Evening star., 1931-04-26

form contained In the Book Of Com
mon PRAYER, but he may use such Spe-
cial service as his bishop. may provlot
for the purpose; and provided, further
that It shall be within the discretion ol
any minister to decline to solemnlze
any marriage"
Bishop Page Hits Old Law.
The present canon of the EpiScopa
Church, which outlaws the remarriage
of divorced persons, with the sole ex-
ception of the innocent party in di-
vorce for adultery, was described by
Bishop Page, in a statement accom-
panying the revised canon, as "ofter
penalizing q husband or wife who Is
flich-mindeti and chivalorous as COM
pared with some other man or woman
who Is, above all things, looking for self
protection"
Describing the removal Of all grounds
for divorce as one Of the most striking
changes in the proposed canon, Bishop
Page states:
There was practical agreement Of
the commission in regard to these
changes. Indeed, the suggestion came
from one of the most conservative
members of the commission. There Is
one outstanding reason for removing
the exception for adultery, namely, that
in a divorce given by the civil court for
adultery it is only too often the tnno-
cent party that is penalized.
Many times when the wife Is guilty
Of adultery the husband makes himself
the apparent offender in the eyes OF the
law" Bishop Page continues. More
over, in many cases where adultery Is
the real cause for divorce some other
ground is given, such as drunkenness,
cruelty or desertion. This Is often done
for the sake of family reputation, espe-
cially for the sake Of the children"
Provides for Instruction
The first and second sections Of the
new canon would remain unchanged, as
compared with the present laws Of the
church on matrimony. They refer 10
observance of State laws relating to
marriage and to the requirements for
witnesses.
Repeating sections 3 and of the
present canon, the proposed new canon
would substitute the following pro-
visions:
section 3. In every parish instruc-
ton shall be given, both publicly and
privately, on the nature Of Christian
marriage and the mutual forbearance
mo minister of the church shall
solemnize q marriage unless he Is as
sured that the parties thereto are thus
instructed and that both hold the
Christian ideal of marriage. In which
case, before he oficiAteS he shall re-
quire them to sign In his presence the
following statement:
1--WE, A. B. and g. D., desiring to
receive the blessing of the church upon
our marriage, do Solemnly declare that
we hold marriage to be in nature life
long contract for the physical and
spiritual union of husband and wife,
for the purpose of the procreation and
the physical and spiritual nurture OF
children and for the safeguarding and
benefit Of society. And We engage our
selves to make every effort to realize
the Christian ideal and TO avail our
selves OF means OF grace thereto as
taught and provided by the Christian
Church.
section i. Unless an ecclesiastical
court with jurisdiction over MARTA
causes Is created by the constitution
and canons Of a diocese or district tht
bishop shall appoint q godly commune
cant, resident OF the diocese or district
and learned in both the law of the
md the facts Of marital question and
to report such facts to him"
Notification Grounds Listed.
The nine grounds upon which nullifl-
cation Of marriage would be recognized
arc set forth in section S, which states
THE bishop or ecclesiastical court OF
the diocese or district where the petit
tioHer Is domiciled may declare O mar
rage null for one Of the following rea-
SONS. existing at the time OF the
marriage:
Lack Of free consent; failure OF
either party to have reached the age of
puberty; impotence of either party;
mental deficiency Of either party sum-
cient to prevent the exercise of intellt-
gent choice; insanity of either party;
ccnfanguinity. whether Of the whole or
the half blood within the following de-
grees: () One may not marry his
ascendant or descendant; (b) one may
rot marry his sister; (c) one may not
marry the sister or brother of his
ascendant or the descendant of his
sister or brother; mistake as to the
other party to the marriage; existence
OF venereal disease; previous marriage,
unless the other spouse has died or the
previous marriage has been declared
nnN or divorce has been granted by a
civil court"
Would Ask ReconeiliatiOns.
IN connection with the working OF the
proposed ecclesiastical marital court.
section proposes that before institut-
Ing proceedings for divorce, the offended
party shall invoke the services of q
minister of the church toward a possible
reconciliation. 1t reads:
II one party TO marriage offend
the other, let the offended party before
1nstituttng proceedings for divorce lay
taf matter before a minister of the
church. 1t shall be the duty of such
minister TO labor that they may be
reconciled. If in the end they cannot
De reconciled, the minister shall report
MS findings in the matter to the
bishop"
Statutory Grounds o. KID.
Referring to section 8 of the proposed
new canon, which would lift the ban
against marriage by the church of those
Ehc have been divorced on statutory
grounds, Bishop Page states;
The part Of the canon that will un-
oountedly cause most discussion is Sec
tion o which permits clergymen of this
cnGrch, under certain conditions. To
Soiemnize the marriage Of men and
women who have been divorced. It
Snoulo be made clear, however, that the
0ooi Tor remarTiage of divorced people
Is by no means thrown wide open.
"At the meeting Of the commission
at which this proposed canon was
auopteu tilS proposal received unant-
NOUS acceptance by all those present,
who represented a ma ajority Of the COM
mission. Unfortunately, several mem
berS OF the commission, and those who
might have been most likely to dissent.
we're unable to stay throughout the
meeting, but the other members Of the
commission aimed to present in section
q plan on which they hoped the COM
mission could agree.
"a majority of the members OF the
commission felt that in view Of the fact
that the law allows the remarriage oi
divorced persons and that, therefore,
rev marriage relations are entered unor