The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-06-25

DER anything more than passing mention
supernuouS. They, mostly date from
the Council of Trent, and relate to a
condition of affairs which does not exist
| in these modern times Thus. annuIment
or marriage was authorized by the coun-
Gil In cases where a person married a
slave, believing him or her to be free
Then, too, annulment of marriage was
sanctioned by this same council in in
stances where person intended to mar
~ one person, and had been deceived bv
another person being put in her or his
place, such as In the case of Leah and
Jacob Yet another cause for annulment
was where Roman Catholic had mar
ried an infldel that is to say, a Turkish
or Buddhist woman, without the latter
having been previously baptized while
II 1t can be shown that a marriage has
been preceded by the killing either In
duel, or through assassination, Of the
first husband or former wife of either
of the parties, then the union will be
dissolved by the Catholic church
The number of marriages thus annulled
by the Roman Catholic church averages
three tc four dozen year, and the state
ments which have besn circulated to the
effect that they mount up to an annual
total of over a thousand is altogether
false. The largest number of demands
comes from Austrian, Russian ana Prus-
sian Poland, which is not astonishing
after the little anecdote related above
There are three tribunals at Rome which
deal with these applications for annul-
ment OF marriages. The ordinary court
is the congregation of council; the con
gregation of the propaganda takes cog
nizance Of cases which occur in the
countries subject to its Jurisdiction, such
as, for instance, the United States, and
the congregation of the holy office con-
siders certain exceptional cases specially
referred to 1t by the pope.
CATHOLIC DIVORCE MACHINERY.
There is a general impression that the
fees charged by these tribunals are
enormous. This is not the case. Neither
the propaganda nor yet the holy Office
charge single cent, while the costs of
the congregation of the council are lin
TIED to So to the copyist, who writes out
the decree, $1.60 to the secretary's office,
while $50 are charged for printing ex-
penses. The average fee of the ecclesi-
astical lawyers intrusted with the pre-
sentation of the case before the congre-
cation, which 1 need hardly add Is COM
posed Of cardinals, amounts to $500. The
printing expenses are readily assumed
by the vatican itself In cases where the
applicants cannot afford the expense Of
the trial, the work of counsel being in
those instances done without rcmunera-
ton by the consultors of the congrega-
ton, BODY or distinguished SGcles1as-
tics chosen from the ranks OF the regular
and secular clergy, whose names may
be found in any of the official ANIMALS
of the Roman Catholic church, notably
in that one known as the "Gerarchia
Cattolica."
may add that a Journey to Rome is
in .nowise necessary, as the holy see is
always ready to take evidence through
local diocesan courts. Indeed, each Ro-
man Catholic diocese is provided with a
dtynitary learned in ecclesiastical law.
but Whose duty 1t is to deal with all
questions arising out of matrimonial diff
fculties of one kind and another, trans
uniting testimony to Rome for final judg
ment in instances where the problem is
of too grave a character to be settled
on the spot by the head Of the diocese.
From this 1t will be seen that although
the Roman Catholic church sets its face
against divorce, as constituting a reli-
gieus and material peril. yet that It ia
at all times ready to treat the question
of dissolution of the matrimonial ties In
a liberal and progressive manner that is
far more in keeping with the laws of the
land than most people imagine.
-Ex-Attache.