The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-01-11

ND COLOUADO (AEnOI
riages the legislators had intended to
affect only the civil consequences of
the unions, and that the lay judges
could give no other Interpretation to
the law. Louis XIII, the author of this
declaration, knew well that the secu-
lar power could not institute any i'm
pediments which would nulIify natri-
mony as a sacrament. The Church dis
approves of marriages contracted with
out the consent of the parents or guar
dams; but she has always, and notably
in the Council of Trent, insisted on
their validity In the third place, it is
equally contrary to the laws of the
Church to pronounce the nullity of this
marriage because Of q rape" (raptus)
or seduction. The impeachment of rape
exists only when a marriage is con-
tracted by the ravisher and the raw
ished before the latter has set at lib
erty. Now since there was no raw
ishment in the case in question, that
which the memorial terms a rape or
seduction is really the absence Of the
parental consent, which cannot be adj
duced as invalidating the marriage.
Let us now consider the fourth i'm
pediment which is alleged to exist:
namely, the absence of the parish
priest. This impeachment was estab-
Iished by the Council of Trent. But it
can be found only in those countries
where the famous decree of the Coun-
ell de Reformatione Matrimonii, Oh. l.,
Sec "a, has been published; and even
in those countries it subsists only IN
regard to those persons for whom it
HOY %aI-
care to discover whether the aforesaid
decree was ever published in Balti-
more: and for the purpose of this in
vestigation we have caused careful
search to be made in the archives of
the Propaganda and of the Inquisitlon,
archives which would contain record
of any such publication. We have
found no trace of any such record; but,
on the contrary, we have found lnul-
cations especially q decree Of a synod
which was convoked by the present
bishop of Baltimore which show that
the publication in question was never
made. What is more, it may be We'll
supposed that said publication would
not have been made in country, lhe
government of which is heretical. After
this investigation of fact we proceeded
70 consider whether the absence of the
PARISH DTleSL IllllilciICI LOL LIZ AAN.@t-NS
of this marriage, and we became con-
WINGED that it furnished no such ground
because of the domicile of the groom;
for even though he retained his dom
icile in a land where the Tridentine de-
cree on. matrinony had been promul-
gated it is an incontestable maxim,
that for the validity of a marriage, the
domicile of only one of the contracting
parties needs to be considered, especial
ly when neither one of the parties mas
changed his or her domicile with IN
tent to defraud. 1t is certain, there
fore that since in this case the laws
of the don1icile of this bride were Cd
served. it was rot necessary to act III
conformity with the laws of the doml-
Gle of the groom, where the marriage
was not celebrated. your
majesty will understand that, GUIDED
by the information that has thus 1ar
reached us, it is not in our power to.
pronounce this marriage null. IL, pe-
sides these circumstances already al
legged. there should be discovered any
other which would indicate the pres
ence of an invalidating impediment,
then we might fortify our Judgment
with that proof, and give another de-
,cision. one also oonsonant with the laws
of the Church, which we can never dis
obey by declaring invalid marriage
which. according to the Word of God,
no human power can dissolve.
POPE NOT COERCED.r
But Napoleon had determined on al
lying his brother with the princely
houses of Europe. He carved out OF
Prussia a kingdom for the complacent
Jerome: and a German Protestant prin-
cess was but too willing to usurp the
place of the American wife. When Plus
VII, was informed of this adulterous
proceeding he wrote to Napoleon IN
such terms as to give one more strik-
ing instance that in its warfare with
the world the Church has no guide but
God, no force but its own integrity.
(See Parsons Studies in Church His
tory.'O
Napoleon, feeling that the sagacious
Cardinal ConsaIti was an obstacle to
his coercing the pope. demanded his re-
moval from the prime ministry, which,
at the cardinals own request, was
granted in 1906. But Consalvi foresee-
ing events, had prepared for the Pope.
a bull of accommodation against in
vaders of the papal dominions, and
protest to be sent to the countries OF
Europe. These were put to use IN
1909. when Napoleon declared the
DaDal states annexed u IdHSe' LII
July, 1899 he was seized and carried
to Savona. Napoleon attempted to force
the action of the cardinals. whom he
also abducted, but was unsuccessful,
largely through Consalvis influence.
After much bad treatment, and many
negotiations to force the Pope to APP
prove his courses, Napoleon finally al
lowed him to return. Being unable to
overthrow his prestige, or force his
conscience, he yet preferred to see him
return than to see Murat in posses
sion. Had he been treated more firmly,
and with less Cancellation, 1T is possible
that Napoleon would have defended the
Church. instead of attacking it. Had he
kept faith with the Pope, and upheld
his just rights he might have erected
the greatest and most peSceful Euro
pean dynasty. Loss of temporal power.
then and later. has diminished the
Pope's activity for good; but he whose.
line will only end with the world, can
afford to wait Gods time for restitu-
ton.
MEDAL FROM THE POPE.