The San Francisco call., 1896-02-26


In the case OF conflict between the ecclesl-
asticai and civil powers the ecclesiastical pow
ers ought TO prevail"
This proposition is universal It means that
in every case of conflict between the ecciesias-
teal and civil powers the former should pre-
vail: III does not matter whether the ecclesias-
tlcal power Is Pope or be6dle, whenever and
wherever 1t comes in conflict with the civil
powers the civil power must give way.
II was to produce this idea that Ross read
the proposition at the Metropolitan Temple.
lt was to produce this idea that the A. p. A.
distributed the proposition in order TO gain
adherents The church must be defamed at
All costs, ana The best way to defame her is TO
pretend that she is seeking a supremacy over
the state.
Now in the vain attempt to substantiate his
assertion that the Catholic church is seeking
snch supremacy Ross produces mass OF
quotations.
He gives no references; produces no books.
Inc quotations are boldly torn from their con-
text-Wendteized in that skllful fashion pecu-
liar to preachers. They mean nothing more
than what all Americans intend-namely,
Caesars, and that we give to God things that
are Gods.
The Catholic teaching is nothing more nor
less than that which every American citizen
believes and every American court practices.
ON MARRIAGE.
Ross reproduces the outrageous and vile
SANDERS OF the A. P. A. about the Catholic
came back TO that subject in his second lee
ture. Permit me to explain at some length
what we believe about marriage.
MARRIAGE A CONTRACT.
The KEY to the understanding of the Catholic
teaching about marriage is to be found in the
idea that marriage is q contract A contract
is defined by Webster as ''The agreement of
two more persons upon sufficient oonsid-
Grafton or cause to do or abstain from doing
some act" The Catholic dictionary says
Marriage is a natural contract between man
and woman" To us, therefore, marriage is an
agreement between man and woman by which
they covenant to live together as husband aud
wife. II we keep this definition clearly before
us ii will not be hard for us to understand the
regulations of the church.
THE MINISTER OF MARRIAGE.
In the first place, then, as marriage is a con-
tract, it follows that the contracting parties
alone are competent TO make the contract.
Marriage does not consist in appearing before
any official OF church or state. 1t consists
solely of the agreement to live together as man
and wife. Looking at the subject from mere
natural standpoint, there is no reason why
this agree ment should be made in the presence
OF witnesses or after any specified mode or in
any particular place. Natural marriage is
natural contract, and simple consent is suffi-
cient to form it. AS soon as that consent is
given the contract subsists, just as the contract
of buying and selling goes into effect as soon
as the seller accepts the terms offered by him
who buys.
IMPEDIMENTs.
Now it is well understood that all persons
are not capable OF entering into contracts.
The tenant 10 whom you lease your house has
no right TO sell it, because the house does not
belong to him. If you have agreed to deliver
a certain parcel OF goods for certain price to
one person you cannot sell the same goods to
another person. Contracts made by persons
not in their right mind or in durance have no
value. The laws and customs of people hedge
ontracts round with many conditions, all OF
which must be fulfilled before the contract can
be valid. In. the same way even in natural So
ciety the contract OF marriage is surrounded
by conditions which must be fulfilled under
penalty OF having the contract declared null
and VOID.
Conditions which must be fulfilled before
the marriage contract can exist NAV be called
the impediments or hindrances to marriage.
Some OF these conditions are necessary for all
contracts, some are peculiar TO the marriage
contract. Thus, for instance, insane persons,
children, those who are not free, who are held
by force, who are temporarily deprived OF
their reason by drugs or drink, are incapable
of making the contract OF marriage because
they are incapable of making any contract.
Thus two persons related 20 each other in the
first degree, though able to make other con-
tracts are not allowed to enter on the contract
OF marriage, because, and this is peculiar to
the marriage contract, such closeness OF rela-
tionship injuriously affects the children who
are the offs pring.
CLANDESTINITY.
Still looking at marriage as a mere natural
contract there is another condition or impedi-
ment which deserves notice here. As we have
said, marriage is q contract and in order to
enter upon it nothing more is required than
the consent OF the contracting parties. Mar
riage, however. is peculiar in this that the
SlGle or community mas an interest In II. FOR
instance, the transfer OF property depends q
good deal on the marriage contract and in
order to obtsln security in titles it becomes
necessary to take measures to control
the marriage contract. The case is precisely
that OF man who wishes to sell land. The
buying and selling can in the natural way be
consummated by the simple consent OF the
parties concerned. But the state for its own
protection orders that the transaction be
entered on the public records. In the same
way up 10 year ago in this State of California
witnesses or other formalltfes; but at the last
Legislature the State interfered and declared
contract made before witnesses under the pen
atty of nullity. This condition is called the
1mpediment OF Clandestinity.
In its highest ideal. and under the conditions
OF its primitive constitution, marriage is
contract which lasts until DEATH and it can
only be made by one man with one woman,
though by reason OF the hardness of mems
hearts both polygamy and divorce have been
allowed Now we come to another point of
yiew-merriage under the Christian dis
pensation. II is the teaching OF the
Catholic church that Christ elevated the
natural contract of marriage to the
dignity of a sacrament called matrimony.
Just as he raised the natural washing with
water TO baptism and the natural eating and
drinking to the eucharist, so he made the
union OF man and wife the sacramental en-
blem OF the union which exists between him
and his church. We must rememb ber however,
that this elevation exists only for Christians.
For those who are outside the pale of ChriSten-
domEnarrlage is still the mere natural contract;
butfor those who profess tofollow Chrsts teach
ing for the baptized marriage is ever and above
this a sacrament which is governed by peculiar
laws and regulated by the conditions imposed
by Christ himself. When Christ made mar
riage a sacrament he did not destroy its char
acter contract. Hence, according to Catho-
lie teaching, The priest is not the minister of
this sacrament. The contracting parties are
the ministers. For some time before the
Council of Trent the presence of any wit
ness 10 the contract was not neces-
sary for its validity before the church.
In other words, the law of the church
on the validity OF contract marriages" or
''clandestine marriages was precisely the
same as that of the State of California The
same reason, however, which led the last Leg
islature to abolish contract marriages" led
the Council of Trent to abolish "clandestine
marriages. 1t therefore decreed that in fu-
ture no one could make a valid contract of
marriage except in the presence of the parish
priest and at least two witnesses. in order,
however, to preserve all rights the council
added that this law should not be operative
until proclaimed in each parish. Hence it
came TO pass that the law bound
only In countries which were Catholic,
while in the new Protestant countries it has
never been proclaimed. Later on, when the
movements of population brought majority
of Catholics into a Protestant country or q
number of Protestants into Catholic coun-
try, grave difficulty arose. This was the
question of marriages between Protestants, or