The record-union., 1894-03-28
The Council OF Trent.

EDS. RECORD UNION: The shortest and
best reply to the dogmatic reference in
Mr.. Slattery's letter, which appears in
this mornings issue of the RECORD
UNION, is the Council of Trent session
VII, De Sacramentis. Can. III requires
that Catholics hold that the minister of
the sacraments must have ''the intention
Of doing that at least which the church
does.'
On this plain simple statement the two
following commentaries may be cited:
"The minister of the sacraments Is the
person authorized by Jesus Christ to ac-
The minister must nave
the intention of doing what the church
does; that is, of performing the rite useu
by the church. So far as the validity OF
the sacrament is concerned, this Is the
only condition required on the part oi the
minister. Holiness, uprlshthess ana
even faith itself are not necessary Tor the
valid administration OF the sacfamehtS.
So writes the distinguished tather
Schouppe, whose work IS translated and
published in London with the imprima-
tur of the late Cardinal Manning.
The second commentary is from the
pen of q countryman of Mr. Slattery tin
the we'll known work PAX Nobis"), and
appears under The high sanction of the
~
DIR. Walsh: ''The sacraments, as we have
observed, produce OF their own intrinsic
virtue the divine effects impaired to them
by our divine Lord in their institution.
"It is not, however, to be inferred that
they therefore act Independently OF the
will of him who administers. On The
contrary, in the functions OF his Office as
minister of Christ and dispenser OF the
mysteries of God, he is u moral agent and
1nf a
moral act, engaging his sattentlon and tree
will in what he does, in the same way as
he acts in the ordinary deliberate per
formances OF common life. he, more
over, bears in mind that his ministry is
the ministry of the church, and he Accord
ingly guides his MIND in conformity with
her intention in administering the sacra-
ments committed to her by her Divine
Founder; and, although in the case of
baptism, the person administering it be
pagan. and therefore does not be-
lieve in its virtue or effect, still II he
purpose and intend to administer 1t ac-
cording to the intention of the church
employing the prescribed matter (water)
and form the words. / baptiZe you in
the name of the Father etc. the bap-
tism is valid, so much so that il should
not be repeated"
1t plain the conclusion drawn by Mr..
Slattery is not justified either by the
words of the Council of Trent nor by
commentators thereon. He from previous
studies ought to know that The theologi-
cal explanation OF the matter is well put
by the great moral theologian, TourneIey:
The minister need not intend 10 produce
the effect of the sacrament, or to perform
the will OF the church as "a sacrament, or
TO do what the Catholic and Roman
church does; it is enough that he should
intend in some general way to do what
the church does, whatever his notion
about the church, the sacrament, its effect
ana object may be-"
Since intention is an act of the will by
which man chooses a particular thing,
surely the rational minister ought 10 de
eide whether he is asking i'll jest, in
mockery, for instructors sake, or as al
lninistrator of sacred and solemn rite.
CATHOLIC VHEoLoGIAN.