Evening star., 1926-11-13
DUKES 'SANNULMENT
CAUSES DISCUSSION
Marlborough Is Released
From Former Union With
ConsueIo Vanderbilt.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, November 13.-An-
nulment of the marriage of the Duke
of Marlborough to Consuelo Wander
bilt by the Roman Catholic diocesan
court at Southwark, England. and
confirmation of this decree by the
Holy Rota tribunal in Rome, caused
considerable comment in church cir
cles in New York today.
The Duke of Marlborough and Miss
Vanderbilt were married In SC.
Thomas Episcopal Church in New
York in November. 1925. They had
been confirmed and baptized in the
Episcopal faith The duchess divorced
Marlborough in an English civil
court in 1920.
Both were married again. the
duchess to Jacques Balsan of Paris
and the latter to Miss Gladys Deacon
of Boston. When the duke and Miss
Deacon were married In Paris in 1921
a Presbyterian officiated. He read the
Church Of England service. but left
out the word obey"
The duke in making his plea for an
nulment said he desired to embrace
the Catholic faith.
Bishop Manning of the Episcopal
diocese in New York said:
1T seems incredible to me that the
Roman Catholic Church. which takes
so strong a position against divorce.
should show such discrimination in
favor of the Duke Of Marlborough.
who, because of the circumstances Of
his divorce and remarriage, was de
barred by the present Episcopal
Bishop of oxford. England. from at
tending the Oxford diocesan confer
ence in 1922.
1T would be serious thing, indeed.
and most dangerous in its implica'
tions. If the Roman Catholic Church
should claim the right to annul the
marriage such as this, which was en-
tered into in entire good faith, which
resulted in the birth of two children.
and which was accepted as binding
by both parties to it for many years"
Catholic Rector Speaks.
On the other hand, Mgr. Lavelle,
rector of st. Patrick's Cathedral, re
ferred to the statement of an un-
identified Roman Catholic authority
in England that nothing more can
be done for a duke than for a tramp
so far as the Catholic Church is con
'cerned." Mgr. Lavelle said the church
did not do the sort Of thing the duke
desired unless there was really just
cause.
There is no favoritism." the mon
signor added. What the reasons
were for granting the decree I do
not know, but we can be perfectly
sure they were reasons found to be
within the law"
The duke has been attending the
Catholic Church at oxford. If the
duke were receiving instruction pre-
paratory TO being received into the
church. the monsigncr said. the
church would have authority TO pass
OH the validity of the marriage.
Rev Wilfred Parsons, editor of the
Catholic Weekly Magazine America.
said that since the duke had been
divorced and remarked he could not
embrace the Catholic faith unless he
renounced his present wife, if his first
marriage should prove To he valid
He proved that his first marriage was
invalid.
Father Parsons added that the
Catholic Church did not claim juris-
diction over the validity of the form
of marriages as contracted hy non
Catholics. But, he added, such
marriage, valid in other respects.
might be invalid because of some
inherent defect in the contract itself:
such. for instance, would be lack
of proper consent.
"If the church granted decree
of nullity on these grounds" Father
Parsons went on, this act would
not be an annulment. but decree
of nullity, that Is to say a declara-
ton that, because of this defect. the
contract had been of itself null and
void from the beginning"
Grounds for Annulment.
Giving a definition of the grounds
on which the Catholic Church may
annul a marriage, the Catholic En-
cyclopedia says:
"There might be n sinful agree
ment between those contracting mar
riage which nullifies their marriage,
g. e., not to have more than one or
two children. or to divorce and marry
some one else whenever they grow
tired of each other. Such an agree
ment or condition denies the per-
petual duties of matrimony limits
matrimonial rights. suspendS the
duty consequent on the use and
exercise of these rights; if really
made a sine qua non OF marriage. II
necessarily annuls it"