The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-01-23

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"Question and Answer, care The Catho
What is Christian burial, and to
whom is the privilege denied?
Christian burial is the burial of the
remains of the faithful in a place set
apart and blessed or consecrated for
that purpose. and with the rites APP
pointed in the Roman Ritual. The
common law OF the Church denies the
privilege of Christian burial to the
following: lnfidels, atheists, apos-
tates, heretics, those who are motor
iously and publicly communicated,
or put under interdict by name,
suicides, duellists who die in the con-
hict itself, public, notorious, scan
dalous sinners who died impenitent,
those who, in the presence of wit
nesses, refuse to receive the last
Saeraments when offered to them,
members of societies condemned by
the Church.
May the ashes of a Catholic whose
DOQv was CIGUldlCuJ ICSCiNC
or ecclesiastical burial?
No: as may be gathered from a
Roman decree of May 10, 1886, con-
firmed and approved by Pope Leo XIII
who expressed his wish that Bishops
take measures to have the faithful in
structed about the detestable abuse OF
cremating the human body, and do all
IN of HnPKC
from the practice" But in a decree
of December Is, 1886, we learn that
in the case Of persons who had not
before death directed that their
bodies be cremated, SO that cremation
takes place, not by their will, but by
the will of others, it is lawful, if there
be no danger of scandal, to use the
rites of the Church in the home of
the deceased, in the church itself, but
not at the place Of cremation.
May a Catholic have anything to do
with cremation?
BY a decree of July q, 1892, we are
told that it is unlawful to order or
advise cremation. Catholic workmen,
however, may take part in the process,
provided Cd they do not in their own
minds identify themselves with the
cremation as a rite of sect, GU the
cremation be not designed as pro-
fession Of belief in a nonCatholic or
anti Catholic sect, CD that there be
nothing in the process that is in
tended directly and solely as a repro
baton OF Catholic teaching and an
approval OF the sect, (4) that the
workers and officials, who are Catho-
lies, be not forced to do the work
merely out Of contempt and hate for
the Catholic religion.
L., Is it true that in the early his
tory of the Church, or at the time of
Martin Luther, people had to pay to
get indulgences. 2. Will you kindly
explain the use of indulgences?
...-1. 1t is not true that at any time
in the history Of the Church, people
had to pay for indulgences. It was not
true at the time OF Martin Luther
though it has often been asserted that
this was one of the reasons why
Luther was led to break away from
the Catholic Church. Archbishop
Spalding in his History of the Ref
orlnation," says: The abuse and al
legged sale of indulgence affords the
principal pretext for the first move
ments of the Reformation. The
Church had always maintained her
power to grant indulgences; she never
sanctioned in her official capacity the
abuse which, at some time and in some
places, grew out of the exercise of
this power" After explaining the ma
ture OF indulgences and the circum-
stances attending the erection OF ST.
Peters, he adds: I'VE have no mis-
sion to defend the extravagances inn
puted to this man (TetZeD. To us
it appears that much injustice has
been done him, and that his errors
have been. greatly exaggerated by
his enemies. $. One thing is
certain, that the abuses of which he
is accused were not authorized by the
Church or the Pontiff. $ The
acts of Tetzel were officially disavowed
by the representatives of the Roman
Court. In 1919. Charles Miltitz, the
papal envoy, openly rebuked him
for his conduct in the affair of the
indulgences; and even charged him
with having been the occasion Of
most Of the troubles which during
the previous two years had afflicted
Germany. He, however, condemned
the friar unheard, relying entirely
upon the exaggerated representations
of his enemies. He would not even
allow the Dominican to defend himself
against the grieyous charges brought
against him by Luther and
he (TetzeD died soon after, most prob
ably Of ohagrin.'
9. The truth of the foregoing is
evident to all who understand what is
meant by an indulgence. The enemies
of the Church persist in misunder
standing what an indulgence is and
before explaining what it is in reality
it may be we'll to state what an indul
genee is not. 1T is not a permission
to commit sin, nor a pardon of future
sin; neither could be granted by any
power. 1t is not the forgiveness oil
the guilt of sin; it supposes that the
sin has already been forgiven 1t is