Evening star., 1946-11-17
Episcopal Marriage
Cunons Are Revised
New Rules Broaden Discretion
to Be Exercised by Bishops
By Dorothy Roe.

=
By Dorothy Roe.
i NEW YORK. Of the
new Episcopal marriage law Is engaging
the attention Of church ofhcials
throughout the Nation. as bishops Of
1 every diocese prepare for administra-
tion OF the new canons, effective jan
uary /.
Adopted at the 55th general eonyen-
tion Of the church the two new canons
have AROUSED wide, discussion among
both clergy and laymen, with opinion
divided as TO whether they constituted
liberalization or restriction Of
church laws governing remarriage.
In the past, the Episcopal Church
sanctioned remarriage only Of the inno-
cent party in divorce action brought
| on grounds OF adultery and listed nine
causes for notification of marriage.
The new canons remove the adultery
clause, list two additional grounds for
notification and make It the response
bility of the bishop Of the diocese to
| determine whether persons seeking to
remarry are qualified In the eyes Of
the church. IS.
An official Of the National Council Of
the Protestant Episcopal. Church In New
| York explains that the new marriage
canons are an attempt on the part Of
the church to take a more realistic and
understanding view of human nature.
Under the new law, he explains, when
q divorced person wishes to remarry, he
or she must make request to the
bishop of the diocese. The bishop then
investigates the divorce and its causes.
He determines If there has been any
one of the listed nine impediments to
true marriage and decides II the appli.
can't is eligible for remarriage.
The Episcopal church, it is explained.
holds that true marriage cannot be
dissolved by civil divorce. But there
has not been true marriage-tha is, II
| any of the nine listed causes for nullifi-
cation Is found to have existed-then the
church may consider the marriage null
lifted and the applicant eligible for re-
| marriage. 1t Is added that, Of course,
a marriage cannot be nuliified unless
civil bonds are also dissolved, but the
mere fact of civil divorce does not of
necessity prove that the marriage may
be nullified In the eyes of the church.
The nine previous grounds for nulli-
fication of marriage were:
l: Consanguinity whether of the
whole or the half blood within the fol-
lowing degrees: (a) One may not marry
ones descsndent or ascendent; (b) one
may not marry ones sister; (c) one may
not marry the sister or brother of ones
ascendant or descendant Of ones brother
or sister
2. Lack of free or legal consent Of
either party.
| 3. Mistake as to the identity of either
party.
4. Mental deficiency of either party.
5. Insanity Of either party.
| 6. Failure Of either party to have
reached the age Of puberty.
7. Impotence or sexual peryersion Of
either party undisclosed to the other.
8. The existence Of venereal disease In
either party.
8. Facts which would make the pro-
posed marriage bigamous.
~ These previous grounds have now
been combined in seven divisions. The
two new grounds, which some church,
men have called capable of various IN
terpretations, are:
4 Concurrent contract inconsistent with
the contract constituting canonical mar
riage.
Attendant conditions, error as to the
identity Of either party, fraud, coer-
cion or duress, or such defects Of per-
sonality as to make competent or free
consent impossible.
The Right Rev. Cameron J. Davis,
Bishop of Western New York and chair
man of the commission which framed
the canons, says:
AFTER 81 years Of study the church
has at last adopted canons on holy
matrimony, which unlike the present
canons, reflect the doctrine of marriage
that is expressed in the prayer book
form of solemnization This doctrine
is. in brief, that Christian marriage Is
physical, spiritual and mystical union
Of two persons, like the mystical union
that Is betwixt Christ and his church:
that if such union is once formed 1t
Is lifelong and cannot be dissolved by
divorce = but II that consent In
not complete by reason Of lack Of free
dom or competence to give 1t, the
marital bond In the eyes of the church
does not exist; If the consent was com.
plete, given by two free and competent
persons, it does exist even though the
civil court has annulled the marriage
or divorced the parties. It Is the re-
sponsibility Of the bishop to discover
whether the bond exists.
"Thus the canons practically 80
open way through which the church
can treat each case of marital failure
on its individual merits, and as prob
lem of character rather than wholly by
legal and objective tests. Objective tests
may be available in case, but an analy-
sis of personality traits is the essential
in any case to the formation Of judg.
ment. A civil divorce or annulment
creates presumption that defects Of
personality or some other impediment
existed in the first place, but the pre-
sumption is not always correct. For
example, many divorced people md
after their divorce that they are stiI
spiritually bound to each other and are
therefore married again to each other.
The attendant conditions Of the marie