The following remarks on a subject of great importance to the priests of
the mission may not be uninteresting to the readers of the _Record_. My
attention was directed to the matter on reading the erudite work of Dr.
Feye, of Louvain, on Matrimony.
The opinions of St. Liguori are looked upon as possessing high authority,
and, as every one knows, very justly so. Hence it is that he is copied
even in the casual mistakes he made; and all the casuistical works
recently published have inserted in their pages those mistakes. Take, for
example, the works on moral theology most in circulation at present, such
as the works of Gousset, Gury, Scavini, and it will be found that in the
very latest editions of these works those errors are left untouched.
At page 591, n. 876, of Gury, 13a ed., it is remarked regarding the
_gradus inaequalis consanguinitatis, vel affinitatis_, that for the
validity of the dispensation it is not required to mention in the petition
the _gradus remotior_ “nisi sint conjuncti secundo gradu attingente
primum”. In the “Casus Conscientiae” he makes the very same observation.
If the reader refer to Scavini he will find the same opinion adopted. It
will appear from the remarks of Card. Gousset, t. 2, n. 1136, that he
adheres to the opinion of St. Liguori.
At page 118, l. 6, t. 6, n. 1136, St. Liguori treats of the question, and
cites the Breve of Benedict XIV., “Etsi Matr.”, of 27th September, 1755,
upon which he remarks, “_Matrimonium esse quidem illicitum sed non
invalidum modo propinquitas non sit 1__mi__ aut 2__di__ gradus
consanguinitatis_”.
Now it is certain that Benedict XIV. held no such opinion, for in sec. 6
he expressly states, after St. Pius V., that the omission of the first
grade _alone_, in the petition for dispensation, _invalidates_ the
dispensation. Again, Benedict XIV. in that Breve is speaking _de duplici_
gradu consanguinitatis, not _de secundo gradu_, and states that a
dispensation would be null, in the petition for which only one vinculum
was expressed, whereas there existed two—duplex vinculum.
I believe St. Liguori was led into the mistake either by confounding the
word _duplex_ with _secundum_, or by the remarks made by Benedict _de
tertio_ gradu propinquiore, etc., of which there was question.
Gury’s opinion also is wrong; for it is certain, from the decree of St.
Pius V., as cited and confirmed by Benedict XIV., that the suppression of
the mention of the first grade in the petition for dispensation in _gradu
inaequali consang. off._, will equally annul the dispensation, whether the
first grade concur with the second, third, or fourth.
In order then that St. Liguori’s opinion be correct, it is necessary to
erase the words “aut secundi” from the sentence.
Expecting you will give insertion to the foregoing observations, which are
made through a desire to serve the _Record_, and give a hint to
fellow-labourers in the vineyard,