The Irish standard., 1914-04-25
ESSENTIALS OF A VALID
MARRIAGE.

ESSENTIALS OF A VALID
MARRIAGE.
There are many who have publicly
committed themselves upon the action
of the Rota in dissolving the marriage
between Count Boni and Anna Gould.
A better understanding of the situa-
ton is given in an article by Monsig-
nor Moyes, DID,, in the London Tablet.
AS outlined by Mgr. Moves, the facts
are these:
In 1895 Miss Anna Gould of New
York married Count Castellane of
Paris. In 1911 civil divorce was
obtained. Count Castellane alleged
that prior to the marriage Miss Gould
had declared that if the union did not
prove satisfactory it was her intention
to obtain divorce. Count Castellane,
holding that such a declaration rem
dered the marriage invalid alb initio,
appealed to the Roman tribunal of the
Rota to have it dissolved.
In December 1911 the Rota reject
ed the petition on the ground that
the nullity of the marriage had not
been proven. Count Castellane lodged
another appeal alleging that new evil
dence had been discovered. Judgment
was given in March, 1918, reversing
the previous decision. There were
thus" writes Mgr. Moves, zone YER
dict for and one verdict against the
validity of the marriage. At this
point the safeguarding of the Church
comes into play. She will not allow
any sentence of nullity of marriage to
be carried into effect until it is cor
roborated by second verdict, given
by fresh judges, in the same sense.
A third and decisive trial before q
new judiciary thus becomes necessary.
This is the trial which is now pend
ing"
For a better understanding of these
facts, it will be necessary to state in
the fewest possible words the teach
ings of the Catholic Church in regard
to the essence of marriage. In the
first place there must be the consent
of both parties to the marriage. That
consent must be absolutely free, and
it must be given for lifelong union.
In writing Of these conditions, Mgr.
Moyes says: I'm both these conditions
the Church throws the shield of her
protection over the weak. She will
not suffer that any girl should be ter
rorized into consenting to take as her
husband any man whom she does not
really and freely will to accept as
such. And if the Church can find
sufficient evidence that coercion, such
as to overrule her freedom has been
exercised, she, in the name of truth
and liberty, will hold the consent to
be no consent whatever, and the mar
riage based upon it to be no marriage,
no matter what the external words
or ceremony may have been. In like
manner she will not suffer that men,
or especially women, should suffer the
indignity of being taken in wedlock
only for time, like servant to be
hired or house to be leased" All
this will commend itself to the ap-
proval of every fair-minded, right
thinking person, whether such person
be Catholic or nom Catholic.
The question before the Rota is.
whether Anna Gould by her words
showed that she did not consider that
she was entering upon lifelong con-
tract when she married Count Castel-
lane. She denies that she used the
words attributed to her. The Rota
then has to pass judgment on a ques-
ton of fact.
In his very interesting article Mgr.
Moyes cites several cases in which
marriages were declared null and
void by the Rota because they lacked
what the Church considers the essen
tials of every marriage. One was the
case of Sicilian peasant girl who
was forced by her mother to marry a
man against her will. The Rota de-
clared it was no marriage. The
mother of a Polish girl forced her
daughter by threats and violence to
marry sutton. The Rota gave the
girl her freedom, and declared the
marriage Ito have been null and void
from the beginning" Another case
was that of Catholic native girl in
Cochin, China, who was the victim of
forced marriage. On an appeal to
Rome the Rota granted her freedom
declaring that she had never been
married in the Catholic sense.
PoIfcewoman Named.