Whether It Is Lawful for Religious to Teach, Preach, and the Like?
Objection 1: It would seem unlawful for religious to teach, preach,
and the like. For it is said (VII, qu. i, can. Hoc nequaquam) in an
ordinance of a synod of Constantinople [*Pseudosynod held by Photius
in the year 879]: "The monastic life is one of subjection and
discipleship, not of teaching, authority, or pastoral care." And
Jerome says (ad Ripar. et Desider. [*Contra Vigilant. xvi]): "A
monk's duty is not to teach but to lament." Again Pope Leo [*Leo I,
Ep. cxx ad Theodoret., 6, cf. XVI, qu. i, can. Adjicimus]: says "Let
none dare to preach save the priests of the Lord, be he monk or
layman, and no matter what knowledge he may boast of having." Now it
is not lawful to exceed the bounds of one's office or transgress the
ordinance of the Church. Therefore seemingly it is unlawful for
religious to teach, preach, and the like.
Obj. 2: Further, in an ordinance of the Council of Nicea (cf. XVI,
qu. i, can. Placuit) it is laid down as follows: "It is our absolute
and peremptory command addressed to all that monks shall not hear
confessions except of one another, as is right, that they shall not
bury the dead except those dwelling with them in the monastery, or if
by chance a brother happen to die while on a visit." But just as the
above belong to the duty of clerics, so also do preaching and
teaching. Therefore since "the business of a monk differs from that
of a cleric," as Jerome says (Ep. xiv ad Heliod.), it would seem
unlawful for religious to preach, teach, and the like.
Obj. 3: Further, Gregory says (Regist. v, Ep. 1): "No man can fulfil
ecclesiastical duties, and keep consistently to the monastic rule":
and this is quoted XVI, qu. i, can. Nemo potest. Now monks are bound
to keep consistently to the monastic rule. Therefore it would seem
that they cannot fulfil ecclesiastical duties, whereof teaching and
preaching are a part. Therefore seemingly it is unlawful for them to
preach, teach, and do similar things.
_On the contrary,_ Gregory is quoted (XVI, qu. i, can. Ex
auctoritate) as saying: "By authority of this decree framed in virtue
of our apostolic power and the duty of our office, be it lawful to
monk priests who are configured to the apostles, to preach, baptize,
give communion, pray for sinners, impose penance, and absolve from
sin."
_I answer that,_ A thing is declared to be unlawful to a person in
two ways. First, because there is something in him contrary to that
which is declared unlawful to him: thus to no man is it lawful to
sin, because each man has in himself reason and an obligation to
God's law, to which things sin is contrary. And in this way it is
said to be unlawful for a person to preach, teach, or do like things,
because there is in him something incompatible with these things,
either by reason of a precept--thus those who are irregular by
ordinance of the Church may not be raised to the sacred orders--or by
reason of sin, according to Ps. 49:16, "But to the sinner God hath
said: Why dost thou declare My justice?"
In this way it is not unlawful for religious to preach, teach, and do
like things, both because they are bound neither by vow nor by
precept of their rule to abstain from these things, and because they
are not rendered less apt for these things by any sin committed, but
on the contrary they are the more apt through having taken upon
themselves the practice of holiness. For it is foolish to say that a
man is rendered less fit for spiritual duties through advancing
himself in holiness; and consequently it is foolish to declare that
the religious state is an obstacle to the fulfilment of such like
duties. This error is rejected by Pope Boniface [*Boniface IV] for
the reasons given above. His words which are quoted (XVI, qu. i, can.
Sunt. nonnulli) are these: "There are some who without any dogmatic
proof, and with extreme daring, inspired with a zeal rather of
bitterness than of love, assert that monks though they be dead to the
world and live to God, are unworthy of the power of the priestly
office, and that they cannot confer penance, nor christen, nor
absolve in virtue of the power divinely bestowed on them in the
priestly office. But they are altogether wrong." He proves this first
because it is not contrary to the rule; thus he continues: "For
neither did the Blessed Benedict the saintly teacher of monks forbid
this in any way," nor is it forbidden in other rules. Secondly, he
refutes the above error from the usefulness of the monks, when he
adds at the end of the same chapter: "The more perfect a man is, the
more effective is he in these, namely in spiritual works."
Secondly, a thing is said to be unlawful for a man, not on account of
there being in him something contrary thereto, but because he lacks
that which enables him to do it: thus it is unlawful for a deacon to
say mass, because he is not in priestly orders; and it is unlawful
for a priest to deliver judgment because he lacks the episcopal
authority. Here, however, a distinction must be made. Because those
things which are a matter of an order, cannot be deputed to one who
has not the order, whereas matters of jurisdiction can be deputed to
those who have not ordinary jurisdiction: thus the delivery of a
judgment is deputed by the bishop to a simple priest. In this sense
it is said to be unlawful for monks and other religious to preach,
teach, and so forth, because the religious state does not give them
the power to do these things. They can, however, do them if they
receive orders, or ordinary jurisdiction, or if matters of
jurisdiction be delegated to them.
Reply Obj. 1: It results from the words quoted that the fact of their
being monks does not give monks the power to do these things, yet it
does not involve in them anything contrary to the performance of
these acts.
Reply Obj. 2: Again, this ordinance of the Council of Nicea forbids
monks to claim the power of exercising those acts on the ground of
their being monks, but it does not forbid those acts being delegated
to them.
Reply Obj. 3: These two things are incompatible, namely, the ordinary
cure of ecclesiastical duties, and the observance of the monastic
rule in a monastery. But this does not prevent monks and other
religious from being sometimes occupied with ecclesiastical duties
through being deputed thereto by superiors having ordinary cure;
especially members of religious orders that are especially instituted
for that purpose, as we shall say further on (Q. 188, A. 4).
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