The Special Faculties of Confessors

I. Faculties granted. To confessors lawfully chosen according to what was said in Article I belongs:

1. The faculty of absolving both from sins and - but in the forum of conscience only - from censures reserved either to the Holy See or to Ordinaries, except those which perhaps are excepted by the Bull, with a salutary penance nevertheless imposed, and with other things to be imposed by law. Therefore, as Benedict XIV teaches, the confessor "should not omit imposing upon each penitent his own salutary penance in the sacrament, not even under the pretext of the Jubilee to be obtained by the same penitent."¹ Other things to be imposed by law are understood as those which by either divine or ecclesiastical law are imposed upon the penitent.² Moreover:

a) One who falsely accused a confessor of solicitation cannot be absolved unless he has retracted the accusation and compensated other damages perhaps following upon the accused person, or is prepared to retract the accusation and compensate the damages.³

b) Those who have propagated heresy, or at least are guilty of external heresy, should not be absolved before they have abjured the heresy before the confessor and have repaired the scandal, or at least are prepared to repair it.⁴

c) Those who retain or read prohibited books should not be absolved before they have put them away or have seriously promised that they will put them away.⁵

d) Those who have given their name to a condemned secret sect should not be absolved except on the condition that they separate themselves altogether from the respective sect and abjure it, and that books, manuscripts, and signs concerning the sect, if they retain any, be handed into your hands (the hands of the confessor), to be cautiously transmitted as soon as possible to the Ordinary, or at least, if just and grave causes demand it, to be burned.⁶

e) One who violated the enclosure of Nuns for an evil end, even in occult cases, must be forbidden by the confessor from approaching in the future any monastery and church of Nuns; and he must be warned that he is absolved from the censure in such a way that, if he does not observe the prohibition imposed, he falls back by that very fact into the same censure.⁷

f) One who absolved an accomplice is usually obliged by the Sacred Penitentiary: 1. "that insofar as the accomplice person should approach him again, after being warned of the nullity of the past absolutions, he send that person back to another confessor who is not an accomplice"; 2. "that he abstain in the future from hearing the confessions of any accomplice person, insofar as this can be done without grave scandal"; 3. "that he take care to resign the office of confessor, if he has absolved two accomplices once or one accomplice twice."⁸ But more recent Bulls have been accustomed to restrict the faculty of absolving a confessor who has absolved an accomplice.

g) Those who have been excommunicated, suspended, interdicted by name, or otherwise declared to have fallen into sentences and censures, or publicly denounced, should not be absolved unless within the time of the Jubilee they have made satisfaction and have come to agreement with the parties, where that is necessary.⁹ But afterward this was added: "But if within the prescribed term, in the judgment of the confessor, they could not make satisfaction, we grant that they can be absolved in the forum of conscience, for the sole effect of obtaining the indulgences of the Jubilee, with the obligation imposed of making satisfaction as soon as they can."

2. The faculty of dispensing with a penitent constituted in sacred Orders concerning an occult irregularity contracted because of violation of a censure.¹⁰

3. The faculty of commuting any vows whatsoever, even sworn vows and vows reserved to the Apostolic See, into other pious and salutary works. There are excepted: 1. reserved vows of chastity and Religion; 2. vows made and accepted in favor of a third party, as vows made in any Religion; 3. penal vows, which are called preservative from sin, unless the future commutation is judged to be such that it restrains no less from committing sin than the former matter of the vow;¹¹ the vow of not seeking commutation is not excepted (St. Alphonsus, VI, 537, q. 4). Moreover observe:

a) For the commutation of vows (during the time of the Jubilee) a special cause is not required; but that common cause on account of which the Pontiff was moved to proclaim the Jubilee suffices (St. Alphonsus, II, 537, q. 40).

b) The power of commuting sworn vows quite probably carries with it the power of commuting oaths; nor does St. Alphonsus contradict this, since he speaks only of the power of commuting vows (III, 190).

It is disputed whether the power of commuting an oath of chastity and Religion belongs to the confessor. But it seems improbable that the Church, which denies the power of commuting a vow of some thing, would grant the faculty of commuting an oath concerning the same thing.

4. The faculty of commuting, from a just cause, the works assigned for the Jubilee into other pious works;¹² concerning this see n. 559.

The faculty of dispensing in some impediments of marriage is commonly not granted; yet in the year 1925 some faculty had been granted, but only for the internal forum.

¹ Bull Convocatis, § 26.

² Cf. Sacred Penitentiary, April 18, 1900.

³ A.A.S. 1924, p. 338, under IV.

⁴ A.A.S. 1924, p. 311, under IV.

⁵ A.A.S. 1924, p. 339, under VIII.

⁶ A.A.S. 1924, p. 311, under IV.

⁷ A.A.S. 1924, p. 339, under VI.

⁸ A.A.S. 1924, p. 310, under I.

⁹ A.A.S. 1924, p. 310, under IV.

¹⁰ Bull Benedictus Deus, nn. 4 and 5.

¹¹ A.A.S. 1917, p. 311, under VII, p. 320.

¹² A.A.S. 1927, p. 312 sq.

II. Things to be noted. Concerning the faculties explained above these things are to be noted:

1. It is not permitted to use them except with respect to penitents who have the intention of gaining the indulgence of the Jubilee and therefore of fulfilling the prescribed works.¹ But the fact that someone sinned in hope of receiving absolution by force of the Jubilee does not prevent him from enjoying the favors, provided he is now sorry, and wills to gain the Jubilee and to fulfill the pious works (St. Alphonsus, VI, 537, q. 6). But if the penitent afterward, having changed his mind, does not fulfill the works required for gaining the indulgence, he sins, because he acts against the intention of the Supreme Pontiff who granted the faculties for gaining the Jubilee.² Yet it is not established that the sin is grave. Besides, the favors granted, for example the commutation of a vow, persist³ (St. Alphonsus, VI, 537, q. 3).

2. The faculties must be used in sacramental confession;⁴ but it is not required that all the faculties be exercised in the same confession or by the same confessor. Thus, for example, one who in confession for the Jubilee omitted to ask for commutation of a vow can ask for this in another confession and from another confessor. Nor is it required that absolution be granted now to one sacramentally confessed. Hence even if the confessor judges that absolution is to be deferred, he can nevertheless remove, for example, a censure or commute a vow; and if this has taken place, an ordinary confessor also, with the censure and the reservation of the sin removed, can absolve the penitent from sins.

3. Concerning repeated use of the favors, receive these things:

a) A penitent who has enjoyed the favors granted and has fulfilled all the prescribed works cannot enjoy the favors again, for example if he should make a new vow; and this holds even if the indulgence itself can be acquired several times.⁵ The faculty of commuting prescribed works is excepted; it is permitted to use this several times⁶ (n. 559).

b) One who has enjoyed the favors granted, but before he has fulfilled all the prescribed works needs them again, for example by falling back into censures, can, as seems to have to be said in view of the Bull Convocatis, n. 84 at the end, enjoy the favors again. Namely, the Supreme Pontiff states that "if he has once shared in them (the graces) the first time that he obtained the Jubilee, he cannot become a participant in them again, if after the first acquisition of the Jubilee he falls again into censures, etc." By these words it is implied that he can again become a participant in the graces if before the acquisition of the Jubilee, or before all the works have been fulfilled, he again falls into a censure. Moreover it seems more consonant with the mind of the Church that the faculties granted can be exercised until the faithful person, all the works having been fulfilled, has obtained the Jubilee.⁷

4. If someone has forgotten a reserved sin or reserved censure in a confession otherwise valid, or from a just cause has omitted it, according to many authors the reservation of the sin and the censure have been removed. The reason is that it is fitting to the mind of the Supreme Pontiff, who granted special faculties to the confessor in favor of the penitent, that the well-disposed penitent, insofar as it can be done, enjoy the said faculties (St. Alphonsus, VI, 537, q. 4). But if someone exposed a reserved censure or sin to the confessor, yet confessed invalidly, the reserved censure and the reservation of the sin have not been removed, if the confession was culpably invalid, that is, sacrilegious; since the sincere intention of acquiring the Jubilee is lacking (p. 421). Besides, "since the Pontiff grants the faculty of absolving from reserved things so that the faithful may gain the Jubilee, he is not presumed to grant it for those who cannot gain the Jubilee by that confession" (St. Alphonsus, VI, 537, q. 2). Moreover, because of the latter reason, the same solution seems to have to be admitted against several authors, if the confession was inculpably invalid (St. Alphonsus, loc. cit.).

5. One who confessed during the time of the Jubilee can, if absolution seems to have to be deferred for him and to be granted after the Jubilee, be absolved from reserved things even after the time of the Jubilee (St. Alphonsus, VI, 537, q. 4).

¹ Bulls Convocatis, § 24; Inter praeteritos, § 62; Benedictus Deus, § 6; Celebrationem, § 8; Sacred Penitentiary, June 1, 1869; January 15, 1886.

² Cf. Bull Inter praeteritos, n. 86.

³ Cf. Bulls Convocatis, n. 34; Inter praeteritos, n. 86; Leo XIII, Bull Praesentes Litteras; Sacred Penitentiary, November 1, 1899.

⁴ Bulls Convocatis, § 25; Inter praeteritos, § 62, compared with Convocatis, § 40.

⁵ Bulls Convocatis, § 52; Inter praeteritos, § 84; Sacred Penitentiary, June 1, 1869; Sacred Penitentiary, March 18, 1886.

⁶ Sacred Penitentiary, March 18, 1886 (A.S.S. XVIII, p. 512).

⁷ For the Jubilee of the year 1875, however, the Sacred Penitentiary, January 25, 1875, by mandate of the Supreme Pontiff, declared: "His Holiness declared that by force of the present Jubilee (the faithful) can be absolved only once from censures and reserved cases (and likewise that the indulgence of the Jubilee itself can be acquired only once)." And on the same day the Sacred Penitentiary, to the question "Whether confessors can absolve a penitent who, already absolved from reserved things and censures, has fallen into them again before he has fulfilled the works prescribed for acquiring the Jubilee," responded: "By virtue of the Jubilee one can be absolved only once from reserved things and from censures, or, negatively."

"Whether Confessors can use the extraordinary faculties toward him who indeed asks to be absolved and dispensed, but does not have the will of performing the enjoined works and of gaining the Jubilee? Resp. Negatively." S. Poenit. 1 June 1869, 15 Jan. 1886.

"Whether confessors can use the extraordinary faculties toward one who indeed asks to be absolved and dispensed, but does not have the will to perform the works enjoined and to gain the Jubilee? - Response. Negative." Sacred Penitentiary, 1 June 1869; 15 January 1886.

"Whether, during the time of the present Jubilee, confessors may use several times the extraordinary faculties granted to them toward the same penitent who has not yet fulfilled all the works enjoined for gaining the Jubilee indulgence? - Response. Affirmative." Sacred Penitentiary, 25 January 1901.

640. Special faculties are granted to these confessors, but only for the confession of the Jubilee.

(A) The faculty of absolving from all sins and censures, whether reserved to Bishops or to the Roman Pontiff, provided, however, that a salutary penance and other things to be enjoined by law are enjoined. - Yet certain cases reserved in the Constitution Sacram. Poenitentiae are excepted: (a) the absolution of one's own accomplice; (b) the absolution of one absolving an accomplice, if this crime has been committed three times or more throughout life;¹ (c) the absolution of those who have been excommunicated, suspended, or interdicted by the Roman Pontiff or by another Prelate by name, or have been publicly denounced as bound by censure,² unless they have made satisfaction within the time of the Jubilee.

¹ This was expressly declared by the Sacred Penitentiary, January 11, 1900, in Acta S. Sedis, XXXII, 508.

² Thus Sacred Penitentiary, June 5, 1901, in Acta S. Sedis, XXXIV, p. 187. - Formerly a false and juridical accusation of solicitation was also excepted; but in the recent Jubilee of 1900 this restriction was not preserved.

It is said, "and other things to be enjoined by law," namely by imposing those conditions which are prescribed by law; for example, heretics who have publicly taught heresy are not absolved unless the heresy has been abjured and scandal repaired; those who have unjustly acquired ecclesiastical goods are not absolved unless these have been restored, or a settlement has been made or at least sincerely promised.

641. (B) The faculty of commuting vows, even sworn vows and those reserved to the Supreme Pontiff, not excepting the vow of not seeking commutation. The following are excepted: (a) vows of perpetual chastity or of entering Religion properly so called; (b) obligatory vows which have been accepted by a third party, unless he renounces his right; (c) penal vows, which are emitted for removing the danger of sin, unless the commutation is made into another work which restrains from committing sin no less than the matter of the prior vow.

For commuting vows no other reason is required than the Jubilee itself; but the commutation cannot be made into a notably lesser work.

(C) The faculty of dispensing from irregularity contracted only on account of violation of censures, provided that it is occult, and has not been brought, nor can easily be brought, to the ecclesiastical forum; but not from other irregularities.

(D) The faculty of dispensing, for the forum of conscience only, concerning certain impediments of marriage: namely the occult diriment impediment of illicit affinity of the first and second degree, provided that canonical causes are present, if there is question of contracting marriage; the impediment of spiritual relationship, and likewise the occult impediment of crime, with neither party, however, plotting. - Likewise the faculty of restoring the right of seeking the debt in the case of incestuous affinity supervening upon marriage; or of dispensing with those who are bound by a simple vow of chastity, admonishing them, however, that they will sin against the vow if they offend outside the use of marriage, and that they remain bound by the same vow if they survive their own spouse.

(E) The faculty of commuting the works prescribed for the Jubilee into other works of nearly the same value, provided that a just cause is present, i.e., physical or moral inability. Generally confession and communion cannot be commuted into other works; nevertheless for children who have not yet been admitted to sacred communion, another work can be prescribed in place of communion; and the same is probably said of those who, on account of chronic illness, are not able to receive communion.

642. (a) Confessors cannot use these faculties outside the act of sacramental confession; and only toward those who confess with the sincere mind of gaining the Jubilee, yet in such a way that absolution from censures, commutations of vows, and dispensations remain in their force, even if it happens that he who had already obtained them, having changed his plan, does not fulfill the remaining works. But by a sacrilegious confession censures and reservations are not removed, since the disposition necessary for gaining the Jubilee is lacking.

(b) They can use these privileges only once with respect to the same penitent, although the indulgence of the Jubilee can be acquired several times when he has already fulfilled all the works of the Jubilee;¹ an exception is given for commutation of works, which can be made as often as someone gains the indulgence.² - Yet it is not necessary that all the faculties be applied in the same confession and by the same confessor. Thus he who, in the confession of the Jubilee, has forgotten to confess a reserved sin or to ask for commutation of vows, can afterwards obtain absolution or commutation from any confessor. Likewise he who, the first time in which he gained the Jubilee, did not need these faculties, but afterwards fell into a reserved censure or needed some dispensation, can, in a second acquisition of the Jubilee, when it is permitted, obtain absolution or dispensation.

¹ Moreover, the confessor can use these faculties several times toward the same penitent who has not yet fulfilled all the works enjoined, from the response of the Sacred Penitentiary, January 25, 1901, and June 5, 1901.

² Thus Sacred Penitentiary, July 2, 1881. But in the Jubilee of 1900 the contrary was declared by the Sacred Penitentiary, February 20, 1900, in Acta S. Sedis, XXXII, 637; afterwards, however, May 10, 1900, it was said that the penitent can nevertheless gain the Jubilee several times, by repeating the works enjoined in the first commutation.

1. "Of conferring orders outside the times and without observing interstices up to and including the presbyterate, if there shall be necessity of priests there."

2. "Of dispensing in any irregularities whatsoever, except those which proceed either from true bigamy or from voluntary homicide; and in these two cases also, if there shall be precise necessity of workers there, provided however that, as to voluntary homicide, scandal does not arise from a dispensation of this kind."

3. "Of dispensing concerning a defect of age of one year¹ on account of scarcity of workers, so that they can be promoted to the priesthood, if otherwise they shall be suitable."

4. "Of dispensing and commuting simple vows into other pious works, and of dispensing for a reasonable cause in simple vows of chastity and of religion."²

5. "Of absolving and dispensing in any simony whatsoever; and in real simony, the benefices having been dismissed, and concerning fruits badly received, some alms or salutary penance having been enjoined at the judgment of the one dispensing; or even, the benefices having been retained, if they are parochial and there are not those who can be placed over the parishes."

6. "Of dispensing in the 3rd and 4th degree of consanguinity and affinity, simple and mixed only, and in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th mixed degrees, not however in the 2nd alone as to future marriages; but as to past marriages, also in the 2nd alone, provided it in no way touches the first degree, with those who are converted from heresy or infidelity to the Catholic Faith, and in the aforesaid cases of declaring the offspring received to be legitimate."

7. "Of dispensing concerning the impediment of public honesty arising from just" [of justice, according to Feije, de imp., n. 615 (l)] "betrothals."

8. "Of dispensing concerning the impediment of crime, neither of the spouses however plotting, and of restoring the lost right of asking the debt."

9. "Of dispensing in the impediment of spiritual relationship, except between the one lifting and the one lifted."

10. "But these matrimonial dispensations, namely the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th, are not to be granted except with the clause: provided that the woman has not been abducted, or, if she has been abducted, does not exist in the power of the abductor; and in the dispensation the tenor of faculties of this kind is to be inserted, with expression of the time for which they were granted."

11. "Of dispensing with gentiles and infidels having several wives, so that after conversion and baptism they can retain whichever of them they prefer, if she also becomes faithful, unless the first should wish to be converted."

12. "Of preparing the Holy Oils with the priests whom they can have, and, if necessity urges, even outside the day of the Lord's Supper."

13. "Of delegating to simple priests the power of blessing vestments and other utensils necessary for the Sacrifice of the Mass, where sacred anointing does not intervene; and of reconciling polluted churches with water blessed by a Bishop, and, in a case of necessity, even with water not blessed by a Bishop."

14. "Of granting three times in the year a plenary indulgence to those contrite, confessed, and refreshed by sacred communion."

15. "Of absolving from heresy and apostasy from the faith and from schism any persons whatsoever, even ecclesiastics both secular and regular; not however those who have come from places where the Holy Office is exercised, unless they have offended in places of missions in which heresies roam with impunity; nor those who have judicially abjured,³ unless they were born where heresies roam with impunity, and after judicial abjuration, having returned there, have relapsed into heresy, and these in the forum of conscience only."

16. "Of absolving from all censures in the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis moderationi, dated October 12, 1869, reserved to the Roman Pontiff even in a special manner, excepted the absolution of an accomplice in a shameful sin."⁴

17. "Of conceding a plenary indulgence to those first converted from heresy, and also to any faithful whatsoever at the point of death, at least contrite, if they shall not be able to confess."

18. "Of conceding a plenary indulgence in the prayer of forty hours, to be announced three times in the year on days agreeable to the bishop, to those contrite and confessed and refreshed by sacred communion, if nevertheless from the concourse of the people and the exposition of the Most Holy Sacrament there is no probable suspicion of sacrilege by heretics and infidels, or of offense by magistrates."

19. "Of gaining for themselves the same indulgences."

20. "On each Monday not impeded by an office of nine lessons, or, if impeded by these, on the immediately following day, of celebrating a Mass de requie on any altar whatsoever, even portable, and of freeing souls according to their intention from the pains of purgatory by way of suffrage."

21. "Of keeping and reading, but not however of conceding to others, except for a time and only to those priests whom he knows to be especially suitable and honorable, prohibited books, excepted the works of Dupuy, Volney, M. Reghellini, Pigault, le Brun, De Potter, Bontham, J. A. Dulaure, Fetes et courtisanes de la Grece, Novelle of Casti, and other works treating professedly of obscene things and against Religion."⁵

22. "Of placing regulars over parishes, and of deputing to them their vicars in defect of seculars, with the consent however of their superiors."

23. "Of celebrating twice in the day, if necessity urges, yet in such a way that in the first Mass he has not taken the ablution, - for one hour before dawn and another after noon, - without a minister,

• and under the open sky and under the earth, yet in a decent place, - even if the altar is broken or without relics of saints, - and with heretics, schismatics, infidels, and excommunicates present, - if otherwise it cannot be celebrated. But let him beware lest he use the aforesaid faculty or dispensation of celebrating twice in the day otherwise than from most grave causes and most rarely; in which matter his conscience is gravely burdened. But if it has seemed good to communicate this same faculty to another priest according to the power to be placed below, or to approve the causes of using it for someone who has obtained this faculty from the Holy See, it is seriously enjoined upon his conscience that he communicate the same, or respectively approve the causes, to a few only, and those of more mature prudence and zeal and who are absolutely necessary, nor for any place whatever, but where grave necessity has required, and for a brief time."⁶

24. "Of carrying the Most Holy Sacrament secretly to the sick without light, and of keeping it without the same for the same sick persons, yet in a decent place, if there is danger of sacrilege from heretics or infidels."

25. "Of clothing himself in secular garments, if otherwise they cannot either pass over to the places committed to their care or remain in them."

26. "Of reciting the rosary or other prayers, if they cannot carry the breviary with them, or are not able to recite the divine office because of some legitimate impediment."

27. "Of dispensing, when it shall seem expedient, concerning the eating of meats, eggs, and milk foods in the time of fasts and Lent." See Benedict XIV, Constitution Libentissime, June 10, 1745, § Insula, whence it is clear that here the faculty is given of dispensing only particular persons. (Z) p. 478.

28. "Of communicating the aforesaid faculties, not however those which require the Episcopal Order, or are exercised not without the use of Sacred Oils, to suitable priests who will labor in their dioceses, and especially at the time of their death, so that, the see being vacant, there may be someone who can supply until the Apostolic See, having been made more certain, which ought to be done as soon as possible, provides in another way through delegates or through one of them; to which delegates by Apostolic authority the faculty is conceded, the see being vacant and in a case of necessity, of consecrating chalices, patens, and portable altars with Sacred Oils, blessed however by a Bishop."⁷

29. "And the aforesaid faculties are to be exercised gratis and without any payment, and are to be understood to have been granted only for a ten-year period,⁸ nor can he use them outside the boundaries of his diocese."⁹

1. "Of reciting privately, a legitimate cause concurring, Matins with Lauds of the following day immediately after two hours have elapsed after noon, and of communicating the same faculty to ecclesiastical men, whether secular or regular."

2. "Of retaining and reading books prohibited by the Apostolic See, even those professedly dealing against Religion, for the purpose of refuting them; yet let him diligently guard them lest they come into the hands of others, excepted those professedly astrological, judicial, superstitious, and obscene; and of conceding the same faculty also to others, sparingly however, and provided that he can prudently presume that they will suffer no detriment from reading of this kind."

3. "Of dispensing with Deacons of either clergy concerning a defect of age of fourteen months, so that they can be promoted to the Priesthood, if otherwise they shall be suitable."

4. "Of permitting parish priests subject to him, provided a just and legitimate cause concurs, that on those feast days on which the Faithful have been released by Apostolic authority from the obligation of hearing Mass, they themselves may be able to abstain from application for the people, provided that they pray specially for the same people in Mass of this kind."

5. "Of permitting Catholics subject to him that on Fridays, Saturdays, and other days on which the eating of meats is forbidden, they may be able to provide meats to non-Catholics, if it should happen that they are at their table, provided however that contempt of the ecclesiastical law is absent and they use a faculty of this kind soberly and with much circumspection, lest scandal be cast upon Catholics or heterodox persons."

6. "Of deputing some priest in places subject to him with the faculty of consecrating chalices, patens, and altar stones according to the form prescribed in the Roman Pontifical, yet using Sacred Oils blessed by a Catholic Bishop."

7. "Of imparting four times in the year, within the boundaries of his diocese, on the more solemn feasts, the Papal Blessing according to the formula printed in type and inserted, with a plenary indulgence to be gained by those who, truly penitent, confessed, and refreshed by Sacred Communion, have been present at the same Blessing and have prayed to God for the propagation of the Holy Faith and the exaltation of the Holy Roman Church." The Pontifical has the formula, part 3, p. 291, Mechlin edition, 1862.

8. "Of declaring one altar in any church of his diocese to be privileged, provided another privileged altar is not present, for all Sacrifices of the Mass which will be celebrated on the same altar by any presbyter whatsoever, secular or regular of any order."

9. "Of blessing rosaries, crosses, sacred medals, and of applying indulgences to them according to the sheet printed in type and inserted,¹⁰ and also of erecting Confraternities of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, of the Most Holy Rosary, and of a Good Death, with application of all indulgences and privileges which the Supreme Pontiffs have imparted to the same Confraternities; with the power moreover added of communicating these faculties to presbyters engaged in the sacred ministry."

10. "Of erecting in places of his diocese in which Franciscan Fathers are not present the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross, with application of all indulgences and privileges which the Supreme Pontiffs have imparted to those performing an exercise of this kind, with the power moreover added of communicating this faculty to presbyters engaged in the sacred ministry."

11. "Of promoting Clerics subject to him to the Subdiaconate and other Major Orders up to and including the Presbyterate by title of mission, an oath however having been furnished by the same Clerics before they are ordained Subdeacons, by which they promise, after the manner of Pontifical alumni, that they will perpetually serve their diocese or mission."¹¹ (kk) p. 473.

12. "Of delegating the blessing of bells, whenever they themselves cannot perform it without grave inconvenience, to priests agreeable to him, the rite of the Roman Pontifical having been observed, and Oils and water blessed by a Bishop having been used; and also without water blessed by a Bishop, if a grave cause concurs."

13. "And the aforesaid faculties are to be exercised gratis and without any payment, nor can he use them outside the boundaries of his diocese."

1. "Of dispensing concerning the impediment of spiritual relationship between the one lifting and the one lifted."

2. "Of dispensing in occult cases and in the forum of conscience only concerning the first and second degree, simple and mixed, of affinity arising from illicit copula, in a line either collateral or even direct, provided that, if there is question of the direct line, no doubt underlies that the spouse can be the offspring begotten by the other of the contracting parties, both in marriages contracted knowingly or ignorantly, and in marriages to be contracted."

3. "Of dispensing with subjects, excepted Italians concerning whom it is not established that they have wholly deserted an Italian domicile, and excepted moreover the case of marriage with a Jewish man or woman, concerning the impediment of disparity of worship, insofar as it can be done without insult to the Creator, and provided that there is complete caution concerning the conditions prescribed by the Church, and especially concerning removing from the Catholic spouse the danger of perversion, and concerning the conversion of the infidel spouse to be cared for according to strength, and concerning the whole offspring of either sex to be educated altogether in the holiness of the Catholic Religion; the instruction printed in type and annexed being observed in the rest."¹²

4. "Of dispensing with his subjects, excepted Italians concerning whom it is not established that they have wholly deserted an Italian domicile, concerning the impeding impediment of mixed Religion, provided that there is complete caution concerning the conditions prescribed by the Church as in the preceding No. 3."¹³

5. "Of dispensing in mixed marriages already contracted, not likewise in those to be contracted, concerning degrees of consanguinity and affinity concerning which he has already obtained Apostolic faculty for Catholics, insofar as the Catholic party, previous absolution from the guilt of incest and censures having been given, can contract marriage anew duly and legitimately with the non-Catholic party, and the offspring received and to be received be declared legitimate, provided that there is complete caution concerning the conditions prescribed by the Church as in the preceding No. 3."

6. "Of sanating in the root marriages contracted, when it is found that there was present a diriment impediment concerning which he himself can dispense from the indult of the Apostolic See, and there would be great inconvenience in requiring renewal of consent from the innocent party; the party conscious of the impediment having nevertheless been admonished concerning the effect of this sanation."

7. "Of absolving the contracting parties in all and each of the cases set forth above, provided there is need, from the guilt of incest and from censures, a suitable salutary penance having been imposed according to the measure of the faults, and of declaring the offspring received and to be received legitimate."

8. "Of subdelegating the present faculties to his Vicars General whenever he must be absent from his own residence beyond a day, and to two or three presbyters agreeable to him in the more remote places of his own diocese, for some number however of the more urgent cases in which recourse to himself cannot be had." (44) T. II, p. 427.

"But His Holiness willed and altogether commanded that the aforesaid Bishop use the above faculties only when just and grave causes accede, and gratis, some suitable alms nevertheless having been enjoined, to be disbursed for a pious work at the judgment of the Bishop himself; and that, the ten-year period having elapsed" (today five-year period), "he ought to make the Apostolic See more certain concerning each dispensation granted."

"Of dispensing in either forum with Catholics subject to his jurisdiction, in marriages whether contracted or to be contracted, concerning the following impediments":

1. "Concerning the impediment of the first degree of affinity in the collateral line arising from licit copula, for" (e.g., ten) "cases."¹⁴

2. "Concerning the impediment of the second degree of consanguinity or affinity mixed with the first in the transverse line, for" (e.g., sixty) "cases."

3. "Concerning the impediment of the second degree of consanguinity or affinity in an equal transverse line, for" (e.g., one hundred) "cases."

4. "Concerning the public impediment of the first degree of affinity, arising from illicit copula, in a line either collateral or even direct, for" (e.g., thirty) "cases, provided that if there is question of the direct line, there is no underlying doubt that the spouse is the offspring begotten by the other of the contracting parties."

"Moreover His Holiness granted to the aforesaid Bishop, in all and each of the cases set forth above, the faculty of absolving the contracting parties, provided there is need, from the guilt of incest and censures, a suitable salutary penance having been imposed according to the measure of the faults, and of declaring legitimate offspring both received and to be received."

"But the same His Holiness willed and altogether commanded that the aforesaid Bishop use these same faculties only when most urgent causes concur, and gratis, some alms nevertheless having been enjoined to be disbursed for a pious work at the judgment of the Bishop himself."

"Finally the Most Holy Father gave the same Bishop the power of subdelegating the aforesaid faculties to his Vicars General, whenever he must be absent from his own residence beyond a day, and to two or three presbyters agreeable to him in the more remote places of his own diocese, for some number however of the more urgent cases in which recourse to himself cannot be had." (44) T. II, p. 427.

A. Ordinary Faculties, called Formula I, which are distinguished from the others because, 1° all, and consequently also those matrimonial dispensations which are granted by force of them, are to be exercised gratis;¹⁵ 2° Bishops can communicate them indiscriminately to all "suitable priests who will labor in their dioceses," excepted however those "which require the Episcopal Order, or are exercised not without the use of Sacred Oils," and the faculty of celebrating twice in the day, which they can subdelegate "to a few only ... and those who are absolutely necessary."

B. Extraordinary Faculties, called C. Bishops also can communicate these indiscriminately to all priests laboring in their diocese, excepted the following: 1° "Of consecrating chalices, patens, and altar stones ... with Sacred Oils blessed by a Catholic Bishop," which they can delegate only for an act, or to one or another priest in places subject to them. 2° Of imparting the Papal Blessing four times in the year on the more solemn feasts. 3° "Of declaring one altar in any church of his diocese to be privileged, provided another privileged altar is not present." 4° Of blessing bells, unless when "they themselves without grave inconvenience" cannot perform that act, and then "the rite of the Roman Pontifical having been observed, and Oils and water blessed by a Bishop having been used, and also without water blessed by a Bishop, if a grave cause concurs."

C. Extraordinary Faculties, called D. These, 1° all pertain to matrimonial dispensations. 2° They can be subdelegated "only to Vicars General," provided the Bishops "must be absent from their own residence beyond a day, and to two or three presbyters agreeable to them in the more remote places of their own diocese, for some number however of the more urgent cases in which recourse to them cannot be had." 3° They are to be exercised only when just and grave causes accede, and although gratis, 4° "some suitable alms nevertheless having been enjoined, to be disbursed for a pious work at the judgment of the Bishop himself." 5° "After the ten-year period has elapsed" (today five-year period), Bishops must "make the Apostolic See more certain concerning each dispensation."

D. Extraordinary Faculties, called E. These also, 1° all pertain to matrimonial dispensations. 2° They can be subdelegated only to those to whom Extraordinary Faculties D can be subdelegated. 3° Most urgent causes are required. 4° They are granted to Bishops only for a certain number of cases. 5° Those things are to be observed which above, 4° and 5°, are prescribed to be observed as to Extraordinary Faculties D.

561. The special faculties granted to confessors during a jubilee are:

1. The faculty of absolving from almost all reserved sins and censures, provided, however, that a salutary penance and other things to be enjoined by law are imposed. By law, however, there are to be enjoined, for example, the obligation of restitution if the right of one's neighbor has been injured, the abjuration of heresy, the reparation of scandal, and so forth. Nevertheless, certain cases are customarily excluded from the faculty of absolving, for example, the absolution of one's own accomplice; the absolution of that priest who, by the absolution of his own accomplice, incurred an excommunication reserved in a most special manner to the Supreme Pontiff, at least if this crime was committed three or more times; the absolution of those who have been excommunicated by name by the Supreme Pontiff, and so forth. The Bull of each jubilee must be consulted.

2. The faculty of absolving even regulars and nuns from reserved cases.

3. The faculty of commuting vows, even sworn vows, not excepting a vow not to seek commutation. The following, however, are customarily excepted: a) vows made in favor of a third party and accepted by him (unless, however, he has renounced his right); b) penal vows emitted to remove the danger of sin, unless, however, the commutation is made into a work which removes the danger of sin equally efficaciously. Commutation is not the same as dispensation, and consequently the confessor must impose another work in place of the object of the vow, which can indeed be lighter, but not notably lighter.

4. The faculty of dispensing from irregularities arising from a wholly occult delict.

5. The faculty of dispensing from certain impediments of marriage for the internal forum, for example, from the impediment of crime (provided, however, that neither party plotted against the spouse's life).

6. The faculty of commuting the works prescribed for gaining the jubilee indulgence into another work of nearly the same value. In general, Communion, confession, and prayers according to the intention of the Supreme Pontiff cannot be commuted; but attention must be given to the clauses of the Bull granting the jubilee. For what older authors taught concerning the faculties granted has not infrequently been greatly changed in recent jubilees. If it is granted in that Bull that the faithful may gain the jubilee several times, the faculty of commuting the enjoined works several times is also granted.

7. A confessor cannot use these faculties except with those who have a sincere will to fulfill all things necessary for gaining the jubilee. Nevertheless, if a penitent who first had this sincere will afterward neglected the prescribed works, he can enjoy the dispensation obtained; he sins venially, however.⁹⁹ Through a sacrilegious confession reservations and censures are not removed, because then the penitent evidently does not have a sincere will to gain the jubilee.¹⁰⁰

⁹⁹ Cf. St. Alphonsus, Theol. mor., l. 6, n. 537.

¹⁰⁰ Benedict XIV, Inter praeteritos, § 24.

The faculties which are accustomed to be conceded by the Sacred Congregation of the PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH to Bishops for five years are contained in TEN FORMULAS of greater or lesser amplitude.

The Congregation of the HOLY OFFICE prepared these, and transmitted them to the Sacred Congregation of the PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH, through which they are communicated to Bishops; but in such a way that those dwelling in more remote regions obtain more ample faculties, namely those which, according to the order of the List, are found enumerated in the 1st and 2nd place.

Behold the Formula (n. X) which is accustomed to be communicated to the Bishops of FRANCE.⁶

1. Of absolving from Heresy, and Apostasy from the Faith, and from Schism any persons whatever, even Ecclesiastics, both seculars and Regulars, but not those who have been from places where the Holy Office is exercised, unless they offended in places of Missions in which Heresies rage with impunity, nor those who have judicially abjured; unless these were born where Heresies rage with impunity, and after judicial abjuration, having returned thither, have relapsed into Heresy, and this in the forum of conscience only.

2. Of keeping and reading, but not however of conceding to others, except, yet for a time, to those priests whom he knows to be especially suitable and honorable, prohibited books, the works of Dupuy, Volney, M. Reghellini, Pigault, le Brun, De Potter, Bontham, J. A. Dulaure, Fetes et Courtisanes de la Grece, Novelle di Casti, and other works treating professedly of obscene matters and against Religion being excepted.

3. Of dispensing in the 3rd and 4th simple and mixed degree only with the poor in marriages to be contracted; but in contracted marriages with converted Heretics, also in the 2nd simple and mixed degree, provided that it in no way touches the first degree, and in these cases of declaring the offspring received legitimate.

4. Of dispensing over the impediment of public honesty arising from valid betrothals.

5. Of dispensing over the impediment of crime, neither of the Spouses however plotting, and of restoring the lost Right of asking for the debt.

6. Of dispensing in impediments of spiritual kinship, except between the one lifting and the one lifted.

7. But these Matrimonial dispensations, namely the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th, are not to be conceded except with the clause, provided that the woman has not been abducted, and if she has been abducted, she is not in the power of the abductor, and in dispensations of this kind it is to be declared expressly that they are conceded as by a Delegate of the Apostolic See, to which effect also the tenor of faculties of this kind is to be inserted with expression of the time for which they were conceded.

8. Of dispensing in irregularities arising from occult delict only, with that one excepted which is contracted from voluntary homicide.

9. Of dispensing and commuting simple vows into other pious works, vows of Chastity and Religion being excepted.

10. Of absolving from all censures, even those reserved in a special manner to the Roman Pontiff in the Bull Apostolicae Sedis moderationi of 12 October 1869, with the absolution of an accomplice in a base sin excepted; - in places however where heresies rage with impunity.

11. Of delegating to simple Priests the power of blessing Vestments and other utensils necessary for the Sacrifice of the Mass, where sacred Unction does not intervene, and of reconciling polluted Churches with water blessed by the Bishop, and in a case of necessity even with water not blessed by the Bishop.

12. Of communicating these faculties in whole or in part, as he shall judge necessary according to his conscience, to suitable Priests laboring in the conversion of Souls, only in places where the exercise of the Catholic religion is prohibited.

13. And the aforesaid faculties are to be exercised gratis and without any payment, and are to be understood as conceded for five years only.

14. Of using the same faculties only in the places of the Diocese N.

Note. A question having been proposed, what the mutual relation is between the printed faculties customarily conceded to Bishops both by the Sacred Penitentiary and by the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith, the response was: "I have this to signify to You, namely that since faculties are given by Our Most Holy Lord either through the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith, or through the Sacred Penitentiary, and since He himself, with attention to the adjuncts of places, persons, and times, concedes them broader or narrower, neither of the Congregations is to be said to restrict faculties given by the other, unless this is expressly provided in the rescript." Moy, Archiv., vol. V, p. 471.

FR. ANTONIUS MARIA, Cardinal Priest of the Title of the Holy XII Apostles, PANEBIANCO, of the Order of Minors of St. Francis Conventual, Major Penitentiary of Our Most Holy Lord the Pope and of the Holy Apostolic See.

To you, Most Reverend Father in Christ... we communicate the below-written faculties, to last for three years, by which, notwithstanding the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis, for the forum of conscience through You, or through Your Vicar General in Spiritualibus, provided that he has been constituted in the Sacred Order of the Presbyterate, even outside sacramental confession for the flock committed to You, and only within the limits of Your Diocese, and by the special Authority of the Apostolic See delegated to You, to be expressed in each case, you may be able to use them, and may be able to impart them to the Canon Penitentiary and also to Forane Vicars for the forum likewise of conscience and only in the act of sacramental confession, even habitually, if it shall have pleased You, but to other Confessors when they have had recourse to You, or to the aforesaid Vicar General, in particular cases of Penitents, for the case set forth, unless because of peculiar causes you shall judge that they are to be communicated to some Confessors to be specially subdelegated by You, for a time to be established at your discretion.

I. Of absolving from excommunication on account of violent hands laid upon Clerics, or Priests, or upon Regulars, provided that death, or mutilation, or a lethal wound, or fracture of bones has not followed; and provided that the cases have not been brought to the external forum, with the things to be enjoined being enjoined, and especially that competent satisfaction be made to the injured party.

II. Of absolving from censures inflicted against duelists only in cases not brought to the forum of the Ordinary; with a grave salutary penance enjoined, and with other things enjoined which by law will have to be enjoined.

III. Of absolving any penitents whatever, whether men or women (public heretics, or those publicly dogmatizing, excepted), from any sentences, censures, and ecclesiastical penalties incurred on account of heresies externalized either with no one hearing or noticing, or before others, on account of infidelity and abjuration of the Catholic Faith privately admitted, sorceries and heretical malefices perpetrated even with associates, and also on account of invocation of the Demon with a pact of giving the soul, and idolatry furnished to him and heretical superstitions exercised, and finally on account of any false Dogmas whatever insinuated; after, however, the penitent has denounced the accomplices, if he has any; and insofar as, on account of just causes, he cannot denounce before absolution, a serious promise having been made by the penitent of carrying out the denunciation as soon as possible and in the better manner in which it can be done; and after in each case he has secretly abjured the heresies before the absolver, and has expressly revoked the pact entered with the cursed Demon; the bond perhaps written out having been handed over to the same absolver, and other superstitious means, all to be burned or destroyed, with a grave salutary penance enjoined according to the measure of the excesses, with frequency of the Sacraments, and the obligation of retracting himself before the persons before whom he manifested the heresies, and of repairing the scandals inflicted.

IV. Of absolving from censures incurred on account of violation of the enclosure of Regulars of each sex, provided that it was not with intention toward an evil end, even though the effect did not follow, and provided that the cases have not been brought to the Forum of the Ordinary, with a congruous salutary penance. And besides, of absolving women only from censures and ecclesiastical penalties incurred on account of violation, for an evil end, of the enclosure of Religious men, provided however that the cases remain occult; with a grave salutary penance enjoined, with prohibition of approaching the Church and Convent, or Coenobium, of the said Religious, while the occasion of sinning endures.

V. Of absolving from censures incurred on account of retention and reading of prohibited books, with a congruous salutary penance enjoined, and also the firm obligation of handing over, as by law, either by himself or through another without any delay, and insofar as it can be done, before absolution, the prohibited books, if the penitent retains any in his power.

VI. Of absolving from a case reserved to the Apostolic See on account of gifts received from Regulars of each sex: with a salutary penance enjoined, and when there is question of gifts which do not exceed the value of ten scudi, with some alms imposed, to be taxed by the judgment of the absolver, and cautiously distributed as soon as he can, for the benefit of the Religion to which restitution would have to be made: provided however that it is not established that those gifts were from the proper goods of the Religion; but insofar as the gifts received either were beyond the value of ten scudi, or are established to have been from the proper goods of the Religion, restitution having first been made, or, if he cannot fulfill it at present, a serious promise having been issued of making restitution within a term to be predefined by the judgment of the absolver, otherwise under reincidence.

VII. Of absolving from censures and ecclesiastical penalties those who have given their name to forbidden Masonic or Carbonarian sects, and other similar ones, or have furnished favor, yet in such a way that they separate themselves altogether from the respective sect and abjure it; books, manuscripts, and signs regarding the sect, if they retain any, they are to hand over into the hands of the absolver, to be cautiously transmitted as soon as possible to the Ordinary, or at least, if just and grave causes demand this, to be burned, with grave salutary penance enjoined according to the measure of faults, with frequency of sacramental Confession; and also of absolving those who culpably neglected to denounce the occult leaders and masters of such sects, with salutary penance likewise enjoined, and the firm obligation under reincidence of denouncing the same to You, or to others to whom it belongs, as by law.

VIII. Of absolving Religious of any Order whatever (even Nuns, however through Confessors approved by You or to be specially deputed for them) not only from the preceding things, but also from cases and censures reserved in their Religion, provided that the Religious have had legitimate license of making Confession outside their own Order.

IX. Of dispensing for asking the conjugal debt with a transgressor of the vow of chastity, who has contracted Matrimony with the said vow, by warning a penitent of this kind that he is held to observe the same vow, both outside the licit use of Matrimony, and if he shall survive his husband or wife respectively.

X. Of dispensing with an incestuous man, or incestuous woman, for asking the conjugal debt, the right of which he or she has lost from supervening occult affinity through carnal copula had with a female blood-relative, or male blood-relative, whether in the first, or in the first and second, or in the second degree, of his wife, or respectively of her husband, with the occasion of sinning removed; and with a grave salutary penance enjoined, and sacramental Confession once each month for a time to be established at the discretion of the one dispensing.

XI. Of dispensing over the occult impediment of the first, and also of the first and second, and of the second degree only of affinity arising from illicit carnal copula, when there is question of a matrimony already contracted with the said impediment, and insofar as there is question of copula with the mother of his putative wife, provided that it followed after the birth of the same putative wife; and not otherwise: the penitent having been warned concerning the necessary secret renewal of consent with his putative wife, or her putative husband, once he or she has been made certain concerning the nullity of the prior consent, but so cautiously that the offense of the penitent himself is nowhere detected: and insofar as this making certain cannot be done without grave danger, consent having been renewed according to the rules handed down by approved authors, with the occasion of sinning removed; and with salutary penance enjoined, and sacramental Confession once in the month for a time to be established at the discretion of the one dispensing.

Likewise. Of dispensing over the said occult impediment of affinity from illicit copula also in Matrimonies to be contracted, when however all things have been prepared for the nuptials, and the Matrimony cannot be deferred until a dispensation can be obtained from the Apostolic See without danger of grave scandal: with the occasion of sinning always removed, and the condition remaining firm that copula had with the mother of the woman does not precede the birth of this woman; with salutary penance enjoined in each case.

XII. Of dispensing over the occult impediment of crime, provided that it is without any plotting, and there is question of a Matrimony already contracted; the putative spouses having been warned concerning the necessary secret renewal of consent: and with grave salutary penance enjoined and sacramental Confession once each month for a time to be established at the discretion of the one dispensing.

XIII. Of dispensing over the impediment of the third, or of the third and fourth, or of the fourth simple degree, whether of the degree of consanguinity or affinity, over which or which a dispensation has been obtained from the Apostolic See, and in the letters of such dispensation incestuous copula, which nevertheless remains occult, was kept silent.

And also of dispensing or revalidating letters of this kind rendered void and null from incest, whether perpetrated and repeated after the dispensation had been requested, or after its dispatch and before the respective execution, up to the same execution, in cases always occult, whether there is question of Matrimony to be contracted, or already contracted, the putative spouses, in a contracted Matrimony, having been warned concerning the necessary secret renewal of mutual consent; with congruous salutary penance enjoined in individual cases. (But see n. 2051, Note, as regards marriages entered or to be entered after the Decree of 25 June 1885.)

Given at Rome from Our House on the day 20 May 1874.

A. Pellegrini, Regent of the S. P. - Hip. Cañcus Palombi, Subst. of the S. P.

Note. The Bishops of ITALY are furnished besides by the Sacred Penitentiary with opportune faculties to be renewed annually: for the absolution of haters of the Pontifical Dominion, namely of those who hold public offices in the usurped region; - likewise, as regards Patrons of Benefices, if these are vacant; - as regards purchasers of the goods of the Church, whether movable or immovable, and as regards the leasing of immovables; as regards ecclesiastical immunity; - as regards unhappy Confessors who have absolved an accomplice: - and this under certain clauses (cf. Del Vecchio, tom. I, Appendix XII).

FR. ANTONIUS MARIA, Cardinal Priest of the Title of the Holy XII Apostles, PANEBIANCO, of the Order of Minors of St. Francis Conventual, Major Penitentiary of Our Most Holy Lord the Pope and of the Holy Apostolic See.

To you, beloved Confessor in Christ, legitimately approved by the Ordinary of the place for receiving the sacramental confessions of each sex, we concede the below-written faculties, by which, notwithstanding the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis, you may be able to use Apostolic Authority for the forum of conscience and in sacramental Confession, and not otherwise, yet in such a way that you ought not to manifest them to anyone, unless necessity or utility shall have required it.

I. Of absolving from Excommunication on account of violent hands laid upon Clerics, or Priests, whether Seculars or Regulars, in cases however not brought, nor easily to be brought, to the forum of the Ordinary; provided that death, or mutilation, or lethal wound, or fracture of bones has not followed, and with congruous salutary penance enjoined with the obligation of cautiously and competently satisfying the injured party.

II. Of absolving from Censures inflicted against duelists, provided that the cases have not been brought to the forum of the Ordinary; with grave salutary penance enjoined, and the other things enjoined which by law will have to be enjoined.

III. Of absolving any Penitents whatever, whether men or women (public heretics or those publicly dogmatizing excepted²) from any Sentences, Censures, and Ecclesiastical Penalties incurred on account of heresies externalized either with no one hearing or noticing, or before others, on account of infidelity, and abjuration of the Catholic Faith privately admitted, sorceries, and heretical malefices perpetrated even with associates, and also on account of invocation of the Demon with a pact of giving the soul, and idolatry furnished to him, and heretical superstitions exercised, and finally on account of any false dogmas whatever insinuated; after however the Penitent has denounced the accomplices, if he has any in the aforesaid things, to the Ordinary of the place, or to the Minister of the Sacred Inquisition in places in which the authority of the Sacred Inquisition flourishes, as by law; and insofar as there is question of places in which the authority of the Sacred Inquisition does not flourish, or on account of just causes he cannot denounce before absolution, a serious promise having been made by the Penitent of carrying out the denunciation as soon as possible, and in the better manner in which, by your judgment, it can be done, before the Ordinary of the place; and after in each case he has secretly abjured the heresies before You, and expressly revoked the pact entered with the cursed Demon; the bond perhaps written out having been handed over to You, and other superstitious means, all to be burned; with grave salutary penance enjoined according to the measure of excesses, with frequency of the Sacraments, and the obligation of retracting himself, by your prudent judgment, before the persons before whom he manifested the heresies, and of repairing the scandals inflicted.

IV. Of absolving from Censures incurred on account of violation of the enclosure of Regulars of each sex, provided that it was not with intention toward an evil end, even though the effect did not follow, and provided that the cases have not been brought to the forum of the Ordinary, with congruous salutary penance. And besides, of absolving Women only from Censures and Ecclesiastical Penalties incurred on account of violation, for an evil end, of the enclosure of Religious Men, provided however that the cases remain occult; with grave salutary penance enjoined, with prohibition of approaching the Church, and Convent, or Coenobium, of the said Religious, while the occasion of sinning endures.

V. Of absolving from Censures incurred on account of retention and reading of prohibited books, with congruous salutary penance enjoined, and also the firm obligation of handing over to the Ordinary of the place, or to whom by law, either by himself or through another without any delay, and, insofar as it can be done, before absolution, the prohibited books, if the penitent retains any in his power.

VI. Of absolving from a case reserved to the Apostolic See on account of gifts received from Regulars of each sex: with salutary penance enjoined, and when there is question of gifts which do not exceed the value of ten scudi, with some alms imposed to be taxed by your judgment, and cautiously distributed, as soon as he can, for the benefit of the Religion to which restitution would have to be made; provided however that it is not established that those gifts were from the proper goods of the Religion; but insofar as the gifts received either were beyond the value of ten scudi, or are established to have been from the proper goods of the Religion, restitution having first been made, or, if he cannot fulfill it at present, a serious promise having been issued of making restitution within a term to be predefined at your discretion, otherwise under reincidence.

VII. Of absolving from Censures and Ecclesiastical Penalties those who have given their name to forbidden Masonic or Carbonarian Sects, and other similar ones, or have furnished favor, yet in such a way that they separate themselves altogether from the respective Sect and abjure it, books, manuscripts, and signs regarding the Sect, if they retain any, they are to hand over into your hands, to be cautiously transmitted as soon as possible to the Ordinary, or at least, if just and grave causes demand this, to be burned; with grave salutary penance enjoined according to the measure of faults, with frequency of sacramental Confession, and other things enjoined to be enjoined by law: and also of absolving those who culpably neglected to denounce the occult leaders and masters of such Sects, with salutary penance likewise enjoined, and the firm obligation under reincidence of denouncing the same to the Ordinary of the Place, or to others to whom it belongs, as by law.

VIII. Of absolving Religious of any Order whatever, provided that they have had legitimate license of making Confession outside their own Order, and also Nuns (provided however that you have been approved and deputed by the Ordinary for them) not only from the preceding things, but also from Cases and Censures reserved in their Religion.

IX. Of commuting, the causes having been considered, all simple Vows into other works of penance or piety: except the five Vows reserved to the Apostolic See, namely of Chastity, and Religion, and of the three Pilgrimages, namely to the sacred Thresholds of the Holy Apostles, to St. James in Compostella, and to Jerusalem, and also penal Vows for restraining oneself from sins; and besides the Vow of not playing games; and vows in which there is question of prejudice or of the right of a Third party.

X. Of dispensing for asking the conjugal debt with a transgressor of the Vow of Chastity, who has contracted matrimony with the said Vow, by warning a penitent of this kind that he is held to observe the same, both outside the licit use of matrimony, and if he shall survive his husband, or respectively wife.

XI. Of dispensing with an incestuous man, or incestuous woman, for asking the conjugal debt, the right of which he or she has lost from supervening occult affinity through carnal copula had with a female blood-relative, or male blood-relative, whether in the first, or in the first and second, or in the second degree of his wife, or respectively of her husband, with the occasion of sinning removed, and with grave salutary penance enjoined, and sacramental Confession once each month, for a time to be established at your discretion.

XII. Of dispensing over the occult impediment of the first, and also of the first and second, and of the second degree only of affinity arising from illicit copula, when there is question of matrimony already contracted with the said impediment: yet in such a way that if affinity of this kind arises from copula with the mother of the betrothed woman, the birth of the betrothed woman precedes the copula itself: