patritius Sporer
Drawn from the authors' own words; every quotation links to its place.
Franciscan · ?–1714
In the Index: Sporer, Patritius; Sporer
In Prümmer's Catalogue and Haringer's Index
- “Sporer, Patritius, O.Min., German (d. 1714), wrote Theologia moralis decalogalis et sacramentalis, which was enlarged by a supplement made by Kilian Kazenberger, 2 folio volumes, Venice 1731, and was newly edited by Iren. Bierbaum, 1897 and 1902. Sporer is an altogether grave author, although sometimes too benign.” — Prümmer, Catalogue of authors
- [**: weighty, probabilist] “Sporer Patritius, German, of Passau, of the Order of St. Francis, definitor of his order. Concerning this author St. Alphonsus says that he was in his opinions fairly equitable and perhaps sometimes more benign than is fitting (Moral Theology, etc.), died after 1700.” — Haringer's index of writers (Gury-Ballerini) (p. XXIX, sign read on the page)
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.
| Probabilist | |
|---|---|
| Counted among them by 4 of our authors | Prümmer, Manuale I, n. 342; Konings, Compendium, n. 74; Tanquerey, Fundamental Moral Theology, n. 397; Bucceroni, Institutiones, n. 119 |
| “Sporer Patritius, German, of Passau, of the Order of St. Francis, definitor of his order. Concerning this author St. Alphonsus says that he was in his opinions fairly equitable and perhaps sometimes more benign than is fitting (Moral Theology, etc.), died after 1700.”Haringer marks him **, giving St. Alphonsus's judgment of him (weighty and probabilist) | Haringer's index, Index of writers, p. XXIX |
| Charged with laxity | |
| “Chapter II — A census of propositions which seem lax, culled from the Casuists … III. "That assent once had, this affirmative precept of faith of itself directly obliges no further: because on the one hand no certain and determinate time can be assigned, either by the law of Christ or by that of the Church, at which the precept of faith of itself directly obliges as to the internal act ... therefore Christ the Lord is prudently believed not to have willed to impose a precept of faith distinct of itself."”Concina's censuses of lax opinions list 14 of his opinions and names him in 2 more as teaching or approving one (the first is quoted; every one is under 'Where Our Authors Discuss Him') | Concina, Compendium I, bk. III, diss. I, ch. II, n. III |
| Too benign in his opinions | |
| “although sometimes too benign”Prümmer: a grave author, though sometimes too benign | Prümmer, Catalogue of authors |
| “perhaps sometimes more benign than is fitting”Haringer, after St. Alphonsus: fairly equitable, perhaps sometimes more benign than is fitting | Haringer's index, Index of writers, p. XXIX |
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.
| “Sporer, O.M. (1683)”Vermeersch names him among the distinguished theologians of the age before St. Alphonsus, an age he calls morbid | Vermeersch, Theologia moralis I, n. 20 |
| “For those heretics, deceitfully simulating great piety and a singular fervor for protecting moral science, brought it about that in France, Italy, and other provinces they drew many learned men to their side: among whom were also Peter Collet (the celebrated continuator of Honore Tournely), Louis Habert, and Natalis Alexander, who, although they rejected other errors of the Jansenists, nevertheless accommodated themselves in many things to their immoderate rigor. Indeed there were not lacking those who defended more benign opinions, such as Louis Abelly, Eusebius Amort, Castropalaus, Gobat, Roncaglia, Cardenas, Viva, Lacroix, Sporer, Reiffenstuel, Reuter, Voit, Holzmann, Elbel, Mazzotta, etc., without however being able wholly to repress the swelling rigor of doctrine.”Marc names him among those who defended more benign opinions against the rigor of the Jansenist age | Marc, Institutiones I, n. 6 |
| “in which the scholastic and the casuistic method are happily joined together”Tanquerey on the moral theologies of Sporer and Elbel | Tanquerey, Fundamental Moral Theology, n. 52 |
| “Chapter II — An inventory of propositions which seem lax … III. Patritius Sporer, treatise II on the first precept of the Decalogue, chapter 5, number 31, transcribes according to his custom the opinion of his Fr. Tamburini, and of the Authors whom Tamburini alleges, and explains it at greater length, and, so far as can be done, champions it.”Concina lists among the lax opinions of the casuists (on the precepts of faith, hope and charity) | Concina, Compendium I, bk. III, diss. II, ch. II, n. III |
| “Chapter I — First, the condemned propositions are recounted; then those which seem lax … IX. Fr. Patritius Sporer, treatise 5 on the fifth precept of the Decalogue, chapter 1, section 3, number 92: "Without doubt painters sin mortally, regularly speaking, who paint very filthy and obscene things; and much more actors representing such very filthy things ...”Concina lists among the lax opinions of the casuists (on scandal and cooperation in sin) | Concina, Compendium I, bk. III, diss. IV, ch. I, n. IX |
| “Chapter I — The condemned and lax propositions are recounted … II. "Can a married person, impeded from asking the debt on account of a vow, or incest, or spiritual kinship, ask for it, whenever he is agitated by vehement stimuli of the flesh, lest he be exposed to the danger of falling into grave sins of lust? ...”Concina lists among the lax opinions of the casuists (on vows) | Concina, Compendium I, bk. III, diss. IX, ch. I, n. II |
| “Chapter II — The lax opinions of several Casuists … XXII. Fr. Patrick Sporer, Vol. II, tract 5, on the 7th precept of the Decalogue, chap. 5, sect. 2, § 4, no. 83: “A servant or official who through error, necessity, or some like cause has hired out his labour for less than the just price, since he was at least in some respect unwilling, and so had not the mind to make a gift, will be able both to exact the deficiency of his wage by right, and, if he cannot obtain it otherwise, to compensate himself secretly.”Concina lists among the lax opinions of the casuists (on justice, restitution, occult compensation and usury) | Concina, Compendium II, bk. IX, diss. I, ch. II, n. XXII |
| “The same Lessius, in the place cited, no. 90: The third mode is this. If I had destined money for trade, and they should ask a loan: concerning which mode” | Concina, Compendium II, bk. IX, diss. I, ch. II, n. XLVII |
| “Fr. Thomas Tamburini, Book IX, tract 1, chap. 5, § 4, no. 2: If you have at home other money lying idle, but this which you lend you had destined for trade” | Concina, Compendium II, bk. IX, diss. I, ch. II, n. XLVIII |
| “Chapter I — Condemned and lax propositions are recounted which regard the remaining three sacraments of extreme unction, order, and matrimony … XX. Fr. Patrick Sporer, part 4, chapter 1, section 1, no. 428: “It is one thing to consent and take complacency in a copulation thought of as present, and an actual venereal delight from such copulation thought of and actual in the sensitive appetite and in the venereal parts consequent thereupon; which to the betrothed de futuro, and to widows regarding the past, is mortally unlawful, and is lawful to spouses alone.”Concina lists among the lax opinions of the casuists (on simony, benefices, marriage, chastity and temperance) | Concina, Compendium II, bk. XII, diss. I, ch. I, n. XX |
| “Chapter I — Condemned and lax propositions are recounted which regard the remaining three sacraments of extreme unction, order, and matrimony … XXXV. Fr. Patrick Sporer, part 4, chapter 1, section 3, § 3, no. 490, page 246: “And indeed if a wife should know that her husband is wont to break off the copulation and to pour out the seed, she nevertheless does not sin either by asking or by rendering, provided she herself do not consent nor cooperate: because it does not follow from the wife's action, but precisely from the husband's malice.””Concina lists among the lax opinions of the casuists (on simony, benefices, marriage, chastity and temperance) | Concina, Compendium II, bk. XII, diss. I, ch. I, n. XXXV |
| “Chapter I — Condemned and lax propositions are recounted which regard the remaining three sacraments of extreme unction, order, and matrimony … XXXVII. Fr. Sporer in the place cited above: “Moreover, all danger of pollution ceasing in either spouse, that spouses by mutual consent breaking off a begun copulation, lest offspring be generated, whether on account of want or on account of another cause, do not sin mortally, the Doctors sufficiently commonly teach.””Concina lists among the lax opinions of the casuists (on simony, benefices, marriage, chastity and temperance) | Concina, Compendium II, bk. XII, diss. I, ch. I, n. XXXVII |
| “Chapter I — Condemned and lax propositions are recounted which regard the remaining three sacraments of extreme unction, order, and matrimony … XXXVIII. The same Sporer in the same place: “Who also excuse this from all fault when a just cause underlies it — for example on account of poverty, lest offspring be multiplied on the one part; and on the other part for the allaying in some manner of concupiscence, and for the avoiding of incontinence.””Concina lists among the lax opinions of the casuists (on simony, benefices, marriage, chastity and temperance) | Concina, Compendium II, bk. XII, diss. I, ch. I, n. XXXVIII |
| “Chapter II — A review of condemned opinions, and of the laxer views of certain recent authors … II. "Can a married person, hindered by a vow, by an oath, or by spiritual kinship, from requesting the marital debt, request it whenever he is troubled by vehement stirrings of the flesh, lest he be exposed to the danger of falling into grave sins of lust?...”Concina lists among the lax opinions of the casuists (on vows) | Concina, Theologia IV, diss. I, ch. II, n. II |
| “Chapter IV — Lax, or improbable, propositions are reviewed, which not a few Casuists teach … I. "Whatever words, even those containing an express oath, are used in swearing, the mind and the intention of swearing must always be attended to, so as to discern in the forum of conscience whether one has truly sworn, or not.”Concina lists among the lax opinions of the casuists (on the oath) | Concina, Theologia V, diss. I, ch. IV, n. I |
| “Chapter IV — Lax, or improbable, propositions are reviewed, which not a few Casuists teach … XI. "A culpably retained habit of swearing falsely, deliberately, or indifferently truly and falsely, is more probably not a sin of actual perjury, but is to be confessed as the very sin of the habit of perjury."”Concina lists among the lax opinions of the casuists (on the oath) | Concina, Theologia V, diss. I, ch. IV, n. XI |
| “Chapter IV — Lax, or improbable, propositions are reviewed, which not a few Casuists teach … XII. "For it morally suffices to confess something less distinct concerning oneself, than to open it up plainly. He who has perjured himself from the impetus of a contrary habit, although deliberately, is to be judged to have offended less, than one who has done so with a recent, spontaneous mind, and freedom."”Concina lists among the lax opinions of the casuists (on the oath) | Concina, Theologia V, diss. I, ch. IV, n. XII |
| “Chapter IV — Lax, or improbable, propositions are reviewed, which not a few Casuists teach … XV. "Understand, however, this teaching, provided that he does not, by a positive act, accept that depraved habit, but only, being negatively disposed, neglects, or despairs, of overcoming it — which indeed is not rare, and greatly to be noted by the Confessor, lest he vex, or greatly afflict, consciences."”Concina lists among the lax opinions of the casuists (on the oath) | Concina, Theologia V, diss. I, ch. IV, n. XV |
| “Thus commonly teach Fr. Antoine, Fr. Cárdenas, Fr. La Croix, Fr. Sporer”Concina: he teaches that the condemned propositions are condemned as they lie, not as they stand in their authors | Concina, Theologia V, diss. III, ch. XIV, n. II |
| “I likewise warn that Fr. Patritius Sporer must be read cautiously”Concina: against La Croix’s warning, Sporer proposes Cárdenas as master | Concina, Theologia V, diss. III, ch. XV, n. XII |
| “Sporer taught theology for many years at Passau in Bavaria”Koch-Preuss on his works | Koch-Preuss, Handbook I, history of moral theology |
Works Our Authors Used
- Patritius Sporer, Order of Minors. - Theologia moralis. (Venice, 1731). — Marc's list
- Sporer-Bierbaum, O.S.F., Theologia Moralis, Decalogalis et sacramentalis, Paderborn, 1901. — Tanquerey's list
- Sporer-Bierbaum, O.S.F., Theologia moralis, decalogalis et sacramentalis, new ed., Paderborn, 1901. — Tanquerey's list
- Sporer, Patritius, O. Min., died 1714, Theologia moralis, decalogalis et sacramentalis, Venice, 1724; a new edition edited by Bierbaum, Paderborn, 1897. — Tanquerey's list
In the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)
“Patritius Sporer”, vol. 14, by Livarius Oliger. Public domain; transcription from Wikisource.
Moral theologian, born at Passau, Bavaria; died there, 29 May, 1683. In 1637 he entered the Order of Friars Minor in the convent of his native town, which then belonged to the religious Province of Strasburg. He taught theology for many years, obtained the title of Lector jubilatus, and was also the theologian of the Bishop of Passau. Sporer is the author of several works:
(1) "Amor Dei super omnia" (Würzburg, 1662);
(2) "Actionum humanarum immediata regula Conscientia moraliter explicata atque ad disputationem publicam exposita" (Würzburg, 1660);
(3) "Theologia moralis, decalogalis et sacramentalis" (3 folio vols., 1681; re-edited, Salzburg, 1692; Venice, 1724, 1726, 1755, 1756).
Some editions have additional notes by K. Kazenberger and Ch. Mayr, two well-known Franciscan moralists. The latest edition with up-to-date supplements is by Irenæus Bierbaum, O. F. M. (3 vols. 8vo, Paderborn, 1897-1901; 2nd ed., 1901-5).
Sporer was one of the best moralists of his time and is much appreciated even today. St. Alphonsus Liguori often quotes him and Lehmkul numbers him amongst the classical authors of moral theology. For other testimonies see Preface of Bierbaum's edition. As to his moral system he follows Probabilism. In questions at issue between St. Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus he defends and follows the latter, as for instance in the question of indifferent human actions. Very often also Sporer lays under contribution his own large experience as director of souls, thus rendering his work all the more useful.
JOANNES A S. ANTONIO, Bibliotheca universa Francescana, II (Madrid, 1732), 426; MINGES, Gesch. der Franziskaner in Bayern (Munich, 1896), 227; HURTER, Nomenclator, IV (3d ed., Innsbruck, 1910), 944.
LIVARIUS OLIGER.