The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-12-17
Interesting Eccesliastieal Trial in Mon
treal.

Interesting EccesliasticaI Trial in Mon
treal.
The case of the widow GuibOrd agains
the cure and church wardens of the ROmal
Catholic parish church of Montreal, bein!
a suit brought to compel the ecclesiastica
authorities TO give the remains of her huS
band burial in the Roman Catholic GENE
terry, has attracted great attention on boil
sides of the Atlantic. and has importanc,
as precedent defining the power of th'
civil authorities in Canada in their rcla
tiOns with the Church.
In November, 1869, a printer named
GuibOrd died in Montreal. and his widow
made application to the cure of the parish
of Notre Dame to have his remains inter
red in the Roman Catholic Cemetery of Ii
| Cote de Neiges. Guibord was Roman
Catholic, but he belonged to literary so.
ciety called the Canadian Institute, which
was under the ban of the Church because
its library and reading-rOom contained
/ books and newspapers condemned by the
/ clergy. Under these circumstances the
cure wrote for instructions to the Vicar
! General, who represented the Bishop in
the absence of the latter, and received a re-
| ply in which it was said that there was an
order from the Bishop to refuse absolutiOn
to those who belonged to the Canadian In
stitute unless they renounced their menl-
bership, and that after such instructions he
could not permit the ecclesiastical burial
of Guibord. Ft-e
The Cemesery OF la Cote de Neiges con-
sists of two parts, the one known as con-
secrated ground and the other as "the pot
ter's field" the latter being used as the
hnrioI YAlana for cnioi1ac Ofh
fessed sinners. The cure was willing to
accord the body of Guibord resting place
in the potter's-field, but not in consecrated
ground. The widow refused TO agree to
this, and finding a temporary place for her
husbands remains in a Protestant ceme-
terry, she brought suit, as already said, to
compel the church authorities TO bury the
body in consecrated ground. Her cause
was eSpOuSed by eminent counsel, Mr..
Joseph DOutre, conspicuous friend of
the Canadian Institute.
The proceedings adopted on behalf of
the widow consisted in an application for a
writ of mandamus ordering the burial of
Guibord's remains. Seventeen days were
occupied in arguments, which were heard
by Mr.. Justice Mondelet, since Judge of
the Supreme Court for Lower Canada. 1t
was contended on the part of the Church
authorities that by the terms of the CeSsiOn
of Canada to Great Britain it was stipu-
lated that the worship of the Catholic re-
ligion, according to the rites of Rome,
should always remain free without inter-
ference from any source, and without con-
troll from either civil or military authOri-
ties. On the other hand, it was cOntended
that the right to an ecclesiastical burial
was a civil right which the church author
tiles could not deny.
Judge MOndelet, after hearing the ar
guments, delivered an elaborate opinion
sustaining the views advanced by the
counsel for the applicant, and quoted
various cases bearing on the powers of the
clergy as precedents in support of his
opinion. He likewise quoted an opinion
of Sir George Cartier to show that the
cure of the parish of Notre Dame could be
constrained by judgment of the courts to
solemnize baptisms, marriages, and buri-
ais in which his parishiOners were con-
cerned, and to make the necessary entries !
in the parish register. The dCdge also |
decided that the Instructions of his eccle- |
siastical superiors afforded the cure no
valid defense for his refusal to give the re-
mains of Guibord an ecclesiastical burial |
and, finally, he ordered peremptory writ
of mandanus to issue, commanding the
cure and church wardens TO bury the de-
ceased within six days, and to report the
execution of the writ. .
From this decision the church appealed, |
and the case was taken to the Court of |
Review, consisting of Judges BerthelOt, |
Mckay and Torrance, who reversed the |
decision of Judge MoAdelet and dismissed |
the application upon the technical ground 1
that the action should have been brought |
against the cure personally, and because /
the writ was informal. An appeal to the |
Court of Queens Bench was then taken (
by the widow; and the next step in this /
important case was one of curious inter- |
est. At the opening of the December /
term (lS70) of the court to which the case
had been appealed, Counsellor DOutre
the four Roman Catholic
Judges as being disqualified on the ground |
that they belonged TO the Church of Rome,
which had, by the syllabus of 1864, pro-
various dOgmas, among which
were the following That the ecclesias-
teal authority was exercised independ
entity of any permission or consent of the
civil government; that the State, even |
when it is governed by a Protestant SOW
9reign, possesses no authority, even
Indirectly, over matters of religion
that in matters of conflict between
the State and the ecclesiastical authority
the latter prevails in preference to the |
State; and that the immunity of the
Roman Church and of ecclesiastical !
persons has no origin in the civil law.
When the last day of the term arrived
the five Judges-four Roman Catholics
md one Protestant-concurred in judg |
ment declaring the petitions inadmissible |
nasmuch as the charges contained in
them amounted to accusations against the
Judges of treason and perjury, whereupon
Mr.. DOutre moved for an appeal to her
Privy Council.
The whole matter was finally carried to |
that tribunal, and the result has already |
been given in our columns. GuibOrd was |
declared entitled to ecclesiastical rights, |
and burial was ordered in cOnsecrated |
This decision created much ex-
when it reached Montreal. Fa-
Their Rousselot, the cure of the Parish of
Notre Dame, is reported to have declared |
in church that the remains of Guibord |
would probably be buried in uneonsecra- |
ted ground in the principal cemetery, and
that he would go to prison rather than
bury them in cOnsecrated ground. What |
the result will be remains to be seen; but
the decision can hardly fail to intensity |
the unhappy feeling of animOsity already |
existing between Roman Catholics and
in the Dominion. ft
- Dau,orE ahIo Watch