The Irish standard., 1900-07-07
Intended!as a Blow at Those Of
the. Catholic Creed.
DID NOT REALIZE ITS BAD EFFECT
Civil Marriage was Valid Under
the Spanish Regime.

A correspondent of the Standard and
Times, of Philadelphia, writing from,
Havana on June "a, has the following
to say concerning the odious marriage
decree promulgated by General Brooke
in Cuba:
| 1t is doubtless matter Of surprise in
the United States that the marriage
question, which has come up under such
a strange and peculiar phase here in
Cuba, still continues unsettled. Many
people perhaps are beginning to think
there must be a mistake somewhere,
and that after all the modification for
| mally requested by Bishop Sbarretti Of
| the famous Brooke order of 1899 is a
matter OF indifference involving merely
some minor detail OF the formalitics
requisite to give legality to the marriage
contract To those who follow ME in
a statement OF the case as it now pre-
scnts itself l promise double surprise
| first, that the order was ever issued
secondly, that it is still permitted to
stand.
To obtain clear understanding OF
the Order OF General Brooke and its
| effects, let us take the first three para
| graphs of the order, which contain all
| there is Of Importance in it:
| First-"Hcrcaftcr civil marriages
only shall be valid. The contracting
parties may conform to the prcccpts OF
whatever religion they may profess, in
addition to the formality necessary to
contract the civil marriage.
Second-"Thc officials in charge OF
the execution OF the laws respecting
marriage shall not accept as legal the
written license or consent OF the parent,
when the same shall have been taken be-
fore an ecclesiastical notary, nor shall
any such certificate be accepted which
is not attcsted by the civil functionarics
Third.-"Clcrgymcn OF the different
denominations represented in the island
in performing the ceremony OF mar
riagc shall not be required to take other
action than that imposed upon them by
their respective religious beliefs; but the
performance OF this ceremony shall have
no civil effects"
While not due to the language OF the
decree, even here in Havana the mis-
taken idea prevails among Americans
that General Brooke's order instituted
civil marriage, and that for the first
time the people OF Cuba were then CIV
en- the privilege Of being married by
other than priests. The contrary OF this,
however, is true. At the time the de-
cree was promulgated, two legally valid
forms of marriage we're recognized by
the law OF Cuba-the canonical (mar-
riage before priest) and the civil.
Upon the recommendation of the Span
ish government in Cuba in the year
1886 the civil marriage OF Spain was by
royal decree made to apply to the island
of Cuba and Porto Rico. Accordingly,
General Brooke has given the people
no right which they did not already en-
JOY.
1t follows, therefore, that the object
and effect of the order was nothing
more nor less than to declare null and
void the canonical form of marriage,
which was practically the only form in
use among the people. All that the
other words OF the paragraphs quoted,
giving parties the privilege to conform
to the dictates of their conscience,
amount to is to exempt them and the
officiating clergyman from criminal pen
alties. Any other Interpretation OF these
words renders them meaningless and
absurd, for the order explicitly states
that any other than the civil ceremony
Shall have no civil effects" and it can
not be contendcd that permission of
the state was needed to give a mar
rlagc its ecclesiastical effects. Had the
order read thereafter marriage accord
ing to the Catholic church shall be in
valid" the result would have been the
same; but this form OF language would
have betrayed the real object of the
decree, which, it is plain, was nothing
less than direct attack upon the church
with the purpose OF embarrassing her
in her work among the people. 1t can
also be surmised that the diverting OF
revenue into the Golfers of civil magis-
trates was likewise in the minds OF the
originators of the decree.
The question now naturally arises as
to whom we are indebted for this per-