Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-02-28
PKIErTs AND MATRIMONY.
French Courts Finally DE- eide to Legitimaie
the CIsrIC'E Children.
New York Herald Paris Letter,

Frsuoh Courts Finally d, eide to Legitimate
the CIsric'E Children.
New York Herald Paris Letter.
The question OF the validity of priestly
marriage is exciting some notice in eccle-
sissticsl circles. In England, if priest
usrrIes the law of the land recognizes
the contract. In America the case is the
same. The priest is merged in the citi-
zen.
In France, up to the present moment,
priests marriage has been treated null
and void. This is why the Sterlin case,
before the Court of Cessation, has
caused q great sensation. There are
no. mI1ys priestss in France
who have run the gauntlet of the mar
rage ceremony. The chief of them all
is Pere Hyacinthe LOVs1n. who was
Obliged to go to a registry office in Lon
don to legaIze his wedding with an
American lady, the present Nine. Loyson
According to French law that marriage
was invalid, the result Of course being
that, strictly speaking, M. Loysor's son
is not legitimate. All this appears pkin-
fully anti-modern.
The Amiens court recently decided to
cut adrift by making the Inheritance of
the Able Sterlin go t. his children. The
Court of Cessation has now confirmed
tais decision, and it may therefore be
said that from to-day every French priest
who gets married is as much Benedict
IS anybody else.
The Herald has interviewed two we'll
known Catholic priests of Paris on the
vexed question. The subject is Of such
nature that the revelation of their names
to their ecclesiastical superiors might
compromise them. But they are both
\ .tsched to populous parishes, with
Young priests under them, and they both
hold opinions diametricalIy opposed.
81 maintain" said the strong advocate
of celibacy to the bitter end, "that no
man Is fit to be priest VINO is not pre-
pared to eliminate from his life the cpl
sode Of courtship, marriage and family
responsibilities. Remember that the
celibacy Of the priesthood is notan article
of faith. Every Catholic can take what
view he likes of the subject. Still, don't
you think it very remarkable that Christ
never married.
statistics show that q married clergy
is neither better nor worse than an IN
married priesthood. don's Wsnt to be
unfair, mind, but 1 fancy the disadvsn-
tsge is on the married clergy's side"
In ans yer to q question about the So
cisl side OF the subject the priest replied
with q strange twinkle in his eye: "NoW,
my dear, good sir, have you really any
idea of prlestly duty in the right down
Poplsh sense? Suppose thst an heiress
is In the habit of coming to confession to
me. try to influence her for good. But,
human nature IS human nature, and what
begins in the spirit may end in the flesh.
have this girls confidence, and If were
marrying man you bet could win her
sgGinst all suitors.
"Instead of that she knows that l sm
only 8 confessor, an give her the sd
vice which my training as 8 good priest
(4s hope am has prepared me for.
Our preparation is a very drastic affair.
When we pass through our studies our
coniessors sre slwHys botheriug US to
know whether We clearly zee the position.
1. took me more than ten years TO train
my poor old hesrt for pastoral work. But
once done, it wss done forever"
The other priest said: 81 shall never
marry and don't want 10 marry. But
believe that the Catholic church only
made the rule-Well, for her own
good purposes. Ia the early
church ST.. Psphuutius, who lost his
eye for the faith and whose empty orbit
wSs kissed by Constantine, opposed the
enforced celibGcy Of the clergy. Person
SLY am q celibate In mind and fact.
cannot even bring myself to realize mar
RED life. At night have always to run
out to cases Of typhus, erysipelas and
smallpox. And then there is the sWtuI
secret of confession, which wife might
- In urnrh
married priest is to me something just
little grotesque."
"What, then, are your objections tc
cenbscy?"
"Well, would allow priests to add
este their functions and marry by dis
pensation. The church gives dispense
ton to marry deceased wife's sister
first cousin, q niece, ana VIII
greater difficulty, step-daughter
She was made for human nature, ant
human ma ure WAS not made for her.
fear all this will read like dreA fiul heresy
But the fact is we ell know priests WHIT
have gone astrsy, have been suspended
and alas! who ought never to have beef
priests.
Isl wonld allow them TO m8rry and holC
their peace ever aiterw&rd. With all this
loathe the notion of q married priest
ho5d The arguments Of the men of tht
world on this subject are not worth row
of pins.
"When l went to college first my con-
fessor told me that l must make up m
mind to be q right down good priest.
was q solidly virtuous youth and VS.
fond Of the games and my books
AS 1 got older he limited sbou
the celibacy question. And 81
went on, and here am. And yet will
all that 1 am very merciful to the fsllel
erlest whose heart becomes entanglet
With that OF woman. The only thing
cutup rough about is when priest mis-